Long weekend in PDX
 

Looking for suggestions on how best to spend a long weekend in and around PDX at the end of October. My girlfriend and I will be arriving on a Thursday morning and leaving Sunday afternoon and for the moment our schedule is wide-open. We've got accommodations booked at the Nines but are open to changing if there are better options.

A few things we've been thinking about:

- We're hoping to taste some delicious craft beer. Any recommendations for specific breweries to visit?

- Any good restaurant recommendations? Looking for interesting food but not necessarily high-end.

- Given our limited time is it worthwhile to head to the coast for a day?

- How feasible is it to do wine tours during that time of year? Obviously I'd like to avoid drinking and driving so any recommendations for tour companies would also be appreciated.

- Is renting a car worthwhile or is most everything within the city walkable?

My partner and I did a long weekend in Portland last October. Most places are accessible by foot, although we rented a car in order to check out wineries in Willamette Valley (McMinnville). The Rose Garden is better reached by car and worth checking out. I would highly recommend Le Pigeon, which has a very creative interesting menu in a casual atmosphere. The well-known Pok Pok was pretty interesting, too.

Let me make a suggestion that might address several of your aims in one place.

Have a look at McMenamin's Edgefield as a place to stay. Here's why:

The Edgefield is located in Troutdale, one of Portland's eastern suburbs, around a 15-min. drive from PDX airport. You can get into downtown Portland in around 20-25 min.

But in 20 min. in the opposite direction, you're in the Columbia Gorge, one of the most scenic and varied regions in the west, absolutely splendid at the time of year you're visiting. The Gorge has stunning scenery - vista points, numerous waterfalls (probably quite spectacular with autumn rain) and one of the most beautiful roads (the Historic Gorge Highway) in North America.

http://gardyloo.us/20100509_5a.JPG

At the eastern edge of the main Gorge (around an hour east of Troutdale) is the town of Hood River, one of the main centers of the craft brewing business. Hood River is a pretty little town, center for windsurfing, with numerous brewpubs, great restaurants, and a couple of wineries.

South from Hood River is the Hood River Valley, full of orchards and vineyards - stunning in the fall - leading up to Mount Hood looming over the valley. An hour up the valley from Hood River is Timberline Lodge, the iconic 1930s mountain lodge on the side of the volcano.

Mt. Hood from the Hood River Valley -

http://gardyloo.us/20100509_85a.JPG

Another hour (or a bit less) east from Hood River and you're at Maryhill, another up-and-coming vineyard area, also home to the fun Maryhill Museum, a "replica" of Stonehenge, and reliably sunny weather out in the sagebrush.

McMenamin's has an on-site brewery (I really like their beers) as well as a winery (surprisingly good wines) and a distillery, numerous fun (some tiny) bars and pubs sprinkled around the grounds, good food in several restaurants, a mini golf course, a movie theater, spa, and wonderful funky art throughout the grounds.

Think about a couple of your days in the Gorge area and one in the city - hit the many food trucks, prowl restaurants and pubs in the Pearl District, along Hawthorn or NW 23rd Street, eat doughnuts at Voodoo...

Don't bother with the coast IMO - I find the drive boring and the weather in October is more likely than not to be wet. Plan a longer visit when you can do both the coast and the Willamette Valley vineyards.

Long weekend in PDX
 

I loved the nines and the awesome roof bar overlooking pioneer square. my website review/trip report is here http://philatravelgirl.com/portland-the-nines-hotel/ with tour posts separate

I did easy 1/2 day bike tour of city, then would suggest a brew tour (concierge team is good at hotel if you call or email ahead). A day at Columbia Gorge is totally worth it to see how gorgeous it is - I did a tour as solo without car.

I didn't get to the Willamette bc tours need two people or don't take solo travelers. Again hotel can arrange it you can visit a few wine bars instead.

The Imperial had a great burger and wonderful blueberry pancakes. Go to voodoo doughnuts early to avoid lines and then compare with blue star donuts. There is a good Italian restaurant in the Hotel Vintage plaza that I liked

Nong's Khao Man Gai should fit the bill.

http://khaomangai.com

Started out as a food truck, got popular enough that they now have a brick and mortar restaurant location. All locations accessible by MAX or streetcar, so no car needed.

The Nines is great. All the train lines run right by there. A car will be nothing but hassle in town. Rent one for the day if you want to go to Wine Country/ The Gorge/Mt. Hood. The outdoor deck at Departure (the bar) is amazing on a sunny fall PDX day.

Beer: You will literally be in Beer Central. Within a 20 minute walk are Baileys Taproom, Tugboat Brewing, Deschutes Public House, Rogue Brewpub, Bridgeport Brewing. A newish outpost of Bends 10 Barrel brewing is also nearby. PDX's local answer to the YardHouse is Henrys, located like most of these, in the Pearl District. For a little taste of Oregons awesome wine, try a flight at Oregon Wines on Broadway, Hip Chicks Do Wine or Enso Winery.

For interesting food, dine at the carts. Hit the downtown cart pods thurs and Friday. There is cuisine from practically every region in the world. (Georgian cart Kargi GoGo is a personal fave). On Saturday, the best open carts are under the Burnside bridge at Portland Saturday Market. For dinner, Nongs (mentioned upthread) is good, as is Andy Rickers Pok Pok in Southeast. Make reservations if you want to dine at the celebrated Le Pigeon or its downtown protégé Little Bird. Bluehour is quite nice for a high end evening, nearby Andina is Peruvian Tapas and famous for Pisco Sours. There are literally hundreds of really good places to eat!

Honestly, Many will disagree, but a long weekend is best spent in the city. Visit the Hoyt Arboretum (take a red or blue max train to Washington park) then walk down the hill to the Rose Garden for a taste of our amazing wilderness. Come back soon and visit the coast, the Gorge, The mountain, wine country, etc, etc

I hope you encounter some rain, as that is what PDX should experience in October. Unfortunately, we have had very little rain this year.

I agree, stay in the city. If the weather happens to be as fantastic as it is right now, just find a way to day trip to the wineries or the Gorge. There are tour companies or you could use something like Zipcar or Car2Go. The coast is amazing, but do keep an eye on the weather to make your plans. Our beaches are not warm in any way.

I can see the Nines building from my office window. There is everything you need around here or along the Max and bus lines.

I happen to be a huge craft beer fan, so I can tell you anything you need in that department. Walk to Bailey's and the Upper Lip (which is above Bailey's). Both are taprooms, but you can get food from Santeria across the street and it's super tasty. Take the Orange Line Max to Beer Monger's and Apex. I'm in love with Loyal Legion right now. It does get really busy at night though so I tend to do afternoon beers there.

Totally agree with food carts. I walk to the huge pod at 12th and Alder quite often. You'll be really close to there. The choices are endless. Make sure you get a donut from Blue Star at some point as well. If you like healthy stuff, I get juice from Kure all the time. Their Bowl of the Gods is a thing of beauty.

If it's a nice day, walk down to the riverfront. It's lively with a lot of restaurants and upscale bars filled with young professionals.

Something to keep in mind and pay attention to is the weather.

In Portland you are at sea level. The mountains are higher. Its typical in late October to get snow at Government Camp mountain pass on US 26 by Mt Hood--part of a loop you could do going out I-84 to Hood river then south then west on US 26 taking you back to Portland. For Government Camp you can turn off and head up the mountain to Timberline Lodge.

Another option as a day trip on Friday is a loop where you head south on 99W through wine country then cut over to the coast and drive north on 101 ending at Cannon Beach around sunset.

Another option is to drive and see St Helens. In late October is when the main visitor center closes for winter. You could go morning to hear then afternoon to Canoon beach for sunset before coming back to Portland.

If you are going to stay in downtown look at Friday as the day you do a day trip where you rent a car for the day.

Long weekend in PDX
 

Just spent weekend in Portland. Also recommend city stay. Consider Saturday Market (Sat & Sun), food trucks, and Powell's City of Books. I had great cheap Vietnamese bahn mi and vermicelli @ Fresh Roll and Luc Lac. Portland is very walkable so I enjoy exploring neighborhood's and "finding" little coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants and bars. Columbia River Gorge to Hood River would make a great full day trip. Just depends on how busy you want your weekend.

I am planning a weekend trip to Portland as well, but for middle of January. Is that a good time to visit Portland? Some accommodation considerations are the airport area, East Portland, and Cascade area.

Planning on having a car because these places where I plan on staying is not in center town.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

It's probably going to be chilly, raining, and dark. We can definitely have some breaks in the rain, but I would not count on it. It doesn't pour down rain and storm often, but drizzles a lot.

As for those areas, do you mean Cascade Station? Also, east Portland can mean a lot of things - from great to places I really wouldn't bother staying. Any specifics?

What do you plan on doing? Some activities are pretty pointless in the winter, though others will be fine.

Unless you have plans involving areas east of Portland, such as Mount Hood or Hood River, or the prices in these areas are much cheaper than downtown, I'd really strongly advise staying in one of those areas. There's really not that much charm to any of those areas.

Even if you end up staying much closer in, it's never a terrible idea to have a car when visiting Portland. Sure, you could take the bus up to, say, N Mississippi or NE Alberta but you'll save a lot more time making the short drive. It also allows for you to hit up the Gorge or the Coast if you choose to do one of those things.

Thanks for the feedback. Based on them, I am thinking of not going to come during the planned time of Mid January due to being cold/chilly and dark.

As for the places, I was choosing them based on prices. I figured with a car, I could drive to wherever.

As for my plans, I have always wanted to visit Portland, so had planned on going there just to check out the town, nothing in particular beyond that.

Thanks, again, for the input.

Don't get my wrong, we still have some beautiful days here in the winter. It's a gorgeous place, covered in green. I actually really love the moss all over everything and the way the fog rolls over the hills in the colder months. If you are just into dining and drinking, those can be done in any weather. If you like to ski, of course winter is perfect. But, if you want to go hiking, it may be a little soggy and the beaches are really cold and windy in the winter. I still manage to have a lot of fun here year-round. In the winter, I just put on a rain jacket and enjoy myself.