Portland (Oregon)

Introduction

Portland, Oregon, USA

© All Rights Reserved Ardy

Portland, known as the City of Roses, is the largest city in the state of Oregon and is generally considered the greenest city in the country and also one of the most liberal. It is also home to amazing brew pubs, wonderful coffee shops, nice museums, good restaurants and world famous bookstores. This is a wonderful city to spend a few days in before adventuring off to explore the amazing wilderness nearby.

Portland has roughly 2 million people living in the greater metro-area. The city was built near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers making it an important center for river traffic and the city's port is still very important to this day. When the town was first founded the two founding fathers of Asa Lovejoy and Francis W. Pettygrove both wanted to name the city after their home towns. This was settled on a 2 out of 3 coin toss and Pettygorve won. The Portland Penny can still be seen at the Oregon Historical Society. Portland was officially incorporated in 1851 as the county seat and grew from there.

Neighbourhoods

• Downtown, including South Waterfront
• Old Town, including Chinatown
• Alberta Arts
• Pearl District, including Jameson Square and Tanner Springs Park
• Northwest District
• West Hills

Sights and Activities

• Oregon Zoo is a must-see for most visitors. It is particularly famous for its collection of elephants, the largest in a zoo collection anywhere in the world.
• Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, also features an IMAX cinema.
• The Portland Saturday Market is more than a market. Enjoy free shows, a good vibe, sample foods and much more.
• Museum of Contemporary Craft
• Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
• Oregon Historical Society
• Portland Art Museum
• Oregon Maritime Center and Museum
• http://www.portlandcm.org|Portland Children's Museum]]

Events and Festivals

Beer Festivals

• Spring Beer and Wine Festival is held every year in April.
• North American Organic Brewers Festival is held every year in June featuring organic beers and is in Overlook Park near downtown.
• Oregon Brewers Festival is held every July and is one of the largest outdoor beer festival in North America.
• Holiday Ale Festival is held in December every year and features winter ales.

Weather

Portland has mild weather year-round with rainy winters. Most of the rain falls from late October to early April, while snow is possible from December to February but only a few inches in total. The best time of the year to visit would be late spring to early fall. Average highs from June to September are mostly between 23 °C and 27 °C, with nights around 12-14 °C. Winters from December to February see highs of 7-10 °C with nights still above zero.

Getting There

By Plane

Portland International Airport (IATA: PDX, ICAO:KPDX) has numerous connections to other states and cities in the United States and destinations further away, for example to Canada and Japan. The budget airlines Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Jet Blue Airways operate out of this airport.

To/from the airport
A taxi from the airport to downtown is around $30. The MAX light rail red line, which has a stop right at the airport terminal, will cost only $2.30 and will take you directly downtown in about 40 minutes. This includes a transfer to any of the buses to get you to your final destination.

By Train

• The Amtrak Cascades (Multiple Departures Daily, 10 hours 25 minutes) links Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada and Seattle, with Portland. From Portland, the train continues to Salem and Eugene in Oregon as well.
• The Coast Starlight between Seattle and Los Angeles, via Portland.

By Car

From Washington to the north and California as well as most of the rest of Oregon to the south, the easiest way to get to Portland is on Interstate 5. From Boise and other points east, Interstate 84 leads along the Columbia into Portland.

By Bus

Greyhound has buses to other cities in Oregon and beyond.

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

Many international rental companies have a wide selection of rental cars and these include Hertz, Avis, Dollar, Thrifty, Enterprise, Budget and Alamo/National. Most companies will require you are at least 25 years of age, although younger people might be able to rent cars at slightly higher rates and with some insurance differences as well. A national driver's license is usually enough, but an additional international one is recommended. Also note that it usually costs more to include lots of other extra things. For example extra drivers, GPS, the first full tank, SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance), PAI (Personal Accident Insurance, usually covered already at home), road assistance/service plan, and drop-off costs for one-way rentals.
If you want to book a car, it is recommended that you book your car before arriving in the USA. This is almost always (much) cheaper compared to just showing up. Also, try and book with a so-called 'broker', which usually works together with a few or many car rental companies and can offer the best deal. Some examples include Holidayautos, Holidaycars and Sunny Cars. Some of the cheapest deals to book from Europe, includes Drive-USA, which also has a German version.

For more information and tips about renting cars and campers, additional costs, insurance, traffic rules, scenic routes and getting maps and fuel it is advised to check the USA Getting Around section.

By Public Transport

TriMet provides public transport throughout the city with buses, streetcar and light rail. Portland is home to a great metro system that can get you anywhere in the city. The lines are:

• The Blue Line, which runs from Hillsboro east through Beaverton and downtown to Gresham.
• The Red Line, which runs from the Portland International Airport to downtown and west on to Beaverton.
• The Yellow Line, which runs from the Expo Center west to downtown, and south to Portland State University.
• The Green Line, which runs from Clackamas Town Center west to downtown, and south to Portland State University.

Most of downtown is covered by the Free Rail Zone, where rides on the MAX and Portland Streetcar are free as long as you board and leave within the zone.

A very special way of transport is the Portland Aerial Tram which connects the South Waterfront neighborhood to the Oregon Health Sciences University campus on a hill to the west. The trip offers an excellent view of Downtown and the surrounding area, with splendid views of the mountains as well.

By Foot

Portland is a great city for walking around, and there are some excellent routes and maps available to make the most out of your foot-trip.

By Bike

Check the options for renting a bicycle. Portland probably is one of the best cities in the USA to get around by bike.

Eat

Drink

Downtown Portland

© All Rights Reserved Lavafalls

Brew Pubs, Microbreweries and Ale Houses

Portland is famous for its Brew Pubs, Microbreweries and Ale Houses. There are many to chose from and for the big beer fan they could spend a lot of time trying the different beers at these pubs. Many of the pubs and microbreweries also serve good food making for a solid evening out. At many of the brew pubs it is not possible to buy there beer anywhere but at the pub.

Microbreweries

• Amnesia Brewing is located at 832 N Beech St, phone: 503-281-7708 and is one of the more famous breweries in town.
• Laurelwood Brewing Company is located at 5115 NE Sandy Blvd, Phone: 503-282-0622. This is a very professional brewery with a good restaurant.
• Alameda Brew House is located at 4765 NE Fremont St, Phone: 503-460-9025. Hit up the Monday to Friday happy hour from 3:00pm to 6:00pm.
• Roots Organic Brewing is located at 1520 SE 7th, Phone: 503-235-7668. This brewery features all organic beers for the green people.

Brew Pubs

• Rogue Distillery and Public House imports its beer from its own microbrewery in Newport, Oregon. The public house is located at 1339 NW Flanders, Phone: 503-222-5910.
• The Green Dragon is located at 928 SE 9th Ave, Phone: 503-517-0606. This is a great bar with a good rotating beer list, which actually makes its own absinthe. This bar also hosts a quiz night every monday at 7:00pm.

Ale Houses

• Concordia Ale House is a nice brew pub located at 3276 NE Killingsworth St, Phone: 503-287-3929. There is also a full kitchen here with good food.

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

• The University of Portland
• Portland State University
• University of Oregon, Portland
• Concordia University, Portland, Oregon
• Oregon Health & Science University
• Portland State University, Computer Science Department

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

The US Postal Service is very good and well priced mail system. There are hundreds of big and small post offices in Portland. If wanting to send a letter or postcard it is best just to leave it in a blue mail box with the proper postage. There are also private postal services like FedEx, UPS and DHL.