Fun & Affordable Things to Do in Portland, Oregon

If you’re looking for vacation in the west, but don’t want to be stuck in large cities or extreme heat – try Portland, Oregon. A trip to Portland can be affordable and fun whether you’re looking to stay indoors, or explore the beautiful outdoors. You’ll find plenty of affordable fun from gardens and trails to tax free shopping and museums.

1. To really feel like a Portland local, try to stay as green as possible on your trip. Eat and shop locally, and travel lightly. Ride bikes from your hotel or a local vendor and take a ride through the city. Stop at some of the popular food carts and make a day out of being outside. Visit one of the many parks Portland has to offer.

2. Visit Chinatown and the Lan Su Chinese Garden. Admission is only $8.50 for adults but discounts are offered for students and children. Lan Su isn’t your average garden. It has covered walkways, bridges, pavilions, and flowers surrounding Zither Lake. Public and audio tours are available along with light snacks and traditional teas that are allowed in the garden.

3. For a free garden, visit the International Rose Test Garden. Not only will you get to walk amongst hundreds of beautiful roses, but you’ll also learn about the flower along the way as well. When you’re done with the tour, don’t pass up on visiting the rose gift shop. The garden also has beautiful views of the mountains.

4. Hike at Tryon Creek State Park. The forest is located at the boundaries of Portland and Lake Oswego. After your hike you can visit the nature center and store.

5. If you’re a reader, or just like to browse the books – visit Powell’s City of Books. You can easily spend countless hours inside. Powell’s covers an entire city block and holds more than 1.5 million books in 3,500 different sections. If you need an extra push to help you make it all the way through, you can stop at the in-store coffee shop.

6. If books aren’t your thing but you’d still like to shop – visit the shopping districts downtown at the Pearl and Northwest Portland. There are also two indoor shopping centers: Pioneer Place and Lloyd Center. Either way, you don’t have to worry about sales tax.

7. Portland offers a wide range of brewery and distillery tours, many of which are free. Some of these include: BridgePort Brewing Company, House Spirits Distillery and Widmer Brothers Brewing Company

8. Visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and have a day full of fun science for you or your kids. The center also includes a theatre, planetarium and a submarine.

9. Visit the Portland Saturday Market for some great local artwork. The possibilities of what you’ll find are almost endless. Along with art you’ll find delicious foods and spices.

10. If there’s not enough food for you at that market, try the Portland Farmers Market that just reopened in March.

Nichole is a senior at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in Journalism and double minoring in Global Studies and Political Science. She hopes to one day travel the world and learn how to say “where’s the toilet?” in as many languages as possible. While studying in her family’s homeland, Italy, she learned two very important lessons: there’s nothing better than eating blood orange gelato in front of the Pantheon and wine really is just grape juice.