Portland, Oregan - has anyone been?

[Jellywellyfish]

My brother recently moved to Portland OR and I’ll be going to visit him next year with my husband and daughter (she turns one in January).
i was planning to travel around April time as flights seem to be cheaper. I have found direct flights with BA - any other airlines I should consider? What’s the cheapest month to fly?
how is portland with prams and public transport? He lives in the Pearl district. Debating whether we will need a car for the whole time or whether we can get a cab from the airport to his apartment, explore on foot or public transport for a few days then get a car mid trip for 3-4 days to explore further afield? We will be going back annually or every other year so don’t need to fit everything in this trip.

thank you! Any or travel tips for visiting portland welcomed!

I’ve been to Portland. 👋

We flew into Seattle with BA & took the train to Portland. We used public transport from the station to our hotel near Pioneer Square. We spent 2 full days discovering the city on foot & picked up a car on day 3 to start our road trip. It’s a really walkable city.

We visited all over downtown, waterfront & the pearl district. Also really liked 23rd Ave area. We ate in Voodoo donuts, Fried Egg I’m In Love & Luc Lac amongst other places.

On day 3 we hired a car & drove to the Columbia River Gorge & Hood River area. Visited Multnomah Falls, Mount Hood & Trillium Lake. We also drive up to Timberline Lodge that was the location for The Shining movie. On the way back to Portland, we passed the Carver Cafe from the film Twilight (you can also visit the Cullen house).

Further afield we drove to the Oregon coast & stayed in Yachats & visited Thors Well & Devils Churn. We missed out the Olympic NP but that’s on the list for next time!!

I was expecting to like it, but we found it pretty depressing. The city passed a law allowing homeless people to camp out in parks, vacant lots and underpasses, and, as a result, the centre is full of drug addled homeless people. Very uncharitable of me, I know, but the people I felt sorry for were the business people trying to make a living.
The best bit about it was the train journey along the coast to Seattle.

It’s Oregon, not Oregan 😂

I live in Washington state but closer to Portland than Seattle so we use PDX a lot. It’s a much nicer airport than SeaTac. We even bought our car in Oregon instead of Washington as it’s cheaper.

To be honest, I don’t like what Portland has become lately. It’s not what it was. That said, it s a handy base for getting around. Within Portland a car is not really necessary. But to get out further you will need a car.

Multnomah Falls are well worth a trip. The wine region is interesting too. We sometimes go there for a weekend and cruise around the wineries. Cannon Beach and a drive along the coast is beautiful.

Drive over the Astoria bridge into Washington. Don’t cross into Washington by I-5 into Vancouver. Do all your shopping before you come to Washington - Oregon has zero sales tax. Ours in Washington is one of the highest as we have no state income tax.

Long Beach and Cape Disappointment are worth a visit once you get into Washington. And Mt St Helens.

Check out the Irish bar, just off the main square!

It's easy to get a taxi from PDX to downtown, there is also the max, which is a train. Public transport in the city is not too bad, there's a tram plus buses. There is a big issue with homeless camps. But I like the city, it's edgy and a bit different to other US cities.

Portland has a great food and coffee scene. Check out the food carts / pods, loads to choose from and cheaper than restaurants. The Japenese garden is very cool. And I love Powell's, the world's largest independent bookstore.

Washington Park has lots of great trails for hiking and you can get great views of the city from Pittock Mansion. The Zoo and Omsi are fun too. Spring is beautiful in Oregon! But it may still be quite wet, so come prepared for that.

The Columbia River Gorge is well worth a visit and only about 30 minutes from Portland. Multnomah falls is good but v crowded. There are lots of other waterfalls to see along that route. Go to vista point for great views. We also really like Hood River, it's a cute town right on the Columbia River.

Further afield, the coast is wonderful! Also Silver Falls State Park is great for hiking and seeing waterfalls.

For shopping, visit Woodburn, it's a big outlet mall about 1 hour or less from Portland.

And a visit to Mount Hood is a must. In April there will still be quite a bit of snow so you can ski or go to a sno park to sled/ build snowmen.
It's about an hour from.the city.

You'll have a great time! If you want to come back when it's warmer/ drier, September and October are great months to visit as its also not as hot as the summer.