2 days in Portland, Oregon!

by myegceptionalplanet · May 25, 2019

Why did I choose Portland, Oregon?
When we were living in New York, we knew we wanted to visit Oregon and Washington once we moved to the west coast. After 8 months of living in California, we headed over to Oregon for a quick weekend trip! We love the outdoors, hiking, waterfalls, and nature, so we knew we would love to see what Oregon had to offer. A lot of great Oregon destinations are just a quick drive from Portland.

Communication
Easy, everyone speaks English

Currency
USD

My Travel Time
Mid April
This was a good time to travel to Oregon since most of the trails were no longer snowy and it wasn’t extremely hot either. There’s plenty of daylight to explore at this time as well.
Click here to check the weather
Click here to check when the sun rises and sets

My Flight Details
Airline: Alaska Airlines, SFO – PDX (~1hr flight)
Price: ~150 USD w/o checked baggage
Transportation: We rented a car from the airport with Enterprise and it was only 72 USD for 3 days. Parking overnight is less than 20 USD. It was nice to have a car so we can go hiking and see the many waterfalls.

My Hotel Details
Hotel Lucia: This hotel is right in downtown Portland and is conveniently located. It was ~400 USD for 3 nights and there’s a parking lot right across the street. Bathroom and room are decently spacious and clean. There is also a bar/restaurant in the lobby and has interesting decor.

Day 1
~4.5 hrs of driving & ~20 min of walking
Multnomah Falls: A quick drive from Portland is an amazingly long waterfall. This is the most well known waterfall in Portland.
Latourell Falls: Not too far from Multnomah Falls is another amazing waterfall
Nong’s Khao Man Gai: Thai chicken and rice
Cannon Beach: Best Oregon Beach, haystack rock
Afuri: A ramen place that’s open pretty late near Voodoo Doughnuts. We got TanTan ramen, pork buns, and gyozas!
Voodoo Doughnuts: I saw these doughnuts on the Food Network channel when I was living in Singapore; several, several years later I finally got to try them! They are decadent donuts (yeast and cake) and that’s what special about them.

: First waterfall in Portland: Multnomah Falls

: Close up of Multnomah Falls

: Little waterfall as we walked to the bridge at the Multnomah Falls

: Multnomah Falls

: Second waterfall of the trip: Latourell Falls

: Dust & Latourell Falls

: Stunning

: Amazing rock structure & Doostin

: Starting to rain at Latourell Falls, but we wanted to get close up

: We almost didn’t drive to Cannon Beach because it was a bit far, but it was absolutely worth it!

: Looks unreal – looks like I’m walking on water

: Rock structures in the Pacific Ocean

Day 2
~3 hrs of driving & ~20 min of walking
Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival: This is available in the Spring and it is a must visit. It’s not too far from Portland and there are rows and rows of tulips, all different colors and at a different blooming stage.
Abiqua Falls: This hike is rocky and steep, but absolutely worth it when you reach an amazing waterfall surrounded by incredible rock formation. The drive to the trail head is best done with a four wheeler and the hike is only around 30 minutes – be careful!
Din Tai Fung: We love Din Tai Fung regardless of which city, state, or country it is in. It’s our favorite restaurant – we love their soup dumplings!
White Stag: There’s an iconic Portland, Oregon neon sign near the water and we wanted to get a quick view of it before we left Portland. There’s a white stag on the sign the walk around there can be a little sketchy, so I’d suggest going with a friend.