Portland, Oregon City Tour: Parks, Plazas and Views
- Live Guide
- Instant Confirmation
- Group Tour
- E-Ticket
- 3 hr








Learn the story of the Portland, Oregon while enjoying its highest and most intimate viewpoints, smelling roses, wandering through gardens, peaking into a forested park and sampling donuts. After we pick you up at Director Park downtown, we’ll drive up the city's north/south dividing line, head to the summit of King’s Heights, and walk the grounds of the mansion built by a newspaper baron to the view that was once available only to the city’s elite. We'll visit Washington Park, and walk through our favorite secret garden, and into the Rose Test Garden. In season, we'll smell the roses -- literally and figuratively! Next: the city center and cultural district. It wouldn't be Portland without a stop for doughnuts, so we'll discuss the history of the city's foundation and the design of these blocks after we duck into one of our favorite shops and grab a treat. We'll visit the South Waterfront, an inner Eastside neighborhood, and give you lots of foodie ideas before we drop you off!
Itinerary Details
Operated by: Around Portland Tours
Stop At: Director Park
We’ll pick you up in central downtown Portland at Director Park in one of our roomy vans. We’ll then drive up Portland’s north/south dividing line, pointing out important sites, including some of the city’s bike art, and historical buildings.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Powell's City of Books
We’ll pass Powell’s Books, and tell the story behind the biggest independent book store in the world
Stop At: Pearl District
Learn about the history of this art and food rich neighborhood. (We do not stop to walk around in this neighborhood)
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Pittock Mansion
Once we reach the summit of King’s Heights, we’ll walk around the grounds of the mansion built by a newspaper baron to the view that was once available only to the city’s elite. It's one of the best places to develop the context by which to experience this city. We'll take photos at the summit overlooking the city. We’ll walk through the mansion’s grounds and back to the van. (We will not visit the inside of the mansion.)
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: International Rose Test Garden
We'll learn about the story of the roses here and the rose city; we'll investigate our favorite varieties; we'll take photos and (in season) inhaling the scent of the roses, we'll get into the van for our next stop. (When roses aren't in season, we may make an alternative stop at the Hoyt Arboretum.)
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Washington Park
we will drive into the SW Portland neighborhood of Arlington Heights, on the edge of Washington Park. Here we'll take a walk through our favorite secret garden, and into the International Rose Test Garden, introducing you to the story of the rose city. (When roses aren't in season, we may make an alternative stop at the Hoyt Arboretum.)
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: South Waterfront Park
TIME PERMITTING. After this, it's a drive along Portland's South Waterfront and the waterfront park, telling the story of the shining Swiss Alps-style engineering of the Aerial Tram and the development of this brand-new neighborhood and its beautiful, one-of-a-kind Tilikum Crossing bridge.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: South Park Blocks
From here, we'll head back into the city center, driving through what Portland calls the cultural district -- once the literal heart of the city, the center line along which once the merchants and lumber barons lived, and now institutions like the Portland Art Museum, the Oregon Historical Society and Portland State University dominate. It wouldn't be Portland without a stop for doughnuts, so we'll discuss the history of the city's foundation and the design of these blocks after we duck into one of our favorite shops and grab a treat.
Duration: 30 minutes
Pass By: Portland Art Museum
We will pass by the cultural district
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On some days we will visit the south waterfront
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We will tell the story of the art heritage of Portland
Pass By:
We'll point out a few great coffee shops in the city