Renowned for its locavore-driven food scene, independent-spirited shopping and gloriously verdant parks, Portland offers enough cultural and outdoorsy diversions to keep you busy for a week, but it's also a surprisingly easy city to get to know in a day. Walkthrough the Pearl District, a former industrial neighbourhood that's now rife with art galleries and modish boutiques. It is also home to legendary Powell's City of Books, the largest new and used bookstore in the world. As an introduction, we discover Portland with our new best friend, an award-winning "Resident Expert. They live in Portland; they know Portland; they love Portland, and it shows. Allow them to keep you laughing through this easy walking tour. Not only is it fun, but many consider it to be the best tour in Portland.The Best of Portland award-winning walk clarifies why Portland is regularly recognized as one of the best places to live. By the end of your walk, you will want to move here too. You learn about early and modern Portland as your guide shows you an enlightened city rich with artwork, parks, bridges, downtown trains and streetcars, fountains and friendly people. Even locals are amazed and entertained by what they learn. This walk meanders through the most fascinating portions of the city, leading eventually to the waterfront. And don't forget the camera for your shot of the world's smallest park! Later, explore leafy Washington Park and tour the Portland Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Garden.
Overnight: Portland
Pick up the rental car this morning and head out to Newport. With more than 250 of Oregon's wineries calling the Willamette Valley home, it's easy to find one to suit your taste. Whether you're in the mood for Pinot noir or Pinot Gris, experiencing the ambience of a hip, metropolitan winery or admiring the legacy of a small town vineyard pioneer, you'll find it in the Willamette Valley. Enjoy stops at Lincoln City and Depoe Bay on Highway101 for whale watching. Once you reach Newport to check out Oregon's tallest lighthouse, Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Visit Newport's renowned Oregon Coast Aquarium to view playful sea otters and a giant Pacific octopus. End your day with a walk around Newport's Historic Bayfront, where you may see (and hear) sea lions barking, and dine on superb Dungeness crab cakes at Local Ocean Seafoods.
Overnight: Newport
We start the day with a visit to one of Oregon's top traveller attractions- the well known Oregon Coast Aquarium. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is a world-class marine educational attraction nestled on beautiful Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon. The Aquarium strives to be a centre of excellence for ocean literacy and plays an active role in conservation and animal rehabilitation efforts. Later, follow U.S. 101 south along the coast, to explore the Oregon Dunes National Recreation area in Florence and Heceta Head Lighthouse.Drive west through Old Town Florence, here you can sip a single-origin coffee on the deck at Siuslaw River Coffee Roasters, which overlooks one of the many famous 1930s-era bridges set along scenic U.S. 101, the Oregon Coast Highway. Florence marks the northern end of the massive Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America. At Florence's Sand Master Park, you can learn to sandboard or book an extreme dune buggy tour. End your day at Provisions Market Hall, inside downtown Eugene's handsomely restored Fifth Street Market.
Overnight: Eugene
From Interstate 5 South take Highway 138 East at Roseburg and travel on the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic way where you pass oak-covered hills to towering coniferous forests, from roaring whitewater rapids to incised inter canyon lava flows. Enter Crater Lake at the north entrance. Along U.S. 97, you will encounter Newberry National Volcanic Monument, where you can literally get in touch with the region's ancient, cataclysmic geological history by walking through a lava tube and ascending Paulina Peak for panoramic high-desert views. Allow two to three hours to reach Crater Lake National Park, which is anchored by the nation's deepest lake. Crater Lake is a must-see for all ages, and what a better way than to enjoy the majestic beauty of one of the "Seven Wonders of The World" than from aboard a historically designed trolley bus. You will enjoy a two hour, Ranger-guided and narrated trolley tours around the Rim of the Lake. The Rangers will talk about the history and formation, answer questions and there will also be 5 to 7 stops during the ride to allow for picture taking or to just take in the unmatched beauty that Crater Lake has to offer.Later, we recommend enjoying dinner and the rustic ambience of Crater Lake Lodge, a classic timber and shingle-roof National Parks hotel built in 1915. Take Highway 97 North to Bend.
Overnight: Bend
Follow Highway 97and then 197 to Hood River. Stop for a brick-oven pizza at Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom in Hood River, a cheerful village famous for kitesurfing and wind-surfing as well as its first-rate culinary scene. The Columbia Gorge that you will enter, has more than 30 wineries, including Echo Ridge Cellars, whose tasting room occupies a retrofitted grain elevator. You will then enter the spectacular Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, an 80-mile (129-km) forested canyon of rugged cliffs and soaring waterfalls, much of which you can tour via the iconic Historic Columbia River Highway. Stop to snap a photo and enjoy a slice of marionberry shortcake in the 1915 lodge at Multnomah Falls; a steep but paved trail ascends to the top of this 620-foot-tall (189-m) cataract.
Overnight: Portland
Your itinerary ends as you fly out of Portland International Airport.