Planning vacation in Portland.. (Burns: hotel, neighborhood, living)

[bell235]

I'm from New York and I'm planning a trip to Portland in late September with my boyfriend. I'm 29, he is 33, we are looking for some nature stuff to do but also some fun bars/restaurants to visit.

Can someone recommend the best area to stay in?

I've only done a little bit of research but this is what I've gathered so far -

The west side has the Oregon Zoo, the Japanese Garden and Washington Park but on the Eastern side it has Mississippi Avenue & North Williams Avenue which looks like it's good for nighttime and has a good selection of bars/restaurants. So it seems like maybe choosing a hotel in the middle is best?

Also is there public transport to and from everywhere?

We are also looking at some of the tours (brewery tours and also Columbia River)/

Planning this is somewhat difficult for me lol not knowing where anything is and not knowing whether we should pay for tours or do it on our own, so please any advice you can offer is much appreciated!

[pdxMIKEpdx]

My niece and her husband, who are in their mid thirties and from Kingston New York stayed here and loved it.

https://jupiterhotel.com/

https://www.google.com/maps/dir//800....5227022?hl=en

They said it was the perfect location for what they wanted to do, which was to go to as many trendy bars and restaurants as they could in five days.
The Doug Fir is right next door.

BTW, they are kind of hipster-ish hard core foodies that are into urban living, I don't know what your style is, but there ya go........

Yes, buses and MAX and Uber and Lyft and Car to Go car sharing (60-80 bucks a day) will get you anywhere you want to be.

Here's the bus and MAX website, it will plan your routes, times and fares for you, just enter where you are and where you want to go:
https://trimet.org/

BTW, Portland isn't really a big huge city where you will feel lost.
You'll figure it out pretty quickly.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

My niece and her husband, who are in their mid thirties and from Kingston New York stayed here and loved it.

https://jupiterhotel.com/

https://www.google.com/maps/dir//800....5227022?hl=en

They said it was the perfect location for what they wanted to do, which was to go to as many trendy bars and restaurants as they could in five days.
The Doug Fir is right next door.

BTW, they are kind of hipster-ish hard core foodies that are into urban living, I don't know what your style is, but there ya go........

Yes, buses and MAX and Uber and Lyft and Car to Go car sharing (60-80 bucks a day) will get you anywhere you want to be.

Here's the bus and MAX website, it will plan your routes, times and fares for you, just enter where you are and where you want to go:
https://trimet.org/

BTW, Portland isn't really a big huge city where you will feel lost.
You'll figure it out pretty quickly.

Good ideas. Plus the area with Douglas Fir will remind OP of Williamsburg circa 20003. The Downtown area has traditional shops and some hipster retail closer to Burnside. The Pearl especially close to Burnside is trendy with good restaurants and nice walkability. Alberta and Boise areas are hipster but very neighborhood feel like parts of Brooklyn.
Yes, the Japanese Garden and The Rose Garden are wonderful gems in Portland and my favorite bits of nature.