A few weeks ago, I travelled to Portland, Oregon for a conference. I’d been to Oregon before, but it had been many years ago – and I don’t recall ever going to Portland specifically. So I was really excited to check out the city of Portland! Though it was only a few days, I still had an incredible time. Read on for my highlights from my brief PNW adventures in Portland.

I’m a huge fan of the west coast, especially as a gal who grew up in BC. I was really excited to be back out west. Oregon is a stunning state, and I couldn’t wait to attend the conference at University of Portland. The campus was beautiful, very lush with lots of green space and gorgeous flowers. I stayed in the residences on campus, and had a great few days connecting with colleagues at the conference! Very grateful for my time there.

After the conference wrapped, I headed downtown to do some exploring. I stayed at the Moxy downtown, which was actually really cute. For dinner, I wanted to explore the pasta bar Grassa. The food was delicious and quite affordable as well! Then I did some wandering around downtown, and found a restaurant/bar with great views of the city called Portland City Grill. It was a great spot to take in the cityscape, and their cocktails were fantastic. Highly recommend!

The next morning, I was set for a full day of exploring Portland. The journey started with coffee: Stumptown Coffee Roasters was located close by, and I had heard it was a great spot to check out. They did not disappoint! The location at SW Washington was gorgeous and the coffee was delicious 😍 Next up was the Portland Saturday Market – I had timed it perfectly to be in town to check it out. The fair in Portland had also opened for the weekend, AND we lucked out with sunny weather – so it was very busy. It was definitely worthwhile to explore though, I scoped out the market for hours and really enjoyed it.

After grabbing some lunch at the market, I was off to my most anticipated stop: Powell’s Books. They are apparently the largest indie bookstore WORLDWIDE and I couldn’t wait to check it out!! I spent MANY hours at Powell’s and honestly could’ve stayed longer. They have a café and multiple floors with any genre you can think of, including a massive kids section. They also have a rare books room that features OLD editions – I think the oldest one I saw was from AD 310-395!!! It was really cool and I thoroughly enjoyed my time checking it out, and wound up getting a few books to bring back with me. Powell’s was definitely the highlight of my time in Portland, do NOT miss this spot!

Before I knew it, I was heading back to the airport to make the long trek home to Toronto. Being in Portland was truly a blast, I liked the progressive hippie vibe of the city and the many cool spots I checked out. If you’re planning a visit, I highly recommend the Saturday Market and Powell’s Books for two great activities to enjoy. For food, Grassa and the Portland City Grill were both great, and the Saturday Market had plenty of vendors too. I didn’t have a ton of time in the city, otherwise I would’ve explored even more – but I’m very happy with what I did see. Until next time, Portland! ❤