Hop-on Hop-off Tour – Portland OR

RATING: ♦♦♦

We find that the best way to discover a city is to take a tour, preferably a hop-on hop-off tour, if there’s one offered. We’ve spend most of the summer so far hovering around Oregon as we wait for a part for our motorhome jacks. It was time to explore the state’s main city, Portland!

It was Saturday, and one of the stops along the way was the huge Portland weekend outdoor market by the river. It was fabulous! So many wonderful local craft and food vendors. We ended up spending most of the morning there.

The second thing we wanted to be sure and do was take the Portland Aerial Tram. It’s a gondola that carries commuters between the South Waterfront district and the main Oregon Health & Science University campus. The tram travels a horizontal distance of 3,300 feet and a vertical distance of 500 feet. It was just high enough to get a great view of the city, and we could see Mt. Hood and Mount St. Helens in the distance.

After the tram ride up and down, we walked a couple of blocks to Portland’s famous Blue Star Donut shop. After eating our share of wonderful donuts, David needed to straighten his back and take a quick nap on the picnic table.

We stayed on the trolley for the rest of the tour, as it was getting late. But we had a fun driver/tour guide who gave us lots of history of the area. If we ever make it back to Portland, we will definitely take time to go to the International Rose Test Garden. That was one of several stops we would have liked to have seen.