About Portland, OR
Explore Oregon
Overview
Portland is also a city with an environmental conscience, where high-tech professionals and college students bicycle or jog to school and work. Sporting over 10,000 acres of lush parks, this extremely walkable city is located at the end of the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge, a spectacular 80-mile canyon separating Oregon and Washington. These waterfalls and mountains have supported life for more than 13,000 years.
The city proper is anything but, as edgy artists and hard-working professionals come together to enjoy an eclectic range of art, music, and theatre, as well as diverse culinary experiences including farm-to-fork dining, prix fixe three-course menus and farmer’s markets.
From the relaxing Washington Park with its lovely Japanese Garden and friendly Oregon Zoo to the city’s innumerable coffeehouses and craft beer microbreweries, Portland makes everyone feel right at home.
What To Do
Tots and kids at heart should equally enjoy the impressive Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Even though most of the exhibits are geared towards younger folk, there are also “After Dark” events combining science with beer and wine for the older set.
Visit the Portland Art Museum and learn more about Native American and Pacific Northwest art and culture.
Meet some of the endearing 2,200 animals at the oldest zoo in the West, the Oregon Zoo, renowned for its conservation efforts and successful elephant-breeding program.
Stop and smell a few of the 722 varieties of roses, with colorful names such as Apricot Candy, Rhapsody in Blue and Burgundy Iceberg at the oldest continuously operated public rose garden in the nation, the International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park.
Take a drive to the mesmerizing Multnomah Falls east of Troutdale along the spectacular Columbia River Highway.
For those wanting to venture further up the Columbia River, consider taking a Pacific Northwest river cruise.
When to Go
The best time to visit Portland is in the summertime when the flowers are in full bloom, the air is warm and the days are long. During this period, average daytime temperatures run between 70 F and 80 F. Portland begins to flower in the spring, and it’s lovely to experience.
If you’re okay with some rain showers, Portland’s temperatures remain relatively mild in the fall and winter. It’s coldest between mid-November to the end of February, with average daily temperatures between 40 F and 50 F.
Fast Facts
Portland’s has more breweries within its city limits than anywhere else in the world. They even have kid-friendly brewpubs, offering on-site movie theaters, arts and crafts and more. What parent could resist?
Although Portland is called the “City of Roses,” these fragrant flowers are not indigenous to the region. The Pacific Northwest’s first rose bush was sent to Anna Marie Pittman in 1837 and planted nearby. In 1889, the Portland Rose Society was born. Fifteen years later at Portland’s only world’s fair, the city planted 10,000 or so rose bushes. A Rose Festival was held two years later, and these once transplanted beauties continue to be celebrated at an annual festival to this day.
Travel Tips & Tools
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