Portland Oregon was not a city I could have told you much about a couple of weeks ago. I could have told you Portland was somewhere in the Pacific Northwest and could have predicted for you that it had a lot of trees. That’s about it.

One of Portland’s motto’s is “help keep Portland weird” and I think that helps describe it for you. Portland is a little odd. It’s pretty with it’s trees and it’s mountains. Downtown has some cute, trendy streets and there is plenty for families to do.

But it’s also a little quirky. Maybe it’s the hipster vibe or the constant threat of rain. I’m not entirely sure, but it’s a unique place to explore. Here’s what we did with our day in Portland.

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A Day in Portland OR

We flew into Portland on a Friday night from San Diego. We landed, ate dinner, drove to the hotel and crashed. The next morning we got up early and spent the whole day exploring. It was truly a great day.

STAY.

We stayed at an Embassy Suites by Hilton south of the city. We like Embassy Suites because of the two room set up that affords us some alone time after the kids are in bed.

This one is located right by the freeway so it was easy to hop on and get downtown. It was also about 10 minutes from Washington Park. There was also a Target and many easy food options within a 5 minute drive of the hotel.

EAT.

• Eat Donuts at Voodoo Doughnut. The downsides; you will wait in a long line, it will probably rain on you for at least part of your wait, and the neighborhood isn’t the greatest. Worth it? I think so. There is a huge selection of donuts and all of the ones we tasted were well above the average donut. As an extra plus – they have a diverse selection of dairy free (or vegan) donuts so our kiddo with food allergies got all kinds of fun, delicious choices.

• Wander and Eat at Portland’s Saturday Market. This we did kind of by accident but it was a pleasant surprise. The market starts about a block from Voodoo Donut and we were looking for some lunch. We found a good variety of food trucks at one end of the market, including plenty of dairy free options. We ended up with Chinese food and Indian food but there were a lot of other things that looked good.

TO DO.

There are a ton of things to do in Portland Oregon with kids, but these are the ones we squeezed in during our full day.

• Visit Powell Bookstore (My favorite part of the trip). This could be a post on it’s own but I’ll just say this: When you read “largest indie bookstore” they do no exaggerate. It is huge. Floors and floors of huge rooms and floor to high ceiling bookshelves full of books. The children’s book section alone was bigger than most bookstores I have visited.

We also happened to be there during Story Time with a visiting author so we got books, browsed so many more books, and then got a signed copy of MARY WEARS WHAT SHE WANTS (Amazing must read new book!!). I think Powell is worth a trip to Portland all on it’s own.

• Hike in Washington Park and then go visit one of the many attractions. There are several trails to pick from in Washington Park. We did the Scenic Overlook Trail that afforded us a nice view of Portland for only a moderately uphill .5 hike.

• Explore the Forestry Discovery Center. Within Washington Park there is also a Children’s Museum, the Oregon Zoo, and plenty of other things to do. We were headed to the Redwood Forest the following day and Forestry seems like a big part of the PNW so that’s why we headed here. I’m glad we did.

Also Read: A Visit to the Redwoods with Kids

Don’t miss the scavenger hunts at the front desk and plan to spend at least an hour. I think we spent closer to two there but that was in part because one of my kids decided about an hour and a half into the visit that they wanted to start a scavenger hunt so we revisited much of the Forestry Museum.

From the giant train engine outside, to the interactive exhibits inside, the Forestry Museum and Discovery Center has a lot of fun things for kids to explore.

I feel like we only got a taste of Portland, but a good one. We had a great day. Lots of yummy food. Lucky weather with only some minor drizzling patches. And a good peek at what Portland has to offer families. Also we drove away with a whole bag of books to read from Powell. Really what more could you ask of a city in just one day?

Also Read: Family Road Trip from Portland to San Diego

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