Hello friends,
I am so excited to be sharing our trip to Portland, Oregon. We wanted to visit Portland for quite some time now but there are other places that are on top of our bucket list that we wanted to focus on first until, my husband and I booked a wanna get away flight to Portland on South West Airlines. Initially, we planned this trip for end of March but since my five year old fell sick we had to postpone it to end of April. Luckily, the South West airlines have very flexible reschedule policy and we were able to change dates with no hassle. So, finally we set out on our three day trip to Portland, Oregon. The three main things that we knew we wanted to see there was Multnomah falls, the Tulip fields and Cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, we had to miss on the cherry blossoms since we postponed the trip as all the blossoms were gone by the time we were there. We were also lucky that it was sunny the whole time we were there compared to what I have heard that it rains in Portland almost always. The people in Portland are so amazing, we received hundreds of smiles from strangers in the three days there. Also, Portland’s public transportation is a great option if you are visiting. It’s convenient and fast, plus less expensive considering you have to pay for parking everywhere you go within the city.
I have spent hours and hours of browsing the internet to see what we can do while in Portland. Initially, our trip was planned for four days but when we postponed the trip we cut it short to three days because of my husband’s work schedule. Probably, if we had an extra day or two we could have covered some more attractions around the city and nearby. With one day less on hand here is what we were able to cover.
Portland Oregon 3 days Itinerary
Day 1
We took an early morning flight and reached Portland at 10:00 AM. Picking up rental car at the airport took way longer than anticipated. We opted for Hertz rental car and it turns out other car rentals had absolutely no one in line while Hertz had the longest line and it took for ever to get the car. Once we found our rental car, we loaded it up with our stuff and drove off to Portland city to Oregon Zoo.
Oregon Zoo
Oregon zoo is tucked away in Washington Park and after a few road blocks we finally made it to the zoo. Paid for parking and headed straight to the gate. We spent the entire afternoon at Portland zoo until the zoo closing time. We also had lunch here at the zoo with an ice-cream afterwards. Even though it was partially sunny, we felt cold because of the winds. We thought, one afternoon was quite enough time to explore the zoo.
We then checked into our hotel and had a peaceful dinner at Chipotle (our family’s favorite food). There was some time to go see the downtown if we wanted to but we decided to take it easy and just relax back at the hotel.
Day 2
We had breakfast at the hotel and they had a great breakfast . They had a lot of options and I can say we had a good breakfast. We left the hotel at around 9:00 AM and drove to Woodburn, Oregon to the tulip festival.
Wooden shoe Tulip Festival
Wooden shoe Tulip fields are in Woodburn, Oregon and is around 45 minutes from Portland downtown. They were having a Tulip fest which usually runs from end of March to early May. We spent the entire morning walking through the tulips and taking lots of pictures and just wowing at the beautiful flowers. At the tulip fest, they also had play structures and different games, pony rides which my daughter enjoyed.
We then drove back to Portland, had some lunch and relaxed a bit at the hotel as my five year old was tired from all the running and playing at the Tulip fest.
Tom McCall Waterfront & Pioneer Court house
We then took a MAX light rail towards Pioneer Court house and then walked towards Tom McCall waterfront. This is where we were supposed to see the cherry blossoms if they were still blooming. We walked down the waterfront looking at the amazing view of the water, the bridges and also did some people watching. We then headed back to do some shopping along the way but since it was closing time at this point we couldn’t do any shopping on this day.
Powell’s Book store
We then took another light rail and headed to see the famous Powell’s Books store and oh goodness, this book store is huge. We only did a few isles of the book store and definitely could have spent an entire day in the store finding some amazing books. I did pick up some books for my daughter but like I said if there was more time I would have loved looking at more books.
We spent some time at a Starbucks near the pioneer courthouse area and then headed back to the hotel.
Day 3
We had breakfast at our hotel and checked out since this was our last day in Portland. I felt like we did a lot on the last day . Here is what we did on day three.
Multnomah Falls
On the third day, we left the hotel early to drive up to the Multnomah falls which is around 4o minutes away from Portland downtown. Parking was easy and free. As we parked our car, I was surprised to see how close the falls was to the interstate. All you have to do is cross the under ground foot path and you will be there in no time. It was serene and beautiful! The water definitely has a relaxing effect on your mind. We went there around 9:00 AM and it was cold. I am glad we packed layers to keep us warm. We also looked at the visitor center and then headed to our next stop, Bridal Veil Falls.
Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil falls is just off the Columbia River Highway and again the parking and entrance are free. The hike was about 2/3rd of a mile to see the falls. It was an easy hike with a little elevation on the way back. Not to mention the falls was a delight with gushing white water flowing into a beautiful creek. It wasn’t crowded like the Multnomah falls was. My daughter thought looking at the water flow made her feel good. It was really peaceful and relaxing!
Pip’s Donuts
On the way back to downtown we stopped at Pip’s donuts which is famous for the mini donuts. My husband and my little one both love donuts so we couldn’t miss the chance to try these ones. The donuts were absolutely delicious and one of the best that we have ever had. We got their hazelnut, cinnamon sugar and a seasonal flavor called banana custard. My daughter enjoyed the hazelnut and my husband and I thought the Banana Custard was the best. If you are around the area don’t miss out on trying Pip’s Donuts.
4T- Aerial Tram
I almost forgot that we did this one because we somehow squeezed it in at the last minute. The round trip costed 4.70 USD and it basically takes you to the upper terminal which is actually a hospital but also has cafes and patios where you can enjoy the view. It was a cool ride especially for my five year old. From the patio we had the beautiful panoramic views of the city, bridges and also the snow covered mountain peaks. We stayed there for around 30 minutes and took a tram back to the lower terminal.
China town and Lan Su Chinese garden
We then took the MAX rail to China town. Walking down the streets here wasn’t my favorite but we still wanted to see the Lan Su Chinese garden. The admission was 10 USD for adults and kids 5 & under are free. It took us about an hour to walk around the garden where you feel isolated from the rest of the city. While it was a beautiful garden to walk around admission was pricey considering it was quite small but my five year old enjoyed walking around looking at all the paintings and also trying out calligraphy.
We then took the MAX light rail and stopped by the Pioneer courthouse again to do some shopping although we didn’t have much time left on hand. I know, it was kind of sad that I didn’t have enough time to shop in a tax free state.
As we finished up it was around 6:30 PM and finally it was time to head back to the airport. We returned our rental car at the airport and had dinner at MOD’S pizza at the terminal and boarded our plane back to San Francisco.
So, that’s it. This is what we did on our 3-day trip to Portland,Oregon. There are many other attractions (not mentioned here) that are just as wonderful and I am planning to share another post on that soon which talks more about each attraction. Hope it will be helpful if you are a trip to Portland,Oregon.
Love,
Smitha