Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland

Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland

Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland: Our most recommended tours and activities

Portland, Oregon: Soul of the City Walking Tour

Portland, Oregon: Soul of the City Walking Tour

Discover some of Portland's most influential architecture, from cast iron-fronted structures to the grandly disastrous post-modern Portland Building, on this walking tour. Discuss the modern rise of radical activists, and how it is connected to the city’s history going back more than a century. Meet your guide in the center of the city, at Director Park, only a block from the city's Cultural District. Walk through the South Park Blocks, visiting the plazas connected to museums and concert halls, including the Portland Art Museum and the Oregon Historical Society. Explore how Portland got its nicknames and city layout, how its cultural identity was forged, and where its commitment to racial justice and social progressivism comes from. Be surprised as you find out how the state of Oregon was founded and why. Next, meet Portlandia, the image personifying the city. Learn how much of the city as you see it today has hippies to thank for its richness. End the tour at Pioneer Courthouse Square. On days when attractions are open, you can briefly enter 1 or 2 buildings. Along the way, discover what led to the prioritization of parks throughout the city center, how the city’s early urban planners decided on their layouts, how modern designers look at the past and plan for the future, and who the streets are named after.

Portland: Guided Delicious Donut Tour with Tastings

Portland: Guided Delicious Donut Tour with Tastings

Accompany your passionate foodie guide to 4 donut institutions, where you'll enjoy a curated sample of Portland's best donuts. Savor classics like glazed and chocolate, and discover some more adventurous flavors, like lavender.  Your stops may include Sesame Donuts, Blue Star Donuts, Voodoo Doughnuts and more. You'll even be able to skip the line at Voodoo Doughnuts, where some people wait up to 30 minutes. On the way to the donut shops, visit some local sights including Pioneer Square, Chinatown, and the PSU Campus. Your tour guide will entertain you with interesting facts about these sites as you travel between treats.

Portland: Food Walking Tour

Portland: Food Walking Tour

Explore downtown Portland on an all-inclusive walking food tour through the heart of the city. We'll meet at "Portland's Living Room," Pioneer Courthouse Square, and venture deeper into downtown while sampling food from unique vendors. Enjoy a philosophical introduction to Portland's iconic food cart ecosystem while learning about our city's history, culture, and people. As a small, local company with strong connections to our partnering vendors, this tour is able to provide value unrivaled in the industry. Come hungry.

Portland: Downtown Food Tour

Portland: Downtown Food Tour

Come eat with us! Explore downtown Portland in then morning or the afternoon. Some of our city’s biggest eating trends started here, from farm-to-table restaurants to PDX’s original food cart pod, making downtown an eater's delight. Come taste the very best of what Portland’s becoming known for, including fine dining, farm-to-table, ground-breaking food halls, delicious brews, wines, cocktails, and more! One this tour we will explore the full spectrum of Portland’s food scene. Our Downtown Portland Food Tour will last approximately 2.5 hrs, and our guides will lead you on a delicious 1.5 mile jaunt through downtown! Our curated approach to this culinary experience will ensure that, you’ll get a taste of what makes our city so special. Enjoy this excursion through the historic districts, waterfront, and sites of downtown Portland - and come hungry!

Portland: Morning City Highlights Tour

Portland: Morning City Highlights Tour

More than just a basic Portland city tour, our half-day Portland City Tour will reveal the laid-back small city feel of this fun and thriving downtown and the surrounding area. You will experience the best Portland sites including the International Rose Garden (May through mid-October), the World Forestry Museum mid-October through the end of April on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Oregon Society of Artists from mid-October through the end of April on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Pioneer Courthouse Square, NW 23rd (the best shopping area in Portland), the Pearl District, Lake Oswego Square (seasonally), and the South Park Blocks. Let the fragrance of roses embrace your senses with over 600 roses and be delighted with the beautiful Washington Park nature, featuring some of the most amazing city & mountain views around. More than 10,000 individual rose bushes bloom in the International Rose Test Garden from late May through October, representing over 610 different rose varieties. At the World Forestry Museum you can explore forests around the world through two floors of unique hands-on exhibits. The Discovery Museum’s colorful and thoughtful exhibits include information about tree planting, wildlife, the benefits of wood, outdoor recreation, and forest careers. The Oregon Society of Artists promotes visual arts in the diverse communities of our region, with educational opportunities for artists at all levels of accomplishment. While here, we will visit the OSA Gallery which changes exhibits every month, learn about the amazing history of the OSA (which started in 1926), and view rarely seen works of art by master painters who are part of the amazing history of this important part of the Portland Community. You will be taken through NW 23rd Avenue which is the heart of the Nob Hill District and is filled with century-old Victorian and Craftsman-style storefronts housing unique boutiques alongside national retailers, interspersed with coffee shops and on-trend restaurants and bars. In short, it’s a shopper’s and diners paradise. Portland’s Pearl District is the realization of a big dream. What was once a largely abandoned industrial district is now one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the city. Scattered throughout, you will find cobblestone streets, loading docks, and lofty buildings that offer a glimpse into the district’s grittier past.

Portland: Half Day City Sightseeing Tour

Portland: Half Day City Sightseeing Tour

Enjoy a fascinating and informative narration by your guide highlighting the colorful past and present of Portland’s many historic churches, diverse modern architectural wonders, abundant city parks, bountiful boutiques and world famous culinary hot spots. Highlights also include a stunning stroll through the oldest International Rose Test Garden in the entire United States and a walk through the ornate grounds of the historic Pittock Mansion, built in an impressive French Renaissance nouveau style by one of Portland’s first titans of industry. Participants will enjoy sweeping views of the Portland city skyline, surrounding snow-capped volcanoes, lush evergreen forests, charming neighborhoods, dynamic downtown and myriad displays of artwork encompassing an array of vivid murals and iconic statues.

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What people are saying about Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland

Overall rating

4.7
(11 reviews)

Nancy was an awesome guide! Entertaining narration to go along with interesting pieces of history. I learned things about Portland that surprised my brother who's lived here for many years now and who I am in town visiting. Would definitely recommend to the local and the tourist alike!

Shannon was an amazing tour guide very knowledgeable and detailed about the city, she was passionate and very attentive we loved the tour!

David is an outstanding and informative guide. Lots of fun facts about Portland and a great mixture of food styles. Highly recommend.

Nancy was great! She gave is so much information on Portland and it’s history. She’s a great conversationalist and tour guide.

Highly recommend this tour. Learn about the city of Portland and eat really good food. We enjoyed this tour!