Days of Wine & Roses:
Top 5 Ways to Spend a Weekend in Portland, Oregon
by Tiffany Owens

Recently dubbed an “American Eden” by Travel & Leisure magazine, the City of Roses consistently ranks at the top of annual travel and quality-of-living polls. But beyond Portland’s progressive spirit and stunning natural beauty, the city offers a wide range of unique and memorable experiences for visitors – truly, something for everyone.

1. “Brew-topia.” There are 32 microbreweries within Portland’s city limits alone – more than Munich, Germany – making it the undisputed craft-beer capital of the world and a particular point of civic pride. A visit to any of the local brewpubs, like BridgePort (bridgeportbrew.com) or Laurelwood (laurelwoodbrewpub.com), should be enough to convince skeptics that Portland’s handcrafted beers are far better than their mass-produced brethren. Or, enjoy your pint with a pizza and movie at one of the various historic moviehouses, such as the Laurelhurst (laurelhursttheater.com) and Bagdad (mcmenamins.com) Theaters, or the brand-new Living Room Theaters complex downtown (livingroomtheaters.com).

2. Sip & swirl. World-class wines are produced in the lush, pastoral Willamette Valley – the epicenter of the Oregon wine industry – just a half hour’s drive from Portland. If a side trip to wine country doesn’t fit your schedule, try these local options instead:

3. Tax-free shopping. No sales tax in Oregon means your vacation dollar goes further. The city's most revered shopping area is along NW 23rd Avenue, with hip boutiques showcasing up-and-coming Northwest designers. For funkier finds, try Hawthorne Boulevard or Alberta Street, especially during the lively last Thursday ArtWalk (artonalberta.org), where artists set up street-side tables to hawk handmade wares. No shopping trip to Portland is complete without a visit to Powell’s City of Books (powells.com), the country’s largest independent bookstore with 68,000 square feet of new and used books.

4. Outdoor enthusiast’s nirvana. Portland is home to 227 parks – including Forest Park with 5,000-plus acres and 70 miles of trails, making it the nation's largest urban wilderness. A trek around the Classical Chinese Garden (portlandchinesegarden.org) or 130-acre Washington Park with its International Rose Test Garden (rosegardenstore.org) also makes for a relaxing afternoon with spectacular views.

Or, head over to the Pacific coastline, just 90 minutes west of town, for beach-combing or whale watching; just an hour to the east are Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge, scenic, outdoor playgrounds for those who love to ski, hike, bike, kayak or windsurf.

5. Ditch your car. Go “green” by joining the throngs of pedestrians downtown or cyclists along Portland’s 270 miles of bike-friendly street lanes and paths for a sightseeing workout. Bikes can be rented at reasonable hourly or daily rates from Waterfront Bicycle (waterfrontbikes.net) or CityBikes (citybikes.coop).

When you get tired of walking or biking, catch a free ride in the downtown area on the city’s extensive mass-transit network (trimet.org). Whether by MAX light rail, city bus or modern streetcar, a $4.25 all-day ticket will get you almost anywhere you need to go, including a swift ride to or from the Portland airport.