Portland's Top Sights Half Day City Tour

Our central meeting location and pick up point! A beautiful, urban park in the middle of Downtown Portland.

We’ll start our tour in in the vehicle, meandering through historic downtown Portland as we make our way to the Park Blocks. This area boasts museums and a collection of performing arts centers among other intricacies.

On our way to Washington Park, we’ll pass by Providence Park, home to our beloved Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns soccer teams.

Washington Park is a 410-acre urban park that boasts many beautiful wonders, one of which will be our very first stop.

The International Rose Test Garden, earning Portland one of its proud titles as “City of Roses,” is the oldest official continually running public rose test garden in the United States. It features over 610 unique rose varieties across 10,000 bushes, and we’ll have time to stop and smell plenty of the roses. During the winter season, when the rose garden is not at its peak, we will substitute this stop with the Hoyt Arboretum, where we will learn about the trees and plants of the Pacific Northwest.

Moving along to the Pittock Mansion, which was saved from demolition in 1964. The mansion now resides as a historic house and museum with expansive gardens and manicured lawn. As our second stop on tour, guests will have ample time to explore the exterior of the Pittock Mansion to enjoy the scenic gardens and iconic city view. In the interest of time, we are not able to visit the interior of the house itself, but the grandeur of the gardens is well worth it.

Driving tour through Nob Hill and trendy NW 23rd Avenue.

Driving tour through the famous Pearl District of Portland, where we will see another Portland landmark: Powell’s Books, the world’s largest independently-owned new and used book store.

Driving tour past Pioneer Courthouse Square, also known as Portland's Living Room.

Our last stop on the tour will be at the South Waterfront to take a ride on the famed Portland Aerial Tram. The tram is one of only two commuter aerial tramways in the United States (the other being New York City’s Roosevelt Island Tramway). The tram will sweep us from the South Waterfront district to the top of Marquam Hill. We’ll travel a horizontal distance of 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) and a vertical distance of 500 feet (150 meters) on a ride that lasts three minutes one-way. At the top, we will find amazing views of downtown Portland and the surrounding volcanic Cascade Mountains, including Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams.

We will return back to Director Park for the end of the tour.