A Weekend In Portland Oregon

What are Your favorite things to do and memories of your visit to Portland, Oregon? Please leave your comments below.


A Weekend In Portland, Oregon

Portland Oregon is a great city to visit for a weekend.  It's not too big and there are a ton of activities you can do pretty easily and inexpensively.  It does rain as to why it's so green, but the rain comes and goes and you can still have many weeks where it is dry and hot in the spring and summer and even in January! 

Stay downtown at one of the beautiful hotels, many which offer bikes to get around.  Portland is known for having great areas for bikes but you still have to be really careful and know what you are doing.  There are some designated bike paths across bridges that are definitely easy to navigate.  One of the nice loops to do if you want to see the city from different vantage points is to pick up an orange bike at the south waterfront near Mccormick and Shmicks, go south to the Tilikum Crossing Bridge and head over to the East bank past Omsi and back over the Steel bridge to Tom Mcall waterfront and back to your original location.  It's about a 4-mile ride and at the end have a nice drink outside and enjoy the views of the water and people passing by. This would be weather permitting of course.
Downtown shopping areas and dining, NW 23rd, 21st, and The Pearl District have great food and shops.  Of course the, obvious attractions are Powell's Porltand Art Museum,  Pioneer Square, Lan  Su Chinese Garden, the beautiful Rose Garden at Washington Park and the Zoo.  For kids, Omsi and the Children's Museaum are really fun as well.
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EAST
Traveling over the Hawthorne Bridge will lead you to the iconic Hawthorne District!  More shops and eating happen here and definatly more of an earthy vibe and Portlandia.  This is a great place to people watch, grab your vintage or hippie outfit, your organic coffee and eat at one of the cool little restaurants.
A few streets over from Hawthorn is Divistion which is a little less Hippe and more Yippie, if that makes sense.  New buildings and condos and rejuvinated street of shops and restaurants.

N/NE

Up in NE and N Portland, there are several districts that have turned a corner in the last 15 years.   Alberta Arts district is known for its culture, art, and food.  Alberta Arts 
Head over the Piedmont district which olds the Missippi street fair each year drawing 1000's of people.  Shops and food and culture make this street a great place to hang out.  If you happen to be in Portland in the late spring and summer you must see Pennisula Park!  The June Roses are breathtaking and smell wonderful.

Food Carts of Portland 
Don't be afraid! They are pretty amazing and several areas around the city.  The biggest grouping is downtown Portland on Alder have about 60 food carts with food from all over the world.   I want to link to this site  Food Carts Portland to make it easy for you.  Personally, I like the carts that have a space to hang out, maybe a firepit, heaters, dangling lights in the courtyard.

Day Trip Ideas:  

Seaside/Cannon/Astoria Beaches 1hr 30m
Newport Beach and Aquarium 2hr 21min
Tillamook Creamery Paired with a walk on Cape Meares. 2hr 13m
Timberline at Mt. Hood  1 hr 30m
Multnomah Falls  - 37 Minutes
Gorge Hikes - 41 minutes +
Silver Creek Falls - 1hr 15 min  (The town of Silverton is a pretty small town and cute)

What are Your favorite things to do and memories of your visit to Portland, Oregon comment below.