Portland had never been a "vacation or travel" destination for me until recently. I wanted something a bit different. A location with a nice city feel but not too large and Portland was the place.

Portland has a wide range of activities to enjoy, mainly parks, gardens, wineries and of course Mt. Hood in the distance.

You can easily spend a lazy day exploring and enjoying the many restaurants and pubs, their famous bookstore, Powells, the many gardens, like the Chinese, Japanese or Rose Gardens, and of course Washington Park, the largest urban park.

We arrived in early afternoon on a drizzly and overcast day, but we were determined to see as much as the rain would allow us to see. We visited the Chinese Gardens in Chinatown, Skidmore Fountain and Saturday Market, the downtown area, Chapman and Lawnsdales Squares, Transit Mall area and of course a pub crawl.

This was during my first trip to Portland (on a mileage run "mr") where we had about 10 hours to venture into the city. We'll be back a few more times later this year and I am sure we'll be very familiar with the city.${QuickSuggestions} Portland is compact enough to wander around. Hop on the tram and take a ride to Washington Park. Here you will find many activities for everyone. If you enjoy gardens, pay a visit to the Rose and Japanese gardens located within Washington Park. Take the little ones to the Forest Discovery Center Museum or the Oregon Zoo (make sure to ride on the Zoo Train). ${BestWay} One of the best ways to get from the airport to the city center is by Max. On both of my recent trips we took the Max into the city center, which is about a 30 minute ride. It's cheap and efficient way to get in AND around Portland, not to mention in the the "Yellow Zone" (city center) it's FREE.

The cost to travel to the city center from the airport (for an ALL DAY Max ticket) is $4.25. This is well worth the price especially if you are taking the Max back to the airport and plan to visit outside the Yellow Zone. You can also use this to visit Washington Park which is located outside of the city center and the use of the bus system as well.

Take the Blue or Red line to the city center.

Please note that the machines that dispense the tickets in the airport only take CASH.

Website: www.trimet.org

From journal A Nature Lover's Paradise