How to Time Your Trip to Portland, Oregon

Choosing when to visit Portland can be a bit of a dilemma since there are great things going on year-round. The first thing to decide is whether you want to go for the warmer or cooler weather. Both seasons offer a lot of options.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Travel between April and December and you can go to Saturday Market, one of the largest outdoor markets in the United States. The booths here are full of handcrafted items, and you can talk to the artists. Accompanied by live music and lots of food, it's a great place for quality shopping at reasonable prices, and it's open on Sundays, too.
2. Consider summer travel to take in all of the Portland-area jazz festivals that bring in big jazz names to beautiful outdoor venues - Mt. Hood Community College, Cathedral Park and Waterfront Park.
3. Think about your stomach, too, when you're planning. Summer is home to the annual pig-out known as The Bite. Held at Waterfront Park, this festival is a cornucopia of food booths from all over town, allowing you to sample a ton of food and listen to great music on the outdoor stage overlooking the river.
4. Come to Portland in June if you want roses. Home to the annual Rose Festival, Portland turns into a well of activity for the week of the event. There is a big carnival along the waterfront and the military fleet comes into port. The highlight of the whole festival is the Rose Parade through downtown in which every part of every float has to be made out of flowers.
5. Plan to spend some time in Portland around the "First Thursday" of the month. Art galleries and museums downtown celebrate new openings every first Thursday and have food and drink on hand. They also extend their hours later in the evening, and entrance to all of the different art locations is free.
6. Head to Portland in the heart of winter if snow activities are your thing. Mt. Hood, only an hour or so away, is full of locations to take care of your snow bug. The National Forest has cross-country trails and the resorts on the mountain offer great snowboarding and skiing environments.