Take a drive up to 100-year-old Washington Park and explore the famed International Rose Test Garden and Japanese Garden. The views of downtown and Mount Hood will leave you weak. The Oregon Zoo features outdoor concerts, a zoo railroad and hundreds of animals. With all of the area highlights, including the World Forestry Center and Hoyt Arboretum, you will have no trouble finding something to your liking here.

Another Portland attraction that turns locals into tourists is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), across the river from Washington Park. OMSI features changing interactive science exhibits, Omnimax Theater laser and adventure shows and a submarine in the Willamette River.

Popular day trip attractions include touring the Mount Hood/Columbia Gorge Loop, where the beauty of the great Columbia River is matched by a series of waterfalls. You can check out Multnomah Falls, the Bonneville Dam and Timberline Lodge. Visit the beautiful coastline while you are here. Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach is particularly memorable, and you will see a part of Oregon that is often overlooked.

Oregon Zoo
(503) 226.1561
Washington Park
4001 S.W. Canyon Road
Portland, OR 97221
www.oregonzoo.org
Trek through the tropics amid the sounds of birds, monkeys and other creatures. You’re not in West Africa; you’re in Portland at the zoo’s African Rain Forest exhibit. After you’ve survived the steamy tropics, dry off in the savanna, where giraffes, rhinos and hippos graze. From the tundras of Alaska to the coastal waters of Peru, travel around the world in an afternoon.

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
(503) 797.4000
1945 S.E. Water Avenue
Portland, OR 97214
www.omsi.edu
Imagine a place where you can journey to the outer reaches of the galaxy, feel the power of an earthquake, climb aboard a real submarine, uncover a fossil, enter the world of virtual reality, or travel the globe in a five-story high IMAX domed theater.

Portland Children’s Museum
(503) 223-6500
Washington Park
4015 S.W. Canyon Road
Portland, OR 97221
http://www.portlandcm.org/
Portland Children’s Museum, where imagination lives. Visit Portland Children’s Museum and let your creativity run wild with hands-on exhibits and art studios for children and their families. Dig into the fun in the Dig Pit. Tile a roof or landscape a garden in Building Bridgetown. Make a Splash in Water Works. Enjoy a live performance or sculpt a unique creation from clay. Paint your face, put on a costume and take center stage!

Portland Classical Chinese Garden
(503) 228-8131
Northwest Third Avenue at Everett Street
Portland, OR 97209
www.portlandchinesegarden.org
An urban oasis of pavilions, rocks, plants and walkways surrounding an 8,000-square-foot pond.