Chinatown Gate
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden.
Look for S to find recommended sights, activities, dining, and lodging.
S Portland Art Museum: Portland’s green and shady South Park Blocks are home to this excellent collection of art and artifacts (click here).
S Tom McCall Waterfront Park: This riverside park is home to lots of summer festivals, great people-watching, a fountain, and over a mile of seawall to stroll (click here).
S International Rose Test Garden: The most spectacular sights in Washington Park are these famed gardens containing 10,000 rose plants (click here).
S Portland Japanese Garden: Five gardens in one, this is one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in the United States (click here).
S Lan Su Chinese Garden: A magical enclave in historic Chinatown, this replica of a Ming Dynasty garden was built by craftspeople from Suzhou, China (click here).
S Pearl District: This upscale shopping and dining district is Oregon’s most densely populated neighborhood, home to many of the city’s top galleries and restaurants (click here).
S Hawthorne District: This neighborhood, with its kick-back hippie vibe, is a good place to sip coffee and people-watch (click here).
S Forest Park: In the nation’s largest forested urban park, you can mountain bike or walk on Leif Erikson Drive or explore part of the 30-mile-long Wildwood Trail (click here).
S Portland Farmers Market: On Saturday, the South Park Blocks explode with the fresh bounty of the Willamette Valley (click here).
S Powell’s City of Books: As the Pearl District has flourished, so has this huge bookstore, known for its mix of new and used titles (click here).
This friendly, flannel-clad, rain-scrubbed city has vaulted to a new place in the popular culture firmament, becoming a major trendsetter in cuisine, wine, arts, design, and up-to-the-second lifestyles.
Oregon’s largest city, metro Portland has a population of 2.34 million, although its easygoing and quirky spirit makes it feel like a much smaller town. It’s extremely easy to feel at home here—many are the tales of visitors coming to stay for a few days and finding a few pleasant years later that they forgot to leave. Newcomers are drawn here to live out their dream of launching a startup, opening a coffee shop, founding a clothing design firm, or establishing a micro-distillery. Portland’s combination of youthful idealism and entrepreneurial zeal makes it a top destination for young creatives.
And then there’s the politics. Portland is famously liberal and irreverent. In fact, even as the city grows, its reputation as a center of unconventional lifestyles and alternative and populist politics increases. But there’s more to Portland than tribal tattoos and indolent coffee shops. Amid lush greenery, top-notch cultural institutions such as a first-rate symphony and an opera company lend an air of worldly sophistication. A latticework of bridges spanning the Willamette River adds a distinctive profile, while parks, plazas, and other public spaces give Portland a heart and a soul.
Local Native Americans, referred to in general as the Chinook people, have lived near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers for millennia. Sauvie Island, northwest of the city, was the site of Wal-lamt, the village whose name inspired explorer William Clark to name the Willamette in 1805. Portland’s early growth was fueled by shipping and trade, which boomed after the California gold rush of 1849. At the same time, Oregon Trail settlers brought agriculture to the Willamette Valley, and mining and ranching developed throughout the West.
Today’s Portland is a small city with lots of personality; an urban area equally suffused with green space and creative energy. A recent New York Times article declared Portland to be the most European city in the United States, but most Portlanders were too busy biking, drinking handcrafted ale, and buying local cheese at the farmers market to have noticed. Portland isn’t like other places in the United States, and of that its citizens are proud.
Portland is different from London and San Francisco, cities filled with loads of top-notch destinations that serve as pilgrimage sights for every visitor. Aside from a handful of unique institutions and sights, Portland is more a city that you explore for its way of life. To capture Portland’s potent allure, you need to do some serious hanging out.
Make a checklist of sights and activities, but leave time for spontaneous in-the-moment detours. Check out downtown institutions such as Powell’s Books and the Portland Art Museum, but also visit the city’s parks and let yourself relax in verdant beauty. Likewise, explore the city’s varied neighborhoods, but take time to chat with new friends in a brewpub or coffee shop. The Portland experience is more a lifestyle than a set of destinations.
Avenues run north-south and streets run east-west. The line of demarcation between north and south in addresses is Burnside Street; between east and west it’s the Willamette River. These give reference points for the address prefixes southwest, southeast, north, northwest, and northeast.
Portland offers a wealth of attractions and experiences, from cultural and historic to hands-on and avant-garde. Alongside the built environment are Portland’s myriad beloved parks, which range from meticulously tended to sprawling and untamed. Portland has all the amenities you expect from a city, but with a healthy dose of the great outdoors.
Before you arrive, check out Travel Portland (503/275-8355 or 877/678-5263, www.travelportland.com) for free maps and its informative magazine-like publication Travel Portland. When you get to town, stop by its visitor information center (Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 SW 6th Ave., 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-4pm Sat. Nov.-Apr., 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-4pm Sat., 10am-2pm Sun. May-Oct.) to pick up additional information and a map of the downtown area.
For a fun overview of Portland’s top sights, join Big Pink Sightseeing’s Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley Tour (503/241-7373, www.graylineofportland.net, $37). A daylong ticket lets you jump off and on an open-air covered bus anywhere along its 12-stop route.
Portland’s modern downtown is located on a broad ledge of land between the north-flowing Willamette River and a steep volcanic ridge just to the west called the West Hills. More accurately called the Tualatin Mountains, they form a backdrop that towers 1,000 feet above downtown. The forested West Hills are home to one of Portland’s oldest and most beautiful residential neighborhoods and to Washington Park, the city’s grandest.
Portland’s city center is a pleasant area dotted with green spaces. Cafés and bars spill onto the pavement, and a handsome blend of modern office towers, turn-of-the-20th-century storefronts, and office buildings lends architectural interest. What Portland doesn’t have is a lot of massive skyscrapers. City blocks are only 200 feet long, making the city more accessible and pedestrian-friendly.
The nominal center of Portland is Pioneer Courthouse Square (SW 6th Ave. at Morrison St.), a block-square redbrick plaza that serves as an urban park and entertainment venue Always busy, in good weather the square is filled with brown-bag lunchers, chess players, political activists, and dozens of free spirits that defy characterization. The square is ringed by fanciful columns supporting nothing in particular, and a portion of the plaza is a hillside of steps that serve as seating or stairways, depending on your needs. Food carts line the south edge of the square, and many more are within a few blocks, making this a good destination for an open-air lunch. In summer, free midday concerts add to the zest.
A waterfall fountain (not always working) flanks the doors of the TriMet office (701 SW 6th Ave., 503/238-7433, www.trimet.org, 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri.), and Travel Portland’s Visitor Information Center (701 SW 6th Ave., 503/275-8355 or 877/678-5263, www.travelportland.com, 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-4pm Sat. Nov.-Apr., 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-4pm Sat., 10am-2pm Sun. May-Oct.). Through the same doors you’ll find access to public restrooms. Just east, across 6th Avenue, the Pioneer Courthouse (555 SW Yamhill St.) is the oldest public building in the state, constructed between 1869 and 1873.
Pioneer Courthouse Square is also at ground zero for downtown shopping. Immediately west, across Broadway, is Nordstrom, and one block east along Morrison or Yamhill Streets is Pioneer Place, a two-section upscale shopping development that is linked by a skywalk to fashion bargains at H&M. The lower level of Pioneer Place features a food court with a wide array of fast-food concessions.
Southwest of the square, one block west of Broadway, is Director Park, another open plaza that’s a hub of lunchtime activity. A block south marks the start of the South Park Blocks Cultural District, a delightful thread of tree- and statuary-filled greenways established in the 1850s. The stands of American elms found here (and in the Pearl District’s North Park Blocks) are among the largest remaining in North America, most of the rest having succumbed to Dutch elm disease.
Strolling the lanes of the South Park Blocks, which are flanked by many of Portland’s most important museums and early landmark churches, evokes European parks. Portland’s founders established this park in 1852, when wilderness stretched in every direction for thousands of miles.
Twice weekly, the Portland Farmers Market (Sat. and Wed. spring-fall) fills the South Park Blocks with the agricultural bounty of the Willamette Valley. Many vendors purvey freshly prepared food in addition to fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and meats. Also opening onto the park is the Portland Art Museum and the Oregon Historical Society Museum. The southern edges of the parks dissolve into Portland State University, an urban campus with the state’s largest higher-education enrollment.
Backing up to the South Park Blocks are two units of Portland’5 Centers for the Arts (503/248-4335, www.portland5.com), including the ornate Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (1037 SW Broadway), home to the Oregon Symphony. This jewel-box concert venue was once a 1920s vaudeville hall, but you’d never know it after a 1980s makeover turned the neglected theater into the city’s premier concert space. Directly across Main Street is the Antoinette Hatfield Hall (SW Broadway at Main St.), which houses theaters and a soaring lobby topped by a confetti-like glass dome. You’ll need a concert ticket to see its glittering interior of the Schnitzer Concert Hall, but the Antoinette Hatfield Hall is open all day and during the evening when performances are scheduled; the lobby bar makes a nice spot for a drink.
The Oregon Historical Society Museum (1230 SW Park Ave., 503/222-1741, www.ohs.org, 10am-5pm Mon.-Sat., noon-5pm Sun., $11 adults, $9 seniors and students, $5 ages 6-18, free for Multnomah County residents) tells the rich story of the state’s Native American and settler heritage; special exhibits are mounted regularly and often focus on topics beyond local history, such as the legacy of John F. Kennedy. The combined gift shop and bookstore is a good place to pick up quality gifts.
The Portland Art Museum (1219 SW Park Ave., 503/226-2811, www.portlandartmuseum.org, 10am-5pm Tues.-Wed. and Sat.-Sun., 10am-8pm Thurs.-Fri., $20 adults, $17 students and over age 54, free under age 18, free 5pm-8pm 1st Thurs. of the month) encompasses two grand structures along the South Park Blocks, the original Pietro Belluschi-designed building from 1932 and the adjacent and imposing Portland Masonic Temple, which together offer 112,000 square feet of galleries housing 42,000 objects. Dating from 1892, it’s the oldest art museum on the West Coast and houses Oregon’s most significant art collection, including a small selection of Old Masters and Impressionists and a noteworthy Asian art collection. In 2001, the museum acquired the private collection of renowned New York art critic Clement Greenberg, which is on permanent display. The Pacific Northwest Native Art collection is excellent, and at least one major traveling exhibition is presented most of the time, usually with separate admission. A major expansion of the museum, housing paintings by native son Mark Rothko, begins construction in 2018. The Rothko Pavilion will tie together the existing museum buildings and create a new central entrance.
the Portland Art Museum
Portland is a city of readers, with the busiest library system in the United States. A landmark for bibliophiles, Multnomah County Library system’s Central Library (801 SW 10th Ave., 503/988-5123, www.multcolib.org, 10am-8pm Mon., noon-8 Tues.-Wed., 10am-6pm Thurs.-Sat., 10am-5pm Sun.) is an architecturally stunning renovation of a 1913 building designed by Albert Doyle, architect of the Benson Hotel and the U.S. National Bank Building downtown. Climb the sweeping staircases to the top floor to get a sense of the scale of this building—three stories have never seemed so monumental.
Raymond Kaskey’s Portlandia, a statue that is said to symbolize the city, ranks right behind the Statue of Liberty as the world’s largest hammered copper sculpture. Located outside Michael Graves’s postmodern Portland Building (SW 5th Ave. between Main St. and Madison St.), the crouching female figure holding a trident recreates the Lady of Commerce on the city seal. Although the birthday-cake design of the building caused much acclaim and scorn when it was built in the 1980s, it hasn’t held up well; it’s undergoing a major remodel through 2020 to address structural problems.
Tom McCall Waterfront Park is named for the governor credited with helping to reclaim Oregon’s rivers. In the early 1970s the park’s grassy shore replaced Harbor Drive, a freeway that impeded access to the Willamette River. Today, the park is frequently the scene of summer festivals, while the wide, paved riverside esplanade is a favorite for joggers, cyclists, and strolling families.
Begin your introduction to mile-long Tom McCall Waterfront Park at RiverPlace, an attractive string of restaurants, specialty shops, and boating facilities overlooking the Willamette River in the shadow of the Marquam Bridge. Follow the paved riverside walkway north to the Salmon Street Springs Fountain at the base of Salmon Street. The fountain water’s ebb and flow are meant to evoke the rhythms of the city and provide a refreshing shower on a hot day.
North along the seawall is the sternwheeler USS Portland, which houses the Oregon Maritime Center and Museum (foot of SW Pine St., 503/224-7724, www.oregonmaritimemuseum.org, 11am-4pm Wed. and Fri.-Sat., $7 adults, $5 seniors, $4 ages 13-18, $3 ages 6-12). The museum offers a window into the fascinating maritime heritage of Portland and the Columbia and Willamette River systems, and it features ship models, historic diving equipment, and other artifacts.
Farther north in the shadow of the Burnside Bridge is the home of the Portland Saturday Market and the Battleship Oregon Memorial, which commemorates the famed 1893 fighting ship; its block juts out of the grass. Also north of the Burnside Bridge, the Japanese American Historical Plaza is dedicated to the memory of those who were deported to internment camps during World War II. This is also the site of a gorgeous swath of cherry trees.
From the 1870s through the 1920s, Old Town was the heart of Victorian-era Portland. After a disastrous fire in 1873 burned Portland’s original wood-built commercial district, the city was rebuilt with multistory brick buildings, many with cast-iron facades. Iron could be cast in myriad forms, and the most popular in this period were Italianate columns with elaborate plinths and capitals. Portland has the second-largest inventory of cast-iron-fronted buildings in the country.
Portland’s original harbor area fell on hard times after commercial shipping traffic moved to docks farther downriver and passenger trains replaced boats. Today, even though there’s still a scruffy edge to Old Town, many of the city’s hottest nightclubs and bars are here. At the heart of Old Town is Skidmore Fountain (SW 1st Ave. and SW Ankeny St.). Built at great expense with a bequest from an early Portland dentist, it was intended as a source of water for “horses, men, and dogs.”
Just north of the Skidmore Fountain is the Mercy Corps Action Center (28 SW 1st Ave., 503/896-5002, www.actioncenter.org, 11am-5pm Mon.-Fri.), where you can learn about many of the projects sponsored by Mercy Corps, a Portland-based aid organization.
The crown jewel of Portland’s magnificent park system is Washington Park, which encompasses 130 acres of forest, formal gardens, and such civic institutions as the Oregon Zoo, the International Rose Test Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, and the Portland Children’s Museum. Adjacent to the park is the Hoyt Arboretum.
The park had its beginnings in 1871, and in its early years was modeled on European parks, with winding drives, shady walkways, fountains, noble statuary, formal plantings, lawns, and ornamental flower displays. To reach the park from downtown, take TriMet bus 63, with weekday service, or the MAX Light Rail Blue or Red Lines. Parking is limited, so it’s really best to avoid driving. A free summertime shuttle runs between the MAX station at the zoo and other Washington Park destinations. If you do drive, bike, or walk, take Park Place west from SW Vista Avenue and wind up the hill. The road passes a number of fountains and statues as it loops upward. From NW 23rd Avenue and Burnside, it’s about a one-mile walk to the Rose Garden and Japanese Garden.
Encompassing 4.5 acres of roses, manicured lawns, other formal gardens, and an outdoor concert venue, the International Rose Test Garden (400 SW Kingston Ave.) is wedged onto the steep slopes of the West Hills in Washington Park. In addition to intoxicating scents and incredible floral displays, the garden also offers the classic view of Portland—Mount Hood rising above the downtown office towers. Bring a camera. Today, the rose garden features over 10,000 rose bushes of 650 varieties, both old and new. A charming annex to the rose garden is the Shakespeare Garden, which includes only herbs, trees, and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays.
the International Rose Test Garden
Free tours of the rose garden (1pm daily June-Labor Day, donation) are led by trained volunteers. Meet at the sign outside the Rose Garden Store.
Just above the rose gardens are a set of tennis courts, beautifully situated beneath towering firs, and up a flight of steps is the terminus for the 30-inch narrow-gauge Washington Park and Zoo Railway, which links these two popular family destinations with a trip through Washington Park’s dense forests. Riders who take the train from the rose gardens must pay zoo admission in addition to train fare.
Just beyond the rose gardens is the Rose Garden Children’s Park, a large and elaborate play area with quite fantastic play structures.
Just up the slope from the rose gardens, the Portland Japanese Garden (611 SW Kingston Ave., 503/223-1321, www.japanesegarden.com, noon-7pm Mon., 10am-7pm Tues.-Sun. mid-Mar.-Sept., noon-4pm Mon., 10am-4pm Tues.-Sun. Oct.-mid Mar., $15 adults, $13 seniors, $12 students, $10.45 ages 6-17) is a magical five-acre Eden with tumbling water, bonsai, and elaborately manicured shrubs and trees. Winding paths link six separate gardens. Architect Kengo Kuma designed the striking on-site Cultural Village in modern Japanese style, with a courtyard and dry-stacked rock wall, a gallery, a library, and a café.
From the rose gardens, you can walk up the short but relatively steep trail to the Japanese Garden, or hop on the free open-air shuttle that runs every 15 minutes or so.
The Oregon Zoo (4001 SW Canyon Rd., 503/226-1561, www.oregonzoo.org, 9:30am-6pm daily Memorial Day-Labor Day, 9:30am-4pm daily Sept.-May, $15 ages 12-64, $13 seniors, $10 ages 3-11, $5 discount Oct.-Feb.) has exhibits representing various geographic areas of the world. A series of major expansions through 2019 will see new rhino, primate, and polar bear habitats; nearly half the zoo grounds will get an upgrade. The zoo collection contains nearly 2,000 individual animals representing 232 species. The zoo is especially noted for its elephant program, which has one of the most successful breeding programs in the world. The zoo features two year-round eating establishments, a series of educational events for children, and summertime concerts. The zoo is easily reached from the MAX Light Rail Blue and Red Lines or, on weekdays, via bus number 63 from downtown.
If you plan to visit both the zoo and the rose garden, consider linking these two family-favorite sites along the 30-inch narrow-gauge Washington Park and Zoo Railway (503/226-1561, 10:30am-5:30pm daily Memorial Day-Labor Day, weather permitting, $4, free under age 3), a two-mile trip through Washington Park’s dense forests. Since the train’s upper station is within the zoo precincts, riders who board the train at the rose gardens must also purchase admission to the zoo.
The train also runs during the holiday ZooLights season (5pm-8pm Sun.-Thurs., 5pm-8:30pm Fri.-Sat.) from the Friday after Thanksgiving through the Sunday after New Year’s Day, when you can visit the zoo with the added enhancement of a holiday display with over one million LED lights. You can also visit the zoo via public transportation or private car during the same hours.
Adjacent to the zoo is the Portland Children’s Museum (4015 SW Canyon Rd., 503/223-6500, www.portlandcm.org, 9am-5pm Fri.-Wed., 9am-8pm Thurs. Mar. 1-Labor Day, 9am-5pm Tues.-Sun. Labor Day-Feb., $10.75 adults and children, $9.75 military and over age 54), featuring events and activities for kids ages six months to 10 years.
Along the crest of the West Hills above Washington Park is Hoyt Arboretum (4000 SW Fairview Blvd., 503/865-8733, www.hoytarboretum.org, 6am-10pm daily, free), with 12 miles of trails winding through an expansive 187-acre tree garden boasting the world’s largest collection of conifers. The arboretum’s collection is made up of over 6,000 individual trees and plants that represent over 2,000 species from all corners of the globe. Most of the collection is linked by trails and labeled with botanical names. The trees throughout are presented in taxonomically organized groups: oaks are with oaks; maples are with other maples. Stop by the visitors center and pick up a trail map before setting out. A one-mile trail is paved and suitable for wheelchairs.
Northwest Portland is an entire quadrant of the city, but when most Portlanders talk about the Northwest, they are talking about a rather compact set of neighborhoods just north of downtown.
From the 1870s through the 1910s, the entire Willamette River waterfront was the city’s harbor, an extended area now called Old Town. By the 1870s, the more northerly neighborhoods of Old Town, roughly bounded by NW 2nd and 4th Avenues and Burnside and Everett Streets, became known as Chinatown, an enclave of historic redbrick buildings that was home to Chinese and Japanese immigrants.
At its peak, around 1890, Portland’s Chinatown had a population of around 5,000, second in size only to San Francisco’s. As the Chinese moved on, they were replaced by Japanese people, and Chinatown became Japantown; by 1940, Portland’s Japantown had over 100 Japanese-owned businesses and a population of some 3,500.
Portland’s thriving Japanese community came to a sudden end in 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, leading to the evacuation and internment of thousands of Japanese American citizens. Almost overnight, Japantown became a ghost town. Chinese businesses moved back in, and the area once again became known as Chinatown; but in many ways, this neighborhood has never recovered. Today’s Asian community in Portland is along SE 82nd Avenue.
Wandering the streets of Old Town and Chinatown late at night is probably not a good idea, but traveling safely to and from the restaurants and clubs is simple. Taxis are easy to find in this entertainment hotbed; MAX Light Rail trains run along 1st, 5th, and 6th Avenues; and buses pass along 5th and 6th Avenues and on Everett Street.
For insights into Portland’s Japanese community and the wartime internment, visit the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center (121 NW 2nd Ave., 503/224-1458, www.oregonnikkei.org, 11am-3pm Tues.-Sat., noon-3pm Sun., $5 adults, $3 students and seniors), in the heart of old Japantown; it is one of the most fascinating small museums in Portland.
Presented as a gesture of goodwill from the Chinese community to the city of Portland, the colorful Chinatown Gate (W. Burnside St. and SW 4th Ave.) is the largest of its kind in the United States and marks the entrance to historic Chinatown. Dedicated in 1986, the Chinatown Gate comprises five roofs, 64 dragons, and two huge lions.
Colorful in a different way, the Lan Su Chinese Garden (239 NW Everett St., 503/228-8131, www.lansugarden.org, 10am-7pm daily Apr.-Oct., 10am-5pm daily Nov.-Mar., $10 adults, $9 seniors, $7 ages 6-18 and college students) is a formal Chinese garden built in the style of the Ming Dynasty. The block-square green space is the result of a joint effort between two famed gardening centers, Portland and its Chinese sister city, Suzhou. Over 60 landscape designers and craftspeople from Suzhou lived and worked in Portland for a year to complete the gardens, which are the largest traditional Chinese gardens in the United States. Nearly all the materials and tools used were also brought from China, including roof and floor tiles, all of the hand-carved woodwork, the latticed windows, and over 500 tons of Swiss cheese-like Taihu granite boulders. A tea shop keeps the same hours as the gardens and is a delightful spot for a light lunch.
The Lan Su Chinese Garden is a quiet spot in the middle of busy Old Town.
To the north, Old Town and Chinatown ends at Union Station (800 NW 6th Ave.), the glorious Italianate rail station that still serves as Portland’s Amtrak depot. The station has been in continuous use since it was built in 1896 and is the second-oldest still-operating train station in the country. With its terra-cotta tile roof and 150-foot campanile with a four-sided Seth Thomas clock, this is one of Portland’s most beloved landmarks.
A former warehouse district, the Pearl District is lined with upscale condos, home decor boutiques, fine restaurants, and art galleries. A good place to begin your exploration is along NW 10th and 11th Avenues. Powell’s Books (W. Burnside St. and 10th Ave.) is one of the nation’s largest bookstores and a classic place for Portlanders to spend rainy weekend afternoons. Continuing north on 11th Avenue, you pass the castellated Gerding Theater (128 NW 11th Ave.), a former armory and home to Portland Center Stage. If you’re looking to decorate your home, the myriad furniture and decor stores along NW Glisan Street between 10th and 14th Avenues ought to provide inspiration.
Farther north is Jamison Square (bounded by NW 10th Ave., 11th Ave., Johnson St., and Kearney St.), a public park with a fountain that’s a favorite destination for the neighborhood’s children to get wet and cool down. Three blocks north is quieter Tanner Springs Park, which recalls the wetland that once covered the Pearl District.
From downtown, the Pearl District is easily reached on the Portland Streetcar, which travels along NW 10th and 11th Avenues.
Sometimes referred to as Nob Hill, the lovely Victorian neighborhoods around NW 21st and 23rd Avenues represent an island of upscale dining and shopping. Victorian homes have been remodeled into boutiques to join stylish clothing shops, restaurants, bars, and theaters. Generally speaking, NW 21st Avenue has the greater number of restaurants, while NW 23rd Avenue has more shops—a mix of upper-end locally owned boutiques and national chains.
Coffee shops and unique little stores are abundant, and on a nice day, the streets are absolutely thronged with intriguing-looking people. Street parking can be difficult to find in Northwest Portland; if you’re coming from downtown or the Pearl District, consider taking the Portland Streetcar, which crosses both NW 21st and 23rd Avenues along Marshall and Lovejoy Streets.
From the bloody Frankenstein dummy dozing in a wheelchair outside the entrance to the creepy fake-alien dolls, Bigfoot exhibit, and gross-out ice cream sundaes (“Crime Scene Massacre,” anybody?), the Peculiarium (2234 NW Thurman St., 503/227-3164, www.peculiarium.com, 11am-6pm Tues.-Thurs., 11am-8pm Fri.-Sat., 11am-7pm Sun., $5, free with “decent costumes”) does its bit to keep Portland weird. Even weirder, it’s right around the corner from tony 23rd Avenue.
Occupying a 1,000-foot promontory on 46 acres in the West Hills is Pittock Mansion (3229 NW Pittock Dr., 503/823-3623, http://pittockmansion.org, 11am-4pm daily Feb.-May and Sept.-Dec., 10am-5pm daily June-Labor Day, $10 adults, $9 seniors, $7 ages 6-18), a grand 1914 home built by the then editor of the Oregonian newspaper. The 22-room mansion was designed to contemporary tastes and is a showcase of early-20th-century style and design. Guided tours of the mansion are available, but it’s also worth the trip up to this pinnacle vantage point simply to enjoy the lush gardens, the fabulous views of Portland and the Cascades, and the easy access to Forest Park’s Wildwood Trail (bring a picnic).
North and Northeast Portland cover an enormous area, all the way from East Burnside Street north to the Columbia River, and from the Willamette River east to beyond Portland’s airport. However, for visitors, the quadrant’s main draws are the inner Northeast neighborhoods directly across from downtown as well as a handful of districts that represent the outposts of Portland’s DIY nation.
Just east of Old Town, across the Willamette River, is the Lloyd District. Named for Lloyd Center—Oregon’s first shopping mall, which lies in the district’s middle—it is basically an extension of downtown, with towering office buildings, major public buildings, sports stadiums, convention facilities, and a number of midrange hotels. The monumental Oregon Convention Center (777 NE M. L. King Jr. Blvd., 503/235-7575, www.oregoncc.org) is easy to spot, with its twin glass steeples. Encompassing nearly 20 square blocks, this massive structure is the largest convention facility in the Pacific Northwest.
Of all the metro areas in the United States, Portland is arguably the City of Bridges, with 13 on the Willamette and two on the Columbia. The three oldest—the Broadway, Steel, and Hawthorne—were built before World War I. Bridge fans can also revel in the broad array of types on view; all were designed by the preeminent engineers of their day. Many of the Willamette River crossings are illuminated at night by strategically placed floodlights, adding yet another pleasing visual dimension. The two spans of the Steel Bridge (1912) can be raised and lowered independently. The lovely St. John’s Bridge (1931) is the only steel suspension bridge in Portland and one of only three suspension bridges in Oregon.
From the newest, the Tilikum Crossing (2015), to the oldest, the Hawthorne Bridge (1910), downtown bridges are 0.3 miles from each other and are, for the most part, safe and accessible for bicyclists and pedestrians; only the I-5 Marquam and I-405 Fremont Bridges are off-limits to nonmotorized vehicles and pedestrians.
the Tilikum Crossing
All of these destinations are easily reached by the MAX Light Rail Red and Blue Lines and the eastside Portland Streetcar. On the north edge of Lloyd District is NE Broadway, a major arterial linking the northeast residential neighborhoods with downtown Portland via the Broadway Bridge (take bus 17 from downtown).
Once a thriving commercial strip, by the late 1980s Alberta Street had become a symbol of neglect, redlining, drug dealing, and gang activity. A decade later, the surrounding neighborhood was among the most rapidly gentrifying in the country, with all the change that entails. Nowadays Alberta Street, between NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and NE 33rd Avenue, is known to a new generation as a trendy arts district and a center for drinking and fine dining, perhaps the closest thing you’ll find in Portland to a Latin Quarter of bohemian artists, cafés, bars, and bonhomie.
Part of the charm of Alberta Street is that it hasn’t been razed and remade; there are still barbershops and body shops, storefront churches and comfortably seedy bars amid all the new construction and renovation. Alberta Street is also home to several art galleries, which play host along with studios and street vendors to thousands of revelers the last Thursday evening of every month for the Art Walk, otherwise known as Last Thursday.
The best way to get to Alberta Street by public transport is by bus 6, which crosses Alberta Street on NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, or bus 8, which crosses Alberta Street on NE 15th Avenue. Once on Alberta Street, take bus 72, which travels on Alberta between NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and NE 30th Avenue.
When you think of Portland, do you conjure images of a slightly stoned hippie utopia? Or do you envision mobs of 20-something hipsters flashing tattoos and piercings in a slacker coffeehouse? Rest assured that both stereotypes are alive and well—in fact thriving—in Southeast Portland.
The inner Southeast is a gentrifying warehouse district flanked to the east by Portland’s most alternative neighborhoods. Centered on SE Hawthorne Boulevard, these Victorian residential neighborhoods are still home to Portland’s Youth Culture, even though some of these folks are reaching retirement age. To the graying hippies, add in a thick overlay of Goth kids, gays and lesbians, and street musicians, and you’ve got a people-watching nexus. The Southeast quadrant stretches east across leafy neighborhoods filled with antique mansions to busy SE 82nd Avenue, the hub of today’s immigrant Asian community. Two of Portland’s greatest parks are in Southeast Portland—one designed by the famed Olmsted firm a century ago, the other situated on the only extinct volcano in a U.S. city—along with some of the city’s most critically acclaimed independent restaurants.
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI, 1945 SE Water Ave., 503/797-4000, www.omsi.edu, 9:30am-7pm daily late June-Labor Day, 9:30am-5:30pm Tues.-Sun. Labor Day-late June, 9:30am-5:30pm school-holiday Mon., $14 adults, $10.75 seniors, $9.75 ages 3-13, parking $5) is a family-oriented hands-on interactive museum with five exhibit halls and eight science labs, making it one of the largest science and natural history museums in North America. The museum’s 18.5-acre riverfront campus also features an OmniMax Theater with a five-story-high domed screen ($7 adults, $6 seniors and youth), the Pacific Northwest’s largest planetarium ($5.75), and the USS Blueback (503/797-4624, www.omsi.edu/submarine, tours $6.75), the last fast-attack diesel-powered submarine built by the U.S. Navy, now moored just west of OMSI in the Willamette River. Special exhibits, such as a Pompeii exhibit featuring artifacts and a 4-D representation of the volcanic eruption, can be real treats, though extra fees, which vary, can nearly double the cost of admission. OMSI also offers a variety of kids camps and classes during the summer. The Portland Streetcar’s CL Line stops at OMSI, and it’s at the east end of the car-free Tilikum Crossing bridge.
The new Oregon Rail Heritage Center (2250 SE Water Ave., 503/233-1156, www.orhf.org, 1pm-5pm Thurs.-Sun., free) focuses on the railroad history of Portland and Oregon, with displays of old-time engines and rolling stock and 45-minute rides ($10 adults, $5 children, Sat. Jan.-Nov.) on vintage Oregon Pacific Railroad trains to Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and back.
Portland has a longtime reputation as an enclave of hippie lifestyles and a hotbed of progressive politics, and if that’s the Portland you’d like to explore, come to the neighborhoods along SE Hawthorne Boulevard. The idealistic early 1970s haven’t aged much around here. Stores purveying fine coffees, secondhand clothing, antiques, and books join cafés and galleries recalling the hip enclaves of Berkeley, California, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. A dense concentration of these establishments on Hawthorne Boulevard between 30th and 50th Avenues is catnip for a friendly population of idealists both young and old; take bus 14.
Just a few blocks south of SE Hawthorne Boulevard is SE Division Street, another strip of hip enterprises thick with bars, restaurants, and coffee shops. One major hub is at D Street Village at SE 30th Avenue, where you’ll find some of the city’s best casual dining and a few shops; take bus 4.
Until 1909, the land that would become Laurelhurst Park (SE 39th Ave. and Stark St.)—one of the most beautiful and beloved of Portland’s many parks—was part of the then mayor’s stock farms, and blue-ribbon cows drank from the property’s small spring-fed lake. The city bought 30 acres of the farmland to create Laurelhurst Park based on plans drawn up by the Olmstead Brothers for the development of Portland’s parks. The original watering hole was enlarged and deepened into a small lake, and the rest of the park was divided into a series of distinct sections. In 2001 the park was put on the National Register of Historic Places, the first city park ever listed. The south side has tennis, volleyball, and basketball courts; nearby is a large playground.
Mount Tabor Park (SE 60th Ave. and Salmon St.) rises above Southeast Portland, and its distinctive cone shape reveals its primary attribute: The park contains the country’s only extinct volcano within the city limits of a major population center. Roping in nearly 200 acres, Mount Tabor Park is large enough to offer several miles of hiking trails and a large off-leash dog park. During July, you can catch free Wednesday-evening concerts at a natural amphitheater. A looping road leads to the summit.
Ten-acre Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden (SE 28th Ave. and Woodstock Blvd., daily 6am-10pm daily) is a colorful place mid-April-June, when some 600 varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas, represented by about 2,500 individual specimens, are in bloom. The floral display peaks in mid-May; strolling the woodland trails on Mother’s Day is a Portland tradition. An admission fee ($5) is charged during peak blooming season (10am-6pm Wed.-Sun. March-Labor Day).
Portland is famous for more park acreage per capita than any other major U.S. city—more than 37,000 acres are preserved as parkland, with 8 percent of the city’s area devoted to public recreational venues. Portland Parks and Recreation (503/823-7529, www.portlandparks.org) operates the city’s 250 parks.
A 2.8-mile loop trail rings the Willamette River in the heart of Portland, linking two bridges and Waterfront Park with a floating walkway on the river’s eastern bank. The trail can be accessed at many points; to follow the loop clockwise from downtown, walk the riverfront embankment trail north through Waterfront Park to the Steel Bridge. Cross the lower span of the bridge, a pedestrian- and cyclists-only crossing called the Steel Bridge RiverWalk.
On the east side of the Willamette, the trail heads south, dropping onto the Eastbank Esplanade, about half of which is a floating walkway (at 1,200 feet, the longest in the country) and the rest a paved path along the riverbank. At the Hawthorne Bridge, climb up the stairs and cross the bridge to downtown, completing the loop. Or add a couple more miles to your walk or ride by continuing south and crossing on the car-free Tilikum Crossing bridge.
The largest urban wilderness in the United States, with over 5,100 acres and 70 miles of trails, Forest Park stretches along the crest of Portland’s West Hills. It is 8.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. As much a statement of Portland’s priorities and values as a leafy refuge for hikers, joggers, and cyclists, Forest Park is home to an abundance of wildlife (more than 112 bird and 62 mammal species, including bears, elk, deer, and cougars), all found just minutes from the urban center.
For hikers, the park’s centerpiece is 30-mile Wildwood Trail, which links various parklands in the West Hills with Forest Park. The southern end of the trail starts just past the Vietnam Veterans of Oregon Memorial near the Oregon Zoo. From here it runs through Washington Park and Hoyt Arboretum and past Pittock Mansion. At Cornell Road, the trail crosses the edge of the Audubon Sanctuary (5151 NW Cornell Rd., 503/292-6855, www.audubonportland.org, dawn-dusk daily, free), where the Audubon Society of Portland administers a 148-acre nature preserve that is a showcase for native flora and fauna, with four miles of forested hiking trails in the verdant West Hills.
The Wildwood Trail runs for 30 miles through Forest Park.
From the Audubon Sanctuary, the Wildwood Trail enters Forest Park and runs north for another 22 miles. The trail can be accessed at the points described above or at several more northerly trailheads, including the western end of NW Upshur Street at Macleay Park, and the end of NW Thurman Street (the Thurman Street bus, number 15, from downtown stops about 0.25 miles downhill from this entrance to the park).
The only Oregon state park within the metro area, 645-acre Tryon Creek State Park (11321 SW Terwilliger Blvd., 503/636-9886, http://oregonstateparks.org) offers a nature center and eight miles of trails in a vernal woodland setting. Cyclists bike along the paved trail on the park’s eastern edge. The park’s many events include summer day camps for kids, guided nature walks, and special activities; for a list of events, go to www.tryonfriends.org. Streamside wildlife includes beavers and songbirds. In late March there are wondrous displays of trilliums, a wild marsh lily. To reach the park, take I-5’s exit 297 south of Portland, follow SW Terwilliger Boulevard for 2.5 miles past Lewis and Clark College, and watch for signs for the park.
Portland has twice been selected by Bicycling magazine as the most bike-friendly city in the nation, and indeed the city has a comprehensive infrastructure devoted to cycling. Unless you’re from Amsterdam, you’ll be amazed at the number of people who get around Portland on bikes.
The website of the City of Portland’s Office of Transportation (www.portlandoregon.gov) lists up-to-date information for cyclists. Keep up on local cycling issues at Bike Portland (http://bikeportland.org), an excellent bike blog; find fun rides and details on Pedalpalooza (http://shift2bikes.org) events, held throughout June. An indispensable map called Bike There!, published by the government agency Metro, is sold at bike shops and bookstores across town and is available online (www.oregonmetro.gov).
Not all bridges are recommended for cyclists. A river-level foot-and-bike bridge forms the lower deck of the Steel Bridge and connects Waterfront Park and downtown to the Eastbank Esplanade; otherwise, the Hawthorne, Broadway, and Burnside Bridges are best, although bikes must share sidewalks with pedestrians. The new Tilikum Crossing bridge is dedicated to cyclists, pedestrians, and public transportation. TriMet buses have bike racks mounted on the front of every bus, and bikes are allowed on the MAX trains and the Portland Streetcar.
For a recreational ride that’s almost entirely on bike paths, check out the 16.8-mile Springwater Corridor, a bike thoroughfare built on a reclaimed rail line from the east base of the Tilikum Crossing bridge through Gresham to Boring. Views of Mount Hood abound along much of the route, which has easy access to Leach Botanical Gardens, Powell Butte, and other worthy detours.
An easy choice for mountain bikers is Leif Erikson Road in Forest Park. From the park gate at the end of NW Thurman Street, the dirt road is closed to motor vehicles; it’s a steady but gentle six-mile climb through mature forest to the junction at Salzman Road, and another six miles to the trail’s end at Germantown Road. Bikes are not allowed on the park’s hiking trails, but they can go on selected steep fire lanes, as marked by signs.
North of Portland at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers is Sauvie Island (http://sauvieisland.org), a perfectly flat island where farms and truck gardens share space with wildlife refuges. The island’s 12-mile loop road is a scenic delight reminiscent of rural France. Sauvie Island is 10 miles north of Portland, off U.S. 30.
Although bike sharing took a while to come to Portland, it’s now easy to pick up an orange (sometimes white) Biketown bike (www.biketownpdx.com, $2.50 per 30-minute trip, $12 per day). Sign up online, via the mobile app, or at a Biketown station kiosk, located every few blocks around the central city area. Take care to test ride the bike in a quiet area before heading out into traffic; they’re a little clunky to ride and may handle quite differently than your normal ride. When you’re done riding, lock it up at any station.
biking the Eastbank Esplanade
It’s no problem to rent a bike from a shop, either, and with this option you’ll also get a helmet (you have to supply your own with Biketown bikes); average rates run $35-60 for a 24-hour rental, depending on the model. Convenient to Waterfront Park and with a large rental fleet is Waterfront Bikes (10 SW Ash St., 503/227-1719, www.waterfrontbikes.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Fri., 9am-6pm Sat.-Sun.). On the way to Forest Park trails is Fat Tire Farm (2714 NW Thurman St., 503/222-3276, www.fattirefarm.com, 11am-7pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-6pm Sat., noon-5pm Sun.). Just east of the Hawthorne Bridge, Clever Cycles (900 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/334-1560, http://clevercycles.com, 11am-6pm Mon.-Fri., 11am-5pm Sat.-Sun.) rents Brompton folding bikes, cargo bikes, and electric-assist bikes. At Pedal Bike Tours (133 SW 2nd Ave., 503/243-2453, www.pedalbiketours.com, 9am-6pm daily), you can rent a bike or join a tour around town (possibly focusing on food carts or brewpubs) or out to the Columbia Gorge.
To the far south of the Southeast district, the Sellwood neighborhood offers access to wetlands along the Willamette River. Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge (SE 7th Ave. and Sellwood Blvd., www.portlandonline.com, 5am-midnight daily) is a 163-acre area of woods, open fields, and wetlands. This is a popular spot for birders, since it attracts some 125 species of birds, including blue herons, red-tailed hawks, and eight species of warblers. To explore the bottoms, hike down the bluff from the parking lot at the north end of Sellwood Park.
Just a little farther afield is Sauvie Island, home to over 250 bird species, including lots of bald eagles, migrating ducks and other waterfowl, nesting great blue herons and ospreys, and a variety of raptors. One nice hike that has varied marsh, river, lake, and forested habitats is the Wapato Access State Greenway. To reach this trail turn left off the bridge and follow Sauvie Island Road about three miles to the parking area.
The top inner-city destination for climbers is Portland Rock Gym (21 NE 12th Ave., 503/232-8310, http://portlandrockgym.com, 7am-11pm Mon.-Fri., 9am-9pm Sat., 9am-6pm Sun.), with a 12,000-square-foot climbing area, 40-foot top-rope and lead walls, and a large bouldering area. A day pass ($17 adults, $9 seniors, $12 under age 14) includes unlimited access to the climbing gym and workout room.
If you’re tempted to get out onto the Willamette River, take a tour or rent a sea kayak, paddleboard, or canoe from Portland Kayak Company (6600 SW Macadam Ave., 503/459-4050, www.portlandkayak.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Fri., 9am-6pm Sat., 9am-5pm Sun., $14-22 per hour, 2-hour minimum) on the west side of the Willamette River near Willamette Park. Three-hour beginner-friendly tours around Ross Island leave from RiverPlace Marina (1816 SW River Dr., 10am and 2pm daily, $49); on these tours, paddlers have a chance to see great blue herons and, oftentimes, ospreys and eagles.
About 30 minutes northwest of town, past Sauvie Island, the Next Adventure Scappoose Bay Paddle Center (57420 Old Portland Rd., Warren, 503/397-2161, www.nextadventure.net, 8am-6pm daily) rents kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards from a marina on a quiet backwater of the Columbia River ($16-27 per hour). On an easygoing three-hour kayak tour ($50) of the area’s wetlands, you’re pretty much guaranteed to see wildlife.
Public beaches and swimming along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers are popular in summer. Poet’s Beach, a short walk south of the RiverPlace Marina (1816 SW River Dr.), is easy to get to from downtown. Sellwood Riverfront Park, at the east end of the Sellwood Bridge, is a good place for a picnic and a wade in the Willamette River; there’s also an outdoor pool in Sellwood Park (7951 SE 7th Ave., 503/823-3679). Strong swimmers can join the River Huggers (www.humanaccessproject.com) for regular summertime swims in the Willamette, right in the heart of the city.
Ten miles north of Portland, the beaches along the east side of Sauvie Island are popular; they are reached from U.S. 30. Once on the island, nude sunbathing becomes more the norm the farther north you go along its beaches. If you’re headed up the Columbia River Gorge, Rooster Rock State Park (I-84, exit 25) has three miles of sandy beaches on the Columbia River, with the easternmost beaches being clothing-optional.
Portland Parks and Recreation runs a couple of exceptionally good golf courses, with peak rates topping out at $40-45. Heron Lakes (3500 N. Victory Blvd., 503/289-1818, http://heronlakesgolf.com) is the premier public golf facility, with 36 holes (the Greenback and Great Blue courses), a grass driving range, and good short-game practice areas. The two courses offer varying challenges for different greens fees. The easier and shorter Greenback is good for beginners and moderate players, though it doesn’t drain as well. The more challenging and costlier Great Blue, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., is better manicured and drains better in wet weather.
Eastmoreland Golf Course (2425 SE Bybee Blvd., 503/775-2900, www.eastmorelandgolfcourse.com) is Oregon’s second-oldest course and one of the most beautiful. Located near Reed College in Southeast Portland, the 100-year-old and lengthy (6,529 yards) 18-hole course is lined with statuesque trees and gardens. Eastmoreland features a two-tier driving range, a pro shop, and a full bar and restaurant. The course was designed by former U.S. amateur champion H. Chandler Egan, who later helped redesign Pebble Beach Golf Links in the early 1900s.
Portland is more a town for athletes than for devotees of spectator sports. Nonetheless, a couple of professional sports teams have ardent fans. Directly across the Willamette River from downtown in Northeast Portland, the Rose Quarter area is home to two of Portland’s sports stadia. The larger and newer is the Rose Garden Arena (east end of the Steel Bridge, 503/235-8771, www.rosequarter.com), which is home to pro basketball’s Portland Trailblazers. While most seats are reserved for season ticket holders, some are available at Ticketmaster outlets or through the box office (503/797-9619). Of course, there are always the offerings on Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) and the scalpers who may be found beyond a four-block radius of the Rose Garden. You can also buy tickets directly from the Blazers website (www.nba.com/blazers). Regular season play is October-April.
Adjacent to the Rose Garden Arena is the 12,000-seat Memorial Coliseum (1401 N. Wheeler Ave., 503/235-8771), which hosts concerts and sporting events, including those of the Winter Hawks (503/238-6366, www.winterhawks.com), a minor-league ice-hockey team. Both venues are easily reached on the Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue MAX trains (get off at the Rose Quarter Transit Center).
Across the river, Providence Park (1844 SW Morrison St., 503/553-5400, www.timbers.com) is home to pro soccer’s Portland Timbers. The stadium’s 20,000 seats are usually filled, with a substantial number occupied by the Timbers Army, an enthusiastic legion of green-scarfed fans. The Portland Thorns (www.timbers.com/thornsfc), owned by the same franchise, is Portland’s National Women’s Soccer League team and also plays at Providence Park stadium. Tickets for all of these teams’ games are available through Ticketmaster (800/277-1700, www.ticketmaster.com).
As Portland has grown in recent years, its arts scene has become more diverse and sophisticated. The traditional institutions of symphony, opera, and classical ballet are strong, and contemporary dance and theater are represented by eclectic and adventurous companies. In addition to these listings, there’s an active summer festival itinerary that includes the superb Chamber Music Northwest series, Portland Opera’s summer performances, and blues and jazz festivals.
In Portland, bars are allowed to stay open until 2:30am, though few do so on weekdays, while brewpubs often close earlier. During the week, most places close at midnight or 1am, though may stay open later if there’s entertainment. If there’s live music, cover charges usually kick in at 9pm.
Portland has a full-bodied live music and club scene: On any given night, some 300 clubs offer live music, and with typical Portland character, what you’ll find in these venues is often a bit different than you might expect. In addition to live music and dancing, you’ll also find lots of theme nights, often accompanied by a combination of cabaret, performance art, magic, and burlesque—think Cabaret’s Kit Kat Klub. These unscripted evenings provide diverting entertainment.
Much of the nightlife is concentrated in a few easily reached neighborhoods, most with safe and dependable public transportation. Pick up a copy or check the websites of Willamette Week or the Portland Mercury, two free weeklies that follow the music and nightlife scene closely. Most music events in bars are restricted to ages 21 and older. Cover charges, $5-10 in most nightclubs, are frequently levied, though there’s often no cover charge for live music early in the week or even early in the evening. Also note that smoking is not permitted in Oregon bars, though nudity is: Because of Oregon’s liberal laws regarding nudity, Portland is home to many strip clubs.
Portland, also known as Beervana, is the epicenter of the craft brewing revival in North America, boasting more breweries than any other city in the world—105 were in operation at last count.
All brewpubs are required to serve food, and many double as restaurants. This means that in almost all cases, families are welcome in brewpubs within dining hours and sometimes in designated nonbar areas. Portland brewpubs come in all shapes and sizes, from garden tents to converted warehouses to funeral chapels. Locally brewed beer is one of the pillars of Portland life—cheers!
Portland’s first microbrewery, BridgePort Brewing (1313 NW Marshall St., 503/241-3612, www.bridgeportbrew.com, 11:30am-10pm Sun.-Wed., 11:30am-11 Thurs.-Sat., 11:30am-10pm Sun.), started out in an old rope factory in the then-derelict Pearl District. It’s no longer on the cutting edge, but it’s still worth stopping in for pint of the Ebenezer or a fresh-hopped IPA.
Oregonians shrieked when 10 Barrel (1411 NW Flanders St., 503/224-1700, www.10barrel.com, 11am-11pm Sun.-Thurs., 11am-midnight Fri.-Sat.) was sold to Anheuser-Busch, but almost immediately thereafter a Pearl District branch of this Bend brewery opened, and there’s rarely been an open seat on the rooftop deck since. Come by for an Apocalypse IPA. A poblano-laced farro salad ($12) goes with beer just as well as the pizza and burgers offered.
Right across the street is Rogue Distillery & Public House (1339 NW Flanders St., 503/222-5910, www.rogue.com, 11am-12:30am Mon.-Thurs., 11am-1:30am Fri.-Sat., 11am-10:30pm Sun.), a Portland outlet of Rogue Brewing in Newport. Most of the elixirs here are wonderful, but check out the Maibock-style Dead Guy Ale and St. Rogue Red.
Although its headquarters is in Bend, Deschutes Brewery’s Portland Public House (210 NW 11th Ave., 503/296-4906, www.deschutesbrewery.com, 11am-11pm Sun.-Thurs., 11am-midnight Fri.-Sat.), in the midst of the Pearl District, is large and well located. While much of the space is dedicated to restaurant service, there’s also a large bar area for these local brewing gods, creators of the classic Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Black Butte Porter. This is a great place to come before or after a play at neighboring Portland Center Stage.
If your local pub has a children’s play area, you know you must be in Portland. Laurelwood Public House & Brewery (5115 NE Sandy Blvd., 503/282-0622, www.laurelwoodbrewpub.com, 11am-10pm Mon.-Tues., 11am-11pm Wed.-Thurs., 11am-11pm Fri., 10am-11pm Sat., 10am-10pm Sun.) is a family-friendly brewpub with restaurant-quality food and Workhorse IPA, a favorite of many Portlanders, in Northeast Portland’s Hollywood district.
For our 2017 eclipse camping trip, there was only one beer to bring, and it came from Ecliptic Brewing (825 N. Cook St., 503/265-8002, www.eclipticbrewing.com, 11am-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 11am-11pm Fri.-Sat.), where the brewer is as passionate about astronomy as he is about beer (and he’s worked for Oregon’s best breweries and developed some of their finest beers). Although the outside tables at this spot just off busy North Mississippi Avenue are warm-weather destinations, step inside to check out the lighting fixture describing the earth’s path.
Ecliptic Brewing is right off North Mississippi Avenue.
At Breakside Brewery (820 NE Dekum St., 503/719-6475, www.breakside.com, 11:30am-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 11:30am-11pm Fri.-Sat.), Portlanders prove they can drink something besides IPA; the pilsner here is excellent. Food is also good, but if you want something more, there’s a good Italian restaurant in the old fire station across the street. Breakside also has a large brewpub in Northwest Portland (1570 NW 22nd Ave., 503/444-7597, 11am-11pm Sun.-Thurs., 11am-midnight Fri.-Sat.).
Hopworks Urban Brewery (2944 SE Powell Blvd., 503/232-4647, http://hopworksbeer.com, 11am-11pm Sun.-Thurs., 11am-midnight Fri.-Sat.), or HUB, is about as Portland as you can get; it’s an “ecopub” combining a bicycle theme with good beer and pizza. Along one of the city’s busiest bike corridors, find Hopworks’ Bike Bar (3947 N. Williams Ave., 503/287-6258), where bike frames from local custom builders are displayed over the bar. The atmosphere is great, but the beer is even better.
Most beers made in Portland are strongly hopped, but there’s starting to be a trend toward sour beers, such as the summer gose you’ll find at Cascade Brewing Barrel House (939 SE Belmont St., 503/265-8603, http://cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com, noon-11pm Sun.-Thurs., noon-midnight Fri.-Sat.).
Hair of the Dog Brewing Company (61 SE Yamhill St., 503/232-6585, www.hairofthedog.com, 11:30am-10pm Tues.-Sat., 11:30am-8pm Sun.), famous for its commitment to unusual and high-alcohol beers that are meant to be aged and drunk like fine wines, does serve up a wide range of beers with lower alcohol content, from Little Dog Fred (3.5% ABV) to Adam from the Wood (12% ABV).
A huge outdoor patio with a fire pit is one reason to visit Wayfinder (304 SE 2nd Ave., 503/708-2337, www.wayfinder.beer, 11am-11pm Sun.-Wed., 11am-midnight Thurs.-Sat.), tucked down into the old warehouse district just south of the Burnside Bridge. Another reason is the beer, brewed by an alum of Hood River’s Double Mountain. And then there’s the food—ranging from vegan sweet-potato hash to chicken schnitzel or grilled trout. It’s one of Portland’s best new pubs.
A longtime favorite of the Southeast Portland crowds is Lucky Labrador Brewing Company (915 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/236-3555, 11am-midnight Mon.-Sat., noon-10pm Sun.). This former sheet-metal warehouse is a comfortable and unpretentious place—slip on your flip-flops, bring your dog, and head down to the large shady patio for some brews.
Portland is a nightlife kind of city, with bars everywhere. It’s never difficult to find places to drink, but here’s a primer on some of the city’s best bars.
The most sought-after bar stools in Portland are at the Multnomah Whisk{e}y Library (1124 SW Alder, 503/954-1381, www.mwlpdx.com, 4pm-midnight Mon.-Thurs., 4pm-1am Fri.-Sat.), an ornate, membership-driven bar with an extensive collection of liquors: This library has some 1,500 bottles on its shelves, almost 1,000 of them whiskies. The bar room is attractive and clubby, and the service top-notch. Nonmembers can have a drink at the street-level bar or ask if there’s room in the library up the stairs; at night, the lines can be long.
In the hip Ace Hotel, Clyde Common (1014 SW Stark St., 503/228-3333, www.clydecommon.com, 3pm-midnight daily) is where young downtown execs enjoy handcrafted cocktails and nicely curated local ales in a bright, bustling bar. There’s quite a different vibe in the Ace’s other bar, Pépé Le-Moko (407 SW 10th, 503/546-8537, http://pepelemokopdx.com, 4pm-2:30am daily), a tiny subterranean speakeasy-type joint with classic cocktails, oysters on the half shell, and the sense of traveling back in time to the 1920s.
In the Pearl District, the Teardrop Lounge (1015 NW Everett St., 503/445-8019, www.teardroplounge.com, 4pm-close daily) is a small and stylish see-and-be-seen bar where creative drinks are crafted from handmade elixirs, hard-to-find liquors, and tinctures of a local variety. Everything is sourced locally.
One of Northeast Portland’s top cocktail bars is Expatriate (5424 NE 30th Ave., 503/867-5309, 5pm-midnight daily), a moody candlelit lounge with a romantic travel theme. Drinks are excellent, and the Asian fusion snacks are from recipes of Naomi Pomeroy, the award-winning chef whose Beast restaurant is just across the street.
Along a humdrum stretch of NE Broadway is Portland’s top tiki bar, Hale Pele (2733 NE Broadway, 503/662-8454, 4pm-midnight Sun.-Thurs., 4pm-1am Fri.-Sat.), a hole-in-the-wall decorated with shrunken heads, puffer-fish lights, and a smoking volcano. The tropical-themed drinks are delicious, and the collection of rums is formidable.
There’s a cluster of bars in inner Southeast Portland (near the east end of the Morrison Bridge, just across the river from downtown) where you can stumble from bar to excellent bar and have a completely different experience in each. Here are some favorites. Bit House Saloon (727 SE Grand Ave., 503/954-3913, www.bithousesaloon.com, 3pm-2:30am daily) is a large and rollicking redbrick bar with a nice patio. The specialties here are barrel-stored spirits poured through a tap system and highfalutin cocktails both fresh-squeezed and draft-style. Across the street is Kachka (720 SE Grand Ave., 503/235-0059, http://kachkapdx.com, 4pm-midnight daily), with vodka flights and delicious Russian snacks. One block farther east is Trifecta Tavern (726 SE 6th Ave., 503/841-6675, http://trifectapdx.com, 5pm-9pm Mon., 5pm-10pm Tues.-Thurs., 4pm-11pm Fri.-Sat., 4pm-9pm Sun.), an excellent bakery and restaurant with a bar up front. The cocktails are updated classics, accompanied by fresh oysters, thin-sliced American hams, and wonderful breads.
Of the dozens of McMenamins locations in Portland, the Back Stage Bar (3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/236-9234, 4pm-1:30am Mon.-Thurs., 4pm-2:30am Fri., noon-2:30am Sat., noon-1:30am Sun.) is the most amazing. At the front of the building is the Bagdad Theater, a former vaudeville hall converted to a pub-movie theater. In the old days, when the painted scrims and backdrops that set the scene for its live song-and-dance routines weren’t in use, they were hung in the Back Stage, a seven-story curtain storehouse directly behind the theater. Today’s Back Stage Bar makes the most of this narrow towering space. On the ground floor is the handsome bar and pool tables, but catwalks and staircases lead to secluded spots tucked into the walls. And there’s nothing like a bar with a seven-story-high ceiling to start a conversation.
The Crow Bar (3954 N. Mississippi Ave., 503/280-7099, 3pm-2am daily) feels comfortable and slightly old-fashioned, a narrow space with exposed redbrick, high ceilings, and a long wooden bar. However, the crowds are anything but old-fashioned—this is a favorite watering hole for the many 20- and 30-somethings who have refashioned the adjoining North Portland neighborhoods in their image.
Gold Dust Meridian (3267 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/239-1143, http://golddustmeridian.com, 2pm-2:30am daily) started out as a 1960s-era accountant’s office, which it remained until it was transformed into a swank temple of drink. This is a lively spot, with a pool table, good cocktails, and a high-energy vibe. The young, attractive crowd, chatting above blaring techno-pop, is easy on the eyes as well.
You don’t have to drink to have fun at Ground Kontrol (115 NW 5th Ave., 503/796-9364, http://groundkontrol.com, noon-2am daily), a fantastically popular video game and pinball arcade. Kids are welcome until 4:30pm; IDs are checked starting at 5pm. In addition to the arcade games, there are regular “geeks who drink” quiz nights and stand-up comedy.
Portland’s gay bar scene used to be concentrated along SW Stark Street downtown, but the scene has dispersed, both into new neighborhoods (there are now as many gay bars on the East Side as downtown) and to regular bars. Lesbian bars, as such, are currently nonexistent in Portland. Gay people are welcome pretty much anywhere in town, and you don’t need to seek out a gay bar just to have drinks with gay friends.
SW Stark Street is the traditional hub of Portland’s gay bar scene, and Scandals (1038 SW Stark St., 503/227-5887, www.scandalspdx.com, noon-2:30am daily) has been a fixture here since the 1970s. The bar is bright and airy, and in summer the floor-to-ceiling windows slide open and the scene spills onto the sidewalk. While there are pool tables and DJs spinning tunes, this is an easygoing, cruisy bar where mostly men come to hang out and meet friends.
At the longtime favorite CC Slaughters (200 NW 3rd Ave., 503/248-9135, http://ccslaughterspdx.com, 3pm-2am daily), the Rainbow Room, in the front of the building, is a frosty-cool cocktail lounge, a place to sip cocktails and play pool in high-style surroundings; food is available as well. The nightclub is entered along NW Davis Street and contains a large bar and dance floor where DJs keep the rhythms pounding. The crowd is mostly male and of all ages, but all are welcome.
Crush (1400 SE Morrison St., 503/235-8150, www.crushbar.com, noon-2am Mon.-Sat., noon-1am Sun.) is a bar that defies easy categorization. There are three separate bar areas, each with its own ambience, including the lounge with its old-fashioned curved bar and the Blue Room for dancing and live music; other evenings may feature theme nights, burlesque, or tarot card readers. Crush is a fun, high-energy place to hang.
Darcelle XV Showplace (208 NW 3rd Ave., 503/222-5338, www.darcellexv.com, shows at 8pm Wed.-Thurs., 8pm and 10:30pm Fri.-Sat.) is one of those Portland institutions, like biking and brewing, that may not make sense until you get here. Darcelle is a female impersonator extraordinaire who has, over the years, cozied up to all of the political leaders in Oregon and whose outsize personality has made her an entertainment legend for over 40 years. The stage show ($20), a combination of lip-synching and comedy by a bevy of lovely queens, is funny and rather raunchy, just as it should be. Reservations are recommended, especially on weekends. If it’s midnight on Friday or Saturday, bring on the male strippers!
In a city as accepting and welcoming as Portland, it’s easy to ask why gay bars still even exist. Well, places like Embers (110 NW Broadway, 503/222-3082, 11am-2:30pm daily) hang on because they are so much damn fun. Part drag showcase (up front), part disco inferno (the back room), Embers is a Portland institution from the days when dancing all night beneath a mirrored ball to “I Will Survive” seemed like an act of defiant liberation. This is still Portland’s premier gay dance club, though the crowds here are inclusive of gays and straights and everyone in between.
In the heart of Old Town, Hobo’s (120 NW 3rd Ave., 503/224-3285, www.hobospdx.com, 4am-close daily) combines the classic redbrick good looks of an authentic 1890s bar with the courtly rhythms of a contemporary piano lounge. Starting at 8pm Wednesday-Sunday, pianists tickle the ivories (jazz, show tunes, occasional classical numbers) while the well-dressed clientele—a friendly mix of gays, lesbians, and their straight friends—enjoy cocktails. Hobos is a classy spot for an after-dinner drink.
One of the pioneers along gentrifying North Mississippi Avenue is tiny, acoustically rich Mississippi Studios (3939 N. Mississippi Ave., 503/288-3895, www.mississippistudios.com, hours vary), where local and regional bands go to record music and perform in the studio’s intimate space. Check the website to find out what concerts may be offered during your visit; this is a great spot to catch rising stars. The Alberta Rose Theatre (3000 NE Alberta St., 503/719-6055, www.albertarosetheatre.com, hours vary) hosts a selection of folk, world music, cabaret and circus music, comedy, and whatever else is slightly alternative and cool.
If you’re looking for the punk edge of the Portland live music scene, one good place to start is The Know (3728 NE Sandy Blvd., 503/473-8729, 3pm-2am daily), sometimes referred to as Portland’s CBGB. Speaking of the cool kids, you’ll find them on NE Russell Street, in the wood-paneled Victorian-era bar at the Secret Society (116 NE Russell St., 503/493-3600, thesecretsocietylounge.com, 5pm-midnight Sun.-Thurs., 5pm-1am Fri.-Sat.) or smoking outside the Wonder Ballroom (128 NE Russell St., 503/284-8686, wonderballroom.com, hours vary). The upstairs ballroom at the Secret Society hosts shows ranging from choro to bluegrass to jazz; the ground-level Wonder’s shows tend to be rock or acoustic, including some pretty big names on the indie circuit.
At Holocene (1001 SE Morrison St., 503/239-7639, www.holocene.org, hours vary), the nightly entertainment can be live music, DJs, performance art, or regularly scheduled evening events. Many events hover at the intersection of music, performance, and technology, including storytelling with The Moth, and the crowds are fun and varied.
Before you hit town, check out the performers scheduled at the Aladdin Theater (3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 503/233-1994, www.aladdin-theater.com, hours vary). This 1920s burlesque house has been gussied up to host an eclectic array of touring performers, including Steve Earle, the Buena Vista Social Club, and Rufus Wainwright. Many folk, world beat, and indie rock bands play here, and it’s a wonderful small theater for taking in a concert.
Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub (112 SW 2nd Ave., 503/227-4057, www.kellsportland.com, 11am-2am Sun.-Thurs., 11am-2pm Fri.-Sat.) is a landmark not just because of its Victorian good looks but also thanks to live Celtic music. The musicians are usually local—Portland has a large Celtic music community—although touring bands are also featured.
The back view of Kells gives an indication of the high spirits inside.
In the basement of the Rialto Lounge, find the Jack London Revue (529 SW 4th Ave., 866/777-8932, http://jacklondonrevue.com), one of Portland’s newest jazz venues. There’s live music several nights a week, with a focus on jazz and its outgrowths, as well as national touring jazz groups. The lounge at the back of the old-school steakhouse Clyde’s (5474 NE Sandy Blvd., 503/281-9200) has live music almost every evening at 9pm; especially popular are the Sunday-evening jazz jam sessions (beginning at 8:30pm) led by local drummer extraordinaire Ron Steen. The atmosphere is friendly and inclusive.
Located in historic Union Station, Wilf’s (800 NW 6th Ave., 503/223-0070, www.wilfsrestaurant.com) is another swanky but truly retro spot to take in live jazz. The large, high-ceilinged, redbrick space was created as the formal dining room for rail travelers during the golden age of the railroad. Jazz is normally offered starting at 7pm Wednesday-Saturday. Many of Portland’s top local performers cycle through.
The music is often as good as the excellent food at Andina (1314 NW Glisan St., 503/228-9535, www.andinarestaurant.com), where there’s Latin-inspired music, including Gypsy swing and Latin jazz, in the classy and comfortable bar every night. With live jazz and blues seven nights a week, Blue Diamond (2016 NE Sandy Blvd., 503/230-9590, www.bluediamondpdx.net) is a laid-back insider’s place to enjoy top local bands.
Just west of the Burnside Bridge is Dante’s (SW 3rd Ave. and Burnside St., 503/226-6630, www.danteslive.com, 11am-2:30am daily), where, in addition to live alternative bands, you’ll find often outrageous cabaret and burlesque shows. One stronghold of the concert scene is the Crystal Ballroom (1332 W. Burnside St., 503/225-0047, www.mcmenamins.com, hours vary), where a mix of rock, indie, and world beat artists play in a large ballroom. There, you can “dance on air” thanks to the floating dance floor—perhaps the only one in the United States.
Portland’s East Side has a lively music scene. A major destination in any tour of Portland’s music hotbeds would include Doug Fir (830 E. Burnside St., 503/231-9663, www.dougfirlounge.com, 7am-2:30pm daily), which attracts some of Portland’s most interesting acts and is part of a hip development that includes a vintage motor court motel and late-night restaurant.
If you came to Portland to find the remnant of its hippie Grateful Dead roots, then the Laurelthirst Public House (2958 NE Glisan St., 503/232-1504, 4pm-midnight Mon., 10:30am-midnight Tues.-Wed., 10:30am-1am Thurs., 10:30am-2am Fri.-Sat., 10:30am-midnight Sun.) is where you need to be. This venerable and funky tavern has excellent local folk and country swing bands along with a feel-good vibe that takes you back to the Summer of Love.
For rollicking comedy improv, go to ComedySportz (1963 NW Kearney St., 503/236-8888, www.portlandcomedy.com, 8pm Fri.-Sat., $15), where two teams compete for laughs using suggestions from the audience. If you’re into standup, check out Curious Comedy Theater (5225 NE M. L. King Jr. Blvd., 503/477-9477, www.curiouscomedy.org, $5-15), a nonprofit theater that offers a variety of shows, including “comedy showdowns,” audience-participation “random acts of cruelty,” and more.
Newest on the scene is the ultra-hip Helium Comedy Club (1510 SE 9th Ave., 888/643-8669, www.portland.heliumcomedy.com, $15-30) which caters to the edgier “alt comedy” side of humor. Each weekend, stars perform to a packed house of Portland’s hip bespectacled locals.
Since it became legal to buy cannabis (marijuana) in 2015, retail outlets, known as dispensaries, have popped up in almost every neighborhood. Perhaps the highest concentration of green crosses, which signify a cannabis dispensary, is along NE Sandy Boulevard, which has earned the nickname of Portland’s “Green Mile,” though it stretches way farther than a mile. Shoppers who’d like to explore the medical benefits of cannabis might want to head out to Panacea (6714 NE Sandy Blvd., 503/477-5083, http://panaceapdx.com, 10am-9pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-6pm Sun.), where a nurse is sometimes available for consultation and all the profits are donated to social justice groups.
In Southeast Portland, just across the Hawthorne Bridge from downtown, find Farma (916 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/206-4357, http://farmapdx.com, 10am-10pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-7pm Sun.), with a good selection of flower, including high-CBD strains that may help with pain and anxiety but won’t get you too high, as well as more THC-heavy bud, edibles, and concentrates. Farma’s budtenders are some of the best in town; this is a great place to go if you’re not sure what to try.
Just across from the convention center, Oregon’s Finest (736 NE M. L. King Jr. Blvd., 503/239-1150, www.oregons-finest.com, 8am-10pm daily) has a particularly wide assortment of pre-rolls (a.k.a. joints), which are handy for visitors who didn’t pack a pipe.
If you’re shopping, dining, or listening to music on North Mississippi Avenue, you’re not far from Nectar (4125 N. Mississippi Ave., 503/206-4818, www.nectarpdx.com, 7am-10pm daily), housed in a little bungalow with a wall full of flower-filled jars and just as many concentrates.
Downtown, Serra (220 SW 1st Ave., 971/279-5613, http://shopserra.com, 10am-10pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-7pm Sun.) is a stylish high-end dispensary that encourages customers to shop by the experiences they’re seeking from cannabis: happy, focused, relaxed, creative, etc.
Be sure to read the rules and cautions about cannabis use in the Essentials chapter.
The Oregon Symphony (503/228-1353, www.orsymphony.org) is the oldest orchestra west of the Mississippi, and it performs in a historic jewel-box of an auditorium, the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (1037 SW Broadway). Portland Opera (503/241-1802, www.portlandopera.org) has moved to a summer festival format, with four operas presented May through July. The opera also hosts traveling Broadway shows. Other classical music organizations include the Portland Baroque Orchestra (503/222-6000, www.pbo.org), led by Monica Huggett and presenting 18th-century music on period instruments; Portland Piano International (503/228-1388, www.portlandpiano.org), which presents world-renowned pianists in recital; and the Third Angle New Music Ensemble (503/331-0301, www.thirdangle.org), presenting contemporary classical music.
The Oregon Symphony performs at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Oregon Ballet Theatre (503/222-5538, www.obt.org) is the city’s classical dance troupe, usually performing at Keller Auditorium. White Bird Dance (503/245-1600, www.whitebird.org) brings an impressive number of world-class modern dance troupes to Portland. White Bird sponsors two different series each year, one at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall that features established troupes such as Paul Taylor or Mark Morris, the other featuring edgier and more intimate dance pieces held at various venues in Portland. Portland’s homegrown modern dance troupe, BodyVox (1201 NW 17 Ave., 503/229-0627, http://bodyvox.com), is known for its energy and wit.
More than a dozen theatrical troupes make up a significant presence on Portland’s cultural scene. Cutting-edge Imago Theatre (17 SE 8th Ave., 503/231-9581, www.imagotheatre.com) is an internationally acclaimed troupe that employs multimedia visuals, masks, puppets, dance, and animation to achieve dramatic resonance. Imago performs in an intimate, old Masonic hall.
For more traditional theater, Portland Center Stage (PCS, 503/445-3700, www.pcs.org) operates out of the renovated Portland Armory Building (128 NW 11th Ave.) in the Pearl District. PCS productions encompass classical, contemporary, and premiere works in addition to an annual summer playwrights’ festival. Portland’s other major theater group, Artists Repertory Theater (1515 SW Morrison St., 503/241-1278, www.artistsrep.org), produces intimate, often edgier productions from its black-box theater just west of downtown.
Portland has a dynamic fine art scene. Many of the top galleries are in the Pearl District and other neighborhoods in Northwest Portland. To preview some of Portland’s leading galleries, go to the Portland Art Dealers Association website (www.padaoregon.org), which has details of monthly shows at a dozen of the city’s top galleries.
One of the best times to explore Portland’s galleries is on the first Thursday of every month during the First Thursday Gallery Walk. More than 30 gallery owners coordinate show openings, and many offer complimentary refreshments. Visit the agglomeration of galleries in the Pearl District, where the biggest crowds gather. In this neighborhood, Elizabeth Leach Gallery (417 NW 9th Ave., 503/224-0521, www.elizabethleach.com) is one of Portland’s most successful and long-established galleries, presenting challenging and inventive art pieces from top regional and national artists. Also check out the nearby Augen Gallery (716 NW Davis St.) and the cluster of galleries on that two-block stretch of NW Davis Street.
For something completely different, plan to attend Last Thursday, an event at month’s end that highlights the dynamic district of galleries and independent designers on Northeast Alberta Street. A mix of street fair, performance art, and gallery tour, Last Thursday is much more raucous than First Thursday, with live bands, fire-eaters, and other high jinks adding a circuslike atmosphere to the Alberta Street art scene.
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA, 224 NW 13th Ave., 503/242-1419, www.pica.org) is Portland’s leader in cutting-edge performance, experimental theater, new music, and dance. Throughout the year PICA offers lectures, performances, and exhibitions at many venues throughout the city, but the organization’s top event, September’s Time-Based Art Festival (TBA), is a contemporary art festival of regional, national, and international artists presenting theater, dance, music, film, visual exhibitions, and installations.
Portland has a rich selection of alternative and repertory cinemas that feature independent, foreign, and vintage movies. Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Ave., 503/223-4515, www.cinema21.com) is the city’s principal independent art-house movie theater. Hollywood Theatre (NE 41st Ave. and Sandy Blvd., 503/281-4215, www.hollywoodtheatre.org) showcases offbeat, foreign, and cult movies in a vintage movie palace. The Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton St., 503/238-8899, www.cstpdx.com) features films that generally would not have a market elsewhere, from vintage concert and Cold War propaganda films to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (showing every Saturday night since 1978).
The McMenamins brewpubs (www.mcmenamins.com) screen just-past-first-run flicks ($2-10) along with pub grub and beer at several restored vintage theaters. The most convenient to central Portland neighborhoods are the Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan St., 503/223-4527) and the neo-Moorish Bagdad Theater & Pub (3710 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/236-9234). Other options in the drinks-with-movies trend are the budget-priced Laurelhurst Theater (NE 28th Ave. and Burnside St., 503/232-5511, www.laurelhursttheater.com), offering beer and pizza, and Living Room Theaters (341 SW 10th Ave., 971/222-2010, www.livingroomtheaters.com), with a high-end cocktail bar.
Part of the Portland Art Museum, the Northwest Film Center (934 SW Salmon St., 503/221-1156, ext. 10, www.nwfilm.org) offers an ongoing series of foreign, classic, experimental, and independent films. Included are thematic series (for example, contemporary films of Egypt), special retrospectives (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, David Lynch), and visiting artist programs. Most films are screened at the Whitsell Theater at the Portland Art Museum.
The February Portland International Film Festival (503/221-1156, www.nwfilm.org) is a two-week-plus showcase of foreign and art films that are screened in various theaters across the city.
The Cinco de Mayo Fiesta (www.cincodemayo.org, $8 adults, $4 ages 6-12) celebrates Latino heritage at Tom McCall Waterfront Park the first weekend (Thurs.-Sun.) in May. This has become one of the largest celebrations of its kind in the country. Mariachis, folk dance exhibitions, a large selection of Mexican food, and fireworks displays are included in the festivities.
The Waterfront Blues Festival (503/282-0555, www.waterfrontbluesfest.com, $15) is the largest festival of its kind on the West Coast. It takes place the first weekend in July at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and features some of the biggest names in the blues. Profits go to the Oregon Food Bank.
From late June through July, Chamber Music Northwest (503/294-6400, www.cmnw.org, from $25) presents five weeks of classical music concerts in two locations: Reed College in Southeast Portland and the Catlin Gabel School in Northwest Portland.
Portland hosts many running and walking events, including the early-October Portland Marathon (503/226-1111, www.portlandmarathon.org). To find out about these and other events, contact the Oregon Road Runners Club (www.orrc.net).
Portland is a bicycle town that loves a festival, but it questions authority. Put this all together and you get Pedalpalooza (www.shift2bikes.org/pedalpalooza), a decentralized, even anarchic celebration of Portland’s bike culture. The festival is extremely freeform and is held in multiple locations, with only a few organized annual events, the most notable of which is the World Naked Bike Ride (http://pdxwnbr.org), drawing up to 10,000 riders.
The Portland Rose Festival (503/227-2681, www.rosefestival.org) has been the city’s major summer event for over a century. The Rose Queen and her court (chosen from among local high school entrants), navy sailors, and floats from several parades clog Portland’s traffic arteries during this 18-day citywide celebration each June. Check out the website for a schedule of what is essentially a small-town festival done with big-town flair.
the Rose Queen and her court
Two of the more colorful events of the June fete are the Grand Floral Parade and the Festival of Flowers at Pioneer Courthouse Square. In the latter, all manner of colorful blossoms fill the square to overflowing during the first week of the festival. The Grand Floral Parade usually begins the Saturday following the opening of the festival. You can reserve seats in the Memorial Coliseum ahead of time, but save your money and station yourself on an upper floor along the parade route or visit the floats at Oregon Square between Lloyd Center and the Convention Center during the week following the parade. Any lofty perch is sufficient for taking in all the hoopla, drill teams, the Rose Queen, and equestrian demonstrations. This procession is the second-largest all-floral parade in the United States.
Held on Father’s Day weekend in June, the Pride Festival (503/295-9788, www.pridenw.org) celebrates Stonewall and affirms the city’s LGBTQ community. The Waterfront Park main stage has entertainment all weekend, but Sunday is the big day, when some 50,000 people attend the Pride Parade.
Taking place the last full weekend in July in Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the Oregon Brewers Festival (www.oregonbrewfest.com) is North America’s largest gathering of independent brewers. The four-day event showcases the wares of more than 100 breweries and attracts more than 90,000 beer lovers. Admission is free, but you’ll need to spend $11 for a souvenir mug and four drink tokens (bring cash). Live musical entertainment accompanies the beer.
Kick off August with a weekend at Pickathon (www.pickathon.com), a low-key but ambitious independent music festival held in a woodsy setting on the outskirts of Portland. If you can’t commit to a weekend of camping (weekend pass $310), catch a shuttle bus and come out for a day ($125) of acts ranging from rootsy bluegrass to dreamy electronica. Much of the fun is discovering new acts.
The citywide Music Fest Northwest (www.projectpabst.com, age 21 and over) is Portland’s answer to Austin’s SXSW festival. Over the course of a weekend in late August, about 20 bands play for large and enthusiastic audiences at Waterfront Park. Along with the up-and-coming bands, expect to hear big names ranging from Iggy Pop to Beck to Father John Misty. To attend the concerts, you’ll need to buy a wristband ($65 per day, 2-day pass $99).
Art in the Pearl (503/722-9017, www.artinthepearl.com) is an outdoor arts and crafts fair held over Labor Day weekend in the North Park Blocks, bounded by NW Park and 8th Avenues and Burnside and Glisan Streets along the eastern edge of the Pearl District. This street fair showcases the creations of the local artistic community and also features food and music.
Portland’s biggest food festival, the mid-September Feast Portland (http://feastportland.com, $35-185, age 21 and over), brings chefs from all over the country to prepare meals and teach classes alongside local chefs. A couple of the most popular of the 40-plus events are the Night Market and the Sandwich Invitational. Events sell out quickly, so check the website and buy tickets ahead of time.
Oregon has no sales tax, so you’ll find Portland shopping especially satisfying.
In the heart of the downtown shopping district, Pioneer Place (SW 5th Ave. and Morrison St., 503/228-5800, www.pioneerplace.com) is an upscale shopping development that features a number of national merchandisers, including Eddie Bauer, J. Crew, Coach, and more. The lower level features a vast food court amid pleasant fountains.
Nike Portland (638 SW 6th Ave., 503/221-6453, www.nike.com/NikePortland, 10am-8pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-6pm Sun.) is the flagship store of Oregon’s largest sportswear manufacturer, and you’ll find a large selection of elite shoes and sports gear in a temple-like retail environment. If you’re looking for Nike goods at a lower price, head to the Nike Factory Store (2650 NE M. L. King Jr. Blvd., 503/281-5901) in inner Northeast Portland.
One of the institutions that characterize Portland, the Portland Farmers Market (South Park Blocks, www.portlandfarmersmarket.org, 8:30am-2pm Sat. Mar.-Nov., 9am-2pm Sat. Nov.-Feb.) attracts throngs of people, and not just for food shopping. Every Saturday, upward of 15,000 people come for breads and baked goods, locally grown fruits and vegetables, artisanal cheeses, wild mushrooms, and freshly caught fish. There’s always live music, and local chefs give cooking demonstrations. In addition, this is a great place to have breakfast or lunch, as a number of food carts offer freshly made food. People-watching is of the highest caliber.
On Wednesday (10am-2pm), there’s a smaller version of this farmers market a few blocks to the north, at the end of the South Park Blocks near SW Salmon and Park. Pets are not allowed at either market. There are other farmers markets in Portland neighborhoods throughout the week. During summer and fall, Monday is the only day without a market somewhere. For a complete list, see www.oregonfarmersmarkets.org.
You don’t have to be in Oregon very long before plaid woolen shirts begin to look sensible and stylish. Pendleton Woolen Mills is an Oregon company, and at downtown’s Pendleton Store (825 SW Yamhill St., 503/242-0037, 10am-8pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-7pm Sun.) you can pick up distinctive wool shirts, skirts, and blankets that will last for years.
Portland’s most upscale menswear store is Mario’s (833 SW Broadway, 503/227-3477, http://marios.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Sat., noon-5pm Sun.), with the best of casual and formal wear from the world’s top designers.
A Portland women’s fashion leader for over 40 years, The Mercantile (729 SW Alder St., 503/223-6649, www.mercantileportland.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Sat., noon-5pm Sun.) is a top choice for sophisticated clothing, both hip and professional. The Mercantile carries many New York and LA clothing lines, and has exclusive representation of several Portland-based designers.
Downtown’s West End is home to a number of small, somewhat edgier clothing shops. Radish Underground (414 SW 10th Ave., 503/928-6435, http://radishunderground.com, 11am-7pm Mon.-Sat., noon-6pm Sun.) features dresses, cute cotton undies, and jewelry from local designers. Wildfang (404 SW 10th Ave., 503/967-6746, www.wildfang.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Sat., noon-5pm Sun.) stocks streetwear and menswear-inspired styles for tomboys and wild feminists. Frances May (1003 SW Washington St., 503/227-3402, www.francesmay.com, 11am-7pm Mon.-Sat., noon-6pm Sun.) has a lovely selection from independent designers for women, men, and kids.
Real Mother Goose (901 SW Yamhill St., 503/223-9510 or 800/968-1070, www.therealmothergoose.com, 10am-5:30pm, Mon.-Thurs., 10am-6pm Fri.-Sat.) is a quality crafts gallery that presents jewelry, pottery, woodcrafts, and other goods from hundreds of Pacific Northwest artists and craftspeople. It’s an excellent place to buy one-of-a-kind gifts. A smaller shop is at the Portland airport, outside of the TSA screening area.
Pick up a gift for your dog-sitter or a Portland-inspired souvenir at Crafty Wonderland (808 SW 10th Ave., 503/224-9097, 10am-6pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-6pm Sun.), a fun shop with handmade cards, zines, jewelry, and T-shirts from over 200 local artists.
In operation since 1974, Portland Saturday Market (just south of the Burnside Bridge in Waterfront Park, www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com, 10am-5pm Sat., 11am-4:30pm Sun. Mar.-Dec. 24) is the largest outdoor arts and crafts fair in the United States, attracting an estimated 750,000 visitors each year. The handicrafts range from exquisite woodwork at reasonable prices, pottery, and jewelry to more uniquely Portland items like tie-dyed baby clothes and handmade juggling equipment. The high quality is astonishing.
Based in the Portland metro area, Columbia Sportswear (911 SW Broadway, 503/226-6800, 9:30am-7pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-6pm Sun.) has its flagship store downtown on SW Broadway. This is the place to go for fashionable, hardworking outerwear for recreation and heavy weather. For discounts on the same quality clothing and gear, go to the Columbia Sportswear Outlet (1323 SE Tacoma St., 503/238-0118, 9am-7pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-6pm Sun.) in Sellwood.
Synonymous with earth-friendly and socially responsible manufacturing and high-quality outdoor clothing, Patagonia (1106 W. Burnside St., 503/525-2552, 10am-7pm Mon.-Sat., 10am-6pm Sun.) is across from Powell’s City of Books.
If all Portland hipsters had money, they’d be shopping at Lizard Lounge (1323 NW Irving St., 503/416-7176, www.lizardloungepdx.com, 11am-7pm Sun.-Fri., 10am-7pm Sat.), which celebrates the relaxed panache that requires just the right plaid shirt. A Portland-based company with functional, eco-friendly, stylish duds, Nau (304 NW 11th Ave., 503/224-9697, www.nau.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-6pm Sun.) is the place to find the perfect bike-to-work outfit.
Popina Swimwear Boutique (318 NW 11th Ave., 503/243-7946, www.popinaswimwear.com, 11am-6pm Mon.-Wed., 11am-7pm Thurs.-Sat., noon-5pm Sun.) is a fabulous shop for women’s bathing suits, with 25 international brands and Popina’s own line of updated retro-chic swimwear.
Founded in Portland in 1983, Hanna Andersson (327 NW 10th Ave., 503/321-5275, www.hannaandersson.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-5pm Sat., 11am-5pm Sun.) sells clothing for kids in bright, simple Swedish-inspired designs and soft, durable cotton. It’s decidedly upscale but high quality and long lasting, destined to be handed down.
Head north to Thurman Street to find unique independent stores. Betsy & Iya (2403 NW Thurman St., 503/227-5281, http://betsyandiya.com, 10am-6pm daily) sells not-too-expensive jewelry (some inspired by Portland’s bridges) made in the upstairs studio as well as a small selection of clothing and gifts. For a larger selection of stylish but wearable women’s clothing (including a great front-porch sale rack), head around the corner to Oxalis (1824 NW 24th Ave., 503/206-8568, 10am-6pm daily). Hike a few blocks up Thurman to Neapolitan (2773 NW Thurman St., 415/671-9754, www.neapolitanshop.com, noon-6pm Wed.-Fri., noon-4pm Sat.-Sun.), where you can commission a pair of shoes (or take a sandal-making class) and visit the artists’ studios farther back in the building.
For many visitors, Powell’s City of Books (1005 W. Burnside St., 503/228-0540 or 800/878-7323, www.powells.com, 9am-11pm daily) is one of Portland’s primary attractions. A block square and three stories tall, Powell’s combines new, used, and out-of-print books and is usually absolutely thronged with bibliophiles. In addition to miles of bookshelves, Powell’s offers a coffee shop as well as free author events and book signings.
Prepare to spend some time browsing at Powell’s City of Books.
The Northwest Portland outpost of REI (1405 NW Johnson St., 503/221-1938, 10am-9pm Mon.-Sat., 10am-7pm Sun.) is where to head if you forgot your bike helmet or crampons, or if you are shopping for functional, all-weather clothing for active lifestyles.
Built in 1960, Lloyd Center (NE 15th Ave. and Weidler St., 503/282-2511, www.lloydcenter.com) was Oregon’s first shopping center and is still one of Portland’s major shopping destinations. Centered around an Olympic-size indoor ice-skating rink (Tonya Harding once trained here), Lloyd Center boasts more than 200 retail outlets (including Ross and Macy’s), a food court, and two multiplex cinemas.
One of Northeast Portland’s top destinations for strolling and window shopping is North Mississippi Avenue between Fremont and Skidmore Streets, with dozens of locally own boutiques, bars, restaurants, and food carts, and excellent people-watching. Favorite shops include Gypsy Chic (3966 N. Mississippi Ave., 503/234-9779, http://shop.gypsy-chic.com, 11am-7pm Mon.-Wed., 11am-8pm Thurs.-Fri., 10am-8pm Sat., 10am-7pm Sun.) for casual but elegant women’s clothing and PedX North (3806 N. Mississippi Ave., 503/546-0910, www.pedxshoes.com, 11am-6pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-5pm Sun.) for men and women’s shoes. You’ll need to stop in at Meadow (3731 N. Mississippi Ave., 503/288-4633, www.atthemeadow.com, 10am-7pm daily). What’s not to like in a shop that sells dozens of different wines, flowers, artisanal chocolate, and the largest selection of bitters imaginable?
A few blocks east on Williams Avenue is another hotbed of hip shops, pubs, and restaurants. If you wonder where Portland’s “put a bird on it” aesthetic hails from, look no further than Queen Bee Creations (3961 N. Williams Ave., 503/232-1755, www.queenbee-creations.com, 10am-6pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-7pm Sat., 11am-5pm Sun.) where you’ll find handmade bags, wallets, bike packs, and other fun leather cases, many in fact with whimsical birds on them.
A quintessential Portland business, Music Millennium (3158 E. Burnside St., 503/248-0163, www.musicmillennium.com, 10am-10pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-9pm Sun.) is a vast and funky music store of the sort that typified the 1970s. You’ll find almost every kind of music, and next door is Classical Millennium, which offers the same expansive selection for opera and classical music fans.
Sellwood, about five miles south of downtown Portland on the east banks of the Willamette River, is synonymous with antiques stores. Walk along Southeast 13th Avenue between Marion and Malden Streets and check out its many shops, starting at 1874 House (8070 SE 13th Ave., 503/233-1874). Take bus 70 from the Rose Quarter.
Portland restaurants focus on locally sourced ingredients, and visitors increasingly structure their trips around eating. Even if you’re not a foodie, restaurants have strong associations with their locale, and each neighborhood has a strong dining character of its own. A good online source for Portland restaurant news, openings, and best-of listings is Eater Portland’s site (http://pdx.eater.com).
If you’re on a budget or looking for inexpensive alfresco dining, join the bus commuters, cyclists, and pedestrians on the go who eat at street food carts, scattered all over the city and purveying all sorts of food. The selection is staggering; an estimated 800 food carts operate around Portland. Downtown, find a hub, or “pod,” of 60 carts at SW Alder Street at 9th and 10th Avenues; on the bus mall around SW 5th Avenue and Stark Street; along SW 3rd Avenue between Stark and Washington Streets; and at SW 4th and Hall Streets near Portland State University (PSU). Other major pods include Cartopia (SE 12th Ave. and Hawthorne Blvd.), where half a dozen carts remain open until late at night, and the Mississippi Marketplace (N. Mississippi Ave. and N. Skidmore St.). If you’re serious about exploring Portland cart culture, visit www.foodcartsportland.com for maps, reviews, and apps for your smartphone.
A pioneer of Portland’s seasonal, regional, locavore food movement, Higgins (1239 SW Broadway, 503/222-9070, http://higginsportland.com, 11:30am-9:30pm Sun.-Thurs., 5pm-10:30 Fri.-Sat., $20-39) is the best exemplar of Pacific Northwest cuisine in downtown Portland. Although Higgins specializes in charcuterie, this is also a good spot for vegetarians, as there’s usually a broad selection of meat-free dishes. Budget tip: The classy wood-paneled bar is a great spot for a light meal from the bistro menu ($8-26) and a beer from the one of the carefully curated taps.
The large, comfortably informal dining room at SouthPark Seafood (901 SW Salmon St., 503/326-1300, http://southparkseafood.com, 11:30am-3pm and 5pm-10pm daily, $20-32) is, as its name suggests, just a block from the South Park Blocks—and the busy cultural venues at Portland’5 Centers for the Arts. The focus is on the Pacific Northwest’s bounty of fresh seafood, with a 13-seat raw bar and Portland’s largest selection of oysters. The adjacent cocktail bar is a favorite for a pre- and post-symphony quaff.
The acclaimed Headwaters at the Heathman (1001 SW Broadway, 503/790-7752, www.headwaterspdx.com, 6:30am-10pm daily, $13-33) is helmed by celebrity chef Vitaly Paley—both an Iron Chef and James Beard Best Chef winner. It’s a temple of casually elegant dining focused on Northwest fish and seafood, ranging from octopus carpaccio to plank-roasted salmon with squid carbonara and pea tendrils.
Roe (515 SW Broadway, 503/232-1566, www.roepdx.rest) is Portland’s most exclusive fish restaurant, known for big Asian flavors, refined French technique, and lavish presentation. Choose a three-course pre-theater menu or the more leisurely seven-course tasting menu.
Jake’s Famous Crawfish (401 SW 12th St., www.mccormickandschmicks.com, 503/226-1419, 11:30am-10pm Mon.-Thurs., 11:30am-11pm Fri.-Sat., 10am-10-pm Sun., $17-41) has been one of Portland’s most popular restaurants since 1892. This old-fashioned fish and steak house is emblematic of traditional Pacific Northwest cooking at its best—dozens of fresh fish choices, hefty cuts of beef, and oysters on the half shell served up by a knowledgeable white-jacketed staff. The dining room is full of character, and the adjacent bar is simply full of characters.
Jake’s is the gold standard if you’re looking for an old-fashioned fish-and-steak-house experience.
Portland chef Gabriel Rucker has gained national attention for his cooking at Le Pigeon on East Burnside and his downtown outpost, S Little Bird (219 SW 6th Ave., 503/688-5952, http://littlebirdbistro.com, 11:30am-midnight Mon.-Fri., 5pm-midnight Sat.-Sun., $14-29), where French bistro favorites such as steak tartare and duck confit are served up in a dining room that looks like a Parisian bistro staffed by hip, friendly Pacific Northwesterners. Don’t skip the not-quite-French Le Pigeon burger.
Portland has gone izakaya crazy, and these casual Japanese-style pubs are everywhere. At Shigezo (910 SW Salmon St., 503/688-5202, www.shigezo-pdx.com, 11:30am-2:30pm and 4pm-10pm Mon.-Thurs., 11:30am-11pm Fri.-Sat., 11:30am-10pm Sun., $8-15), craft cocktails and local beers mix with excellent sushi rolls, nigiri, sashimi, grilled skewers, and ramen with house-made noodles and stocks. Shigezo was the first U.S. restaurant opened by the popular Japanese chain Kichinto, which now operates four other izakaya in the city.
Portland is undergoing an explosion of excellent Asian cooking, but few of these outstanding restaurants are downtown. Luc Lac Kitchen (835 SW 2nd Ave., 503/222-0047, http://luclackitchen.com, 11am-2:30pm and 4pm-midnight Sun.-Thurs., 11am-2:30pm and 4pm-4am Fri.-Sat., $9-16) is a happy exception. The food (excellent pho, banh mi, peanut curry stir-fry) is fresh and big on flavor, as are the cocktails. The only downside is the line at the door (no reservations).
A longtime favorite for a hearty morning meal, the Bijou Café (132 SW 3rd Ave., 503/222-3187, http://bijouxcafepdx.com, 7am-2pm Mon.-Thurs., 7am-2pm and 6pm-10pm Fri., 8am-2pm Sat.-Sun., breakfast $8-16) is a friendly, light-filled little diner that has staked its reputation on perfecting breakfast classics. While fried cinnamon bread, red snapper, or roast beef hash are morning mainstays in this cheery café, ordinary breakfast foods are done perfectly with the freshest local ingredients. The Bijou is open for dinner only on Friday evenings, when a seasonal menu is accompanied by live jazz.
Meaty sandwiches, including the tasty pork meatball banh mi, are specialties at Lardo (1205 SW Washington St., 503/241-2490; 1212 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/234-7786, http://lardosandwiches.com, 11am-10pm daily, $8-12), a casual sandwich shop with a good beer list. Vegetarians should come in for the broccoli rabe sandwich and the absolutely delicious kale Caesar salad.
The famous Voodoo Doughnut (22 SW 3rd Ave., 503/241-4704, www.voodoodoughnut.com, 24 hours daily) is in the thick of the Old Town bar zone and offers all-night doughnuts to club kids and anyone else who stumbles by. But by now, Portlanders tend to roll their eyes when they see folks at the airport flying home with Voodoo’s pink to-go boxes; locals line up at Blue Star Donuts (1237 SW Washington St., 503/265-8410, www.bluestardonuts.com, 8am-7pm daily), where the treats are made with brioche dough. Try the matcha doughnut for a nice blend of bitter and sweet.
If you like the idea of food carts but not eating on the street, head to Pine Street Market (126 SW 2nd Ave., 503/299-2000, www.pinestreetpdx.com, market 8am-11pm daily, vendor hours vary). Nine of Portland’s top chefs and restaurants operate food stalls in this bustling food court, with plenty of room at communal tables. You’ll find excellent ramen, burgers, pizza, rotisserie chicken, and a Korean smokehouse, plus local beers and craft cocktails.
Northwest Portland begins just north of downtown across Burnside Street. Three of the city’s most vibrant dining districts are here, within minutes of downtown hotels. Old Town also encapsulates historic Chinatown and is a hotbed of music clubs and late-night bars. The Portland Streetcar travels through the Pearl District, with its wealth of restaurants, linking it with downtown. Another restaurant destination along the streetcar line is NW 21st and 23rd Avenues, two pedestrian-friendly streets that are at the heart of an attractive 19th-century neighborhood.
Bluehour (250 NW 13th Ave., 503/226-3394, www.bluehouronline.com, 4pm-9pm Sun.-Wed., 4pm-10pm Thurs.-Fri., 10am-10pm Sat., 10am-9pm Sun., $21-44) is one of Portland’s few really swanky restaurants. The cooking is nominally Italian, though the kitchen is fluent in many cuisines, resulting in sophisticated dishes that are flavor-focused, revelatory, and fun all at the same time. If you don’t feel like getting dressed up for the dining room, the bar has its own menu and a more relaxed vibe.
There’s no better place to taste the terroir of Oregon than S Paley’s Place (1204 NW 21st Ave., 503/243-2403, www.paleysplace.net, 5:30pm-10pm Mon.-Thurs., 5pm-11pm Fri.-Sat., 5pm-10pm Sun., $26-42), an intimate bastion of fine dining. Chef Paley has a firm grasp of traditional French techniques and uses the best local ingredients in dishes such as hazelnut-shell-roasted salmon with herbed butter and creamed corn. The wine list features many hard-to-find Oregon pinot noirs. This is one of Portland’s best special-occasion restaurants; for an affordable treat, eat in the less romantic bar or order the half-portions offered on the dining room menu.
Tucked beneath the Fremont Bridge, you’ll find one of two locations of Olympia Provisions (1632 NW Thurman St., 503/894-8136; 107 SE Washington St., 503/954-3663, www.olympiaprovisions.com, 11am-10pm Mon.-Fri., 9am-10pm Sat.-Sun., $20-27), known for excellent sausages and charcuterie but also serving up some wickedly good fish dishes, such as pan-roasted halibut with forest mushrooms and cabbage. The southeast location (107 SE Washington St., 503/954-3663) has a different but similar menu; the Thurman Street location is also a butcher shop, with most of the building taken up by production of chorizo and the like.
Portland has a full contingent of upscale expense-account steak houses, but if you’re hungry for beef, go to one of the city’s originals, the Ringside (2165 W. Burnside St., 503/223-1513, www.ringsidesteakhouse.com, 5pm-11:30pm Mon.-Wed., 5pm-midnight Thurs.-Sat., 4pm-11:30pm Sun., reservations recommended, $33-75). Family owned for over 75 years, the Ringside retains its 1960s look of red Naugahyde and dark lighting even after a remodel. The steaks, prime rib, and seafood are excellent, and James Beard once proclaimed the onion rings “the best I ever had.” Come before 6pm for a special three-course dinner menu ($40).
Reserve a table at S Saint Jack’s (1610 NW 23rd Ave., 503/360-1281, http://stjackpdx.com, 9am-9:30pm Sun.-Thurs., 9am-10:30pm Fri.-Sat., $25-40) for dinner or, as is our preference, drop by for a light meal ($11-27) or late-evening drink and snack at the bar. Either way, you’ll feel like you’ve landed in a Paris bistro, with food inspired by the meaty cuisine of Lyons, such as pan-roasted sweetbreads with figs, arugula, and onion. No surprise that this is also a good place for a glass of wine.
Café Mingo (807 NW 21st Ave., 503/226-4646, http://caffemingonw.com, 11am-2pm and 5pm-10pm Tues.-Fri., 5pm-10pm Sat.-Sun., $17-29) is an always-bustling trattoria (with an equally popular bar alongside) on a busy section of NW 21st Avenue. The dining room is intimate yet casual, with the kitchen opening out to diners. The menu is a bit idiosyncratic; don’t expect to dine in traditional antipasti, primi, and secondi courses. The dishes are well-prepared, however, and the service is gracious.
Italian cooking “like Mama used to make” conjures up associations of red-checkered tablecloths and a rosy-cheeked maternal presence in the kitchen. Piazza Italiana (1129 NW Johnson St., 503/478-0619, www.piazzaportland.com, 11:30am-3pm and 5pm-9:30pm Sun.-Tues., 11:30am-3pm and 5pm-10pm Wed.-Thurs., 11:30am-3pm and 5pm-11pm Fri.-Sat., $11-17) isn’t like that. This is a hearty trattoria with European league soccer on the TV, effusive Italian conversation bouncing off the walls, and a persistent bustle that verges on rowdiness. Everyone comes for the pasta, particularly bucatini all’Amatriciana (bucatini pasta with pancetta, onion, and pecorino in a red wine and tomato reduction sauce).
S Mediterranean Exploration Company (133 NW 13th Ave., 503/222-0906, www.mediterraneanexplorationcompany.com, 4pm-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 4pm-11pm Fri.-Sat., small plates $8-19) is a hotspot for modern Eastern Mediterranean cooking. The warm freekeh salad with pistachio oil, the grilled octopus salad, and the chreime, or Tripolitany Jewish fish stew, go far beyond Middle Eastern standards such as hummus or falafel (though that’s here too, with tasty twists that make them special).
Mediterranean Exploration Company
At Andina (1314 NW Glisan St., 503/228-9535, www.andinarestaurant.com, 11:30am-2:30pm and 5pm-9:30pm Sun.-Thurs., 11:30am-2:30pm and 5pm-10:30pm Fri.-Sat., bar open later, $17-35), the take on South American cooking is unexpectedly delicious. The many small plates are rich in vegetarian choices, like quinoa-stuffed piquillo peppers, and can make a meal. Alternately, go for traditional Peruvian such as lamb shanks braised in black beer, or a hybrid like quinoa-crusted diver scallops with wilted spinach and potato-parsnip puree.
Find the city’s best Spanish food on a side street at the far north end of Northwest Portland, where S Ataula (1818 NW 23rd Place, 503/894-8904, http://ataulapdx.com, 4:30pm-10pm Tues.-Sat.) serves beautifully presented and exquisitely flavored tapas ($4-17) and cocktails (special sangria!) in a relaxed gastropub atmosphere. If you can resist ordering more and more tapas, it’s good to know that the paella (serves two, $34-39) is also excellent.
With Portland’s profusion of excellent bakeries, it’s easy to get into a squabble by asking people to identify their favorite. One thing’s for certain: Ken’s Artisan Bakery (338 NW 21st Ave., 503/248-2202, www.kensartisan.com, 7am-9:30pm Mon., 7am-6pm Tues.-Sat., 8am-5pm Sun.) is always among the top choices for wonderful French-style breads and pastries; the croissants—light, flaky, and crunchy—are masterful. At this busy fixture, you can also pick up a lunchtime sandwich (11am-3pm daily, $7-10). Monday evenings only, Ken’s stays open late and serves delectable pizza ($11-15).
Linked to downtown by MAX Light Rail trains and near the Lloyd Center hotels, the area along NE Broadway (between NE 8th Ave. and NE 28th Ave.) is the hub of close-in Northeast Portland. Other Northeast Portland destinations for diners looking for casual yet cutting-edge food are North Mississippi Avenue and NE Alberta Street. Out past the Hollywood neighborhood along Sandy Boulevard is the heart of today’s Vietnamese community, where you’ll find inexpensive and delicious pho and other Southeast Asian specialties.
Join Portland’s late-rising hipsters for breakfast at Tasty n Sons (3808 N. Williams Ave., 503/621-1400, http://tastynsons.com, 9am-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 9am-11pm Fri.-Sat., $7-19) and you’ll almost certainly plan to return for dinner. This popular spot is a great place for robustly flavored brunch, happy-hour snacks, or dinner. Dishes are divided into small plates (like foie gras torchon with apricot jam) and bigger plates, such as Alabama barbecue chicken with white barbecue sauce—all designed to be shared. Downtown you’ll find another location, Tasty n Alder (580 SW 12th Ave., 503/621-9251, www.tastynalder.com, 9am-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 9am-11pm Fri.-Sat., $7-19).
Podnah’s Pit (1625 NE Killingsworth St., 503/281-3700, http://podnahspit.com, 11am-9pm Mon.-Thurs., 9am-10pm Sat., 11am-9pm Sun., $11-20) serves up Texas-style barbecue, slow-cooked over oak in a pit. With one exception, Podnah’s takes “Don’t mess with Texas” to heart—tasty North Carolina-style pulled pork. Although smoked trout and sides of pinto beans and “Texas caviar” (black-eyed pea salad) are available, non-meat-eaters will feel a little lonely here.
Like an unassuming beach taqueria in Baja, S ¿Por Qué No? (3524 N. Mississippi Ave., 503/467-4149; 4635 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/954-3138, www.porquenotacos.com, 11am-10pm Mon.-Sat., 11am-9:30pm Sun., $3-13) has a relaxed hole-in-the-wall vibe to go with its excellent house-made corn tortilla tacos and other south-of-the-border street foods. You can’t go wrong with any of the tacos; the guacamole is outstanding, as is the ceviche. Fresh-squeezed margaritas are utterly addictive. This place is tiny—line up to order your food, then find a seat. Most people end up sitting at outdoor tables, rain or shine.
The Mexican food at Autentica (5507 NE 30th Ave., 503/287-7555, www.autenticaportland.com, 5pm-10pm Tues.-Fri., 10am-2pm and 5pm-10pm Sat.-Sun., $18-23) is complex and sophisticated, but the restaurant doesn’t take itself so seriously as to suck the fun out of the experience. The whole place is warm and colorful, and the patio out back is one of the best places to celebrate a warm evening in Portland. Although you can order enchiladas here, Autentica is a good place to stretch your idea of Mexican food, perhaps to include grilled cactus leaf with seasonal vegetables and wild mushrooms.
Toro Bravo (120 NE Russell St., 503/281-4464, www.torobravopdx.com, 5pm-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 5pm-11pm Fri.-Sat., $4-25) serves the kind of food that would be native to Portland had it been colonized by the Spanish: rich, seasonal, and full of vigorous flavor. The menu is extensive, covering many regions of Spain and offering everything from a bowl of olives to heaping platters of paella.
Fire is the raison d’être of Ox (2225 NE M. L. King Jr. Blvd., 503/284-3366, http://oxpdx.com, 5pm-10pm Sun.-Thurs., 5pm-11pm Fri.-Sat., $10-59), where meats, seafood, and vegetables get licked by flames and are served in a style that recalls the hearty, smoky flavors of Argentina. Try the crispy beef, olive and raisin empanadas, or the clam chowder enriched with a beef bone marrow. Seared steaks are the stand-out main courses, but if you’re not into beef, you can enjoy the house-made chorizo sausages or pan-roasted sea scallops with Dungeness crab risotto.
Southeast Portland is filled with restaurant enclaves, where it’s a good idea to just park the car and wander the streets before making a dining choice. Some neighborhoods, such as the six-block stretch of 28th Avenue near East Burnside Street or SE Division Street, especially from SE 27 to SE 38 Avenues, seem almost totally devoted to dining.
No need to dust off your high school French when calling for reservations at S Le Pigeon (738 E. Burnside St., 503/546-8796, www.lepigeon.com, 5pm-10pm daily, $17-39, 5-course tasting menu $85)—rhymes with smidgen—a highly touted hot spot of meaty gastronomy. This lack of pretension is characteristic of chef-owner Gabriel Rucker’s full-flavored cooking style and his slightly manic, pocket-size dining room. His cooking embraces a breadth of rarely encountered ingredients: lambs’ tongues, beef cheeks, and (yes) pigeon, all from local sources and prepared with a passion for robust flavors and inventive contrasts.
At Castagna (1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/231-7373, www.castagnarestaurant.com, 5:30pm-10pm Wed.-Sat., 7-course prix fixe dinner menu $100, 13-course tasting menu $165) each dish is an epiphany of taste and texture. Expect a succession of small, exquisite tastes, such as hot-smoked halibut belly with roe and nasturtium cream and aged duck with black garlic and toasted alliums. This is some of Portland’s most cutting-edge dining. The dining room presents a minimalist decor that some find austere, others soothing. Immediately next door is Café Castagna (1758 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/231-9959, 5pm-10pm Tues.-Sat., 10am-2pm and 5pm-1pm Sun., $13-30), offering a less formal, more affordable dining experience.
Ken Forkish is as close as Portland has to a celebrity baker, noted for his French-style breads and pizza. Trifecta Tavern (726 SE 6th Ave., 503/841-6675, www.trifectapdx.com, 5pm-9pm Mon., 5pm-10pm Tues.-Thurs., 4pm-10:30 Fri.-Sat., 4pm-9pm Sun., $10-26) is his first full-on restaurant. The large, eclectic menu focuses on the seasonal bounty: grilled ear corn with chili-lime butter, fava bean fritters, and duck confit with brandied cherries. This is a lively spot to share family-style dishes with friends.
Portland’s contemporary Chinese community is centered in the SE 82nd Avenue and Division Street neighborhood, where Portland’s best Chinese food can be found at Wong’s King (8733 SE Division St., 503/788-8883, http://wongsking.com, 10am-10pm Mon.-Thurs., 10am-11pm Fri., 9:30am-11pm Sat., 9:30am-10pm Sun., $8-21). The chef has won prestigious cooking awards in China, and the huge dining room is always thronged with Chinese families, but the staff is solicitous to non-Chinese diners who may be confounded by the extensive menu. The dim sum (10am-3pm Mon.-Fri., 9:30am-3pm Sat.-Sun.) is terrific.
Bamboo Sushi (310 SE 28th Ave., 503/232-5255, http://bamboosushi.com, 4:30pm-10pm daily, rolls $8-17), with a stylish dining room and a vast selection of fish that has been harvested according to “green” and sustainable practices, has become Portland’s top sushi restaurant. Indeed, with non-sushi dishes such as sesame-crusted tuna with caramelized eggplant, it’s one of the city’s best seafood restaurants. Find other outposts at 836 NW 23rd Avenue (971/229-1925), 1409 NW Alberta Street (503/889-0336), and downtown at 404 SW 12th Avenue (503/444-7455).
One of the most exciting Thai restaurants in Portland is not the fanciest. In fact, S Pok Pok Thai (3226 SE Division St., 503/232-1387, www.pokpokpdx.com, 11:30am-10pm daily, $13-20) started out with just outdoor seating and a kitchen that was more a shed than a restaurant. Nonetheless, the Thai food produced here—specializing in the cuisine of the Chiang Mai region—is incredible. The roast game hen with dipping sauces is delicious, as is the muu sateh (charcoal-grilled pork loin skewers marinated in coconut milk and turmeric and served with cucumber relish). In Northeast Portland? Head to sister restaurant Pok Pok Noi (1469 NE Prescott St., 503/287-4149, www.pokpoknoi.com, 5pm-midnight daily, $9-23), which offers many of the same dishes.
A restaurant hidden within another restaurant is a treasure, particularly if it’s Langbaan (6 SE 28th St., 971/344-2564, http://langbaanpdx.com, seatings 6pm and 8:45pm Thurs.-Sat., 5:30pm and 8:15pm Sun., prix fixe $75), Make your way through PaaDee (itself a fine Thai restaurant) and turn right at the bookcase to find the exclusive 25-seat dining room. The monthly changing menu features a dozen or so courses, a pageant of extremely refined dishes. Reservations are highly coveted, so call as soon as you know your travel dates.
At S Bollywood Theater (3010 SE Division St., 503/477-6699; 2039 NE Alberta St., 971/200-4711, www.bollywoodtheaterpdx.com, 11am-10pm daily, $6-17) the focus is on Indian street food—the Dahi Papri Chaat (house-made crackers topped with chickpeas, potatoes, yogurt, cilantro, and tamarind chutney) is outrageously delicious, and other top dishes include pork vindaloo and egg masala. Order at the counter and take a free table, inside or out, to eat your meal. Expect long lines on weekends and food that’s worth the wait.
The stylish and acclaimed S Tusk (2448 E. Burnside St., 503/894-8082, www.tuskpdx.com, 5pm-10pm Mon.-Wed., 5pm-midnight Thurs.-Fri., 10am-2pm and 5pm-midnight Sat., 10am-2pm and 5pm-10pm Sun., $11-29) refines hearty Middle Eastern flavors with superlative Oregon ingredients. Most dishes come in two sizes so you can sample your way across the menu. Unusual salads and vegetable dishes are particularly good (try a salad of broccoli, peaches, fennel, and mint), but don’t ignore Tusk’s version of hummus (made with hominy) or meat dishes such as roasted pork shoulder.
Much lauded Coquine (6839 SE Belmont St., 503/384-2483, www.coquinepdx.com, 8am-2:30pm Mon.-Tues., 8am-2:30pm and 5pm-10pm Wed.-Sun., $20-32), takes French comfort food to new heights. In a charming old storefront on the flanks of Mount Tabor, chef Katy Millard cooks casual but refined food that tunes French techniques on the freshest of local ingredients.
Don’t let preconceptions about Russian food keep you from visiting Kachka (720 SE Grand Ave., 503/235-0059, http://kachkapdx.com, 4pm-10pm daily, $13-20); if nothing else, go for a flight of vodkas, perhaps infused with dill flower or marigold. While at the bar, studying the Soviet-era posters on the walls, you may find yourself ordering a plate of pickled veggies. That might lead to a zakuski (appetizer) spread, including taranka (aptly described as “something like fish jerky”), and on to pork-stuffed cabbage rolls. The food is shockingly good, and the atmosphere pure Portland.
Kachka
Nostrana (1401 SE Morrison St., 503/234-2427, http://nostrana.com, 11:30am-2pm and 5pm-10pm Mon.-Thurs., 11:30am-2pm and 5pm-11pm Fri., 5pm-11pm Sat., 5pm-10pm Sun., $16-28, pizza $9-18) is part wood-fired pizza joint and part rustic Italian home-cooking restaurant. Order one of the excellent pizzas—perhaps prosciutto and arugula—and augment it with a selection of wonderful salads, soups, house-cured meats, and wood-oven-cooked meats. The menu changes nightly to ensure that everything is fresh and seasonal.
Ava Gene’s (3377 SE Division St., 971/229-0571, http://avagenes.com, 5pm-11pm daily, $19-38) focuses on Rome and its traditional cooking traditions, translated for the Pacific Northwest. Start with vegetable small plates, such as peach, padrone pepper, preserved lemon, and feta salad, move on to a hearty plate of tagliolini with white wine chicken ragù; and if you’re still hungry, perhaps a secondi of roast lamb, eggplant, and pine nuts. The handsome tiled dining room lends a perfect touch of formality.
The staff at Apizza Scholls (4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/233-1286, http://apizzascholls.com, 5pm-9:30pm Mon.-Fri., 11:30am-2:30pm and 5pm-9:30pm Sat.-Sun., pizzas $19-26) have earned the reputation as pizza snobs for their formidable resistance to allowing patrons to add more than three toppings. But they’re right: The handmade crusts won’t char properly if they’re loaded up. The Diablo Blanco, with ricotta, tomato pesto, and pumpkin seeds, is a great house specialty. Reserve online or expect a wait.
Forget American-style Mexican food; Xico (3715 SE Division St., 503/548-6343, www.xicopdx.com, 5pm-9:30pm Sun.-Thurs., 5pm-11pm Fri.-Sat., $18-29) serves sophisticated Mexican cuisine, with tortillas handmade from corn ground in-house; the same masa is used to make tamales. A specialty is the rotisserie chicken dinner for two with optional side dishes, but don’t overlook Oregon lamb roasted in peanut-chocolate adobo, with tomato-chili broth.
Start with a wild boar taco or some chips and excellent guacamole at Taqueria Nueve (737 SE Washington St., 203/954-1987, www.taquerianueve.com, 5pm-10pm Tues.-Sat., 5pm-9pm Sun., $4-15). From there, keep going with tacos or order a plate of enchiladas or a grilled hanger steak with smoky chili sauce. Along with good food, enjoy a fun, high-energy atmosphere.
Portland has a broad range of lodging choices. Many of the best are downtown, close to the arts, restaurants, and nightlife, though prices can be steep. Northeast Portland, near Lloyd Center and the Convention Center, offers a wide selection of chain motels at somewhat lower prices with convenient links to downtown by MAX Light Rail. The rates quoted are for double-occupancy summer high-season rooms. Winter off-season rates are usually about 25 percent lower. Shopping for rooms on Internet discount lodging sites can yield unexpected deals, even in high season.
Unless otherwise noted, you’ll pay to park at downtown hotels. Fees range $20-45 per night—and you’ll be charged lodging tax, currently 13.5 percent on lodgings with more than 50 rooms. Remember that MAX Light Rail trains will deliver you to Lloyd Center, the Convention Center, and downtown, so think twice before automatically renting a car at the airport.
S McMenamins Crystal Hotel (303 SW 12th Ave., 503/972-2670 or 855/205-3930, www.mcmenamins.com/CrystalHotel, $125-205, parking $25), has stories to tell. The McMenamins crew has rehabilitated this once notorious building with the company’s trademark whimsy and Oregonian informality (guests in the less expensive rooms will find baths down the hall). The ground floor is dominated by the Zeus Café. In the basement, you’ll find Al’s Den, with live music nightly and a huge soaking pool, in memory of when this building housed downtown’s liveliest gay baths.
McMenamins Crystal Hotel
Mark Spencer Hotel (409 SW 11th Ave., 503/224-3293 or 800/548-3934, www.markspencer.com, $129-339, parking $25), is a former residential hotel that’s now a comfortable lodging just a few blocks from shopping and dining in the Pearl District. The rooms once rented as apartments, so even the standard guest rooms are spacious and have complete kitchens. Rates include continental breakfast.
The renovation of the 1912 S Ace Hotel Portland (1022 SW Stark St., 503/228-2277, www.acehotel.com/portland, $195-365, parking $34) has turned a historic but down-at-heel property in an unbeatable downtown location into a distinctive, quintessentially Portland hotel. Spare but stylish guest rooms reflect the city’s recycling ethic with a mix of salvaged fir, vintage fixtures, and army surplus, while custom-made Pendleton blankets and eclectic murals by local artists enhance the unique sense of place. The less expensive rooms share a bath, while the top-floor deluxe rooms offer understated luxury.
The Benson Hotel (309 SW Broadway, 503/228-2000 or 800/663-1144, www.bensonhotel.com, $195-367, valet parking $40) was built in 1913 as the city’s most luxurious hotel, and thankfully this grande dame retains nearly all of its spectacular early-20th-century fittings, particularly the grand lobby with its walnut paneling, chandeliers, and massive oriental carpets. If you’re feeling VIP, go for the Presidential Suite: Every U.S. president since Taft (but one) has stayed here. Facilities include a restaurant and a cozy lobby bar.
At the vintage but beautifully updated S Hotel deLuxe (729 SW 15th Ave., 503/219-2094 or 866/895-2094, www.hoteldeluxeportland.com, $200-309, self-parking $29, valet $35) a Hollywood theme prevails throughout, with hundreds of movie stills and other photos celebrating the golden age of film in guest rooms, hallways, and on a screen that dominates the lobby. The least expensive rooms are rather small, but well appointed, and service is strong on details. The hotel is just west of downtown.
Chic and conveniently located, Hotel Lucia (400 SW Broadway, 503/225-1717 or 866/986-8086, www.hotellucia.com, $220-381, valet parking $43) is a top choice for travelers looking for high-design comfort and a frisson of cool urban style. Edgy art fills the lobby along with modern furniture that bespeaks cool elegance. Standard guest rooms aren’t large but are comfortable and beautifully furnished; consider stepping up to a Superior or Deluxe room if you need space.
Sleek and stylish, Hotel Modera (515 SW Clay St., 503/484-1084 or 877/484-1084, www.hotelmodera.com, $235-385, valet parking $38) showcases an updated mid-century aesthetic. The large art-draped lobby, lined with marble and dark woods, opens onto a spacious courtyard with lots of outdoor seating, three fire pits, and a “living wall” of greenery. Guest rooms carry on the Euro-chic look, with a streamlined aesthetic that’s both bold and whimsical. Hotel Modera is at the center of downtown and right on the MAX rail line. Guests can use the nearby 24-Hour Fitness.
A historic hotel with a stunning Romanesque facade, S Hotel Vintage (422 SW Broadway, 503/228-1212 or 800/263-2305, www.hotelvintage-portland.com, $212-347, valet parking $43) is a temple of discreet luxury, perfect for a romantic weekend or a highly civilized business stay. Standard rooms are sumptuous, but if you’re here for a special occasion, the many unique suites make this a top choice—check out the two-story townhouse suites and the Garden Spa rooms, with a flower-decked rooftop patio and outdoor hot tub. Amenities include the Pazzo Ristorante and bar, a manager’s wine reception, an honor bar, fitness and business centers, and free Wi-Fi. Pets are welcome.
Don’t let the corporate moniker mislead you. S Embassy Suites Portland (319 SW Pine St., 503/279-9000, www.embassyportland.com, $219-313, valet parking $45, self-parking $35) is in fact the palatial Multnomah Hotel, built in 1912 as the largest and grandest hotel in the Pacific Northwest. When Embassy Suites remodeled this aging beauty, the company reduced the number of guest rooms from 700 to just 276 suites. These are the largest standard rooms in downtown Portland. Amenities include a free breakfast, and an indoor pool and fitness center that resembles a Roman bath.
In true Portland tradition, the Hi-Lo Hotel (320 SW Stark St., 971/222-2100, www.hi-lo-hotel.com, $246-379, parking $43) was “crafted” from a vintage 1910 office building. The conversion saw the removal of everything but the ground floor and the building’s historic facade; all the upper-floor guest rooms are new. “Raw and refined” forms the hotel’s aesthetic, with high-end amenities playing off against reclaimed barn wood. Facilities include a restaurant, a bar, and a fitness center.
A true Portland landmark, S The Sentinel (614 SW 11th Ave., 503/224-3400 or 800/554-3456, www.sentinelhotel.com, $254-374, parking $43) has two wings: the original 1909 hotel with an imposing white tile facade (look for the Transformer-like figures along the roofline) and the adjoining Portland Elks Lodge, an ornate structure built in 1932 to resemble the Farnese Palace in Rome. This is one of Portland’s most regal hotels. The standard deluxe-level guest rooms are large and nicely furnished, but the suites are really outstanding. Amenities include Jake’s Grill restaurant, a Starbucks, and a large and airy fitness center.
The interior of the historic and luxurious S Heathman Hotel (1009 SW Broadway, 800/551-0011, www.heathmanhotel.com, $300-389, parking $44), built in 1927, offers a tantalizing balance between old and new, between its old-fashioned opulence and the refreshing brio of the hotel’s vast collection of modern art. The entry-level Deluxe rooms aren’t huge but offer refined furnishings and every luxury. For more room, book an Executive King or a Symphony Suite. Facilities include the Headwaters Restaurant, one of Portland’s finest seafood spots; and a wonderful two-story wood-paneled tearoom with daily high tea and live jazz music Wednesday-Saturday.
The conveniently located Hotel Monaco (506 SW Washington St., 503/222-0001 or 888/207-2201, www.monaco-portland.com, $335-395, valet parking $42) is a showcase of vivid color, oversize art, and unconventional furnishings. The zippy decor continues into the large, stylish guest rooms, which are designed with a sense of humor, using color and fabric to create a mood of relaxed whimsy. Amenities include a day spa, fitness and business centers, and the Red Star Tavern restaurant.
The Nines (525 SW Morrison St., 877/229-9995, www.thenines.com, $607-729, valet parking $43) occupies the top nine floors of the former Meier and Frank department store, a magnificent glazed terra-cotta landmark from 1908. A dramatic nine-story interior atrium is flanked by large stylish guest rooms. Guest rooms feature original art from students at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Facilities include fitness and business centers, the organic steak house Urban Farmer, and the rooftop Departures, which has cocktails and lighter Asian-influenced fare.
One of the few hotels right on the Willamette River, the lodge-like RiverPlace Hotel (1510 SW Harbor Way, 503/228-3233 or 800/227-1333, www.riverplacehotel.com, $239-475, valet parking $37) sits above a marina at the edge of Waterfront Park, yet it’s just moments from downtown shopping and activities. A warm and pleasing arts and crafts aesthetic pervades the lobby and bar, and guest rooms are large and comfortable. RiverPlace also offers one- and two-bedroom condos. With the notable position right on the river, the bar and restaurant, both with large outdoor decks, are very popular.
Northwest Portland Hostel (425 NW 18th Ave., 503/241-2783 or 888/777-0067, http://nwportlandhostel.com, bunks $29 for Hostelling International members, $39 nonmembers, private rooms $71-104, parking permit $2 per day) has a great location at the heart of Northwest Portland’s most exciting neighborhoods. The hostel consists of three adjacent buildings with a mix of four- to six-bed dorms, private rooms, a fully equipped kitchen, a café open for three meals daily, plus common rooms and courtyards.
Another simple place to stay in Northwest Portland is the Portland International Guesthouse, Northwest (2185 NW Flanders St., 503/224-0500 or 877/228-0500, www.pdxguesthouse.com, $80-100), a historic home with six rooms sharing three baths, a sitting room, and a kitchen.
In the heart of the Old Town-Chinatown district, the Society Hotel (203 NW 3rd Ave., 503/445-0444, bunks $50, private rooms with shared bath $115, suites with private baths $169-189, self-parking $15, valet $20) is a revitalization of an 1881 sailors’ boardinghouse that has seen a lot of history, including stints as a Chinese tong lodge and a hospital. This simple but comfortable hotel has been rebuilt with hipster chic, with a 24-bed dorm, plus a mix of hotel rooms with shared and private baths. The large living room-like lobby has a café-bar (7am-11pm daily), and in good weather you can take your drinks up to the rooftop deck.
One of Portland’s most engaging lodging choices, the S Inn at Northrup Station (2025 NW Northrup St., 503/224-0543 or 800/224-1180, www.northrupstation.com, $255-370, free parking) is an older motel in Northwest Portland that has been totally renovated into a retro-hip showcase with a wild color palette. Each room has a kitchen and boldly designed furniture, and there’s a rooftop garden. The inn is right on the Portland Streetcar line, so you can get to the Pearl District or downtown in minutes without having to worry about parking.
Between downtown Portland and the Lloyd Center are the Portland Oregon Convention Center and the Rose Garden sports arena, along with a number of good-value chain hotels. There are often deep discounts on these hotels at Internet reservation sites. Most of the hotels are no more than five minutes’ walk from the MAX line. The downside is that many of these close-in hotels are in a busy neighborhood with lots of traffic, but that’s the price you pay for convenience.
The historic Irvington neighborhood north of Broadway, studded with lovely vintage homes, offers a couple of fine bed-and-breakfast options.
A historic saloon and hotel near the foot of the Fremont Bridge in a gentrifying industrial neighborhood, McMenamins White Eagle (836 N. Russell St., 503/335-8900 or 866/271-3377, www.mcmenamins.com, $94-99, free street parking) is one of the best lodging deals in town. The 11 sparsely furnished but comfortable rooms share two restrooms and two showers, European style. The saloon features live music nightly, so it’s loud until at least midnight. Earplugs are available for free.
The historic Irvington neighborhood north of the Lloyd Center has several fine B&Bs. The landmark Lion and the Rose Victorian Bed and Breakfast Inn (1810 NE 15th Ave., 503/287-9245 or 800/955-1647, www.lionrose.com, $185-235) is a 1906 Queen Anne mansion listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The seven guest rooms and apartment, all with private baths, are each unique, charming in an authentically Victorian way, and up-to-date with air-conditioning and cable TV. The B&B is within walking distance of good restaurants and shopping on Northeast Broadway.
The opulent S White House Bed and Breakfast (1914 NE 22nd Ave., 503/287-7131 or 800/272-7131, www.portlandswhitehouse.com, $175-345) gives you the presidential treatment. Located just off Broadway near an avenue of shops and restaurants and only 5 to 10 minutes from the Lloyd Center and downtown, this lovingly restored 1912 lumber baron’s mansion is one of the city’s top B&Bs. It really does look like its namesake in DC.
Portland is epicenter for the tiny house movement, so Caravan (5015 NE 11th Ave., 503/228-5225, http://tinyhousehotel.com, $165-175), a tiny house hotel, makes perfect sense. Rent one of six custom-made houses on wheels gathered around a central fire pit and common area. Each of the tiny houses (which range 120-170 square feet) has a flush toilet and shower, kitchen, and electric heat. Best of all, you’ll wake up in the midst of the Alberta arts neighborhood, with great dining and galleries within steps.
Just across the street from the Oregon Convention Center and immediately on the MAX line, Hotel Eastlund (1021 NE Grand Ave., 503/235-2100 or 800/343-1822, http://hoteleastlund.com, $229-279, parking $25) offers recently updated rooms in a convenient location. The rooftop Altabira City Tavern offers fantastic views over Portland.
S Kennedy School (5736 NE 33rd Ave., 503/249-3983 or 888/249-3983, www.kennedyschool.com, $225-245, free parking) is a quirky McMenamins hotel in the Concordia neighborhood, about six miles northeast of downtown. The hotel is set in an old elementary school that has been transformed into a brewpub, movie theater, restaurant, several school-themed bars (including the Detention Lounge), and a concert venue. You have a choice of rooms: whimsically decorated former classrooms that have become guest rooms, complete with chalkboards and private baths, and king bedrooms in the “English Wing,” a newly built addition in a lush courtyard behind the school.
No other lodgings capture the eco-friendly vibe of Portland—and especially the woolly Hawthorne neighborhood—quite like Portland Hawthorne Hostel (3031 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503/236-3380 or 866/447-3031, www.portlandhostel.org, bunks $34-37 for Hostelling International members, $37-40 nonmembers). Among its most prominent features is an eco-roof over the front porch, a runoff filtering system to capture rainwater for landscaping and flushing toilets. The 1909 house offers men’s, women’s, and coed dorm rooms, plus two private rooms ($74 members, $77 nonmembers). Amenities include a fully equipped kitchen (make your own pancakes for $1), lockers, and bike rentals.
On the east side of the Burnside Bridge, as Burnside Street mounts the hill, are a number of older motor-court motels, some of dubious quality. However, one of these older properties has an interesting story. The Jupiter Hotel (800 E. Burnside St., 503/230-9200 or 877/800-0004, www.jupiterhotel.com, $161-309, parking $15) is what you might call a boutique motel, an older motor court that has been totally updated with a chic modern look and such stylish accoutrements as fine linens, eye-grabbing art, and high-end toiletries. Best of all, the Jupiter Hotel is also home to the Doug Fir Restaurant and Lounge, one of Portland’s top music clubs, with a popular dining room open till 4am daily. Weekends can get pretty noisy, so bring earplugs, or just dance till dawn.
On the edge of beautiful Laurelhurst Park, the opulent Portland Mayor’s Mansion (3360 SE Ankeny St., 503/232-3588, http://pdxmayorsmansion.com, $175-280) is indeed the home of a former Portland mayor. Built in 1912 of redbrick in colonial revival style, the mansion is filled with intriguing period detail and offers four lodging options, all with private baths, including a three-room executive suite. This mansion is at the heart of one of early Portland’s most exclusive neighborhoods, and a walk in any direction will reveal dozens of beautiful architectural specimens.
Portland isn’t particularly convenient for campers. South of Portland, with easy access off I-5, is Champoeg State Heritage Area (503/678-1251, www.oregonstateparks.org, reservations 800/452-5687, http://oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com, $19-29), a lovely park along the Willamette River. Campsites are in shaded groves alongside the river, and bike and hiking paths and museums make this park a worthy recreational destination. In addition to year-round tent ($19) and RV ($28-31) sites, there are also yurts ($43-53) and rustic cabins ($41-51). Champoeg is about 30 miles south of downtown Portland, off I-5 at exit 278.
For those who enjoy rural serenity within commuting distance of downtown, there’s camping in Milo McIver State Park (503/630-7150 or 800/551-6949, www.oregonstateparks.org, reservations 800/452-5687, http://oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com, mid-Mar.-Oct., $18 tents, $26 RVs). This retreat, set on the banks of the Collowash River five miles northwest of Estacada, is 25 miles (but about 45 minutes) from downtown Portland. To get to the park, take I-84 east to I-205 south and follow it to the exit for Highway 224 and Estacada. The road forks right at the town of Carver to go 10 miles (look for Springwater Road) to the campground.
East of Portland, a few miles north of I-84 on the Sandy River, is Oxbow Park (503/797-1850, reservations 800/452-5687, www.reserveamerica.com, $22, vehicle entrance fee $5), operated by Metro, the Portland regional government agency. Oxbow Park is right on a bend in the river in a quiet woodsy setting and offers flush toilets but no showers. There’s a strict no-dog policy. To reach Oxbow Park, take I-84’s exit 17, follow 257th Avenue to Division Street, turn east (right), and follow signs to the park.
Portland’s visitor information resources are far-reaching and extensive. Begin at Travel Portland’s Visitor Information Center (701 SW 6th Ave., 503/275-8355 or 877/678-5263, www.travelportland.com, 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-4pm Sat. Nov.-Apr., 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-4pm Sat., 10am-2pm Sun. May-Oct.), located in Pioneer Courthouse Square. Sharing the space with the visitor information center is the TriMet Ticket Office (www.trimet.org, 8:30am-5:30pm Mon.-Fri.), where you can buy bus tickets and pick up schedules.
The Oregonian (www.oregonlive.com), Portland’s longtime newspaper, is joined by a host of alternative or community papers that circulate around the city. Of all the free weeklies, most useful to travelers are the Willamette Week (http://wweek.com) and the Portland Mercury (www.portlandmercury.com). Both publications have live music and entertainment listings; their websites have archives of restaurant reviews.
Portland Monthly (www.portlandmonthlymag.com) is a glossy magazine dedicated to the good life in Portland. The magazine keeps an eye trained on the city’s burgeoning dining scene and offers fairly comprehensive restaurant listings.
Portland is very much a public and community radio kind of city. OPB (91.5 FM) is the local NPR station. Of the top 50 public radio news stations in the nation, OPB has the largest share of listeners in its broadcast area. That doesn’t mean that Portland is the most public radio-listening city in the United States (some cities have more than one NPR station), but almost.
For a taste of Portland’s more alternative side, tune into KBOO (90.7 FM) for community radio, Oregon style. KBOO’s mission statement just about says it all: “Volunteer-powered, noncommercial, listener-sponsored, full-strength community radio for Portland, Oregon, Cascadia, and the world!”
Other noncommercial radio stations include KMHD (89.1 FM) for jazz and KBPS (89.9 FM) for classical music and the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.
Portland International Airport (PDX, 877/739-4636, www.flypdx.com), known by its airport code, PDX, has been selected twice in recent years as the top airport in the country by readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine, for its easy MAX connections to downtown, free Wi-Fi, and great shopping and dining, with a focus on airport outposts of local businesses.
PDX is 15 miles from downtown Portland, but if you’re driving, allow at least half an hour to make the trip, more if you are traveling during rush hour. From downtown, take I-84 east toward The Dalles, then take I-205 north toward Seattle. Take Airport Way West, exit 24 from I-205.
Airport MAX (www.trimet.org) makes it easy to avoid traffic with frequent light-rail train service to and from PDX and downtown and other stops on the MAX system. The airport service is called the Red Line, and it runs every 15 minutes from Beaverton Transit Center through downtown Portland to PDX. Depending on the day, the earliest trains begin operation from the airport around 5am; the final trains of the day leave PDX by midnight. Travel downtown to or from the airport is $2.50. The trip to or from the airport and the city center takes approximately 40 minutes.
To find the MAX station at PDX, proceed to the lower level (follow signs for baggage claim), then turn right (south) at the base of the escalators. Proceed to the end of the terminal; at the final set of doors, you’ll find automated ticketing machines for MAX, and right outside the doors is the train itself.
Several cab companies and shuttle services serve the airport, as do Uber and Lyft; look for them at the center section of the airport terminal’s lower roadway—go out the doors from the baggage-claim level. Taxi fare to downtown is roughly $40 from the airport.
To drive to Portland from PDX, exit the airport and follow signs to Portland. This takes you first to I-205 south; then, at exit 21B, follow signs to Portland, via I-84 west. In six miles, at the junction of I-5, take the exit for I-5 south, but remain in the on-ramp lane, which exits onto the Morrison Bridge and downtown.
Portland is served by three Amtrak (800/872-7245, www.amtrak.com) routes. The Coast Starlight travels between Los Angeles and Seattle, with a daily stop each way in Portland. The Cascades route operates multiple trains daily between Eugene, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia. The Empire Builder links Portland and Chicago with once-daily service in each direction. Handsome Union Station (800 NW 6th Ave.) is a glorious 1890s vestige of the glory days of rail travel that’s still in service as Portland’s Amtrak station.
Greyhound (550 NW 6th Ave., 503/243-2361 or 800/231-2222, www.greyhound.com) provides intercity bus service from the Greyhound depot, one block south of Amtrak’s Union Station.
A great addition to Pacific Northwest intercity bus transport is Bolt Bus (877/265-8287, www.boltbus.com), with direct service between Portland, Seattle, Bellingham, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Tickets between Portland and Seattle range $17-27 one-way.
Portland is near several interstate highways. I-5 runs from Seattle to San Diego, and I-84 goes east to Salt Lake City. I-405 circles downtown Portland to the west. I-205 bypasses the city to the east. U.S. 26 heads west to Cannon Beach on the coast and east to the Cascades.
The city’s layout is fairly straightforward, with most streets conforming to an easily understood grid. Most streets are named and run east-west; most avenues are numbered and run north-south. Generally speaking, the city is divided into quadrants by the Willamette River and Burnside Street. Therefore, streets and avenues with an SE (Southeast) prefix are south of Burnside and east of the river; streets and avenues prefixed by NW (Northwest) are north of Burnside Street and west of the Willamette, and so on. There is also a section of Portland with the single prefix, N., for north; it’s best thought of as the part of Northeast Portland that is west of Williams Avenue. Also worth noting: Northwest Portland streets proceed in alphabetical order from Ankeny, moving north with streets keyed to the names of early settlers (hence Burnside, Couch, Davis, Everett, all the way to Yeon).
Bridges are a major part of getting around in a river city. The east and west sides of Portland are linked by a dozen bridges, 11 of them in the core of the city, including the public transit, pedestrian, and bike bridge linking OMSI and the South Waterfront. Some of these are drawbridges and regularly lift to allow boats to pass. This is particularly a feature of everyday life during the Rose Festival, when the naval fleet arrives at and departs from downtown moorages.
Portland has an excellent public transportation system called TriMet (503/238-7433, www.trimet.org), which includes buses, light rail (MAX), and commuter rail. There is also the Portland Streetcar and an aerial tram operated by the city. Nearly all of Portland’s primary destinations are easily reached by this system, so unless you actually need a rental car for your visit, consider using public transportation. In fact, riding MAX, the Portland Streetcar, and the tram can be part of the fun of visiting Portland.
The most widespread of TriMet’s transport services are buses, with over 90 bus lines, most of which connect to MAX. For most lines, bus service begins 5am-5:30am; selected lines continue service until about 1:30am. Throughout downtown, 5th and 6th Avenues are referred to as the Portland Mall or simply the Bus Mall. Most buses run along these two one-way streets as they pass through downtown.
Streetcar service currently links the Nob Hill district of NW 23rd Avenue, the Pearl District, and downtown (along 10th Ave. and 11th Ave.); Lloyd Center, the inner east side, and OMSI; and Portland State University, the South Waterfront development, and the Portland Aerial Tram. MAX is the light-rail system, with four different lines, the longest being the 33-mile Blue Line that connects Gresham on the east through downtown and west to Beaverton and Hillsboro. The Red Line travels some of the same route from Beaverton in the west through downtown to the Gateway Transit Center, but then it turns north and travels to the airport. The Yellow Line runs between downtown and the Portland Expo Center via the Rose Quarter Transit Center and North Portland along Interstate Avenue. The MAX Green Line runs between Gateway Transit Center and Clackamas Town Center, and on 5th and 6th Avenues in downtown Portland between Union Station and Portland State University. The Orange Line links downtown Portland to the southern suburb of Milwaukie.
Each part of the transit system uses the same tickets or fare structure, and bus transfers and streetcar or MAX tickets can be used throughout the system. Tickets are valid for a maximum of 2.5 hours of travel. Keep your ticket (or transfer, as it’s also called) with you, as it is your proof of payment, and you can ride the system until the expiration time shown. Basic ticket prices are $2.50 adults; $1 for seniors, disabled, and people on Medicaid; $1.65 ages 7-17 and students; and $2.45 for lift or paratransit. Bus operators do not give change, but the ticketing machines accept both coins and bill. At the MAX stations, including transit centers, machines accept cash and credit or debit cards and will give change. In addition, an all-day ticket is available and is valid for unlimited rides on buses, MAX, and the Portland Streetcar until the end of the service day when the ticket was purchased; these cost $5 adults, $2 senior citizens, and $3.30 children, and are a great deal if you’re going to use public transportation more than once a day.
Regular per-ride tickets can be purchased at TriMet’s primary ticket and information center in Pioneer Courthouse Square (SW Yamhill St. and SW 6th Ave.), and as you board any bus or streetcar. In addition, there are ticket vending machines at all MAX stops. All-day tickets can be purchased from MAX ticket machines, from the TriMet office, and from bus operators; all-day passes are not available from streetcars. You’ll need to insert and validate your all-day ticket in the validator machine if you’re traveling on MAX or the streetcar.
The Portland Aerial Tram (5:30am-9:30pm Mon.-Fri., 9am-5pm Sat. Oct.-May, 5:30am-9:30pm Mon.-Fri., 9am-5pm Sat., 1pm-5pm Sun. June-Sept.) is a gondola that travels 3,300 linear feet between the South Waterfront District and the upper campus of the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Round-trip tickets are $4.70; the tram is not part of the TriMet system, so bus transfers and MAX or streetcar tickets are not valid on the tram. Tickets are available from ticket machines at the lower terminal and are checked only on boarding at the lower terminal. The tram is easily reached via public transport, as the lower tram station is adjacent to the Westside streetcar line SW Moody Avenue and Gibbs Street stop.
one of Portland’s streetcars
Apart from ever-increasing gridlock on the freeways and major arterials, driving in Portland is mostly straightforward. Avoid taking the interstates at rush hour (which can start as early as 3pm), if at all possible. Because Portland is a city of bridges, traffic tends to back up when approaching the rivers, particularly on the I-5 and I-205 bridges across the Columbia River.
You must pay to park downtown and in close-in Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast neighborhoods. Pay at a parking meter kiosk with change, a credit or debit card, or using the Parking Kitty smartphone app and receive a ticket to place on the street-side window as proof of payment (no ticket needed with the phone app). Valid tickets (those with time left on them) can be used at more than one parking place. In addition, the city is filled with parking garages; the seven city-owned SmartPark parking garages are usually the cheapest options and also accept merchant validation stamps (on the garage receipt) for a limited period of free parking. Street parking is free 7pm-8am daily.
In addition to 24-hour taxi service (Broadway Cab, 503/333-3333; Radio Cab, 503/227-1212), Portland has Uber and Lyft.
Portland’s bike share program, Biketown bike (www.biketownpdx.com, $2.50 for 30 minutes, $12 per day) has racks of bikes throughout downtown and the inner neighborhoods. Sign up online, via the mobile app, or at a Biketown station kiosk. Note that these bikes don’t come with helmets; be careful, especially when riding in traffic! When you’re done riding, lock up at any station.
If you want to get the Portland Big Picture before setting out to explore on your own, consider Big Pink Sightseeing’s Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley Tour (503/241-7373, www.graylineofportland.net, $37). A daylong ticket lets you jump off and on an open-air, covered bus anywhere along its 12-stop route, which includes many of Portland’s top sights. This is an excellent introduction to Portland for first-time visitors.
Portland Walking Tours (503/774-4522, www.portlandwalkingtours.com) offers a variety of tours related to art, architecture, history, and food of the downtown area. Most depart from the visitors center at Pioneer Courthouse Square. The 2.5-hour Best of Portland tour ($23 adults) visits public art, downtown parks, and the waterfront; the Underground Portland tour ($23 adults) captures the spirit of the city’s historic Old Town and Chinatown, culminating in a visit to an underground business district and a Shanghai tunnel.
Join up with the folks at Pedal Bike Tours (133 SW 2nd Ave., 503/243-2453, www.pedalbiketours.com, from $59, includes bike) and you’ll not only get some exercise, but you’ll get a feel for Portland life. The downtown tour provides a good orientation to the city’s layout and sights; other tours visit local breweries and food carts.
Get out on the Willamette aboard the Portland Spirit (503/224-3900, www.portlandspirit.com), which offers a variety of sightseeing and dining cruises aboard a 150-foot yacht with three public decks. The usual tour route is between downtown and Lake Oswego, south (upstream) from Portland. Choose from a two-hour lunch cruise (11:30am Mon.-Sat., $44 adults), 2.5-hour dinner cruise (6:30pm daily, $74 adults), and two-hour brunch cruise (11:30am Sun., $52). Sightseeing passengers may also accompany any dining cruise (lunch and brunch sailings $30 adults, dinner sailings $40), with drinks and snacks available on board. Most cruises depart from the dock at Salmon Street Springs Fountain (at the base of SW Salmon St. at Waterfront Park). Call or check the website for departure times and to learn about other cruise options.
Willamette Jetboat Excursions (503/231-1532 or 888/538-2628, www.willamettejet.com) offers jet-boat tours of the Willamette River. A two-hour cruise (daily May-Sept., $44 adults, $30 ages 4-11) travels up to Willamette Falls at Oregon City, while a one-hour Bridges and Harbor Tour (daily mid-June-early Sept., $31 adults, $21 ages 4-11) explores the waterfront and all 11 of downtown Portland’s bridges. Tours depart from the OMSI dock (1945 SE Water Ave.).
Ecotours of Oregon (3127 SE 23rd Ave., Portland 97202, 503/475-0226, www.ecotours-of-oregon.com) runs tours blending ecological understanding with good times. Door-to-door van transport from anywhere in the Portland area, lunch, and commentary are included in itineraries such as Portland microbrewery tours ($70) and whale-watching ($109). Packages focusing on winery tours, Mount St. Helens, and the Columbia Gorge typify the focus of this small company. Trips are usually confined to vans for six people, accompanied by a professional naturalist-historian guide.
If you’re just interested in Portland beers, you have several brewpub tour options, including the minivan tours offered by Brewvana (503/729-6804, www.experiencebrewvana.com, $69-89, beer included). A more participatory option is Brewcycle Portland (1425 NW Flanders St., 971/400-5950, www.brewgrouppdx.com, $25-30, not including beer) where you’ll join up to 14 other beer lovers on a specially designed “brewcycle” that you’ll help peddle from pub to pub. These same folks also offer the BrewBarge, which gets you out on the Willamette on 1.5 hour cruises ($35), but you need to bring your own beer.
Sign on with High Five Tours (503/303-2275, www.high5tours.com, $65-95) to learn about the cannabis business in Portland or to simply fuel up on coffee, weed, and snacks and head to Multnomah Falls.