The Rose Garden is one of our favorite places to visit in Portland that is free and easy to navigate. In addition to the lovely gardens, you can also enjoy great views of Portland.

The Portland Japanese Garden is right next to the Rose Garden but does have an entrance fee. It is a gorgeous, walkable gardens that is a peaceful way to spend an afternoon in Portland.

Loyal Legion is a bar on the east side of Portland that has a variety of brews and is actually where we met!

10 Barrel Brewery is one of our favorites! In fact, we used to live in the building right next to it! They have great food (the pizza is amazing) and beer with a nice rooftop as well. This is a short walk from the wedding venue and there are several other bars, shops and breweries around this area as well.

McMenamins is native to Oregon and has several locations throughout the state. They comprise of restaurants, bars and hotels and carry unique brews and food. All the locations have wacky designs and art all over their space. The Blue Moon Tavern location is a great one because it is on 21st Ave which is home to a large stretch of bars and shops. Two streets over is 23rd Ave which has more of the same thing. You could easily spend an afternoon in this part of the city. The link here will take you to McMenamins main website where you can find all the locations.

Salt & Straw is a great place to pop in for some unique flavors of ice cream. They mix sweet and savory ingredients to come up with a variety of ice cream flavors. There are several locations all over the city.

Powells is a massive book store right in the heart of Portland and has just about everything! A great place to stop in when its hot out. We also had our second date at Powells :)

Only about 2 hours away is the Oregon Coast. We recommend driving to Astoria which is at the very northwestern tip of Oregon and is minutes from Washington. About 20-30 minutes south are more towns like Seaside and Sunset Beach. There are beaches, hiking trails, breweries, local shops and great views!