Portland Afternoon City Tour

Pioneer Courthouse Square, located in the heart of Downtown Portland, is a public space hosting more than 300 programmed events each year. With more than 26,000 people visiting the Square each day, it is the single most visited site in the city. The Square’s features include the Waterfall Fountain, built of granite; sixteen columns with classical pillars topped with carved yellow roses on which crawl pink-and-green spotted bugs; and two brick amphitheaters which provide seats for events.

One of the city’s signature landmarks, located in beautiful Washington Park, Portland’s largest official rose garden is home to more than 10,000 roses including 650+ rose varieties. From May through October, you can stroll amongst the lovely blooms, breathe in the delightful smells, and enjoy the spectacular views of downtown and Mount Hood.

Loading docks and cobblestone streets hint at this former warehouse district’s past, while stylish bars and gleaming lofts point toward the future. The Pearl District was formerly occupied by warehouses, light industry, and railroad classification yards and now noted for its art galleries, restaurants, upscale businesses, and high-rise residences along with lofts that were converted from warehouses.

The neighborhood surrounding stylish Northwest 23rd Avenue offers an abundance of terrific shopping and choice eats. In the Northwest neighborhood (also known as Nob Hill or the Alphabet District), century-old Victorian and Craftsman-style storefronts housing unique boutiques stand alongside national retailers, interspersed with coffee shops and on-trend restaurants and bars. In short, it’s a shopper’s paradise.

You can explore forests around the world through two floors of unique hands-on exhibits. Suitable for all ages, the Discovery Museum’s colorful and thoughtful exhibits include information about tree planting, wildlife, the benefits of wood, outdoor recreation, and forest careers. The first floor focuses on the many roles that forests play in our lives. View the forest as a habitat, a place for recreation and reflection, a critical resource, and more. Much of the second floor takes a global perspective, exploring how people around the world are connected to and dependent on their local forests. We will visit the World Forestry Center from mid-October through the end of April on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

This hidden gem 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. We will visit the OSA from mid-October through the end of April on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Powell’s City of Books is the largest used and new bookstore in the world, occupying an entire city block and housing approximately one million books. Located in downtown Portland’s Pearl District, the City of Books has nine color-coded rooms and over 3,500 different sections, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles.

Built by the Multnomah Athletic Club in 1926 and acquired by the City in 1966, Providence Park Stadium is known today as home to the Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers. This historic stadium hosts about 150 events per year, including professional sports games, concerts, youth camps and business events.

This 12-block greenspace stretches north from the campus of Portland State University, serving as a front yard for residents and businesses of the Cultural District. The park hosts vibrant community events and programs for Portlanders and regional visitors throughout the year.

Once a bustling highway, this riverside gem offers more than 36 acres (15 ha) of strollable, bikeable and dog-walkable public park with historical and cultural monuments aplenty.