I'm hoping to take a long weekend trip to Portland, Oregon for my birthday (last weekend of March). We would be there Thursday- Monday. I'm hoping we can drive out to Woodburn to see the tulip fields one afternoon, but other than that I think we'd pretty much stay in the city. I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations of where to stay, things to do and opinions on whether or not we should rent a car.
As a side note, I enjoy anything nature-esque, so if there's anywhere we can go for a hike with incredible views (but not too far away), feel free to mention that as well.
An hour-ish east of Portland will put you into the Gorge and Mt Hood area and there's tons of great hiking there with tons of waterfalls and beautiful views of the Gorge and river. You can pretty much pick whatever difficulty level you want and find it in the Multnomah Falls area, though March will probably still be a bit soggy. Hood River is a cute town along the way with some good beer, and there are plenty of good views at Mt. Hood, though hiking in March would probably be pretty cold and snowy in some areas. Though snowshoeing to Trillium Lake is pretty fun and beautiful if you have a day with good visibility. You could always drive up to Timberline Lodge -- it's a pretty drive and has good views up there.
Mt. Tabor in Portland is a pretty park with some easy trails. You can also hike near Pittock Mansion in the Forest Park area -- it's more woodsy than Mt. Tabor but Pittock has amazing views of the city.
I love Hotel Vintage. I've always wanted to stay at The Nines, but we haven't yet though I know people like it. The Heathman has ties to the 50 Shades movies if that appeals. McMenamins has some properties with hotels. They're unique -- like Kennedy School (not super centrally located) is an old school converted into a hotel. Classrooms were turned into bedrooms but still have chalkboards in them, there's a salt water pool, and I think the principal's office is a cigar lounge or bar or something.
Our guests always love going to Powell's on Burnside. It's a ginormous bookstore. The Saturday Market is fun to visit. There are a lot of random things to do -- are you looking for anything in particular? Or any food things you're looking for?
It looks like the tulip festival is planning to open the24th! They've been starting earlier it used to be April 1. Crowds can be bad there depending on weather! You could go to silver falls state park while you're nearby Hood river would be a nice day trip with hikes and views We love cannon beach too but the weather can be unpredictable in march For actual Portland there are different neighborhoods that are all very different from each other. Nw 23rd has shops and restaurants, the pearl district, downtown, SE- division, Hawthorne all have different vibes