I have a megalist of things to do as a first time visitor to portland. I%26#39;m now at the point where I need to cut down on some activities--I realize I can%26#39;t cram everything in four days! So if you don%26#39;t mind giving me your valuable two cents (and maybe even suggestions on which activities make sense to do on the same day given locale--which I%26#39;m naturally clueless about) I%26#39;d appreciate it!
Powell%26#39;s City of Books,
Portland Art Museum,
Pearl District, Art in the Pearl festival
International Rose Test Garden,
Portland Saturday Market,
Pioneer Square, love rally on saturday
Northwest (Nob Hill),
The Grotto - National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother,
Hawthorne,
Lloyd Center Mall since i%26#39;m within walking distance from it...
Mississippi Ave--not sure what is there, what to see exactly...i%26#39;ve just heard several people mention this area
Multnomah Village,
Mission Theater %26amp; Pub for dinner and a movie
Buffalo Exchange, one across from Powell%26#39;s and one in Hawthorne, not sure which is better.
Ground Kontrol
OMSI (I definitely need to see the Robots exhibit!)
Museum of Velvet Paintings
Darcelle Pagent at the Convention Center on saturday
Portland Art Museum, biennial and north wing grand opening
Oregon History Center
Karaoke from Hell at Dante%26#39;s Caffe (i%26#39;ve never seen ';live'; karaoke before)
Places to eat:
Space room lounge
The Screen Door
Bernie%26#39;s Southern
Carafe Bistro
and then I%26#39;m going to ';steal'; a few suggestions from the previous TA post on Microbreweries in the area.
so...what should stay or go...or can i do it all!?
thanks
my list of things to do this laborday weekend--help!
Sounds like an adventuresome list! I would add the Pittock Mansion and the Chinese Classical Gardens. If you don%26#39;t do the CCG, go over to the Japanese Gardens, right above the Rose Garden. No Oregon Zoo? It%26#39;s also very fun and educational.
Have you considered venturing out of PDX a bit? Maybe to the coast to Cannon Beach, the wine country or the Columbia Gorge? There is gorgeous scenery in these areas not to be missed. 4 days is a good amount of time in the area. Have fun! :)
my list of things to do this laborday weekend--help!
syrah,
thanks for the feedback. how could i forget to include the pittock mansion?! it%26#39;s on the list now. No I didn%26#39;t include the zoo--I%26#39;m one of those people who don%26#39;t like visiting zoos (likewise with aquariums).
I won%26#39;t have a car while in oregon, so I%26#39;m a bit hesistant to venture out with a rental in the Labor Day traffic. The next time I visit PDX, I%26#39;ll plan to visit off-season and I%26#39;ll do things outside of citycenter for sure.
How many days a year are you in Portland, syrahgirl??? Two? Are you really in a position to evaluate Roadtravlr%26#39;s list when you haven%26#39;t even heard of most of the places he mentions?
You%26#39;ve obviously done a lot of research, Roadtravlr, and I think a nice job of picking things/places easily accessible with mass transit. But these are things I%26#39;d consider paring from your list, some because they%26#39;re a little out of the way, so travel time lessens bang for buck, and others because they%26#39;re more or less duplications:
International Rose Test Garden - yeah, the roses are still blooming, but starting to wind down, so unless you want to include the zoo or Japanese Classical Gardens, scratch this one. I note that Pittock Mansion is now in the mix, so put that in this category as well.
Grotto - a bit of a trek east of town, and frankly, most long time residents can%26#39;t find a reason to go here.
Mississippi Ave - up and coming funky shopping and dining scene. You%26#39;ll see similar on Hawthorne.
Multnomah Village - more or less a suburban Hawthorne Blvd-like community.
Lloyd Center - it%26#39;s a shopping mall. Coolest thing about it is the ice skating rink, but once you%26#39;ve seen one Nordstroms, you%26#39;ve seen %26#39;em all.
Other than that, the rest of the list is quite centrally located. I don%26#39;t know specific addresses for everything, but I%26#39;d first split between east and west (the river is the dividing line), and then maybe between north and south.
Have fun!
Yeah, I have to agree ( well I don%26#39;t Have to but I usually do) with Mistletoe. Multnomah Village is out of the way and not really worth the trip ( as a tourist, not that it is not nice, it is)
When you are in the Pearl, you will be at Powells, the Buffalo Exchange is a block away..you can walk over the the Sat Mkt and get on a street car and get to NW23rd ( or as some call is, Nob Hill)..
Taking the TriMet train, easy, you can get on in downtown and get off at Washington Pk, get on the shuttle to the Japanese Gardens. when you leave , you can walk down to the Rose Test Gardens..or take a cab or walk from NW 23rd to the Gardens..we did it, it is a long walk but so beautiful, it was easy.
Going to the Zoo is unnecessary unless you are bringing children.
If you can manage it, the Portland Farmers Mkt is on Sat in the South Park Blocks, which is by the Portland Art Museum..and downtown, Pioneer Square etc. You can do it all in one day..
You are having all your meals on the Eastside except Carafe ? I forgot, where are you staying?
karaoke sounds fun, a great laugh..
I don%26#39;t know if you can or want to do it all but the list is pretty good, imo :)
Oh, I forgot, the Pittock Mansion IS really nice, but with such limited time, you could skip it..you will need transportation to get there, the view of the city and beyond is good but you get the same view from the Japanese Gardens. Which in my opinion are the one place you should not miss. :)
i%26#39;m staying near the lloyd center...if you all recall, somewhile ago i booked a hotwire hotel for supercheap and now i%26#39;m stuck! (nonrefundable). oh well...it%26#39;s in the fareless zone apparenlty, so maybe i%26#39;m goign to be okay....
so you%26#39;ve convinced me to scratch pittock off the list. and multnomah. my flight arrives at noon tomorrow on saturday, so i doubt i will have time to get to the farmer%26#39;s market--next time!
though...i%26#39;m really interested in seeing the Grotto--I visted Europe this summer and I love the ethereal/serene places w/art...the replica of the pieta...that%26#39;s pretty impressive, no?
thanks for applauding me on my research skills! i%26#39;m very serious about my vacation time :) but my sense of direction is a little flawed, so any pointers on the whole ';eastside/westside'; ';north/south'; issue is appreciated...though i presume it%26#39;s quite similar to how we have our zones in Washington, DC... so I think I can manage! i
in terms of meals...I want to try the conveyor belt sushi at SushiLand--any good? I had something similar in Fremont/seattle and it was great. but if you have any west side suggestions, let me know.
I can skip the rose garden and save it for a better time of year to visit (when would that be?). I%26#39;m also planning on going to Waterfront Park for labor day weekend--which seems to get the thumbs up from everyone, so i know that will be good!
Oh Yes! now it all comes back to me :)
then Eastside eateries make sense ...I think you icked some good ones ..
there will be something else over by the farmers market, maybe it will go on long enough for you to catch a glimpse, it is a nice area anyway..
I have read a lot of people liking the Grotto, I hope you do too :)
%26lt; I want to try the conveyor belt sushi at SushiLand--any good? %26gt;
There are always a few people to many people there, so I think it is good. We have yet to have a full meal there..
There are quite a few good places to eat here in the NW...don%26#39;t want to overwhelm you with where to eats :)
I%26#39;m also planning on going to Waterfront Park for labor day weekend--which seems to get the thumbs up from everyone, so i know that will be good!
Yes, there are music happenings all over the city so pick up a Willamette Weekly paper ( free) as soon as you get here to find what is happening where..as well as bars, clubs, restos and eats.
The weather forecast is for very warm weather, bring sunblock :)
Have a wonderful time..
thanks, scarlett!
and another thing...i just remembered i%26#39;m taking a redeye flight out of pdx (leaves at 10:30pm)...so i%26#39;m struggling with what I can do to fill the day from 10am to 8pm, assuming I want to be in a cab to the airport by 8pm.
Do you think it wise to see the ';reject sites'; that are farther out of the City on the day i have to leave...like the Pittock Mansion and the Grotto...probably squeeze in a rose garden stroll...then call a cab to to the airport?
Oh, you have a lot on your agenda.
You may want to trim it down a bit as some of these places may capture your imagination and you may stay longer than you originally planned.
Places I%26#39;d skip at this time: Mississippi Avenue could wait for further rehabilitation. It%26#39;s an artist area, but only a few blocks are worth walking. Multnomah Village could be dropped unless you are thinking of moving there. It%26#39;s a sweet little neighborhood. Lloyd Mall is just a shopping mall. Good stores but not worth the time unless you are on a shopping mission.
Have fun and don%26#39;t hesitate to ask more questions!
General location of each site within the city is:
Powell%26#39;s City of Books - NW
Portland Art Museum - SW
Pearl District, Art in the Pearl festival - NW
International Rose Test Garden - In the hills west
Portland Saturday Market - barely SW
Pioneer Square, love rally on saturday - SW
Northwest (Nob Hill) - ummm.... NW ;-)
The Grotto - National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother - miles east
Hawthorne - SE
Lloyd Center Mall since i%26#39;m within walking distance from it... - NE
Mississippi Ave--not sure what is there, what to see exactly...i%26#39;ve just heard several people mention this area - NE
Multnomah Village - miles SW
Mission Theater %26amp; Pub for dinner and a movie - NW
Buffalo Exchange, one across from Powell%26#39;s and one in Hawthorne, not sure which is better. - the one near Powell%26#39;s is on the line separating NW and SW; the one in Hawthorne is SE
Ground Kontrol - SW
OMSI (I definitely need to see the Robots exhibit!) - SE
Museum of Velvet Paintings - NE
Darcelle Pagent at the Convention Center on saturday - NE, and near Lloyd Center
Portland Art Museum, biennial and north wing grand opening - SW
Oregon History Center - SW
Karaoke from Hell at Dante%26#39;s Caffe (i%26#39;ve never seen ';live'; karaoke before) - SW
Hopefully you can use this to patch together daily itineraries, but know that distance from NW to SW is short, and public transportation is easy. Crossing the river isn%26#39;t a problem either, but getting around to NE and SE sites might involve and little more walking and/or travel time.
Pittock Mansion and the rose gardens would make sense on your last day, but the Grotto is on the other side of town. I%26#39;d suggest heading out to the Grotto first, then back into town. You might decide to not go to the rose gardens and/or Pittock Mansion, but at least then you%26#39;d be in the center of activity. And, rather than a cab, you could just hop on MAX to the airport.
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