A Week in Portland Itinerary with Kids or Without

I haven't heard or read much about whether Portland, Oregon, is a family-friendly city. But we decided to visit Portland with kids and realized that Portland is weird and kids are weird. It’s a match made in travel heaven!

During a recent summer break with our 3 and 5 year old kids, we contemplated several locations for a week-long family trip from Los Angeles. The contenders were Hawaii, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Portland. We landed on Portland for several reasons: it’s a short flight from Los Angeles (and a great introductory flight for my daughter’s first plane ride), the hotels, flights and rental car are more affordable than other locations and there are lots of activities to keep us all entertained for a week.
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In this comprehensive week-long family-friendly Portland itinerary, we'll guide you through our carefully curated selection of attractions and experiences which were fun for both children and adults in our family. You won’t find too many of the usual items on other travel guides because we generally like to avoid overly touristy activities and I hope you will learn about a new restaurant or experience to add to your Portland must-do list that you didn’t know about before.

A Week in Portland Itinerary

Where to Stay: Hampton Inn Pearl District

After extensive research into the hotel options in Portland, we decided to stay at the Hampton Inn and Suites in the Pearl District and it was perfect for our family. The hotel is centrally located to many wonderful restaurants and coffee shops and across the street from World Foods which was always an easy stop for drinks, milk, and snacks. The staff were so friendly, welcoming and accommodating.

One of our favorite parts of staying at this hotel was the pool. There is a one-foot-deep shallow end with beach entry featuring a slide and splash toys plus a deeper end for older kids. We spent hours hanging out at this pool and would have stayed even longer if there were lounge chairs. Another great amenity is the coffee and tea bar right at the entrance where you can help yourself to beverages at all hours of the day.

The entrance is accessible by key card between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am so it felt extra safe. A complimentary breakfast buffet is also included and it is an impressive spread of potatoes, bacon, eggs, oatmeal station, DIY waffle bar and so much more.

Just a heads up that they charge $48 per night for valet with unlimited in and out privileges which is comparable to other parking options in the area. There are other overnight lots nearby for $12 a night but, not being a local and unfamiliar with how safe the surrounding areas were, I didn’t feel comfortable with this option.

The next time I'm in Portland with kids, I'd either stay at this hotel again or at a place on the Eastside because that's where the best restaurants are located.
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Speaking of restaurants, let's get into this family-friendly Portland itinerary...

Day 1: Arrive, Check in, Eat and Explore

We took an 8 am - 10:20 am flight from Burbank Airport to PDX on a Saturday. By the time we deplaned, picked up our checked baggage and our rental car, it was time for lunch. The first meal we enjoyed was from Pine State Biscuit on Division Street.

The kids were napping so we got takeout but it would be great to eat here with kids as well. They have a large outdoor seating area and lots of families were enjoying the space when I picked up our food. I ordered a pulled pork biscuit sandwich for myself, a brisket sandwich for my husband, and fries and bourbon pecan bar to share. The food was craveworthy and I would love to visit again someday.

We arrived at the Hampton Inn a couple of hours before check-in and asked if they had a room available for us yet. Even though check-in is normally 3 pm, it never hurts to ask. We were able to get our room at 1 pm, take our bags up and settle in until dinner time.
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Our first dinner in Portland was at Lechon, a South American-inspired restaurant on the waterfront. Parking was a breeze in the lot next door even though the Saturday market was still in full swing.

While Lechon is quite a fancy restaurant, it still felt family-friendly because they offer coloring books and kids menus. Of the many dishes we tried, our favorites were short rib baocitos, vermicelli dumplings, patatas bravas, and corn and queso fritters. We also ordered the choclo, lomo saltado and the farmer green salad but those were just fine.

While we waited for my husband to pay the check, the kids and I took a walk along the river at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The waterfront park is such an interesting place to people watch. In the 30-ish minutes that we were there, we saw families, artists sketching, roller skaters, people on drugs just sitting around, couples kissing, couples searching for buried treasure with metal detectors, bikers and skateboarders, lots of people laying in the grass, and a party boat that gave my daughter some ideas for her next birthday.

Day 2: OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry)

The second day of our Portland trip started with a light breakfast at our hotel. It was important to me to leave lots of time to rest because I have a tendency to over plan, pack in our days and end up feeling stressed and exhausted. If you have just a few days in Portland with kids, I would start here.

For lunch, we drove to Jojo's on Powell located in a food cart pod with several other vendors. There was a boba stand, taqueria, grilled cheese, barbecue and more--make sure to go hungry. What's great about going to a food cart pod with kids in Portland is that there is plenty of space for everyone to spread out, the vibe is casual and there is a food for every type of craving or palate.

With full tummies, we rolled ourselves seven minutes west to the OMSI, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. If you are visiting from over 90 miles away and are a member of a museum in your hometown, you should take advantage of the ASTC Travel Passport Program. We have a membership to Kidspace Museum in Pasadena and so far this year, we have been able to visit the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, San Francisco's Exploratorium and the OMSI for free (saving us $238).

The OMSI was incredibly interesting and highly engaging, even as an adult. I would actually consider this museum more geared for slightly older children (elementary and middle school age but there are activities for high schoolers as well). They have a room for younger kids, toddlers and infants with a water play area and jungle gym. The most fascinating exhibit in my opinion was the gestation display of a human baby which shows a real fetuses from the first weeks of conception until the due date. All of the fetuses died of natural causes and were preserved for the exhibit.

We spent three hours checking out the exhibits and could have spent even longer if we didn't have a movie to catch (and, of course, the museum closed at 5 pm). If you visit, check out OMSI's shows and movies (both the planetarium and the Empirical Theater). When we were there, they had a laser Elton John show that we were extremely tempted to watch but instead we chose the newest Spiderman movie. You can't beat a new release on an IMAX screen for only $7.50 per person!

For dinner, I walked across the street from our hotel to a grocery store called World Foods that, you guessed it, offers food from around the world. I felt like a kid in a candy store, especially in the chocolate aisle. I ended up spending way too much time and money here throughout the week but it was so worth it. On this particular night, I got chicken enchiladas from their prepared food section, hummus with pita chips and a bunch of local chocolates.

Day 3: Chill Day Because It Rained

When you visit Portland, there is always a chance that even your best laid out plans will get rained on. In the event that it doesn't rain, use this day for a day trip to Astoria or drive through the Mt. Hood Fruit Loop especially if it's July and August.

​We had the unfortunate luck, even in the middle of June, to have several very rainy days. On this day in particular, we started off with breakfast from Oyatsupan Bakers in Beaverton. This spot was one of my recommendations from my friend and Portland local, Celeste Noche, that we incorporated into our itinerary.

Pick up your tray, pop on what looks good and enjoy -- you can't go wrong with any of the options. I especially loved the bacon cheese epi baguette, the banana custard filled donut and the egg salad sandwich.

After Oyatsupan Bakery, I found an indoor playground called PlayDate PDX for the kids to let off some steam. The kids loved the play area and the grown ups loved drinking alcoholic beverage. While it was a nice refuge from the rain, I wouldn't recommend adding this to your itinerary. If we didn't have as many days in Portland, I would have regretted the hours we spent here.

Other ways to escape the rain in Portland include:

• Taking a chocolate tour and building your own chocolate bar at Creo Chocolate Factory

• Getting crafty at Creative Culture DIY where you can make your own fun project while enjoying a decadent milkshake (closed on Mondays so plan ahead. No reservation required.)

• Watching a movie at the Kennedy School Theater

• Putting on a rain coat and going shopping on Mississippi Ave where you can duck in and out of shops depending on the weather

The day greatly improved in the evening when we decided to swing by Wailua Shave Ice right before closing. With two locations in the world, one on the island of Kauai and the other in Portland, we knew we had to stop by (especially since Celeste told us to). I am so glad we listened to her. The shaved ice itself was very fluffy and the flavors and toppings were light and not too sweet. We loved it so much, we decided to return later on in the week before leaving the city.

On our way back to our hotel room to decompress for a bit, we stopped by the Hello from Portland souvenir shop. They have lots of unique goods made locally. The kids and I picked out fun nail polish from Claws Out, a vegan, cruelty-free and non-toxic brand that donates to a different cause depending on the color. My son picked out the "Cat Lady" bright orange color (20% of profits donated to Pixie Project) and my daughter chose the rich purple hue called "F Cancer" which is self-explanatory. We all had a blast painting our nails while waiting out the rain.

We finally made it out to dinner at ¿Por Que No? Taqueria. It wasn't crowded on a Monday at 9 pm so we got the entire outdoor dining space to ourselves. If you're looking for authentic Mexican food in Portland, ¿Por Que No? is the real deal. The meats in the tacos were seasoned to perfection and very tender but the surprise for me was how much I loved the vegetarian flautas.

Day 4: Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo is different from any zoo I've ever been to. For starters, it's built into the forest with trails that you walk through to get to the animals. The enclosures for the animals are HUGE and the animals in the zoo's care look very happy. This was the first time I had seen a black bear in person and he looked so content and relaxed.

You won't find any sad animals or tiny enclosures at the Oregon Zoo. I didn't know what to expect from this visit and I almost skipped it because I thought, "Do we really need to see another zoo?" But my father-in-law's rave review swayed me in the right direction. And I'm so glad we decided to visit.

We ate breakfast at our hotel (but you can't go wrong at Fried Egg I'm in Love) and an early lunch at Eem Thai BBQ. If you come on a weekday at 11 am, you will likely get seated right away. ​Our meal here was wonderful. I particularly enjoyed the BBQ fried rice and coconut panna cotta with mango granita. Then off to the zoo we went!