Oregon Insider: A Guide to Portland
People from all over the world are fascinated by Portland’s strange things, like its vegan tattoo shops, racy doughnut designs, and a local riding a bicycle while dressed as Darth Vader and playing bagpipes.
Yes, Portland likes to have fun. The real draw isn’t so much standard attractions like museums, but getting to know the city’s friendly, oddball residents in its quiet neighborhoods. It’s in these areas that you can almost be sure that a hand-poured coffee or microbrew or a fancy food truck meal will be very, very good.
Portland has 600,000 people, but many of them will tell you that the best thing about it is the nature just outside the city borders. A short 25 km to the east is the Columbia River Gorge, which forms a dramatic border between Washington and Oregon. Trails with switchbacks lead to waterfalls like Multnomah Falls. It’s about 120 kilometers to the west, and the roads there are very windy. There are rocks and dunes on the coast of the state.
In Portland, you can start your trip.
Seattle, Washington, is 280 kilometers north and is a huge city. Portland, on the other hand, feels like a small town. The city is split in half by the winding Willamette River.
The Cascade Mountains are to the west, behind downtown and historic places like the Pearl District and Chinatown. On the west side, there is Forest Park, which has one of the largest urban forests in the country with nearly 130 kilometers of hiking paths, fire lanes, and roads.
On the east side, there is the Portland Japanese Garden, which is a quiet oasis with views of Mount Hood, the snow-capped volcano. Powell’s City of Books is an independent bookstore that takes up an entire city block and is one of Portland’s most famous landmarks.
East of the river, though, is where most Portlanders live and work. In the southeast, Stumptown’s Tasting Bar is the city’s favorite coffee maker, and they offer classes on how to make coffee. At Voodoo Doughnut, you can get a doughnut topped with bacon or Fruit Loops cereal for breakfast. In places like Hawthorne or the Alberta Arts District, bars often have art, small shops, and live music.
Dining on Mississippi Avenue in Portland, Oregon
Make Your Way to the Waterfalls
From Portland, Interstate Highway 84 connects with the Columbia River and squeezes through the tight river gorge. You can take a car to get there, but shuttles and guided tours are also available (and highly recommended). Only about a half hour from town, you begin finding some of the dozens of day hikes, such as the less than 4-kilometer loops to the shower spray of Latourell Falls or the bankside picnic spots of Elowah Falls.
Afterwards, drop into the riverside town of Hood River, popular for its windsurfing and pick-your-own berry farms along the Fruit Loop. For a full meal, try pFriem, with its Belgian-influenced brews, locally sourced foods and views of the Columbia and White Salmon rivers.
A hiker photographing Latourell Falls
Travel to Oregon Wine Country
South of Portland, the fertile Willamette River Valley’s pastoral hills are wine central, with more than 500 wineries. By car, follow signs to Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, Árdiri and other wineries on side roads graced with landscapes striped by grape vines. Nearly all offer tastings, often with outdoor seats and views of the snowcapped Cascade Mountains.
From Portland, take Interstate Highway 5 south and exit on Highway 99W at Tigard to reach towns like McMinnville, about 64 kilometers from downtown.
Oregon wine country
Walk Along Oregon’s Beaches
One of Oregon’s greatest treasures is its coastline, which is about 1.5 hours’ drive from Portland. For seafood and beachside villas, most tourists go to seaside communities like Seaside and Cannon seaside. Go to beaches south of Cannon Beach if you want to avoid the throng.
Hiking through a Sitka spruce forest leads to Ecola State Park, a cliff-backed beach with tide pools and coves that is well worth the $5 car fee. On summer weekends, you have to get there early because of the short parking lots.
Though taking the NorthWest Point bus to Cannon Beach or Seaside is an option, owning a car is recommended.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
What Weather to Expect
Portland receives only 68 clear days and 89 centimetres of rain on average annually. Be at ease. There are days without rain even in the winter. June through September, when typical high temperatures range from 23 to 27 degrees Celsius, is the ideal month for dry weather.
When it does rain, follow the lead of the locals: nobody in Oregon allows a little downpour prevent them from going outside.
Hawthorne Bridge, spanning the Willamette River
