Portland City Guide

The city of Portland is located in northwestern United States and is situated on the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. This verdant city extends along the Willamette River and has the magnificent snow covered Mount Hood to its east. It is home to more than 500,000 active residents, who are known to be extremely eco-friendly with impeccable recycling habits.

Portland is made up of numerous green spaces and parks and is believed to be one of America’s ‘greenest cities’ that hosts more than 35 environmentally friendly buildings; certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Vacations to Portland are, therefore, ideal for people looking to learn more about living green.

Additionally, this well planned city is also sometimes referred to as ‘the Rose City’ as it is covered in blooms almost throughout the year. It is also known to be a prominent dining destination that features several award winning restaurants. These famed Portland restaurants are largely run by locavore chefs; who thrive on creating delicious meals using mainly locally sourced produce and ingredients.

Portland is a city that is made up of many diverse neighborhoods each of which have their own unique identity. Almost all the prominent neighborhoods in Portland are touched by the Willamette River, which traverses the city as it travels north. Essentially, deciding where to stay during Portland vacations would depend more on what you want to do during your vacations.

The city’s main downtown area and business district that constitutes its core hub is situated on the southwest bank of the river and hosts the city’s most prominent attractions like Washington Park, which encompasses other well known attractions like the Oregon Zoo, the International Rose Test Garden and the Portland Japanese Garden.

This downtown area of Portland is exceedingly well served by the city’s public transport system and is also its cultural district hosting most of the big names in Portland Hotels. These diverse Portland Hotels cater to various travel budgets and offer a hotel repertoire includes luxury hotels, Spa hotels, boutique hotels, extended stay hotels, discount hotels and budget accommodation like bed and breakfast inns and others.

The city’s historic Old Town/Chinatown district is located in the northwest part of the city and is home to the nation’s largest collection of cast iron buildings. This district also hosts a lively arts and entertainment scene and hosts the country’s largest open-air crafts market-the Saturday Market, which is now held Sundays as well.

The rejuvenated area of the Pearl district once housed factories and warehouses that have now been converted into chic, fashionable stores, restaurants and dwellings. Portland’s Pearl District is also famous as the home of Powell’s Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world.

The Nob Hill district like its namesake in San Francisco is home to some of the best restaurants and shops in Portland and thus a popular choice for people on vacations to Portland.

The Portland Art Museum or PAM as it is commonly referred to, is the oldest art institution located on the West Coast of America. This museum, which is housed in a complex of historic buildings, has a vast permanent collection that features a wide array of artworks that range from ancient artworks from Asia to impressionist paintings. The permanent collection at PAM also encompasses a huge collection of Native American Art that features the works of more than 200 Native American groups. This is one place where any art lover would love to spend time during his vacations to Portland.

It’s a must visit place if you have kids with you on vacations. The Oregon Zoo is located within Portland’s Washington Park and should be considered a must-visit attraction for those visitors with children. The Oregon Zoo is set amongst much greenery features animals that hail from all corners of the globe and include animals like Asian Elephants, Polar bears and more. The Oregon Zoo is also known for its conservation efforts, its summer concert series and its adorable miniature steam train that connects it to the International Rose Test Garden.

Portland’s International Rose Test Garden is one of its prime attractions. This garden features colorful flowerbeds on terraced hillsides and more than 200 species of this fragrant bloom. The garden was founded more than a century ago and is an official testing site for All-American Rose selections. The garden also offers several, smaller ornamental gardens like a miniature Rose Garden, a Shakespeare Garden and a Rosarian Garden.

The Japanese Garden that extends over an area of 5.5 acres offers five quintessential Japanese gardens, which feature ponds, streams, moon bridges that are interspersed with plants that are native to the northwestern part of the country.

The Tom McCall Waterfront Park extends along the length of the Willamette River through downtown Portland and is the city’s prime performance venue that hosts annual events like the Waterfront Blues Festival and the Oregon Brewery Festival.

Portland enjoys a climate which is characterized by four distinct seasons. The peak tourist season for Portland is during its warm, sunny summers, which extend from the months of June to August. Temperatures record average highs of 80F (27C) during the summer months and the city is this inundated with visitors during this time.

Other popular seasons for planning vacations to Portland include early spring and fall; both of which offer amenable temperatures along with various other seasonal attractions like the gorgeous blooms that cover many of the city’s parks.

Hotel rates in Portland tend to soar during these peak tourist seasons but if you choose to make your hotel booking for your Portland getaway with Fare Buzz, you can be assured of the best hotel rates at all times.

Flights to Portland land at the Portland International Airport, which is conveniently placed at 12 miles of distance from the northeast of downtown. The airport is served by most major airlines. With Fare Buzz, you can enjoy the facilities at this airport through cheap air tickets and save for yourself time and money.

Once you have landed at the airport, moving around is easy. Portland has one of the best and most extensive public transport systems in the USA. Portland’s TriMet, which is made up of the bus, light rail and commuter rail services connects downtown Portland to its international airport and various other communities and suburbs.

In fact, downtown Portland is a fare-less zone which offers free public access to all modes of public transport like the Portland Street car, buses and the MAX trains. The Portland street car travels along a 4.8 mile loop through the city’s main districts.

Outside this fare- free zone of downtown Portland, the fares for the Portland streetcar, Tri-Met buses and MAX trains are all the same.

Portland is a veritable shopper’s paradise. The city’s various neighborhoods and markets offer a plethora of shopping opportunities, which are guaranteed to please the most avid shopaholics.

Portland’s prime shopping area is its downtown neighborhood and home to outposts of major US retail chains, department stores and the flagship stores of sportswear companies like Nike and Columbia, which are native to Portland.

North of downtown lies the city’s Pearl district, which is home to several boutiques and lifestyle stores. It is renowned as the home of Powell’s City of Books, which is the largest independent bookstore in the world that occupies an entire city block.

Other notable areas for shoppers include the city’s Nob Hill area, which offers several boutiques that sell stylish apparel, imported linens, home furnishings, kitchenware, handmade jewelry and gifts. Also included in the list are neighborhoods like the Hawthorne and Alberta, which offer a broad array of boutiques, bookshops and eateries.

Portland is renowned as the home of the famed chef James Beard, who is regarded as the “father of American gastronomy”. This prominent ‘foodie’ destination is home to many innovative chefs who are known for their many delectable preparations, which are fashioned out of locally sourced fresh produce and ingredients and are perfectly complemented by the many excellent wines that hail from the nearby Willamette Valley.

Further, as is the current trend in other US city’s aside from restaurants and cafes, Portland’s dining landscape also features various food carts which serve up a smorgasbord of freshly prepared, reasonably priced local and ethnic eats which can be enjoyed ‘on the run’. In fact, these carts are a must try during any vacations to Portland.

Recent ‘Best Restaurants in Portland’ lists features restaurants like Castagna (New American Hawthorne District), Paley’s Place( New American, Nob Hill), Mother’s Bistro and Bar( Comfort food, Downtown), Serratto( Mediterranean, Nob Hill) Wildwood( James Beard Award winner, Nob Hill) as must try eateries when visiting Portland.

However, these lists also include more reasonably priced eats at local Portland restaurants like the burger chain, Burgerville and casual restaurants like Kenny and Zuke’s Delicatessen.

Portland has an extremely vibrant nightlife scene that features live music venues, dance clubs, bars and brew pubs. Portland is, in fact, renowned the world over for its many microbreweries that produce gallons of handcrafted beers.

The city’s main nightlife district is the Pearl District, which offers music venues like Doug Fir, Crystal Ballroom and Aladdin along with brewpubs and bars like the well known BridgePort Brewing Company.