Planning a quick trip to Portland and looking for the best things to do? Welcome to your complete one day in Portland itinerary and guide. Portland is a great city for outdoor lovers, beer lovers and anyone who enjoys great food.
Ready to plan your trip? Keep reading for an itinerary for how to spend one wonderful day in Portland, Oregon.
Sleep
When visiting Portland, I recommend staying in the Pearl District or Old Town area. These areas, I personally found, to feel safer than the main downtown area. There are also tons of walkable restaurants and shops nearby.
The vast majority of hotels, however, are located in Portland Downtown. While this area is filled with nice hotels and upscale shops, it also has an extremely visible substance abuse problem. Personally, I didn’t feel very safe or comfortable walking around this part of Portland any time of day. Visible substance usage is common on almost every single street, at all times of day.
If you do end up choosing a hotel in Portland Downtown (like we did), it’s easily walkable to the Pearl District/Old Town or a quick Uber/drive to other neighborhoods that have a lot to do and see.
Hotel Recommendations
- Canopy by Hilton (Pearl District)
- Hampton Inn And Suites (Pearl District)
- Dossier (Downtown)
- Moxy Portland (Downtown)
Eat
Portland is definitely a city for foodies, beer lovers and coffee lovers! You’ll find a huge selection of great restaurants with a variety of cuisines as well as fantastic breweries and coffee shops.
Eating your way through the city, especially trying all of their famous donuts, is such a fun way to spend one day in Portland.
Below are far too many recommendations for a single day in Portland, but I want you to have a variety of amazing spots to choose from! In the itinerary below, I will include my favorite restaurants from this list that I recommend for your one day in Portland.
Coffee + Breakfast
- Deadstock Coffee (Old Town)
- Case Study Coffee (Downtown, multiple locations)
- Never Coffee (Downtown)
- Java Man Coffee (Downtown, inside The Bidwell Marriott Portland)
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters (Downtown)
- Fried Egg I’m In Love (food truck Downtown, they also have two restaurants in other parts of the city)
Lunch
- Pine Street Market (Downtown food hall, close by to the Portland Saturday Market)
- Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House (located in Old Town, great any time of day!)
- Screen Door (Pearl District, multiple locations)
- Brunch/Lunch
Dinner
- Kinboshi Ramen (located in the Buckman neighborhood)
- A casual ramen spot.
- Luc Lac Vietnamese (Downtown, casual and delicious)
Drinks
- Rontoms (located in the Buckman neighborhood)
- A great place for indoor/outdoor cocktails and casual eats
- Hey Love (located at the Juniper Hotel in Buckman)
- A plant filled, beautiful bar and restaurant
- Radio Room (located on North Alberta Street)
- Retro style bar and restaurant
- The Bye and Bye (located on North Alberta Street)
- Vegan bar and restaurant
- Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House (located in the Pearl District)
Dessert/Treats – DONUTS
- Coco Donuts (multiple locations)
- BlueStar (multiple locations)
- The Mini Donut Company (located in Pine Street Market)
- Voodoo Doughnuts
- I’ll preface this by saying that I, personally, did not like Voodoo donuts. I thought they were dry and the frosting tasted like it was from a can. However, these donuts are so famous and so many people seem to love them, that perhaps I just got them on a bad day.
One Day in Portland Itinerary
Start Your Day with Brunch at the Screen Door
The Screen Door, in the Pearl District, is the perfect place to grab a great meal to start a day of exploring! In addition to the menu and ambiance being great, the location in the heart of the Pearl District can’t be beat.
Visit the Incredible Powell’s City of Books
Powell’s City of Books, the largest independently owned bookstore in the country, is a must visit when in Portland! Located in the Pearl District, you could easily spend a couple hours here browsing the extensive new and used book sections. The bookstore is huge and there’s also a cafe where you can grab some drinks.
Powell’s City of book is located about a 3 minute walk from The Screen Door restaurant.
Explore Washington Park
Washington Park is without a doubt one of the coolest places to visit in Portland. This massive park houses an Arboretum, a Japanese Garden and the incredible International Rose Test Garden, just to name a few of its many attractions.
Exploring Washington Park can easily be a full day activity, but if you only have a few hours to spare, definitely make sure you check out the Japanese Garden and the International Rose Test Garden.
To get to Washington Park you can take public transportation, although this 20-30 minute trip will involve a 10-15 minute partially uphill walk. From Powell’s City of Books, the walk to the Japanese Garden will be about 35 minutes. You can also drive or Uber and this will take 5-7 minutes.
Wander Around the Japanese Garden
The Japanese Garden is a 5.5 acre garden space and truly an oasis. The Japanese architecture and wonderfully designed green spaces are beautiful to see. I would recommend spending at least 45 minutes here enjoying a peaceful walk.
On site, there’s a tea house (Umami Cafe) for light bites.
Admission to the garden is $21.95 for adults and slightly less for students, youth and seniors.
Be Amazed by the International Rose Test Garden
The International Rose Test Garden may have been my absolute favorite thing I saw in Portland. These gardens were established in 1917 and there are over 10,000 beautiful and unique roses growing throughout the gardens. There are 610 varieties of roses to see and there’s so many wonderful colors and arrangements. Even today, the garden still serves as a testing place for new varieties of roses.
The best part, it’s completely free to visit! The rose gardens are open from May-October.
Go Back in Time at the Pittock Mansion
From Washington Park, take a quick 1.5 mile drive (or Uber) to the impressive Pittock Mansion. The Pittock family began constructing this beautiful French Renaissance-style home in 1912 and today it remains a beautiful house to tour. Although most of the original furnishings have been removed from the home, it’s been re-furnished in an historically accurate style with donated pieces.
Tickets for a self-guided tour of the mansion are $15.50 and can be purchased online or on site.
If you don’t want to pay to go into the mansion, but still want an amazing view of Portland, simply park in the parking lot and walk to the backyard. Here you’ll find one of the most beautiful viewpoints of downtown Portland! Additionally, there are free walking trails surrounding the mansion that you can check out.
Enjoy Happy Hour at a Brewery
Portland is known for its craft beer, so a trip to PDX isn’t complete without visiting a brewery. One of my favorites is Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl District. This brewery has both indoor and outdoor seating as well as awesome food and drinks!
Go on a Ghost Tour (or another fun tour)
Portland, like most major cities, has a rough past and a spooky history. Personally, when I travel, I love going on ghost tours. It’s a fun way to see the city while also learning its history and hearing stories about its past.
Usually these tours are an hour or two and you can go for a late dinner afterwards.
BOOK A PORTLAND GHOST TOUR HERE!
If a ghost tour isn’t your vibe, there are other fun guided evening activities in Portland, like pub crawls or short sunset tourist flights with amazing views.
Nighttime tours in Portland:
- Airplane Flight Tour over Portland, Oregon
- Haunted Pub Tour
- Weird Bar Crawl with Fanatical Local
- Haunted Underground Shanghai Tunnel Tour with Brewery Tastings
Enjoy a Delicious Dinner and Drinks
Portland has some amazing restaurants and the perfect way to end your one day in Portland is with a delicious dinner.
If you want to stay in the Downtown area, Luc Lac Vietnamese is a great option! This casual restaurant serves up delicious dishes.
If you’d like to visit some fun bars after dinner, there are a few restaurant/neighborhood options. First, Kinboshi Ramen is a casual spot with amazing ramen. From here, there are some great bars within a couple minute’s walk. I recommend both Rontoms and Hey Love.
North Alberta Street is also a fun area to have dinner and drinks. From Downtown, North Alberta Street is about 3.5 miles (or a 10 minute drive/Uber). Here you’ll find a variety of great bars and restaurants, but two great ones include Radio Room and The Bye and Bye (vegan).
A Note on Safety
Portland, much like Seattle, has a very visible and sizable unhoused population. Much of this population also struggles with substance abuse. In Downtown Portland, including directly in front of many hotels, shops, restaurants and luxury stores, you will see constant drug usage. This was shocking to me when I first arrived in Portland.
While this doesn’t necessarily make Portland dangerous, I was definitely uncomfortable walking around Downtown alone, or even with my sister. The current situation would also make me seriously consider returning to Downtown Portland and I’d likely opt to stay in a different area.
Q&A – One Day in Portland, Oregon
- Is one day in Portland enough?
- One day in Portland is not enough to see all that the city has to offer, but it’s enough time to see some of the main highlights!
- Is Portland a walkable city?
- Yes! The downtown areas are very walkable. Additionally, the public transportation is quite good between neighborhoods. Washington Park – a huge green space and museum area – is also fantastic for walking and spending time outside.
- Can you get around Portland Oregon without a car?
- Yes, Portland is a walkable city. There is also good public transportation and Ubers are readily available. Having a car is a great option, however, if you plan to get out of the city and explore the larger area.
- What is a good month to visit Portland?
- June through September, so essentially summer and early fall, are the best time to visit Portland. You can take full advantage of the beautiful outdoor spaces, hikes and the International Rose Test Garden will be in full bloom.
In Conclusion
And just like that, you’ve spent one day in Portland! I hope you found this Portland guide to be helpful. If you have any questions, or any other activities to add to this itinerary, please let me know in the comments.
If you have extra time in the Portland area, I definitely recommend a day trip out of the city to enjoy the beautiful natural areas nearby. There are a great selection of guided day tours to choose from and they’re definitely worth it.
Portland Scenic Tours
- Half-Day Columbia River Gorge and Waterfall Hiking Tour
- Mt Hood Day Trip from Portland to Multnomah Falls and Hood River
- Full-Day Guided Oregon Coast Tour from Portland
From Portland, you can drive or take the train to Seattle in 3-3.5 hours. Visiting these cities in one trip is very common and doable!
Be sure to check out my Seattle guides before your trip!
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♡Kate
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its called The Bye and Bye,
you called it bye bye.
Thank you for catching that for us! I’ve updated it.