Multnomah Falls (website)
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon (about 40 minutes drive from Portland)
Multnomah Falls is a gorgeous waterfall near Portland, Oregon. When we were in Portland, we had a rental car, which made driving the 40 minutes between Portland and Multnomah Falls a breeze. It was a beautiful drive! Upon arrival at the waterfall, I highly recommend you park in the parking lot near the Main Lodge. It will likely be busy, but there is not another great place to park (trust me — we learned the hard way!).
For non-adventurous travels, you can see the full falls with minimal walking and enjoy the lodge museum, shops, etc. For moderately adventurous travelers, you can take about a short walk (several hundred feet) to reach the bridge area. This is well worth it and a good way to get a closer look at the falls! For adventurous travelers, you can take a longer hike up to the top of the falls via a number of switchbacks. All the trails here are paved and we even saw a few brave souls with jogger strollers making the hike up! There are also a number of other unpaved, more adventurous hikes around the falls in the surrounding wooded areas.
The falls are absolutely spectacular and well worth the drive from Portland! We went when my daughter was almost three and she loved it! We were able to do a lot of the hiking with her as well. Sandals can cover the non-adventurous walks, but I recommend walking shoes/hiking boots for the more adventurous hiking areas.
Portland Children’s Museum (website)
Portland, Oregon
The Portland Children’s Museum offers a great break for kiddos from the more urban parts of Portland. It is a fairly modest children’s museum, but is very hands-on! We went when my daughter was almost three and she loved running around and trying the different exhibits (especially the dress up theater and water area). We found it a bit tough getting into everything with her (some of the crawl spaces are not made for adults), but were able to see her fully in almost all parts of the museum. We mainly let her run around and burn off her toddler energy! It’s not the most engaging children’s museum we have ever been to, but it was worth the afternoon we spent letting her run around.
Portland Japanese Garden (website)
Portland, Oregon
We absolutely loved the Portland Japanese Garden. The entrance felt a bit pricey, and the walk into the garden is kind of long (especially for a toddler), and mostly uphill, so we did not know what to expect. To be honest, my husband complained about making us see the garden the whole way up. With that said, it was totally worth it! We found a wonderfully maintained Japanese garden with many paths, streams, koi ponds, and places for our energetic toddler to run a bit. Not to mention gorgeous trees and plants! It was a really nice break from the hustle of the city and gave us a chance to relax and breath. We also caught a great view of the Portland city skyline from the garden. The Portland Japanese Garden was one of our favorite sites in Portland! We can’t recommend it enough!
Powell’s Books (website)
Portland, Oregon
We are HUGE book lovers, so Powell’s Books was a must see on our list. The building is a few city blocks in each direction, so we knew we were in for some fun! There are many different sections within Powell’s, all labeled well. The children’s book section is very large. My almost three-year-old had a field day running around the children’s section and finding different books. There were many of the old favorites, but it also offered many books I had not heard of before, which I liked. We each walked away with a few new books and great sense of joy! Powell’s is just down the street from the Deschutes Brewery, which was very delicious! Paired together, they made for a super fun afternoon!
