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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of Portland
Once a sleepy burg that many out-of-towners regarded as little more than an outsized pit stop between San Francisco and Seattle, Portland is waking up. The City of Roses has long had acres of manicured gardens, miles of designated bike paths, and proximity to the rugged Cascade Mountains as well as the Pacific Ocean. But now there are also burgeoning shopping districts, esteemed museums, and a strong microbrewery culture to help lessen the pain when conditions turn drizzly.
Attractions & Activities The Willamette River divides Portland into east and west, the latter being older and containing most of the main attractions. The city originated as a trading post along the western bank, and its Old Town still has 18th-century cast iron buildings. The action moved farther west in the 1900s, and Pioneer Courthouse Square, a modern expanse of brick and fountains in the current central downtown, has been called Portland's Living Room for its role in civic life: Locals come here for street fairs, festivals, and just to watch the world go by. The city isn't known for skyscrapers, but a few blocks to the south are two notables: The 42-story Unico US Bancorp Tower, called Big Pink for its rosy hue, is the state's tallest, with a rooftop restaurant and a bar that's a prime location for sunset cocktails (55 S.W. Fifth Ave.); and the Portland Building, one of Michael Graves's first major commissions, a postmodern piece of whimsy festooned with ribbonlike strips of steel (1120 S.W. Fifth Ave.). A few blocks away, the Portland Art Museum, one of Oregon's oldest cultural institutions, dates to the late 19th-century; today, it has Impressionist paintings, ancient Chinese artifacts, Native American works, and a sculpture garden (503-226-2811; portlandartmuseum.org). Portland's ample rainfall produces some pretty spectacular gardens. One of the newest, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, covers an entire block of old downtown, re-creating a scholar's retreat within its cloistered walls (503-228-8131; portlandchinesegarden.org). A few miles away, on the slopes of northwest Portland, another Eastern tradition grows at the celebrated, decades-old Japanese Garden. Between trees towering over traditional pond walks, Zen gardens, and natural glens are fine views of the Cascades (503-223-1321; japanesegarden.com). The neighboring International Rose Test Garden is the oldest of its type in the country, dating to the early 1900s. From spring through fall, more than 7,000 bloom, from tiny ramblers to hulk-like cabbage varieties and from heirloom strains to new cultivars (503-227-7033; rosegardenstore.org). Downtown retailers run to national chains; for more offbeat shops, head to The Pearl, a clutch of former industrial spaces transformed into an arts, shopping, and restaurant district. Especially strong are the furnishings and design shops. Top choices include Cielo Home, an eclectic assemblage of housewares, from Limoges china to Diptyque candles (528 N.W. 12th Ave.; 503-445-0111), and Cargo, an emporium of imported goods, mainly from Asia—think antique saris and working rickshaws (380 N.W. 13th Ave.; 503-209-8349). Bookworms are probably familiar with Powell's City of Books, one of the largest independent bookstores in the country. Its three floors always yield surprises, as new titles and used books sit spine by spine on every shelf (1005 W. Burnside St.; 503-228-4651). Lodging The sole Portland property on Condé Nast Traveler's Gold List, the downtown Hotel Lucia lines its walls with an art collection that demands a reaction, from the vibrant contemporary paintings in the lobby to the portraits of Jodie Foster and Ansel Adams in the elevators. The rooms are big and beautiful, with a safe minimalist look, and the service is just what you'd expect in the friendly Pacific Northwest. The 5th Avenue Suites Hotel, also downtown, occupies a former department store where glass doors give way to a high-ceilinged lobby with a mosaic tile floor. Guest rooms, in soft shades of taupe, gold, and cream, have a residential feel. The Governor Hotel is within walking distance of The Pearl. A former Elks headquarters, it was based on a Roman palazzo, and decorative nods to the Oregon Trail show up throughout common areas. The effect is so photogenic that the hotel does a big wedding business; request a room away from the celebrants—preferably on the top floor, where your bathroom will have a skylight—and facing north, for views of the Willamette and Old Town's vintage neon signs. Opened early in 2007 across the freeway from The Pearl, the Hotel deLuxe is a tribute to Hollywood's golden age, with the same bold black-and-white photography found at its sister property, the Lucia—this time, with legends of the silver screen as its subject. A few blocks from The Pearl and a short walk from the shops of Northwest 23rd Street, the Inn at Northrup Station looks like a block of upscale condos just off a tram line (the hotel takes its name from the stop half a block away). Inside, rooms in a bold palette come equipped with kitchenettes and Wi-Fi. If you're here in summer, drop by the third-floor patio bar for happy hour. For a ticket to the epicenter of Portland's indie-rock scene, head to the east side and the Jupiter Hotel. The former motel's small but comfortable rooms have been recast in an appealing cheap-chic modern aesthetic. But the rooms are just backup for the main attraction: the Doug Fir Lounge, the bi-level bar, eatery, and rock venue. The lounge draws a steady swarm of foot traffic, so request a room at the opposite end of the property. Dining It's hard to pass up the generous three-part brunch bargain at the Daily Cafe. Start with the overflowing basket of just-baked pastries, move on to an appetizer such as a savory cardamom shortcake with crème fraîche and local blackberries, and then enjoy cornmeal-crusted local rainbow trout (902 N.W. 13th Ave.; 503-242-1916; prix-fixe brunch, $13). With a neat space that seems ripped out of a Williams-Sonoma catalog, The Pearl's Everett Street Bistro tempts diners to linger at its tables, whether over breakfast or a late-night dinner of comforting dishes such as meatloaf and trout amandine (1140 N.W. Everett St.; 503-467-4992; entrées, $10–$22). Portland restaurants don't get more sleek and chic than Bluehour, a minimalist mecca in a converted Pearl warehouse. Panels of filmy, moss-colored fabric separate tables of beautiful people dining on the signature gnocchi, elegant in its simplicity, or the bacon-wrapped scallops served on an earthy bed of lentils (250 N.W. 13th Ave.; 503-226-3394; entrées, $16–$43). A short drive—or ride on a streetcar—away from The Pearl, James Beard Award-winning chef Cory Schreiber's Wildwood has been a foodie favorite almost since it opened in 1994. The space, lined with modern canvasses and done up in dark woods, is suitably homey for a locale in a low-key residential neighborhood. Befitting a place named after a nature trail, a meal here is like a guided tour through some of the Northwest's best culinary sources, from the chanterelles in the mushroom lasagne to the muscovy duck breast (1221 N.W. 21st St.; 503-248-9663; entrées, $17–$26). The foam may be off the head of the microbrew craze elsewhere, but Portland brothers Mike and Brian McMenamins have a healthy share of the market, with scores of establishments around town. Their sudsy flagship: McMenamins Kennedy School, a grade school turned fun zone (with a bar, a bowling alley, a swimming pool, and a movie theater). The tables spill into a central courtyard that's idyllic on a summer afternoon, when pub fare and a glass of India pale ale go together particularly well (5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.; 503-249-3983; entrées, $8–$18). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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