Portland trip suggestions
Jul 10th, 2009, 02:19 PM
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Portland trip suggestions
My husband and I will be visiting Portland in August. Would like to spend Sunday through Tuesday in downtown Portland and Wednesday and Thursday visiting Mt. Hood area. Having never traveled to Portland, what hotels would you suggest and what would be on your "must see" see list?
Jul 10th, 2009, 02:32 PM
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Hotels: depends on your budget. We always stayed at the Monaco.
Hotel Monaco Portland
http://www.5thavenuesuites.com
Look at www.pova.com for deals and what is happening information.
Must sees:
Arrive in Portland and get on the Streetcar and take a ride.. it makes a Loop through the downtown part of Portland so you can see the different neighborhoods, get off wherever you wish, explore, get back on the Streetcar. It is a very walkable city and there are SO many things to see and do .. aside from just people watching, window shopping, shopping and eating.
Portland Streetcar
http://portlandstreetcar.org/schedule.php
Here is a list of things to do in town:
Japanese Gardens .. amazing beautiful
Classical Chinese Gardens.. really beautiful.
The Rose Test Gardens.... wonderful.. close to the Japanese Gardens.
Portland Japanese Gardens
http://www.japanesegarden.com
2. The Classical Chinese Gardens
http://www.portlandchinesegarden.org
3. The International Rose Test Gardens
http://www.rosegardenstore.org/
Pittock Mansion .. you don't have to tour the house, you can just wander the grounds and see the amazing views from the grounds out over Portland .. you can see Mt Hood from there ..
Pioneer Square
The Waterfront
The Pearl District... lots of good boutiques, galleries, great restaurants and Powells Books.
The Biggest book store in the world... go there. Couch & NW 10th
NW 23rd street for more shopping, restaurants.. NW 21st for Cinema 21, a great Art House movie theatre and lots of good eats.. this is sometimes called Restaurant Row.
Hotel Monaco Portland
http://www.5thavenuesuites.com
Look at www.pova.com for deals and what is happening information.
Must sees:
Arrive in Portland and get on the Streetcar and take a ride.. it makes a Loop through the downtown part of Portland so you can see the different neighborhoods, get off wherever you wish, explore, get back on the Streetcar. It is a very walkable city and there are SO many things to see and do .. aside from just people watching, window shopping, shopping and eating.
Portland Streetcar
http://portlandstreetcar.org/schedule.php
Here is a list of things to do in town:
Japanese Gardens .. amazing beautiful
Classical Chinese Gardens.. really beautiful.
The Rose Test Gardens.... wonderful.. close to the Japanese Gardens.
Portland Japanese Gardens
http://www.japanesegarden.com
2. The Classical Chinese Gardens
http://www.portlandchinesegarden.org
3. The International Rose Test Gardens
http://www.rosegardenstore.org/
Pittock Mansion .. you don't have to tour the house, you can just wander the grounds and see the amazing views from the grounds out over Portland .. you can see Mt Hood from there ..
Pioneer Square
The Waterfront
The Pearl District... lots of good boutiques, galleries, great restaurants and Powells Books.
The Biggest book store in the world... go there. Couch & NW 10th
NW 23rd street for more shopping, restaurants.. NW 21st for Cinema 21, a great Art House movie theatre and lots of good eats.. this is sometimes called Restaurant Row.
Jul 10th, 2009, 03:37 PM
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Columbia River Gorge area is essential - only about 1/2 hour east of Portland. Try to swing by on the way to/from Mt. Hood if you can. Actually, given that Mt. Hood won't have much snow in August, I'd say the Gorge will be much more beautiful to behold, with all its waterfalls and great views, etc...
The International Rose Test Garden mentioned by Scarlett is a must-see. An alternative if you want a less crowded Rose Garden is the Peninsula Park Rose Garden in North Portland - quite a bit smaller but very different than the big one. A very nice garden design with fountains, hedges, etc. Less crowded for sure - far fewer tourists.
Portland has great old neighborhoods with really cool houses - a wide variety. I live near one of them, Irvington in NE Portland. Drive down Knott Street between 7th and 33rd Avenues and check out the huge stately homes (on what aren't huge lots) and turn off, get out, walk around the neighborhood, etc. for something off the beaten path - and free! - to do.
The International Rose Test Garden mentioned by Scarlett is a must-see. An alternative if you want a less crowded Rose Garden is the Peninsula Park Rose Garden in North Portland - quite a bit smaller but very different than the big one. A very nice garden design with fountains, hedges, etc. Less crowded for sure - far fewer tourists.
Portland has great old neighborhoods with really cool houses - a wide variety. I live near one of them, Irvington in NE Portland. Drive down Knott Street between 7th and 33rd Avenues and check out the huge stately homes (on what aren't huge lots) and turn off, get out, walk around the neighborhood, etc. for something off the beaten path - and free! - to do.
Jul 10th, 2009, 03:37 PM
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Scarlett pretty well covered Portland, until/unless you ask about restaurants....
For the rest, I'm wondering why Mt. Hood. For good reason, the usual favorite day trips from Portland are the Columbia River Gorge (30 minutes east) and the coast (90 minutes west). Since the Gorge is so close, many combine that with a loop around Mt. Hood. Then, there's Oregon wine country....
For the rest, I'm wondering why Mt. Hood. For good reason, the usual favorite day trips from Portland are the Columbia River Gorge (30 minutes east) and the coast (90 minutes west). Since the Gorge is so close, many combine that with a loop around Mt. Hood. Then, there's Oregon wine country....
Jul 13th, 2009, 03:05 PM
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Definately take the street car around the city, it is the best. Japanese gardens, Rose gardens, Waterfront district and I agree, Powells books is a must. It is a wonderful city, so much to see and do.
Jul 14th, 2009, 04:16 PM
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Portland has a good public transit system, plus the downtown is very walkable. If you stay at, say, the Monaco downtown, you could walk quite easily to Powell's and the Classical Chinese Garden.
You can get to the International Rose Test Garden (aka "Rose Garden") and the Japanese Garden, which is directly adjacent to the Rose Garden, by bus or by a long walk if you are in shape. During the summer there's a "Washington Park Shuttle" bus that runs from the zoo MAX stop down to the gardens, or you can take (I think) the #63 bus from downtown Portland to the gardens. Check www.trimet.org for Portland public transit info.
You can also walk up a nice hill, if you are in shape for it, up Salmon Street, directly up the hill to the two gardens. You could cut your walk from downtown in half by taking the MAX train west from downtown to the King's Hill stop and walking west on Salmon, following the "scenic drive" signs. Walking up the hill is harder of course, walking down is easy.
To get to the Pittock Mansion, you'd have to take the #20 bus west on Burnside from downtown and then walk about 15+ minutes up some hills (not something I recommend) to the grounds. Of course, you could always take a taxi. The Pittock Mansion grounds offer great views of Portland and the mountains, but if you don't have a car, it might not quite be worth the hassle, unless you really want to tour the mansion itself.
You can get to the International Rose Test Garden (aka "Rose Garden") and the Japanese Garden, which is directly adjacent to the Rose Garden, by bus or by a long walk if you are in shape. During the summer there's a "Washington Park Shuttle" bus that runs from the zoo MAX stop down to the gardens, or you can take (I think) the #63 bus from downtown Portland to the gardens. Check www.trimet.org for Portland public transit info.
You can also walk up a nice hill, if you are in shape for it, up Salmon Street, directly up the hill to the two gardens. You could cut your walk from downtown in half by taking the MAX train west from downtown to the King's Hill stop and walking west on Salmon, following the "scenic drive" signs. Walking up the hill is harder of course, walking down is easy.
To get to the Pittock Mansion, you'd have to take the #20 bus west on Burnside from downtown and then walk about 15+ minutes up some hills (not something I recommend) to the grounds. Of course, you could always take a taxi. The Pittock Mansion grounds offer great views of Portland and the mountains, but if you don't have a car, it might not quite be worth the hassle, unless you really want to tour the mansion itself.
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