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  • Attractions
    • women dances with large fans outside on a city street surrounded by people in colorful dragon costumesView All Attractions
    • Museums
    • Parks & Gardens
    • Family Friendly
    • Shopping
    • On a Budget
    • EVEN MORE THINGS TO DO
  • Culture
    • people dining at picnic tables in front of a food cartView All Culture
    • Arts
    • Beer
    • Biking
    • Cannabis
    • Cultural Communities
    • Craft Spirits
    • Food
    • Makers
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Outdoors
    • Sports
    • Weird
    • Wine
    • MORE CULTURE
  • Neighborhoods
    • aerial view of downtown area with buildings and roadways, bridges crossing a river to a smaller set of buildings that expand into the distanceView All Neighborhoods
    • Alberta Arts District
    • Belmont
    • Central Eastside
    • Division/Clinton
    • Downtown
    • Hawthorne
    • Lloyd
    • Mississippi
    • Northwest / Nob Hill
    • Old Town Chinatown
    • Pearl District
    • St. Johns
    • Sellwood-Moreland
    • Williams
    • ALL NEIGHBORHOODS
  • Region
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    • Near the City
    • Columbia River Gorge
    • Mount Hood
    • Oregon Coast
    • Willamette Valley
    • ALL REGIONS
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    • Portland Visitor Center
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John Patrick Pullen

a street sign in the Pearl District showing NW 10th Avenue
i
Portland’s Pearl District is a go-to destination for shopping, art and food.
Credit: Photo by Aaron Lee
Plan / Tours & Itineraries

48 hours in Portland

A two-day walking tour of Portland includes an indie book mecca, local art, peaceful gardens, craft beer and lots of great food.

Updated May 18, 2023 4 min read

John Patrick Pullen

Two days and too much to see — that’s the battle cry of many a traveler. Luckily, Portland is easy to traverse and has plenty of attractions convenient to its city center. Make the most of your spin through Stumptown with this 48-hour plan.

Day One: Walk Through Northwest Portland

On your first day in town, explore the central city’s northwest quadrant to get a feel for our diverse neighborhoods.

Old Town Chinatown

Start off your day with a visit to Portland Saturday Market, where artisans sell local, hand-crafted goods that include jewelry, pottery and clothes.

If you’ve been bit by the shopping bug, walk up West Burnside Street to Powell’s City of Books, which, with 3,500 different sections, is the world’s largest independent bookstore. 

Or, if you’re shopped out, take a short detour into the Old Town Chinatown district, where the Lan Su Chinese Garden carves a walled sanctuary out of an entire block, offering visitors a Zen-filled escape.

Old Town Chinatown

Today, Portland’s original downtown is a bustling entertainment district, home to Portland's famous Saturday Market, Chinatown Museum and Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Explore

Pearl District

After enjoying the garden’s leafy trees or leafing through books, head back to the bricks to explore the Pearl District. A former industrial area, this neighborhood is now home to boutiques, galleries, restaurants and cocktail lounges. Make your way north and enjoy the people watching at Jamison Square.

If you’re ready to tap into Portland’s famed microbrew scene, head to Deschutes Brewery & Public House. The state’s largest craft beer producer, Central-Oregon-based Deschutes has been a Pearl District staple since 2008. Order the sampler tray to taste a variety of beers, some available only at this location.

Northwest/Nob hill

Next, head west (either on foot or by streetcar) to Northwest Portland/Nob Hill. A tree-lined street with some of the city’s tiniest shops and eateries, Northwest 23rd Avenue is perfect for a leisurely stroll, but don’t resist the temptation of happy hour specials and dinner menus along the way. Neighborhood favorites include St. Jack, helmed by an acclaimed chef and specializing in French cuisine, and Bamboo Sushi, which serves the most eco-friendly Japanese dishes you’ll find anywhere.

Goose Hollow or West End

Finally, it’s time for evening entertainment — and almost no part of the city gets livelier than Goose Hollow and Downtown Portland’s West End. From Northwest Portland, it’s a short walk south to Providence Park, home of the Portland Timbers soccer team, or east to the Crystal Ballroom, which hosts major concerts and frequent themed dance parties.

If there’s no more bounce left in your step, a movie at Living Room Theaters is in order. With art films, popular movies, cocktails and food, this comfortable movie house close to Powell’s will even let you put your feet up.

Explore More

These uniquely Portland neighborhoods are all ripe for exploration.

Go To Neighborhoods
exterior of providence park stadium

Goose Hollow

With great eateries, Portland-style shopping and an abundance of things to do in Goose Hollow, sports fans, theater lovers and vegan foodies flock to this Southwest Portland district.

person sitting on the ground in front of a pond with a bicycle with cityscape in front and a blue sky with white clouds overhead

Pearl District

The chic Pearl District features galleries and cultural institutions, as well as stylish shops and acclaimed eateries on loading docks with cobblestone streets, which hint at this former warehouse district’s past.

groups of people and couples walking on busy tree-lined street filled with storefronts in old Victorian homes

Northwest / Nob Hill

Old Portland charm lives through the repurposed Victorian homes, now boutiques and restaurants which line the streets of Portland's Northwest district with sophisticated shopping, dining, an urban forest and breathtaking views of the city.

Day Two: Hit the Heights

Spend your second day discovering some of Portland’s most acclaimed destinations, including multiple family-friendly museums and a massive park that is home to several of the city’s most beloved attractions.

Museums for All Ages

If you’re with children (or are a kid at heart), it’s less than a mile’s walk over the Hawthorne Bridge to OMSI, where hands-on exhibits and a decommissioned submarine stir the imagination.

Alternatively, it’s only a half-mile stroll downtown to the Portland Art Museum, where Native, modern and contemporary art have inspired visitors since 1892.

Parking in Portland

From city-run parking garages to private lots to an app for on-street parking, Portland offers reliable options for parking during your visit.

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Washington Park

Spend the afternoon in Washington Park, a 160-acre wonderland with multiple attractions that could each fill up a day. It’s easiest to take MAX (Portland’s light rail public transit system) to the park’s west edge, where the World Forestry Center and Oregon Zoo pull together educational exhibits that kids will never forget.

The park’s east side can be reached on foot or by bus from downtown Portland, and is home to the peaceful International Rose Test Garden and stunning Portland Japanese Garden, both of which are impeccably maintained and perfect for capturing quiet moments of reflection – and great skyline views.

Explore the Sites

People attending an outdoor market, Portland Saturday Market

Portland Saturday Market

Open every Saturday from March–December, Portland Saturday Market is the largest arts-and-crafts fair in the U.S.

Powell\'s City of Books

Powell’s City of Books

Covering an entire city block, Powell’s has grown into a Portland landmark and the world's largest new and used bookstore — and its location is at the heart of the city, bridging the Pearl District, downtown and the West End.

A woman holds a camera to her eyes in a traditional Chinese garden with a pond, pavilion and trees.

Lan Su Chinese Garden

This year-round wonder houses an authentic Ming Dynasty-style garden built by Suzhou artisans, offering a peaceful escape in Portland's historic Chinatown.

Aerial view of the docked submarine on the Willamette River at OMSI

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)

With interactive science labs, a planetarium, a giant-screen theater, a retired navy submarine, traveling exhibits and "After Dark" events, OMSI lures all ages.

Two people kissing in front of the \"Love Rules\" sign at Portland Art Museum.

Portland Art Museum

The largest art museum in Oregon and one of the oldest in the country, the Portland Art Museum is central to the city's cultural district, housing a large and wide-ranging collection of artworks.

The International Rose Garden in Washington Park contains thousands of different types of roses and offers great city views.

Washington Park

Beyond picnics and verdant strolls, Washington Park offers up a zoo, two museums, a spectacular rose garden, an arboretum, one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in the world, all lined by one of the largest urban forests, Forest Park.

Dinner and Dessert

For more inspiring sights, head back downtown for dinner at Portland City Grill or Departure, where the sky-high views will put your two days crisscrossing the city in perspective. Or visit Higgins Restaurant where the focus is on delectable regional fare and expertly crafted cocktails.

Wherever you eat, be sure to leave room for dessert at Voodoo Doughnut — their colorful, sugar-coated treats are available 24 hours a day, so their Old Town shop makes a great final stop, whenever your evening or trip comes to an end.

Tours & Itineraries

Plan an Alternative Bachelor or Bachelorette Party in Portland

Whether your ideal pre-wedding festivities include late-night dancing and beer drinking or soap-making classes and scavenger hunts, Portland can provide.

Plan a Party

Extend Your Trip

Stay longer to enjoy more of what Portland and its surrounding region has to offer.

Go To Tours & Itineraries
view from the sky of the vista house and columbia river gorge

Two Days in the Columbia River Gorge

Savor the views and flavor of Hood River and the scenic gorge with this 48-hour itinerary.

a man skiing on Mt. Hood

24 Hours on Mount Hood

Plan a perfect getaway to Mount Hood, including skiing and snowboarding, with this itinerary.

A bearded man smiles as he checks on a grape vine

Wine Tours Near Portland

Let someone else do the driving while you enjoy wine tasting and vineyard views.

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