July 2019

Perfect 4 Day Itinerary for Portland, Oregon

The Pacific Northwest had been a gaping hole in our US destinations and while we would have liked to have dedicated over a week to exploring the entire region, we only have four days to work with. After some consultations, we decided on Portland as the base for our introduction to the region.

Know before you go

There is a lot going on in and around Portland so I would recommend renting / having a car for some or all of your trip. We actually ended up using Portland more as a home base and spent most of the trip outside of the city. There is also public transportation you can use to get in and around the city.

Where to stay?

Make sure to do a safety check before booking places as there are not so great spots in Portland that you will want to avoid. Since we had a car, we needed somewhere with parking. Our Airbnb is located in the southeast corner of the city in between Hawthorne Blvd and Division St which is a great location with easy access to two downtown hubs.

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What is there to do?

There is honestly something for everyone! Weather you enjoy city life, beach life, or outdoor life you can focus or mix and match your trip. For us, the trip that planned itself! There is something completely different in every direction.

Go west and you hit the Oregon coastline – Cannon Beach
Go south and you are in wine region – Willamette Valley
Go east and you enter waterfall heaven – Columbia River Gorge
And then you have downtown Portland itself

With each of these taking up a day it made for the perfect four day itinerary to visit Portland Oregon.

Where to eat?

Oh goodness, everything we ate was amazing!

Do not miss out of the coffee, donut, ice cream culture – we indulged in each daily!
Go to Pok Pok for a casual night (get the wings) and Le Pigeon for a treat your self night (incredible!)
On your way back from Columbia River Gorge hit Sugarpine Drive In
On your way back from Cannon Beach hit Tillamook Creamery
We discovered Harlow on our last day and we would have been here daily if we found it sooner!

Here is a complete itinerary for exploring Portland!

Day 0	Arrive in Portland
Day 1	Breakfast at Pine State Biscuits Willamette Valley Wine Region Red Hills Market for picnic Stop for donuts and icecream on the drive back
Day 2	Breakfast at Common Ground Coffeehouse Hiking Columbia River Gorge Stop at Sugarpine Drive In
Day 3	Breakfast at Stumptown Roasters Driving the Oregon Coast Tillamook Creamery
Day 4	Explore downtown Portland – Japanese Gardens – Powell’s Books – Deschutes Brewery – Portland Food Pods Depart