Top 5 Reasons to Go

Unleash your inner foodie in a city that has become a hot culinary destination, and experience an amazingly textured range of global delights created with fresh, locally harvested ingredients.

Beer "hop" (pun intended) between more than 40 local microbrews and sample offbeat varieties with such names as Hallucinator, Doggie Claws, and Sock Knocker.

Get up close and personal with Portland's true quirky nature by staying at or visiting one of the many beautifully restored McMenamin's properties in and around town, such as a renovated elementary school turned hotel.

Spend the day at Washington Park, where you can stroll through the International Rose Test Garden, Japanese Garden, Oregon Zoo, World Forrestry Center, and Children's Museum—all within a short distance of one another.

Peruse the infinite aisles of more than a million new and used books at Powell's City of Books in the Pearl District. Top off hours of literary wanderlust with a fresh mocha or ginseng tea downstairs at World Cup Coffee and Tea House.