Best parks and cultural sites in Portland

Powell's City of Books is a bookstore that occupies an entire city block in Portland. The store is part of the city's cultural venues and green spaces, offering one million new and used books in several languages. Visitors spend hours wandering through the aisles, discovering books while the city moves around them.

Portland Japanese Garden is a 5-hectare garden featuring eight landscape sections with traditional tea houses, water features, and a pond with koi fish. As part of Portland's cultural venues and green spaces, this garden showcases Japanese landscaping principles and offers visitors a place to experience Asian horticultural traditions.

The Lan Su Chinese Garden is part of Portland's diverse cultural landscape, where parks and cultural sites help define the city. This garden displays Ming Dynasty design elements with pavilions, water features and Chinese plants arranged in traditional ways. It stands alongside other notable places like the Japanese Garden, Washington Park with its gardens and zoo, and the Portland Art Museum with its Native American art collections. The garden offers a window into Asian landscaping traditions within a city shaped by parks and bridges spanning the Willamette River.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland is a science museum with a public laboratory, a World War II submarine, exhibition spaces and a cinema theater. The museum contributes to Portland's cultural diversity, where museums, parks and green spaces shape the city.

The International Rose Test Garden is a botanical center in Portland where visitors walk among around 10,000 rose varieties. Roses grow in different sections, organized by color and breeding history. Pathways wind through the plantings, and benches sit among the flowers. From higher points in the garden, you can look out over Portland and see Mount Hood in the distance on clear days. This garden is one of the major green spaces that help define the city and show how Portland incorporates nature into urban life.

Pittock Mansion is a historical estate from 1914 built in French Renaissance style. As part of Portland's cultural venues and green spaces, it offers a window into the city's past. The mansion contains 23 furnished rooms and provides views of the city from its terrace.

This bakery in downtown Portland has been making donuts with various glazes, fillings, and special decorations since 2003. As part of Portland's collection of cultural venues and green spaces, Voodoo Doughnut offers a glimpse into the city's food culture and adds to the diversity of local eating spots.

The Portland Art Museum is an art museum in Portland that has been operating since 1892. It displays collections of North American and Asian art alongside contemporary works. The museum showcases various artistic traditions and periods across its exhibition spaces. Visitors can explore collections that represent the diverse artistic heritage of the region and beyond.

Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a public park along the Willamette River in Portland. The park is part of Portland's green spaces that define the city. It offers paths for walking and cycling, seating areas, and spaces for gatherings and events along the water's edge.

The St. Johns Bridge is a green steel suspension bridge built in 1931 that spans the Willamette River between the St. Johns and Northwest Portland neighborhoods. It is one of the bridges that connects different districts of Portland, a city shaped by parks and cultural venues, green spaces, and places like Powell's Books and the Portland Art Museum.

Washington Park is one of the green spaces that define Portland's layout. The park holds a zoo, Japanese gardens, walking paths, a children's play area, tennis courts, and a forestry museum. Together with other parks and cultural venues throughout the city, Washington Park forms part of how Portland offers outdoor recreation and learning for visitors and residents.

The Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden is a botanical garden in Portland, part of the green spaces that define the city's layout. With its ponds, waterfalls, and stone pathways, this garden offers a place to walk and spend time surrounded by flowering plants.

The OHSU Tram is an aerial tramway in Portland that carries passengers between downtown and the OHSU campus. During the ride, it offers views over Mount Hood and the Willamette River. This tram is part of Portland's transit network and connects different parts of the city, much like the multiple bridges that span the river.

The Portland Saturday Market is a weekly gathering of local artisans and vendors in Portland, playing a vibrant role within this collection of parks and cultural sites. This market offers handmade goods, food, and live music, representing the creative community that thrives alongside the city's major museums and gardens.

The Alberta Arts District is an arts neighborhood in Portland that houses galleries, independent shops, restaurants, and murals along Alberta Street. It contributes to the city's diverse cultural landscape, where cultural venues and green spaces come together to shape how people experience Portland.

Sellwood Riverfront Park is part of Portland's network of green spaces and cultural sites. The park features a sandy beach, walking trails, a dog play area, and viewpoints along the Willamette River. Visitors can stroll through the park, enjoy views of the water, and spend time in nature.

The Hoyt Arboretum is a botanical research area in Portland with extensive forest paths that guide visitors through a diverse collection of trees and shrubs from different regions around the world. It complements the city's green spaces and cultural sites, offering a place where people can explore nature and discover how plants from different climates grow together.

The World Forestry Center is an educational facility in Portland that explores forest ecosystems, forestry practices, and wood production. Through interactive stations and multimedia displays, it complements the city's green spaces and cultural venues by helping visitors understand how forests function and are managed.

The Grotto is a religious garden with basalt rocks, forest paths and a stone-carved chapel surrounded by trees. It fits into Portland's varied landscape of cultural venues and green spaces that define the city and offer visitors places to reflect.

The Leach Botanical Garden is part of Portland's collection of cultural venues and green spaces. This garden showcases native Northwest plants, a historic residence, and a creek with stone bridges. Like other parks and cultural sites throughout the city, it contributes to how Portland's landscape is shaped and experienced.

The Betty N. Roberts Memorial Japanese Garden is a garden with Japanese design elements including stone lanterns, a circular pond, and plants trimmed according to traditional methods. As part of Portland's parks and cultural sites, this garden offers visitors a chance to experience Japanese landscaping and spend time in this thoughtfully designed space.

The Oaks Amusement Park is a recreation area in Portland that has been operating since 1905. The park offers various rides and entertainment options including carousels, a roller coaster, a roller skating rink and miniature golf courses. It serves as a gathering place where families come together to spend time.

Mount Tabor is an extinct volcano in Portland that rises about 630 feet and anchors the city's park system. Walking paths wind through the landscape, while tennis courts sit nestled among the trees. The peak offers views across Portland and the surrounding areas, making it a place where locals walk, play, and gather.

Blue Lake Regional Park in Portland is part of the green spaces that define the city. The park offers a lake for water sports and fishing, along with barbecue spots and areas for outdoor recreation.

Tryon Creek State Natural Area is a 670-acre natural park in western Portland. Eight miles of forest trails wind through dense woods, crossing streams and ravines. Visitors hike and ride horses here. This park is part of Portland's network of green spaces that shape the city and offer residents places to step away from urban life.

The Mill Ends Park is a tiny circular green space measuring two feet (0.6 meters) in diameter, situated in the middle of a street in Portland. This small park holds a Guinness World Records designation and demonstrates how the city carves out room for nature even in the smallest spaces. It contributes to Portland's network of parks and green areas that shape the city's character and connect different neighborhoods.

The Fremont Bridge is a steel bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, serving as one of the key connections between different parts of the city. Built in 1973, it features two traffic decks at different levels, a distinctive design that helps manage traffic flow across the river. This bridge is part of Portland's network of bridges that define how people move through and experience the city.

House Spirits Distillery is a distillery in Portland that produces gin, vodka, and whiskey. As part of the city's cultural venues and green spaces, the distillery offers tours and tasting sessions. Visitors can see the production facilities and learn how these spirits are made.

Ochoco's Gorge Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the Columbia River Gorge that reflects the geological story of this region. The 150-meter tunnel passes through a basalt formation, and its walls reveal distinct rock layers from volcanic deposits. This tunnel connects different parts of the gorge and forms part of the transportation network that links Portland to the surrounding landscape, much like the multiple bridges that cross the Willamette River.

Tilikum Crossing is a bridge in Portland's network of parks and cultural sites. It connects the South Waterfront district to Central Eastside and opened in 2015. The bridge spans 520 meters (1,706 feet) and serves streetcars, buses, cyclists and pedestrians exclusively.