Portland Vacation: Things to Do in Portland

Portland, Ore., is known for its independent spirit, green practices, handcrafted beer, cycling culture and idyllic setting, nestled between the Cascade mountains and the Oregon coast. The city’s distinct neighborhoods mean variety for visitors and allow Portland’s many personalities to shine through. Whether toting along the kids or enjoying an adults-only weekend, Portland is best enjoyed through some of its popular pastimes, specialties and unique neighborhoods.

Getting Around

Portland is an easy place to explore, with some of the smallest, most walkable city blocks in the country. This means it’s easy to navigate from one block to the next in the downtown core, and there’s a lot to see. If you’re going farther, hop on Tri-Met’s buses, Max light rail trains or the Portland Streetcar, which will take you across town and give you a view—sometimes for free; downtown Portland’s “Fareless Square” is an area in the Southwest core that allows riders to hop on and off the Max trains for free. Tri-Met also has convenient places to stow bikes on its trains, buses and the streetcar, should you decide to take part in Portland’s favorite alternative form of transportation, cycling!

Bike lanes are common fixtures on most downtown streets, and are being improved all the time. Because so many people cycle in Portland (more people commute to work via bicycle per capita than any other city in the United States), drivers are generally more considerate of cyclists, there is ample bike parking and there are spots to rent bikes when you want to see the city at a faster pace than a stroll. [Read more in our Biking Portland article.]

 

• A Max light rail train makes its way through downtown Portland.

Courtesy of Travel Portland

Tri-Met offers a public transportation system that Portlanders are proud of: it’s clean, efficient and less crowded than systems in bigger cities. It’s not so overwhelming that older children couldn’t navigate it themselves, and there’s ample seating and usually many children and parents aboard trains, especially those running out of the city toward Hillsboro and Gresham.

The Max also runs out to Portland International Airport (PDX), offering a convenient and low-priced alternative to most airport transportation.

 

• Portland’s Farmers’ Market is a great place to find the freshest produce and other natural goods.

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Portland Neighborhoods

From Portland’s Northwest 23rd neighborhood with its upscale boutiques and coffee shops, to the Hawthorne District on the east side of the Willamette River, the neighborhoods of Portland can sometimes seem like totally different planets, let alone areas in one not-so-huge city. This is part of what makes Portland so interesting for visitors. Some neighborhoods are old, some are new and many are undergoing renovation, revitalization, and in some cases, gentrification.

Portland’s Pearl District is a great example of this. Long called the “Brewery Blocks” for its abandoned brewery warehouses, it now hosts condominiums, hip eateries and art galleries that Portland’s young professionals relish.

 

• Shoppers fill the streets of the Northwest 23rd District, known for its great boutiques.

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The most recent new neighborhood in Portland is the South Waterfront. Located on the southwest side of the Willamette, it now plays host to stylish high-rise condominiums and apartments, new restaurants and Portland’s aerial tram, which transports doctors and other hospital staffers from near the shores of the river up into the West Hills and Oregon Health Sciences University in space-age vessels that traverse the city like gondolas. Grab a gelato at Bella Espresso that’s imported from Milan, or cozy up to any of the new restaurants that seem to open weekly in the brand-new area.

Farther west, Northwest 21st and 23rd Streets have made a name for themselves as shopping and strolling meccas, where people dine on the sidewalks in summertime beneath trees with twinkling white lights. Be sure to check out Coffee Time, which has become not just a coffee shop, but a local gathering place. Stroll down 23rd and duck into the boutiques, like Frumoasa and Blake on your way to the Marrakech restaurant, where authentic Moroccan food is served to diners who lounge on the floor.

As a rule, neighborhoods on the east side of the river are funkier and more independent, and flanked with more industrial land. The Hawthorne District offers coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries, theaters and shopping with an independent edge. A favorite is the Por Que No taqueria, which offers funky Mexican food selections and usually has a line out the door. Streets like Southeast Main and Southeast Mississippi have seen great improvements and the rise of some fabulous independent restaurants in the last five years, such as Colosso, which serves re-imagined Spanish tapas and a mean cocktail.