Highlights
- Rose Gardens
- Japanese Gardens
- Pittock Mansion
- Powell City of Books
After arriving in Portland and dropping your stuff off at the hotel you can begin exploring the city by heading to Voodoo Doughnut, a Portland establishment. After replenishing your energy head West and up the hill to the famous Rose gardens. This is a nice walk to the gardens and a good chance to get a feel for the city. However, the walk will take some time and involve traveling uphill. The gardens are also be accessible by the Light Rail if you prefer to take transportation to them.
As you enter the park make sure to turn around and check out the Portland skyline with Mount Hood in the distance. The Rose Gardens are quite the sight especially when they are all in bloom. Pay special attention to the Gold Award area featuring the best roses as chosen by Portland. After fulfilling your share of Rose viewing head across the rode to the Japanese Gardens. Enjoy the serene beauty of the gardens and waterfalls. After completing your tour of the Gardens you can head to the Pittock Mansion for a great view of the mansion, city, and the surrounding area. Finish the day by taking the Light Rail to East Portland, across the Willamette River, to explore the local distilleries and eat dinner.
After getting a good night sleep pick up a local energy boost from the other Portland doughnut establishment, Blue Star Donuts. The location on Morrison Street will be the most convenient for the start of your day. From there had back towards downtown, stopping by Powell City of Books on the way. Powell is a must see bookstore, that can send book lovers crazy with all the variety and options it has to offer. After getting your fill of books, head to Portland’s Old Town to take an Underground Tour of Portland. Grab lunch from one of Portland’s many street vendors. Spend the rest of the day checking out some of the cool unique shops Portland has to offer in Old Town and China Town before bidding Portland farewell.
Extra Time Options
- Lan Su Chinese Garden
- Oregon Zoo
- Saturday Farmers Market
- Portland Art Museum
Travel Itineraries 