15 finest things To perform in Portland, Oregon

Portland is one of the very best cities to see in the USA. With a number of excellent parks, a thriving music and art scene, and an abundance of food trucks and breweries, there’s no shortage of fun things to perform in Portland, Oregon!

A popular slogan here is “Keep Portland Weird,” as the city and its residents are understood for their imagination and independence.

The city holds cool annual events like the world naked Bike trip and the adult Soapbox Derby. It’s also home to locations like the Freakybuttrue Peculiarium and a vacuum museum — oh ya, there are lots of strange things to perform in Portland!

Weirdness aside, there are lots of remarkable Portland attractions to visit, from one of the largest metropolitan parks in the country to a French Renaissance mansion.

Add in all the museums, galleries, markets, and live music venues, and you’ll never be tired when traveling in the city.

I’ve been around the country and Portland is hands-down one of my favorite American cities to visit. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the terrific outdoors, efficient public transportation, and craft beer.

Here’s a list of the top 15 things to perform in Portland.

Table of Contents
1. join a walking Tour
2. see Pioneer Courthouse Square
3. enjoy Washington Park
4. Go museum Hopping
5. see Powell’s City of Books
6. see forest Park
7. roam around Chinatown
8. eat At The Food Trucks (one of the very best things to perform in Portland for foodies)
9. Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
10. view live Music
11. see Pittock Mansion
12. shop At The Saturday Market
13. trip across Bridges
14. sample All The Beer
15. Doughnuts Galore!
Bonus! see The Wineries
Now You know What To perform in Portland

1. join a walking Tour

Get to know the city understood as Portlandia by taking a walking tour. There are a number of different choices for checking out the very best that Portland has to offer on foot. 

Around Portland trips runs their introduction to Portland walking trip daily and it’s just that — the perfect introduction to the city.

On this entertaining and informative tour, you’ll learn why Portland is thought about one of the very best cities to phone call home in the US. After the tour, you might want to move here!

Tickets cost $25 per person for the 2.5-hour tour. Click here to learn more about this affordable, fun and informative tour.

If you’d rather add some craft beer to your walking tour, have a look at this tour.

You’ll inspect out the inner Eastside neighbourhood with a knowledgable guide, while stopping at breweries to sample sours, craft barrel-aging, Belgians, wits, imperial IPAs, and more. This fun and boozy thing to perform in Portland is about 2.5 hours long. learn more here. 

2. see Pioneer Courthouse Square

Dubbed the “living room” of the city, this has been a central gathering place in Portland for 35 years. 

One interesting feature of the square is that there are over 70,000 bricks with names on them. Citizens and companies bought the bricks with donations of $15 to help fund the square’s construction in the early ’80s.

Inside the square, you’ll find the waterfall Fountain and a number of different artworks.

One of the most famous is allow Me, which depicts a businessman providing his umbrella. The square is also home to the weather condition machine — a sculpture that predicts the following day’s weather condition at midday with a bit of fanfare. 

There are over 300 events that take place in the square throughout the year. From shows to fitness classes to movie screenings, there’s a lot going on here. Be sure to inspect their calendar of events to see what’s happening.

Pioneer Courthouse Square is also home to an information center where you can get tons of information on the different Portland attractions. 

3. enjoy Washington Park

One of the top things to perform in Portland is to see is Washington Park. Actually, this enormous park is a number of attractions rolled into one. There’s so much going on here that the park could be its own list!

In the City of Roses, you ought to begin your see to the park at the international increased Garden. There are over 10,000 increased bushes here, and they’re in bloom between April and October. The increased garden is included in this morning Highlights Tour.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, they also run free public trips everyday at 1 PM. 

The park is also home to the stunning Portland Japanese Garden. It features eight distinct garden areas, in addition toa cultural village where you can immerse yourself in Japanese culture. Tickets cost $18.95 for adults and $13.50 for kids (click here to book them online).

We haven’t even scratched the surface of all that’s on tap in the sprawling Washington Park. here you’ll also find the Children’s Museum, the Hoyt Arboretum, and so much more.

With over 15 miles of trails, it’s also a terrific place to enjoy a bit of hiking in the city. inspect their site for a detailed look whatsoever the different attractions.

The park is open daily from 5 AM to 10 PM. You can easily reach the park by light rail. From may to October, there’s also a free shuttle that makes a loop of the park, stopping at the top attractions. Click here for directions to Washington Park.

4. Go museum Hopping

While you can easily fill your days outdoors in Portland, it does tend to rain up here in the Pacific Northwest. Thankfully there are a number of terrific museums you can add to your list of things to perform in Portland Oregon for those inevitable rainy days.

Portland Art Museum

One of the very best options is the Portland Art Museum, which is understood for its impressive collections of native American and Asian art. They’re always adding exciting new exhibitions, so be sure to inspect their site to see what’s currently on display. 

The art museum is open from 10 am – 5pm Wednesday to Sunday. It’s closed on Monday and Tuesday. Tickets cost $20 for adults and kids 17 & under are completely free. Click here to get directions.

Oregon historical Society

Right across the street, you’ll find the Oregon historical Society. This fun and interactive museum aims to make the history of the specify both visible and available to visitors.

Here you can learn all about the people, places, and events that have shaped the specify of Oregon. It’s open from 10 am – 5 pm Monday to Saturday, and midday – 5 pm on Sunday. Tickets to the museum cost $10 for adults and $5 for kids.

Weird Museums to see in Portland

Remember how I stated the city has a slogan that goes “Keep Portland Weird”? Well, that definitely applies here, as you’ll also find museums devoted to hats, puppets, toys, and even vacuum cleaners… 

5. see Powell’s City of Books

This may be hard to believe in the year 2021, but one of the top things to perform in Portland Oregon is hanging out in a bookstore.

This isn’t just any old bookstore, though — Powell’s City of books is the largest independent new and utilized bookstore in the world!

The store takes up an entire city block, and it’s composed of nine color-coded spaces with over 3,500 sections.

They claim to buy over 3,000 utilized books everyday and house as much as one million at any given time! The place is so enormous that they actually hand out maps to help you find your method around.

Drop into Powell’s, get a coffee, and browse this unique collection.

A major highlight is their unusual book space that’s full of antique furniture and a number of thousand of their many important and distinct books. Be sure to take a look at their calendar of events before you see to see what’s going on here.

Powell’s City books is open daily from 9 AM-11 PM. They run free guided trips every Sunday at 10 if you happen to be in town over the weekend. Click here to get directions.

6. see forest Park

If you’re like me and would rather be hiking in the forest than walking with the concrete jungle, be sure to pay a see to forest Park.

Located just a short trip west of downtown, this enormous metropolitan forest covers over 5,000 acres. It’s one of the most significant in the country and one of the very best locations to see in Portland.

Stretching for around 8 miles on the eastern slopes of the Tualatin Mountains and overlooking the Williamette River, this is an extremely beautiful area. It’s found just a short drive from downtown Portland, enabling you to experience a true Northwest forest within the city limits.

Forest Park is home to an astounding 70 miles (about 110 km) of trails.

The Wildwood path section of the famous 40-Mile-Loop that goes around the city is a part of the park if you want to do some major walking. You can see a map of all the different trailheads with descriptions on their website. 

The park is open everyday from 5 AM-10 PM. They also frequently do guided trips of the park, so you’ll want to take a look at their calendar to see if you can join one. If so, it’s definitely worth contributing to your list of things to perform in Portland.

If you’d rather head out to forest Park with a guide and enjoy a 4.5 – 5 mile (8-9 kilometer) hike. This is a terrific method to not get lost, and learn about the place you’re visiting. Of course, there has to be something strange to perform in Portland added to this hike, so you’ll also see the Witch’s Castle… find out more here.  

Portland’s Smallest Park

Now that you know about one of the most significant metropolitan parks in the USA, how about going to the smallest in the world. 

A classic example of Portland’s famous weirdness is the fact that the city is home to the world’s smallest park. Mils end Park covers just 452 squares inches (0.292 square meters), so it won’t take you long to visit!

Oh yeah, and it was devoted on St. Patrick’s Day as “the only leprechaun colony west of Ireland” as well. Click here to get directions to this funny small park.

7. roam around Chinatown

While it’s not as famous as its counterparts in new York or San Francisco, Portland’s Chinatown is well worth a visit. It’s also understood as Old Town, which is a fitting name seeing as how it’s the city’s oldest neighborhood. 

At the corner of NW 4th Ave. and W Burnside St, you’ll find the Chinese gate and lion statues. find Chinatown on the map, here.

After snapping a photo there, you can head a block north to inspect out the Portland Chinatown Museum. It’s open Thursday-Sunday from 12-5 in the summertime and costs $8 for adults or $5 for children.

Without a doubt, the highlight of this part of Portlandia is the Lan Su Chinese Garden. It was developed after Suzhou ended up being a sibling city of Portland, as it’s famous for its conventional gardens.

The Chinese name equates as “Garden of the Awakening Orchids,” and it’s an absolutely beautiful place to spend a few hours.

The Chinese garden is open daily at 10:00 am, and the closing hours depend upon the season. The garden stays open up until 6:00 pm during the summertime months, but closes as early as 4:00 in the winter.

Ticket costs vary as well, costing $12.95 for adults and $9.95 for youngsters in the summertime months. inspect their event calendar to see what’s happening and be sure to drop by their lovely tea house as well. You can find it on the map, here.

8. eat At The Food Trucks (one of the very best things to perform in Portland for foodies)

One of the tastiest things to perform in Portland Oregon is eating your method across the city’s numerous food trucks. Portlandia boasts an impressive 500+ different food trucks, which are grouped into pods around the city.

Unfortunately, the most significant food truck pod in Portland just recently had to close down. The 10th and Adler pod was previously understood as the largest concentration of street food in America, so it’s unfortunate to see it go. 

These days, one of the very best areas to get a range of street food is the pod on 3rd and Washington (click here for directions). Take your pick from around 20 carts cooking up Mexican, Korean, Egyptian, Greek, and much more. 

Another excellent choice is Cartopia in east Portland. It’s mostly a late-night spot, so it’s the perfect place to grub down after a big night out on the town. 

A terrific method to experience the food “pods” is to join this fun foodie tour. together with your guide, you’ll walk with central Eastside Portland, while sampling food from 7 food trucks. Plus, you’ll enjoy a cold beer to laundry everything down. find out more and book with your platform of choice: get Your guide or Viator.

9. Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

We’ve already covered a few parks, but it’s definitely worth adding another one. The Crystal Springs Rhododendron garden in southeast Portland is a stunning place to escape to for a few hours. 

Founded back in 1950 as a test garden, it currently has over 2,500 rhododendrons, azaleas, and many other plants. It’s set on Crystal Springs Lake and features a number of paths that lead you around the garden. This is the area for your own personal moment of