First Time in Portland

My wife and I are planning a trip. Would Memorial Day weekend be a good time or is June/July a better weather time. I read about a new upscale hotel that opened but do not remember the name if anyone can help. Can we visit the wine country and stay in town or do we need to stay there. Any suggetions for restaurants would be appreciated.

First Time in Portland

Piatty,

I would recommend July - the weather is typically perfect. July-Sept is usually about as good as it gets for weather.

Youcan stay in Portland and day trip to winecountry, but I would saty overnight in both. Oregon?washington has multiple wine country%26#39;s to choose from - there are the wineries east of Hood River in the Columbia Valley, there is the entire willamette Valley (100x60 miles) and there are wine areas in Southern Oregon. For a Portland focused trip, I would probably focus on the Carlton/Dundee/McMinnville/Amity area.

There are many, many great restaurants and places to stay in and around Portland and the Northern Willamette Valley wine country. Peruse this website and the Travel Oregon and Travel Portland websites for ideas. Portland Citysearch is good too.

After you go through security at the airport on your way home, be sure and stop by the wine and beer kiosk to pick up some local products to share with your friends in Texas

Have a nice trip to Oregon and the Willamette Valley!

First Time in Portland

I think June/July would be good also.

Hotel rates are highest then also.

Do you mean the Nines ? that seems to be the newest hotel .. they would probably be happy for some business , I hear things are very slow. But summer will hopefully help with all the hotels and restaurants.

Yes, you can do the wine area in a day trip .. easily.

I will post some lists .. you can look at hotels and restaurants..

Locals will be along soon and you will get plenty more advice :)

Restaurants

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Hotels

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I%26#39;m also thinking it%26#39;s The Nines you%26#39;ve heard about, piatty.

As has been said, you have a choice of either a day trip(s), or overnight in wine country, the heart of which is less than an hour%26#39;s drive from Portland. If wine is the focus of your trip, one reason to come over Memorial Day weekend is that many normally taste-by-appointment-only wineries will be open to the general public. The downside is that, since that happens only a couple times per year, wine country is always buzzing with visitors that weekend. And, because of that, you might be too late if you%26#39;re hoping to overnight in one of the nicer B%26amp;Bs.

Restaurant suggestions kinda depend on where you end up, Portland or wine country. And, what kind of food you like. But, Scarlett%26#39;s lists are a good place to start.

mistletoe, I made sure that all the places on my lists are still there, including the hotels lol ... and wine country should still be there too, right? ;)

Scarlett...will have to check the map and make sure whine country has not moved, but I think it is still there, right near the cheese factory? Am I correct?

Didn%26#39;t some of it move to Astoria? I thought I heard that?

';... and wine country should still be there too, right?';

As of last weekend, yes. Not sure about ';whine'; country though. :-)

lol....you guys :D

piatty ! you were here in Buenos Aires not too long ago, right ? Or has that trip happened yet ?

How about that ! I remembered your name :)

marrrley, hope you are feeling good.. thank you half-brit and mistletoe ... now back to the whine..oops..wine ..nevermind ..

Sometimes I whine when I have too much wine, but that is anothe story.

Thanks Scarlet...I am still on the mend. Think I overdid it chasing the little ones around at the parade on Saturday. That will teach me.

Now, to stop fooling around and respond to OP...Memorial Day weekend would be good for the reasons Mistletoe listed. However, really, the only time you can almost be guaranteed good weather is after 4th of July. Summer starts here on July 5th.

Ah, many are still here Scarlette. Hope you can visit sometime soon. There are new places that you have not been able to check out and some that have closed, too. Others that are on the fence.

The economy has taken a bite out of many favorite places. I heard that Olea closed, did anyone else hear about this?

To answer the original post, The Nines is a really nice hotel. They opened at a bad time, so rates are being discounted. So, take advantage of that. The restaurant there, Urban Farmer, is great. Not for those looking to dine inexpensively, but great none the less.

As far as wine country, yes, this is the weekend to visit, but please note that tasting fees apply and most are from $5-25 per person. Some of that *may* be applied to a purchase.

Most of Oregon wine country can be reached from Portland in under one hour. You can visit wineries in Washington County, Yamhill County and Salem within an hour of Portland. You can hit Eugene area wineries within 90-120 minutes....and the Umpqua region in 3 hours or so.

No matter which region you choose, you will have a great time!

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