Make Oregon your first port of call
Portland is one of Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Cities
PORTLAND, OREGON, USA
PORTLAND doesn’t try to impress anyone and so impresses everyone. It’s America’s city of the future: a friendly, sustainable, ethical and cultural place that values good living and leisure over acquisitiveness and ambition.
Bisected by the Willamette River and surrounded by peaks, it is also a preternaturally attractive place. What better spot for viewing one of nature’s great spectacles, the solar eclipse on August 21?
The eclipse will be partial in Portland, but drive a few miles south into Willamette or hike up Mount Hood and you’ll be cast in the moon’s deep umbra between 9.06am and 11.38am (PDT).
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Portland has the sophistication of a city several times its size but also the laid-back atmosphere of a storied old town. In the 165 years since its founding, Portland has been many cities – a frontier settlement, a booming timber town, a bastion of counterculture and a serious pioneer of sustainability.
These days it’s one of America’s capitals of cool, attracting 100 new residents a day, who come for its cycle-friendly centre, verdant gardens, thriving arts scene, vintage theatres and food culture.
As if this embarrassment of riches wasn’t enough, on the city’s doorstep are the wine-growing hills of the Willamette Valley, skiing on Mount Hood and biking, rafting and zip lining in the Columbia River Gorge. There’s also the wonderful Multnomah Falls to take in. The world may be surprised to discover Portland’s charms but this west coast port is used to having it all.
UNMISSABLE EXPERIENCES
Portland is a city of gardens, most famously its International Rose Test Garden, which will be marking its centenary this year.
Craft beer is big here. Ex Novo is a recent arrival, serving inspired brews like Moonstriker, a Baltic porter made with chocolate and Habanero chilli.
Powell’s City of Books in the Pearl District epitomises the community spirit here and stocks a million of the world’s best books.
Portland is famous for its artisan restaurants but the real innovation is on the street in the city’s multitude of food carts. Take a tour with aficionado Brett Burmeister of Food Carts Portland.
THE KNOWLEDGE:
Virgin Holidays (0344 739 3306/ virginholidays.co.uk) offers five nights in Portland from £1,295. Price includes return flights from London Heathrow to Portland and accommodation at Hotel Modera, (two sharing), room only. Portland tourism: travelportland.com Extract from Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel 2017 (£9.99)