From the delicious food trucks, to the pretty views, and the amazing hiking trails, Portland, Oregon has so many different things to do, places to eat, and things to see. I was in Oregon for 3 nights and four days and really wanted to see all of the hot spots so rounding up everything you should do as well as where to stay and what we drove!
We arrived in Portland around 12PM so we were excited we still had a half day. We picked up our rental car which I will get into later and drove to our Hotel.
Where to Stay
We stayed at the Hi-Lo hotel in Downtown Portland which you can book here. Besides how beautiful this hotel is the location is amazing. You are close to some of the best restaurants, food trucks, and some great places to see. The room we stayed in was perfect. The bed was super comfortable [this is honestly key for me as I have a bad back] and they were extremely spacious so our stuff wasn’t on top of each other. The bathroom had a rainfall shower head and had wall mounted Shampoo, Conditioner and body wash so you don’t need to bring your own, as well as a hairdryer.
Some other amenities in this hotel include the gym and the restaurant. I went to the gym one morning and it was a great size. It had everything we needed including apples if you need a quick pick me up and headphones in case you forgot your own which I thought was amazing. The lobby included this amazing swing [seen below] which was so comfy and so fun to sit on. The lobby was super modern and on the other side was the restaurant called CraftPDX. We ate here for dinner and had the Ahi Tuna Ceviche[highly recommend] and Caesar salad to start and for our main course we had the fish tacos and chicken quesadillas which were amazing as well. Their is a reason why this restaurant has such great reviews online.
What to Drive
We drove the 2019 Mazda3 which immediately made me realize I want to upgrade my car. If you are looking for a new car I highly recommend. It featured such premium features I think that our favorite was the Apple Carplay. As soon as we plugged in our photo our phone screen came up on the screen. This was great for where we were using Waze but also great when watching football because the surround sound was perfect. The car includes BOSE premium audio with 12 speakers. We were extremely comfortable driving a few hours to our next sight and the interior was beautiful which can be seen below.
Some other features include:
- 8.8 inch large center display
- Bluetooth hands-free phone and audio system
- Pandora internet radio integration
- USB audio input
- Advanced dual front air bags, front side-impact air bags and side-impact air curtains; knee airbags standard
- Child-safety rear door locks & LATCH rear seat child safety-seat lower anchors & upper tethers
- Rearview camera [must-have]
- Automatic on/off headlights w/ High beam control
- Lane-departure warning
- 27 MPG / 32 Highway
- Heated front seats
We drove a few hours around Oregon and this car got amazing milage. The trunk fit our luggage perfectly and we easily could have fit two more suitcases if we had friends come with us.
Thing to do
While we were there we took the “we want to see it all” approach which was tiring but worth it. The first day in Portland we walked around downtown without a map and just got lost basically and saw the area. We ended up stopping at a brewery called Wayfinder which was so cute and had great drink options as well as flights so you can try the bear. The second day we drove 30 minutes outside of Portland to Multnomah falls which is a must if you are staying in Portland. It is about a 10 minute walk up to the bridge or you can do the full 3 mile hike [1.5 miles each way] to the top of the waterfall. The hike isn’t bad but it is steep to get up. The paths are all paved for the most part so it is a great workout for the day. Get there early because parking does fill up quick!
Portland Zoo
We also went to the Portland Zoo. If you go to this area there are a lot of things to do including the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden and the Zoo. Also if you go here during Fall and drive around the park the leaves are beautiful. We ended up just going to the zoo after our hike. It was a great zoo but their was a lot of construction because they are adding a lot of additions that will be opening in Fall 2020 and 2021.
Crater Lake National Park
If you a are going to Portland and you don’t mind a journey to the park then we highly suggest. Crater lake is absolutely beautiful and actually the deepest lake in the U.S. It is a pure blue color. It does take about 4 hours to get there from Portland. If you have the days we suggest spending 2 days here to do the hikes. Unfortunately we only had the one day so we drove the 30 miles around the lake and did a bunch of sightseeing. We went mid October and there was already snow there and it was significantly colder than Portland. We ended up staying in Eugene, Oregon for the night [2 hour drive from Crater lake]. So it was 6 hours in the car. We were pretty ambitious doing this but didn’t regret it at all. Especially during Fall the leaves were so pretty driving down. It did cost $25 to enter the park as well.
Finally The Coast
We ended up driving the coast back to Portland. There are so many stops to see along the way but we ended up stopping at the Oregon Sand Dunes [1 hour from Eugene, Oregon] which I would have loved to just stay at the beach for the day or ride some dune buggies through the sand. We also stopped at Thor’s well. We got there during high tide so we could see it from afar but couldn’t get to close so recommend going during low tide. Also right in this area there is the sea lion caves. We didn’t do this since we saw them in San Diego when we went but we heard it is a great stop. The one thing we missed was Haystack rock. It is about 1.5 hours from Portland and we would have done it if we weren’t so tired from driving so much and we had to make our red eye flight.
Places to Eat
There are plenty of things to do inPortland as well as in Oregon in general. If you are in Portland you absolutely must try the food trucks, not only are they yummy but they are amazingly priced. I got a wrap with fires and a drink for $9. The food trucks we went to were across from Voodoo donuts. Which if you are in Portland I think you have to try Voodoo donuts. If you are going be prepared to stand on line for 15 minutes though because there is a constant line no matter what time you go. For Breakfast we ate at Bottle + Kitchen I got the yogurt + granola with fruit and my bf got the House Cured Lox. For lunch we ate at the food trucks and then the Portland zoo [actually don’t recommend eating here as it wasn’t the best we were just so hungry]. So dinner we ate at Craft PDX which I mentioned above and Tasty n Adler. Highly recommend Tasty n Adler as well. We had to wait about 45 minutes but it was worth the wait. What we liked best about here is they bring everything out when it is ready so most of the food is meant to share. We got a salad, scallops and the Gaucho Ribeye pictured below. There are a few other places we ate but it was when we were on the road so nothing worth noting.
Additional photos!
