Portland is a pleasant city, home to a very well-known book store (http://www.powells.com) and a short drive from two scenic attractions: The Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon Coast.

The Monaco in Portland has large rooms, is well situated, and may be available on a deal that includes parking and breakfast: http://www.travelportland.com

The Alexis used to have a good reputation, and I see on TripAdvisor that it still does.

I can't advise on how to divide your time. It depends if you want to go to Mt. Rainier, the San Juan Islands, the Oregon Coast, the Columbia River Gorge, etc.

Fly to PDX. After picking up your luggage step outside and get on the TriMet Red line into town. The fare is $2.50/person.
It takes about 41 minutes to get to Pioneer Square which is about 1 block from the Monaco.
You can rent a car downtown if and when you need it to see things outside the city.
When you are done with Portland, get on an Amtrak train to Seattle. If you only want to see things in the cities, you can do without a rental car.

Thanks for your kind suggestions.

Back to the guide books.

Is Cannon Beach a reasonable day trip from Portland or better to plan an overnight visit?

I think it is best to consider Cannon Beach as an overnight trip from Portland rather than worry about driving back in the dark. If you want to walk out to Haystack Rock you will have to wait for low tide (consult the tide chart).
If the lodging is expensive or not available in Cannon Beach, try staying for a night in Seaside.
Try to make it to Astoria to see the Astoria Column and other attractions.

<<My interests are the arts, history, quirky places and markets, book and paper stores, and sports. Love National and State Parks...>>

There are so many art galleries in the Pearl District now - just start walking around and you'll be overwhelmed!

Of course the best book store in the work (IMHO) is Powell's in NW Portland. There are a number of paper stores as well where the work is often hand done or done by local artists. You can easily ask at Powell's and they may have local references. Walking! Mt. Washington is a great place to go hiking and walking...the Rose Garden and the Japanese Gardens are beautiful there.

Restaurants - there is a quirky, local produce, organic, one on just about every corner in Portland. I love Le Pigeon, but the list is endless:

Voodoo Doughnut (SW 3rd Ave)
Screen Door (Burnside St)
Andina in the Pearl District
Toro Bravo (NE Russell St)
Veritable Quandary (new in Downtown - I haven't been there but it's supposed to be good)
Por Que No? (SE Hawthorne)

etc.

Cannon Beach and beautiful nearby Ecola State Park can be visited as a day trip from Portland--about 2 hours each way.

Haystack Rock can be enjoyed at all tide levels. Here are links to Haystack Rock, Ecola State Par, and the Astoria Column:

http://www.cannon-beach.net/cbhaystack.html
http://www.cannon-beach.net/recreation/cbecola.html
http://www.astoriacolumn.org/

Cannon Beach has lots of lodging possibilities. Rooms on the ocean are, of course, more expensive than those a block from the ocean.

HTtY

Both cities have so much to offer, so 7-8 days will mean narrowing down your choices.

Here in Portland, the Japanese and Chinese Gardens are beautiful right now. The rose garden is past it's prime, and with the rain that started in today, I wouldn't waste my time there.

The Portland Art Museum and OMSI are great places as well.

The Saturday Market (which is held on both Sat. and Sun.) is a lot of fun and very quirky. It is right downtown.

Forest Park is up near the Japanese Garden and is beautiful and has lots of trails for hiking. IF (yes, big if) you have a clear day, Pittock Mansion up there has great views of Mt Hood and the city.

I highly recommend a day out in the gorge with a rental car. It is beautiful and taking the old scenic highway means there are lots of great stops. There is a lot of construction along there right now, so you might have to do some detouring, but it is well worth it. It starts east of Portland about 15 minutes.

Cannon Beach is an easy day trip from here. It is 90 minutes from downtown and is very enjoyable, IMO. The only thing I would say is that our days are short here in late Oct. so you would want to leave early so that you are not driving back in the dark.

As for hotels, even though we live here, we like to stay in downtown for special events and the Monaco is our choice. The hotel is great and the location is ideal. I would put the RiverPlace as last choice based upon location.

For wines, the heart of our wine region is about 45 minutes SW of downtown. We have over 200 wineries in this area alone, and pinot noir is king here.

In Seattle, we have stayed at the Alexis and I really liked it.

My favorite day trips from Seattle are Whidbey Island and Leavenworth. Both are great for hiking and just taking in nature.

Of course, Pike Place Market in Seattle is a must. I also like going over to the Ballard Locks. Gasworks Park at sunset is nice too.

Thanks so much! So many great suggestions. Clearly we will need to prioritize to make the most of our time.

I have read about the Saturday Market -- am very excited about that and since we're only going to be around for one Saturday, that one is firmly entrenched on the my calendar. There's no way we'll miss seeing Powells. I know my husband is really interested in seeing the gorge.

We had originally planned this trip to include Vancouver but had to shave a couple of days off for work reasons. Looks like even with the additional time we couldn't have done justice to three cities and environs in 10 days.

We have stayed at The Riverplace several times and love it there! Don't miss a visit to Voodoo Doughnuts during your stay. Other fun places are: Little Bird Bistro, Le Pigeon, Urban Farmer and Departure Lounge @ The Nines Hotel. If your budget allows, look at The Nines, we stayed here earlier this year for 3 nights on the Club Level and were very impressed with their quality of service. ***kim***

Hey ***kim*** I was wondering what happened to you.
Thanks for the tips.

HTtY

hi htty,
i wondered what happened to her as well.

Thanks, ***kim*** we like Kimpton hotels so we'll have to slum it at the Monaco!

Voodoo is on the list and walking distance from the Monaco. Just noticed there is also a Maritime Museum nearby -- that would definitely be of interest to the DH.

Looks like Le Pigeon the sort of restaurant we should be making a booking for now and not wait until we get out there.

Last August my DH and I finally made the trek to Voodoo Doughnuts with our young grandkids. Wow, the selections are wild.

@ happytrails -- have you (or has anyone else) used the travelportland.com website? Are they legit? Just curious because the site does seem to have very good deals and I was thinking of snagging a room this weekend rather than stay and bother my friends.

We previously stayed at the Monaco (under a different name), but for our purposes, we're trying to be cost efficient (i.e. cheap). I see Hotel Fifty has a great deal on the travelportland website, and Fodors says it's been renovated.

Anyone been there recently? As far as location goes, the only event planned is to go to the Leonard Cohen concert at the Rose Quarter on Sunday evening, and we are renting a car. So I would like the hotel to be relatively near to that venue. As for the balance, we like using public transportation, so if it's close to that, this would be a plus.

Thoughts?

Travelportland is legal - I live in Oregon and I almost always use them when I go to Portland-
good rates, free parking and usually a breakfast as well- plus some shopping coupons.

Hotel Fifty is a good place to stay but have not stayed since the remodel-

There is another hotel I stay at sometimes across the river when I go to a concert as you can walk to the Rose Quarter- but I have to think of the name of it - its nice, clean and perfect for a concert as you dont have to worry about parking

Will see if I can figure out the name and post it

Crowne Plaza is where we stayed - their add states they have a free shuttle service to anywhere within 5 miles and to the airport too - so if you dont want to walk to the concert which is just a few blocks- you could take the shuttle.

It is also close to the "free zone" for public transportation - however I have heard that the free service is being eliminated- not sure of that or the effective dates.

Red Lion Lloyd Center is also a good place to stay for a concert and there is a Tri-Met stop close by.

Surfergirl--I live here in the Portland area. Yes, as sumbum says, that website is legit. That said, most hotels will have the same offer if you book directly with them, so you don't need to do it via 3rd party. Even though we live here, we like to stay overnight in downtown for special events, and this is how we book our rooms. I have not stayed at the Hotel Fifty, but the location is fine and it gets good word of mouth. There was just a special on either Groupon or Sharing Spree that had the Hotel Fifty for a really good rate. I got the email just a few days ago, so it is still good. Yes, the free zone is no longer free. It is still very inexpensive though. Another option for fun, but very reasonably priced, is the Kennedy School which is a McMenamin Hotel.

Yes, travelportland.com is completely legit. The deals are real and they come with a coupon booklet that usually includes good dining deals.

It is always advisable to contact hotels directly; however, in my experience, most Portland hotels do not offer the same deals if you contact them directly. (One exception is Inn at Northtrop Station.)

HTtY

hey, how'd i miss this one. i live in Seattle. but reading the questions I guess i don't have anything to add (lol). wishing you a good trip regardless obxgirl. sincerely suze

Our experience is very different from HTTY. So far only one hotel has not met the Portland Perks deals for us.

Thank you all. I checked with the hotel website for Hotel Fifty and the cost even for AAA was about $100 per night.

I again want to thank you for giving me a quick update and responses to my questions -- it's so helpful.

But now that you've brought up "free zone", uh, what is that?

I will check Crowne Plaza on rates. I don't even know how far the airport is from downtown Portland. I've only ever driven and taken the train to Portland!

The "free zone" was an area where you could ride the Max ( public transportation) at no cost - however, they have done away with it,so its not available anymore- still does not cost much though.

I would say its a 30 min ride from airport to downtown- you can also take a train from the airport.