Mirror Lake near Mt. Hood.
Tourist Offices
The Travel Portland Visitor Information Center in Pioneer Courthouse Square downtown (701 SW 6th Ave.; ☎ 503/275-8355 or 877/678-5263; www.travelportland.com) is open Monday through Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm, Saturday 10am to 4pm, and Sunday 10am to 2pm from May through October. For destinations outside the city, contact the Oregon Tourism Commission, 670 Hawthorne St. SE, Suite 240, Salem, OR 97301 (☎ 800/547-7842; www.traveloregon.com).
The Best Times to Go
The start of summer—defined locally as July 5, when the clouds finally retreat—is gorgeous in Portland and all of Oregon, for that matter. Sunshine replaces drizzle, lawns go from deep green to dry brown, and temperatures are warm, but usually not uncomfortably so. From June through September, it’s highly advisable to book hotel and car reservations ahead of time—as far ahead as possible for weekends, holidays, and events like the Rose Festival. Spring and fall are more of a crapshoot, weather-wise, but you might hit a week or even two of sunshine, and gardens in Portland are at their lushest. Prices fall and reservations open up in these seasons, and even more so in the winter, except for the holidays.
Festivals & Special Events
SPRING April brings the Spring Beer & Wine Fest (www.springbeerfest.com), filling the Convention Center with craft microbrews, regional wines, spirits, food, crafts, and music. This is also the month to catch the Tulip Festival at Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn (☎ 503/634-2243 or 800/711-2006; www.woodenshoe.com), whose fields of vibrant blooms will make you feel as if you’re in Holland, not 35 miles south of Portland.
May starts with the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta (www.cincodemayo.org), supposedly the country’s largest, which celebrates Portland’s sister-city status with Guadalajara, Mexico. Food, entertainment, and music are all on the bill in Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park. At the end of the month, the Mother’s Day Rhododendron Show at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, SE 28th Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard (☎ 503/771-8386), is a riot of blossoming rhododendrons and azaleas.
SUMMER June is the month of extended events, led by the Portland Rose Festival (☎ 503/227-2681; www.rosefestival.org), the city’s oldest (started in 1888) and biggest. Three weeks of events include the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade, a starlight parade, the election of the Rose Queen, a waterfront carnival, and dragon boat races on the river. Some of the events are even free.
The middle of the month also sees the 3-week Pedalpalooza (www.shift2bikes.org/pedalpalooza), an only-in-Portland festival of all things bike-related. Hundreds of events are held, most of them free, including the immense World Naked Bike Ride—we’re talking thousands of bicyclists in the buff. The Portland Pride Festival and Parade (www.pridenw.org) happens over a weekend in mid-June, with a Pride Parade on Sunday, live entertainment, a drag race (heels, not wheels), and a pet parade.
Over the extended Fourth of July weekend, the Waterfront Blues Festival (☎ 503/282-0555; www.waterfrontbluesfest.com) fills Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park with 4 days of national headliners. Sponsored by Safeway and benefitting the Oregon Food Bank, it’s the largest blues festival west of the Mississippi.
The last full weekend in July brings more beer, this time in the form of the 4-day Oregon Brewers Festival (☎ 503/778-5917; www.oregonbrewfest.com), one of the largest and oldest craft-beer festivals in the U.S. Waterfront Park is the setting for close to 100 craft brewers from home and abroad, with demonstrations, exhibits, food, and live music.
In late July, indie music fans flock to PDX Pop Now! (www.pdxpopnow.com), a free, all-ages festival of local music featuring upwards of 50 artists selected by public vote. When the 3-day event is over, you can take home a two-CD compilation.
Mid-August’s The Bite of Oregon (www.biteoforegon.com), a fundraiser for Special Olympics Oregon, features food and wine samples from local chefs and regional wineries, along with live music, cooking demos, and other entertainment. Mid-August is also time for another distinctively local happening: the Providence Bridge Pedal (☎ 503/281-9198; http://blog.bridgepedal.com), in which 10 of the city’s bridges are partly closed to make room for cyclists. Choose from routes ranging from 13 to 36 miles (or a 5-mile walk) and enjoy amazing views that zip by through a car window the other 364 days of the year.
Summer also brings many local street fairs on the east side of the city, mostly 1-day affairs with food and drink vendors, music, crafts, and the occasional bouncy castle. The list includes the Mississippi Street Fair in early July (www.mississippiave.com); the Division and Clinton Street Fair in late July (www.divisionclinton.com); the Alberta Street Fair in mid-August (www.albertamainst.org/street-fair); the Hawthorne Street Fair in late August (www.thinkhawthorne.com/happenings); and the Belmont Street Fair in mid-September (www.belmontdistrict.org/street-fair).
FALL In early September, Musicfest NW (www.musicfestnw.com) fills Waterfront Park and the clubs of Portland with local musicians and national acts for 4 days. The Time-Based Art Festival (☎ 503/242-1419; www.pica.org/tba) consists of 10 days of modern visual and performance arts sponsored by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts.
Mid- to late October is the season of harvest festivals—pumpkin patches, hayrides, corn mazes, and so on—at farms around the city. Many of these happen on Sauvie Island, 10 miles northwest of Portland on U.S. 30. In mid-November, the Northwest Film & Video Festival (☎ 503/221-1156; www.nwfilm.org/festivals) brings a host of short films, documentaries, and features by independent filmmakers from the Pacific Northwest.
WINTER Get in the holiday mood with the Festival of Lights at the Grotto (☎ 503/254-7371; www.thegrotto.org). For the entire month of December, this Catholic sanctuary on NE Sandy Boulevard is lit by 500,000 lights, with puppet shows, a petting zoo, choral performances, and plenty of hot chocolate. Speaking of lights, mid-December brings the Christmas Ships Parade to the Columbia and Willamette rivers, with upwards of 50 ships decked out in holiday lights after dark. Head to the Oregon Zoo for the ZooLights Festival (www.oregonzoo.org), which includes music, kids’ activities, and a special holiday train.
The Portland International Film Festival (☎ 503/228-7433; www.nwfilm.org) in February brings 100 films from all over the world to theaters around the city. This same month, the Oregon Convention Center becomes one huge bistro during the Oregon Seafood and Wine Festival (www.pdxseafoodandwinefestival.com), which happily coincides with the Dungeness crab season.
The Weather
Ah yes, the weather. If this almost suspiciously appealing city has a catch, it’s what goes on outside from about October to May: mostly gray skies and mist or light rain, with infrequent downpours and sunny days. Hotel rates are lower and reservations are easier to score from fall through spring, particularly along the coast. Bring rain gear and a jacket or fleece for night. (Strangely, nothing brands you as a tourist like using an umbrella.) Temperatures regularly drop into the low 40s in the heart of winter, when the Cascades are being buried in snow.
But, as locals are quick to remind you, the summers are wonderful, even if they don’t reliably start, weather-wise, until the 5th of July. Then you can usually count on 3 months of near-constant sunshine with hardly a drop of precipitation for weeks on end. (Portlanders joke that their lawns are brown in the summer and green in the winter.) Temperatures seldom climb above the low 90s, although summer temps have spiked into the low-100s and stayed there for 3 or 4 days in recent years. This is when hotel and car reservations become essential, especially on the weekends and especially on the coast.
Spring and fall are more of a gamble, with occasional windows of sunny weather lasting for a few days or even a few weeks. Even then it’s a good idea to have an extra layer ready, ideally one that’s waterproof.
Useful Websites
•www.oregonian.com is the website for the daily Oregonian newspaper.
•www.wweek.com takes you to the Willamette Week weekly newspaper site.
•www.portlandmercury.com is the website of the Portland Mercury, another popular weekly.
•www.travelportland.com is for the Portland Visitor’s Association.
•www.pdxpipeline.com offers music, art, and entertainment listings.
•www.pdxkidscalendar.com is the place to go for children’s events and activities.
•www.opentable.com: This popular reservation site offers information about and reservations for PDX eateries.
Car Rentals
All major car-rental companies have desks at the airport, which is the most convenient place to pick up a car. Across from the baggage-claim area you’ll find Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty. Weekly rates for an economy car in summer can run from $200 to $350, with no discounts, so it’s a good idea to comparison shop before you book. Rates drop in the rainy months.
If you’re visiting from abroad and plan to rent a car in the U.S., keep in mind that foreign driver’s licenses are usually recognized in the U.S., but you may want to consider obtaining an international driver’s license.
Getting There
By Plane
Portland International Airport (PDX; ☎ 877/739-4636 or 503/460-4234; www.flypdx.com), located 10 miles northeast of downtown along the Columbia River, is an astonishingly pleasant and efficient airport. You can get maps and brochures from the information booth by the baggage-claim area. Some hotels have courtesy shuttle service to and from the airport, especially the ones nearby; be sure to ask when you make a reservation. Carriers flying to PDX include:
•Air Canada (☎ 888/247-2262; www.aircanada.ca)
•Alaska Airlines (☎ 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com)
•American Airlines (☎ 800/433-7300; www.aa.com)
•Condor Air ☎ 866-960-7915; www.condorair.com)
•Delta (☎ 800/221-1212; www.delta.com)
•Frontier (☎ 800/432-1359; www.flyfrontier.com)
•Hawaiian Air (☎ 800-367-5320; www.hawaiianair.com)
•Horizon Air (☎ 800/547-9308; www.horizonair.com)
•JetBlue (☎ 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com)
•Seaport Air (☎ 888-573-2767; www.seaportair.com)
•Southwest (☎ 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com)
•Spirit Air (☎ 800/772-7117; www.spirit.com)
•United (☎ 800/864-8331; www.united.com)
•Virgin America (☎ 877/359-8474; www.virginamerica.com)
To get downtown by car, follow the signs to downtown via I-205 and I-84 west, and then cross the Willamette River using the Morrison Bridge exit. Without traffic, the trip can take 15 minutes.
Taxis wait outside baggage claim; a ride downtown costs between $40 and $45. Blue Star ☎ 503/249-1837; www.bluestarbus.com) runs a shared shuttle bus to the airport for $14 per person each way to and from downtown.
You can also get into the city from the airport by MAX light-rail. Trains leave the airport station on the lower level daily about every 15 minutes between 5am and midnight. It takes 35 to 40 minutes to get to Pioneer Courthouse Square in the heart of downtown. To reach destinations in the southeast, northeast, and northwest parts of the city, you can get off at an earlier stop and transfer to a city bus, streetcar, or another MAX line. The adult MAX fare is $2.50 (seniors, or “Honored Citizens,” ride for $1.25). For further public transport information, see Getting Around, below.
By Car
Portland is 175 miles south of Seattle; 285 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia; 640 miles north of San Francisco; and 1,015 miles north of Los Angeles, all via I-5, the interstate backbone of the West Coast. Starting in Portland, I-84 runs east to Idaho and Utah.
By Train
Amtrak trains stop at the historic Union Station, 800 NW 6th Ave. (☎ 800/872-7245 or 503/273-4860; www.amtrak.com), 12 blocks from Pioneer Courthouse Square. The Coast Starlight train from Seattle to Los Angeles stops at Portland, as well as Sacramento, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara. The Empire Builder heads east to Chicago via Spokane, St. Paul/Minneapolis, and Milwaukee. The sleek, European-style Amtrak Cascades (www.amtrakcascades.com) train makes the run between Portland and Seattle in 31⁄2 hours (versus 41⁄2 hours for the regular train). The whole Cascades route extends from Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver, British Columbia. On either type of train, one-way fares between Seattle and Portland run from about $40 to $110, depending on the season.
Taxis are usually waiting outside Union Station. The MAX light-rail green and yellow lines stop about a block away at NW 6th Avenue, and Hoyt Street, and bus routes 7, 9, and 33 stop within a block of the station to the south, toward downtown.
By Bus
The Greyhound Bus Lines station is at 550 NW 6th Ave. (☎ 800/231-2222 or 503/243-2361; www.greyhound.com), just across NW Irving Street from Union Station. The Union Station/NW 6th & Hoyt Street MAX stop (green and yellow lines) is right outside, as are stops for city bus routes 7, 9, and 33.
Bolt Bus (☎ 877/265-8287; www.boltbus.com) is a super-cheap bus service between Portland, Eugene, Seattle, and Vancouver, BC. Prices between Seattle and Portland range from about $14 to $25 depending on demand. It departs and arrives at SW Salmon Street between 5th and 6th avenues.
Getting Around
Portland encourages the use of public transportation, and you can easily travel around the city via bus, MAX light rail, or the Portland Streetcar, all operated by TriMet (☎ 503/238-7433; www.trimet.org). The TriMet website is useful for planning trips. Note that the Portland Streetcar has a separate website: www.portlandstreetcar.org.
Portland addresses are always tagged with a map quadrant: NE (northeast), SE (southeast), SW (southwest), NW (northwest) and N (north). The dividing lines are the Willamette River between east and west and Burnside Street between north and south. (Burnside itself is split into “East” and “West” on either side of the river.) All of downtown is SW (southwest). You may find the same street name on both sides of the river, just in different quadrants—say, SW Salmon Street and SE Salmon Street. The only exception is North Portland, a big wedge of the city on the east side of the Willamette between I-5 (to the east) and the river (to the west). Addresses here are simply “North” whatever.
Other navigational quirks: Avenues run north to south and streets run east to west; street names in Northwest Portland are alphabetical heading north from Burnside to Wilson; and on the west side, what would be 7th and 8th avenues are instead named Broadway and Park avenues, respectively.
By Light Rail
Portland’s light-rail system, the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX), connects downtown with the airport, the eastern suburb of Gresham, the western suburbs of Beaverton and Hillsboro, North Portland, and Milwaukie to the south. Train service begins at 5am and runs until midnight. Note that MAX cars have hooks for hanging bicycles inside.
By Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar (www.portlandstreetcar.org) runs a 4-mile NS (north-south) route from the South Waterfront District through downtown and the Pearl District to NW 23rd and Marshall. The A and B Loops run clockwise and counter-clockwise along a circular 31⁄3-mile route, crossing the river via the Broadway Bridge and the new Tilikum Crossing bridge (opened in 2015). This route connects downtown with the Moda Center, the Convention Center, the Lloyd District, and OMSI. Streetcars run about every 13 to 20 minutes daily from 5:30am to 11:30pm on weekdays, 7:15am to 11:30pm on Saturday, and 7:15am to 10:30pm on Sunday.
By Bus
TriMet buses operate daily over an extensive network, stretching from Forest Grove to Gresham and from North Portland to Oregon City. Just over half the bus lines run about every 15 minutes during the morning and afternoon rush hours on weekdays. Service is less frequent in the early morning, midday, and evening. Buses run from about 5am to 1 or 2am, depending on the route. Every bus has a rack on the front that can hold two bikes. You can find out when the next bus is arriving at your stop by calling TriMet at ☎ 503/238-7433 and entering the ID number posted on the bus stop.
Fares
Fares are the same for MAX and buses: $2.50 for adults, $1.25 for seniors 65 years and older, and $1.50 ages 7 through 17. Streetcar fares are slightly lower: $2 for adults, $1.25 for seniors and youth. A ticket is valid for 2 hours. You can also buy an all-day ticket for $5, which is valid on buses, streetcars, and MAX. Buy tickets or day passes at vending machines at bus, light rail, and streetcar stops, in vending machines on board the streetcar, or at the TriMet Ticket Office, 701 SW Sixth Ave., in Pioneer Courthouse Square (open Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:30pm, Sat 10am–4pm). You can also buy tickets at most local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, and Safeway stores. If you buy a ticket on the bus, you’ll need exact change.
By Car
Oregon drivers tend to be on the civil side; if you honk your horn in anything but a serious situation, you’ll get funny looks (or worse). And don’t even try to pump your own gas: Oregon and New Jersey are the only two states where attendants are required to do this for you. It’s illegal to text or talk on a cellphone while driving without using a hands-free accessory—and even that’s illegal if you’re under 18.
You may turn right on a red light after a full stop, and if you are in the far-left lane of a one-way street, you may turn left into the adjacent left lane of a one-way street at a red light after a full stop. Everyone in a moving vehicle is required to wear a seat belt. Drivers must always stop for pedestrians in striped pedestrian crossings.
Portlanders are generally used to driving with bicyclists on the road, but visiting drivers should be extra wary, especially at night and in the rain, because some bikers refuse to use lights or wear helmets. As traffic goes, Portland ranks in the top 20% of cities with bad congestion nationwide. I-5, I-84, and I-205 all often back up during rush hour, when bridges and interchanges turn into chokepoints. Ironically, as more and more people move to Portland because of its “livability,” the traffic problem has gotten a lot worse. The I-5 corridor between Portland and Vancouver, Washington, qualifies as a real traffic nightmare and should be avoided between 8 and 10am and 3 and 7pm.
Many of the blocks in downtown, the Pearl District, and the Lloyd District have electronic SmartMeter pay stations for street parking. These take cash and credit cards and spit out parking receipts that you attach to your curbside window. One benefit is that you can use your remaining time at another parking space. You’re generally required to pay from 8am to 7pm Monday through Saturday and 1 to 7pm on Sunday, and the rate is $1 to $2 per hour.
The best parking deal in town is the six city-owned SmartPark garages (☎ 503/790-9300) downtown with nearly 4,000 public spaces. Four of these are open 24/7. Rates are $1.60 per hour for the first hour and $3 to $5 per hour after that. All-day parking is $12 to $15. You’ll find SmartPark garages at 1st Avenue and Jefferson Street, 4th Avenue and Yamhill Street, 10th Avenue and Yamhill Street, 3rd Avenue and Alder Street, O’Bryant Square, Naito Parkway and Davis Street, and Station Place (in the Pearl District near Union Station). Hundreds of downtown merchants validate SmartPark tickets for a short stay if you spend a certain minimum, although this varies.
A car is by far the best way to access points outside the city. There just isn’t any other way to get to the more remote natural spectacles or to fully appreciate such regions as the Oregon coast or the Columbia River Gorge.
It takes about 2 hours to drive from Portland to Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast; from Portland to Mount Hood, about 11⁄2 hours, depending on traffic.
Car-sharing in America was born in Portland in 1998, and today Zipcar has hundreds of vehicles parked around the metro area. They have an office downtown at 739 SW 10th Ave. and Yamhill Street (☎ 503/328-3539 or 866-494-7227; www.zipcar.com).
The American Automobile Association (www.aaa.com) has a Portland office at 600 SW Market St. (☎ 503/222-6767 or 800/452-1643), which offers free city maps to members.
By Taxi
Although there are almost always taxis waiting in line at major hotels, you won’t find them cruising the streets—you’ll have to call ahead for one. Broadway Cab (☎ 503/227-1234; www.broadwaycab.com) charges $2.50 per mile and $1 for each additional passenger, with a $2.50 airport pickup surcharge.
Uber (www.uber.com) ride service is also available in Portland.
By Bike
Have you gathered by now that Portlanders are somewhat fond of bicycling? Being chosen as the country’s first platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists in 2009 is just one of the city’s many cycling accolades. A progressive citywide bike transportation program includes ubiquitous bike racks and wide, clear bike lanes on most major commuter routes. Riders are required to obey all traffic laws—cops give out real tickets for not coming to a full stop at stop signs, for instance—and you have to give pedestrians right-of-way on sidewalks (obviously). For more information and news about biking in Portland, check out BikePortland (www.bikeportland.org) or the nonprofit Bicycle Transportation Alliance (☎ 503/226-0676; www.bta4bikes.org).
Cross a bike with a taxi and you get a pedicab. You can hail these three-wheeled cycles-for-hire downtown or call ahead for a pickup. Rates vary—most short trips are $10–$20—and drivers work for tips. Try PDX Pedicabs (☎ 503/828-9888; www.pdxpedicab.com) or Portland Pedicabs (☎ 503/329-2575; www.portlandpedals.com). Both offer special guided tours of local brewpubs, distilleries, and the like.
Fast Facts
AREA CODE The area code for most of Portland is 503, with 971 as the new additional code. For the rest of Oregon, the area codes are 541 and 458.
BABYSITTERS If your hotel doesn’t offer babysitting services, call Northwest Nannies (☎ 503/245-5288; www.nwnanny.com).
BUSINESS HOURS In general, stores are open weekdays 9 or 10am to 5 or 6pm, and Sunday noon to 5pm. Malls can stay open to 9pm Monday to Saturday, while many art galleries and antiques stores close on Monday. Banks are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (occasionally Sat 9am–noon). Bars and clubs can stay open until 2am.
DENTIST Contact the Multnomah Dental Society (☎ 503/513-5010; www.multnomahdental.org) for a referral.
DISABLED TRAVELERS Wheelchair users will find most of the city relatively flat, outside of the West Hills and Mount Tabor. Buses, MAX light-rail, and the Portland Streetcar are all equipped with lifts for wheelchairs. Most hotels provide wheelchair-accessible rooms, and some of the larger and more expensive hotels also have TDD telephones and other amenities for the hearing- and sight-impaired. Sidewalk ramps are the norm downtown but are more randomly placed elsewhere. Organizations that offer resources and assistance to travelers with disabilities include the American Foundation for the Blind (☎ 800/232-5463; www.afb.org); and the Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (☎ 212/447-7284; www.sath.org).
DOCTORS See “Hospitals,” below.
DRINKING LAWS The legal minimum drinking age in Oregon is 21. Beer and wine are available in grocery stores and convenience stores, and hard liquor can be purchased in bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. Brewpubs tend to sell only beer and wine, but some also have hard liquor licenses.
Electricity The U.S. uses 110–120 volts AC (60 cycles). You’ll need a 110-volt transformer and a plug adapter with two flat parallel pins to use 220–240 volt appliances. (It’s best to bring one from home.)
Embassies & Consulates All embassies are in the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. There are also consulates in some major U.S. cities, though none are in Portland. Most nations also have a mission to the United Nations in New York City. If your country isn’t listed below, call for directory information in Washington, D.C. (☎ 202/555-1212) or check www.embassy.org/embassies.
The embassy of Australia is at 1601 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036 (☎ 202/797-3000; www.usa.embassy.gov.au). Consulates are in New York, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
The embassy of Canada is at 501 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 (☎ 202/682-1740; www.can-am.gc.ca/washington). Canadian consulates are in Buffalo (New York), Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle.
The embassy of Ireland is at 2234 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20008 (☎ 202/462-3939; www.embassyofireland.org). Irish consulates are in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and other cities. See website for complete listing.
The embassy of New Zealand is at 37 Observatory Circle NW, Washington, D.C. 20008 (☎ 202/328-4800; www.nzembassy.com). New Zealand consulates are in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle.
The embassy of the United Kingdom is at 3100 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20008 (☎ 202/588-6500; http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk). Other British consulates are in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
EMERGENCIES Dial 911 for fire, police, and medical emergencies.
Holidays Government offices, post offices, banks, and many restaurants, stores, and museums are closed on the following national holidays: January 1 (New Year’s Day), the third Monday in January (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), the third Monday in February (Presidents’ Day), the last Monday in May (Memorial Day), July 4 (Independence Day), the first Monday in September (Labor Day), the second Monday in October (Columbus Day), November 11 (Veterans Day), the fourth Thursday in November (Thanksgiving Day), and December 25 (Christmas). Banks and offices may also be closed on Election Day, which (in election years) is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Hospitals Hospitals convenient to downtown include Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd. (☎ 503/494-8311; www.ohsu.edu), Providence Portland Medical Center, 4805 NE Glisan St. (☎ 503/574-6595; http://oregon.providence.org), and Legacy Good Samaritan, 1015 NW 22nd Ave. (☎ 503/413-7711; www.legacyhealth.org). Legacy has a physician referral service at ☎ 503/335-3500.
Insurance For information on traveler’s insurance, trip cancelation insurance, and medical insurance while traveling, please visit www.frommers.com/planning.
Internet & Wi-FI Most of Portland’s coffee shops offer free Wi-Fi, as do the branches of the Multnomah County Library (☎ 503/988-5402; www.multcolib.org), which also have Internet terminals available to all. Most hotels offer free Internet access as well.
Legal Aid While driving, if you are pulled over for a minor infraction (such as speeding), never attempt to pay the fine directly to a police officer; this could be construed as attempted bribery, a much more serious crime. Pay fines by mail, or directly into the hands of the clerk of the court. If accused of a more serious offense, say and do nothing before consulting a lawyer. In the U.S., the burden is on the state to prove a person’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and everyone has the right to remain silent, whether he or she is suspected of a crime or actually arrested. Once arrested, a person can make one telephone call to a party of his or her choice. The international visitor should call his or her embassy or consulate.
LGBT TRAVELERS Though it has seen more than its share of anti-gay rights battles, Portland has always been a fairly tolerant city. Same-sex couples have been able to marry in Oregon since 2014. To find out what’s going on in the LGBT community, pick up a free copy of the bimonthly Just Out (☎ 503/236-1252; www.justout.com). The Gay & Lesbian Community Yellow Pages (☎ 503/230-7701; www.pdxgayyellowpages.com) lists gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses. Also check with Portland’s LGBT Q Center (www.pdxqcenter.org).
Mail The main post office in Portland is at 715 NW Hoyt St. (☎ 800/ASK-USPS or 503/525-5398; www.usps.com). It’s open Monday through Friday from 8am to 6:30pm, Saturday from 8:30am to 5pm.
Newspapers & Magazines The Oregonian is Portland’s major daily newspaper, followed by the biweekly Portland Tribune. The Portland Mercury and Willamette Week are free arts-and-entertainment weeklies.
Passports Virtually every air traveler entering the U.S. is required to show a passport.
For Residents of Australia: Call Australian Passport Information Service (☎ 131-232, or visit www.passports.gov.au).
For Residents of Canada: Passport Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G3 (☎ 800/567-6868; www.ppt.gc.ca).
For Residents of Ireland: Passport Office, Setanta Centre, Molesworth St., Dublin 2 (☎ 01/671-1633; www.foreignaffairs.gov.ie).
For Residents of New Zealand: Passports Office, Department of Internal Affairs, 47 Boulcott St., Wellington, 6011 (☎ 0800/225-050 in New Zealand or 04/474-8100; www.passports.govt.nz).
For Residents of the United Kingdom: Visit your nearest passport office, major post office, or travel agency or contact the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), 89 Eccleston Square, London, SW1V 1PN (☎ 0300/222-0000; www.ips.gov.uk).
Pharmacies Conveniently located downtown pharmacies include Rite Aid, 622 SW Alder St. (☎ 503/226-6791), which is open weekdays 7am to 11pm, and Central Drug, 538 SW 4th Ave. (☎ 503/226-2222). Fred Meyer and Safeway grocery stores have pharmacies as well.
Police The Portland Police Bureau’s central precinct is at 1111 SW 2nd Ave. (☎ 503/823-0000; www.portlandpolice.com). Dial 911 for emergencies.
Safety Portland is a relatively safe city, but you should take some precautions if you’re visiting the Chinatown and Old Town districts at night. Don’t leave anything valuable in your car while you’re hiking in Forest Park. As a general rule, avoid deserted areas, especially at night, and don’t go into public parks at night. Park in well-lit, busy areas whenever possible.
Smoking Smoking is banned in public indoor spaces throughout the state of Oregon, even bars, as well as within 10 feet of entrances, exits, and windows.
Taxes Oregon is one of only five states with no sales tax, making it a shopper’s delight. In Portland, there are 12.5% taxes on both hotel rooms and car rentals (plus an additional fee of 10%–15% if you pick up your rental car at the airport).
Time Portland is on Pacific time, 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time, and 8 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. In the summer, daylight saving time is observed and clocks are set forward 1 hour.
TIPPING Waiters generally receive 15%–20% of the bill; taxi drivers 15% of fare; bartenders $1 per drink; hotel chamber staff $1–$2 per day; skycaps and valets $1–$2 per bag; and valet parking attendants $1 per ride.
TOILETS Portland may be the only city with its own patented public toilet, the Portland Loo (www.portlandloo.com). Find these sleek, solar-powered, 24-hour restrooms along SW Naito Parkway in Waterfront Park at both SW Ash and SW Taylor streets, as well as at NW Glisan Street between SW 5th and 6th avenues, and at Jamison Square at NW Johnson Street and NW 11th Avenue. Otherwise, look for restrooms in most Starbucks and hotel lobbies.
Visas The U.S. State Department has a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allowing citizens of the following countries to enter the United States without a visa for stays of up to 90 days: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. (Note: This list was accurate at press time; for the most up-to-date list of countries in the VWP, consult www.dhs.gov/visa-waiver-program.) Even though a visa isn’t necessary for citizens of those countries, in an effort to help U.S. officials check travelers against terror watch lists before they arrive at U.S. borders, visitors from VWP countries must register online through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before boarding a plane or a boat to the U.S. Travelers must complete an electronic application providing basic personal and travel eligibility information. The Department of Homeland Security recommends filling out the form at least 3 days before traveling. Authorizations will be valid for up to 2 years or until the traveler’s passport expires, whichever comes first. Currently, there is a US$14 fee for the online application. For more information, go to www.dhs.gov/visa-waiver-program. Canadian citizens may enter the United States without visas, but will need to show passports and proof of residence.
In 2015, Oregon voters approved the sale and possession of recreational marijuana in small amounts to adults 21 and older. A number of new “pot boutiques” are licensed by the state and strictly controlled, requiring proof of age before you are allowed to enter. You may not legally smoke pot on the street or in any public space.
Citizens of all other countries must have (1) a valid passport that expires at least 6 months later than the scheduled end of their visit to the U.S.; and (2) a tourist visa.
Portland: A Brief History
15,000–13,000 b.c. Cataclysmic floods carve the Columbia Gorge, with waters reaching as high as Crown Point.
12,300 b.c. Earliest known human inhabitants in Oregon, near Paisley, 220 miles southeast of Eugene.
1579 English explorer Sir Francis Drake reaches the mouth of the Rogue River in southwest Oregon, turned back by “thicke and stinking fogges.”
1792 American captain Robert Gray becomes first to sail into the Columbia River, names it in honor of his ship the Columbia Rediviva.
1805 Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reaches the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River, and spends a miserable winter in Fort Clatsop.
1819 Spain cedes all lands above 42 degrees north latitude (California’s northern boundary today) to the U.S.
1824 Fort Vancouver, fur-trading outpost of the Hudson’s Bay Company, founded across the Columbia River from present-day Portland.
1841 Bartleson-Bidwell Party, the first group to make a wagon crossing of the Oregon Trail, reaches the Willamette Valley from Missouri.
1843 Business partners Asa Lovejoy and William Overton pay 25¢ filing fee to claim 640 acres on the west bank of the Willamette River in present-day Portland; settlers elect provisional government.
1844 Oregon City becomes first incorporated town west of the Rocky Mountains.
1845 Asa Lovejoy and new partner Francis Pettygrove flip a coin to name the settlement called simply “The Clearing”; Pettygrove wins and names it after his hometown of Portland, Maine.
1840s–1860s About 400,000 emigrants travel west on the Oregon Trail.
1848 Oregon becomes first U.S. territory west of the Rockies; Pettygrove sells nearly the entire townsite of Portland to tanner Daniel Lownsdale for $5,000 worth of leather, despite only owning half of it.
1851 City of Portland incorporated.
1879 First telephone lines installed.
1880 First electric street lights arrive.
1883 Northern Pacific Railroad reaches Portland.
1889 Local newspapers call Portland “the most filthy city in the Northern States” with sidewalks that would be a “disgrace to a Russian village.”
1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition held, including the Forestry Building, “the world’s greatest log cabin.”
1907 Oaks Amusement Park opens; first Rose Festival held.
1908 Portland Police Department hires Lola Greene Baldwin, the nation’s first policewoman.
1915 Columbia River Gorge scenic highway constructed.
1940s Portland’s Kaiser shipyards become the world’s leading shipbuilders due to the war effort. Portland becomes a boomtown as tens of thousands of workers, including the first African-Americans, flock to Portland for war-related work.
1946 Portland State University founded.
1948 A dike holding back the Columbia River collapses and floodwaters destroy the hastily constructed public housing community known as Vanport, built in north Portland for war-industry workers; 15 are killed.
Late 1940s–1950s Organized crime, corruption, and vice dominate local politics, resulting in indictments of the Multnomah county district attorney and Portland’s mayor and chief of police. In 1949, Dorothy McCullough Lee is elected the first female mayor of Portland and promises to rid the city of gambling, corruption, and prostitution.
1957 Elvis Presley performs in front of 14,000 people at Multnomah Stadium (now Providence Park), one of the first outdoor stadium rock concerts.
1960s Winemakers plant Oregon’s first pinot noir vines in the Umpqua Valley, southwest of Eugene, starting modern era of Oregon winemaking.
1964 Nike founded by University of Oregon track runner Philip Knight and coach Bill Bowerman.
1965 The Beatles play two shows at Memorial Coliseum for 20,000 fans, inspiring Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Portland Coliseum.”
1977 Portland Trail Blazers win NBA Championship for the first and only time (so far).
1980s–1990s Portland is roiled by several costly and virulent anti-gay rights battles.
Portland has long been a magnet for writers and the readers who love them. There’s a long list of books by local authors, about Portland, or both. Here are a few classics:
• Swan Adamson, My Three Husbands and Memoirs Are Made of This
• Jean M. Auel, The Clan of the Cave Bear
• Beverly Cleary, Ramona the Pest
• Katherine Dunn, Geek Love
• Stewart Holbrook, The Portland Story
• Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
• Donald Olson, The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour
• Chuck Palahniuk, Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon
• Joe Sacco, Palestine
1980 Mt. St. Helens erupts, killing 57 people and blanketing Portland in ash.
1985 First light rail train route opens; Portlandia statue installed.
1990s Dot-com boom brings an influx of artists, graphic designers, and Internet entrepreneurs to Portland; dot-com bust brings even more from Seattle and San Francisco.
1993 Vera Katz is elected 49th mayor of Portland and serves until 2005; she is widely considered to be one of Portland’s most effective mayors.
1998 Oregon becomes the first state to legalize euthanasia with the Death with Dignity Act.
2000s “Jail Blazers” era of the NBA team is marked by fights and charges of sexual assault, drug possession, and dog fighting.
2001 Portland becomes first city in the U.S. to (re-)introduce modern streetcar service.
2004 Multnomah County starts issuing marriage license to same-sex couples. Over 3,000 gay couples rush to get married.
2005 After a court challenge and public referendum, Multnomah County rescinds same-sex marriage and invalidates all same-sex marriages.
2008 Oregon Legislature passes the Family Fairness Act, allowing same-sex couple to establish domestic partnerships.
2010 Portlandia comedy series premieres on IFC, poking fun at the city “where young people go to retire.”
2014 Oregon becomes the 15th state to strike down discriminatory marriage laws, making it legal for same-sex couples to wed.
2015 Oregon legalizes growing and possession of small amounts of marijuana for recreational use; pot boutiques open in Portland.