Surrounded by nature, trips to Wine Country, Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood are easily accomplished in a day.
Top Activities
Japanese Garden: Portland’s Japanese Garden is one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan, with a Japanese Tea House, meandering streams, intimate walkways, and an unsurpassed view of Mt. Hood.
Washington Park / International Rose Garden: Portland’s Rose Garden, established in 1917, is the oldest official, continuously-operated public rose test garden in the US, featuring over 8,000 rose bushes.
Lan Su Chinese Garden: Never twice the same, the Lan Su Chinese Garden is an authentically built cultural heritage garden and living museum of Chinese trees and flora. Within this authentic Ming Dynasty scholar’s garden, serpentine mosaic pathways lead to harmonious landscapes of plants, water, stones, pavilions, and poetry.
Portland Walking Tours: Explore the excitement, history, food, architecture, neighborhoods, bridges, parks, fountains, artwork, and just plain weird places in Portland Oregon. “Best of Portland” and “Underground Portland” tours are available seven days a week from March to November. “Epicurean Excursions” are available on weekends year-round. Group/Private Tours are always available.
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI): OMSI offers 219,000 square feet of brain-powered fun through interactive exhibits and hands-on demonstrations. OMSI has five exhibit halls, eight science labs, a giant screen OMNIMAX Dome Theater, the most technologically advanced planetarium in the Pacific Northwest, and the USS Blueback submarine, the last fast-attack diesel submarine built by the U.S. Navy.
Ideas for First Time Visitors:
- Wine Tasting and Craft Breweries
- Food Carts
- Tax-Free Shopping
- Powell’s City of Books
- Columbia River Gorge
Ideas for Repeat Visitors:
- Exploring the Mississippi / Williams Neighborhoods
- Exploring the Division / ClintonNeighborhoods
- Old Town/China Town
- Central Eastside Makers District and Distillery Row
Special Events
Vieux Farka Toure w/ Clinton Fearon
The “Jimi Hendrix of the Sahara” brings the blues-drenched sound of North Africa to Portland along with the soulful Clinton Fearon
Notes from the Riverkeepers
This in-progress recital of new music by Holcombe Waller is a musical response to Waller’s three-month artist residency with the Columbia Riverkeeper, a non-profit environmental organization chartered with stewarding all aspects of environmental health of the Columbia River. The residency was organized and funded by Signal Fire, a local non-profit dedicated to embedding artists in wild spaces and activist spaces to connect more deeply with our natural environment.
The show will feature extemporaneous storytelling and song, incorporating Waller’s folk, blues and soul inspired music, focusing on the issues Columbia Riverkeeper faces in their role as stewards of the Columbia River – particularly the risks of oil and coal transportation-by-rail along both sides of the river. The lyrics incorporate the history of the federal railroad system, the nationwide corporate railroad duopoly represented by the northern and southern side Columbia River rail lines and the phenomenon of train derailments/explosions/emergency response, including the 2016 oil train derailment and fire in Mosier, Oregon.
Sanskriti 2017
The Indian Student Association at Portland State University presents its signature event of the academic year: Sanskriti ’17. Witness enthusiastic performances showcasing Indian culture, taste what Indian cuisine has to offer and dance to the beats of DJ Anshul.
Local Transportation
A Gorge Tour with Martin: Scenic tours for individuals, families, or groups up to 20 year round. Discover the waterfalls, wildflowers and wineries of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Shuttle service to favorite winter sports area is also available.
Lucky Limousine and Towncar Service : Provides luxury sedan and limousine transportation service throughout the Northwest. Their goal is to consistently exceed guests’ highest expectations of what luxury transportation should be. Experienced drivers are known for getting guests to their destination safely, quickly and comfortably.
Pedal Bike Tours: Pedal puts people on bicycles, and then takes them on an adventure to discover some of the great vistas, buildings, plazas, streets, pathways, landmarks, restaurants, shops, cafés, houses and natural beauty that make Portland such a great place to live or visit. Bike rentals available too.
Portland Bicycle Tours: Offering bike tours of the city and its surrounding areas, including Portland’s famous parks, buildings, and bridges. Bikes also available for rent from their shop conveniently located in Old Town near the Chinese Garden.
NW Navigator Luxury Coaches, LLC: Northwest Navigator is committed to providing the highest levels of service, safety, professionalism, reliability and luxury. Each member of their team shares a commitment to excellence. The company is dedicated to keeping Oregon and the environment green by using biodiesel; their newest coach utilizes cutting-edge clean diesel technology.
Distance from Major Airports
- Portland International Airport (PDX) to downtown – 12 miles
Local Tour Guides
Portland Step On Guide Service: Portland Step-On Guide Service offers event planning activities for small and large groups, conferences and conventions. Services include step-on guide services and VIP excursions in cars, passenger vans, and buses. Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and French spoken. Contact Debbie Carlson: [email protected]
David Schargel: Resident experts provide step-on guide and meet-and-greet services as well as transportation, logistics, team building, and event miracles for corporate, incentive, association, and non-profit groups from 2 to 5,000. Spanish, German, French, Mandarin and Japanese spoken. Contact David Schargel: [email protected]
Portland Polyglot Tours: specializes in step-on guides and private tours, tailored to the needs and interests of each client. English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese spoken. Contact Emily Liedel: [email protected]
Columbia Crossroads: Columbia Crossroads is a full service inbound receptive operator and destination management company that is dedicated to providing clients with authentic experiences in the Northwest. Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian (Swedish and Russian on a limited basis) spoken. Contact Cynthia Billette: [email protected]
Slow Poke Tours: Slow Poke Tours has been in business for 25 years. Guides are knowledgeable about the area and speak slowly and clearly for the benefit of people with hearing or language difficulties. English spoken. Contact Thelma Haggenmiller: [email protected]