Portland
Portland is a river city, straddling the Willamette River on both sides, and connected by bridges. Just up the river, Oregon City was the territorial capital and end of the Oregon Trail; Portland expanded into one of the biggest frontier towns in the Northwest.
Greater Portland
Drawbridges - Portland has four large drawbridges over the Willamette River - Hawthorne, Morrison, Burnside, and Steele. It's always fun to watch the big bridges raising up to let the boats go through.
Take the tram - Our favorite tram ride in Portland is from Lloyd Center to the zoo in Washington Park. At Lloyd Center, pick up the red or blue MAX (Metropolitan Area Express) that goes over the Williamette River, through downtown Portland, to Washington Park. On Sundays in the summer, ride the free vintage trolley from Lloyd Center to SW 10th Ave. downtown. And during the summer, trams are free in the center of downtown, just hop on and off.
Oaks Amusement Park (Oaks Park) - Established in 1905, this is a lovely old-fashioned amusement park with folk-art carousel, Ferris wheel, bumper cars, roller coaster, rides for all ages and roller skating rink (it has a wooden floor). Rent lace-up roller skates with four wheels (kids and adult sizes), and skate to the turn-of-the-century music on a pipe organ. The rink is a perfect activity on a rainy day.
Fun food
Take the kids to the "U-Pick farms" on Sauvie Island, 10 miles north of the city. In summer, grab a box, head out to the field and pick blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, marionberries, blackberries, peaches, or corn. In fall, find your own pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. Kruger's Farm has summer concerts, picnic tables under the trees, hay rides, a corn maze (and try their honey sticks, little plastic straws filled with flavored honey).
Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of Portland family hotels, all styles and price ranges, convenient to fun things to do with kids in Portland :
