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. You will experience the best Portland sites including the International Rose Garden, Pioneer Courthouse Square, NW 23rd (the best shopping area in Portland), the Pearl District, the South Park Blocks, and N. Mississippi.
Today Portland is known as one of the world’s most environmentally conscious cities: a hub for farm-to-table eateries, alternative lifestyles, a large community of cyclists, and high walkability. Let our informative and entertaining Tour Guides show you the best the City of Portland has to offer.
Learn about the modern heart of the city, Portland’s downtown, and the historical importance it has played in the state’s history. Enjoy the sights of Pioneer Courthouse Square, fondly referred to as Portland’s Living Room. This community space opened in 1984, and has become the center of the city’s social activity with over 300-programmed event days. Pioneer Square is the perfect spot for people-watching and observing Portland culture at its best: everything from fresh-food markets to beer festivals to political protests to the city’s largest community sing-along.
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. The majority of roses in the Garden are commercially available. About 10 to 20 varieties are replaced each year with some of the best new roses released onto the market. We will visit the rose garden seasonally.
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 like Salt & Straw Ice Cream and Matador. 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. It is an urban renaissance with its own unique blend of artistry, productivity, and public parks like Tanner Springs Park.
North Mississippi Avenue features a long stretch of vibrant shops like Paxton Gate, unique bars, music venues and restaurants (and is only a half-mile away from even more acclaimed eateries and bars on up-and-coming North Williams Avenue) and you will have time to walk around and explore this area.
