The old boards were useful for this kind of thing so I’ll give it another go…
I’m heading there in the spring to visit a friend who’s move over. I don’t know too much about the place so please share suggestions for restaurants, bars, day trips etc. Obviously I’m going to try and get to some gigs whilst I’m there too, which are the best venues to visit?
And is Seattle worth spending a day or two in whilst I’m there?
i much preferred seattle to portland tbh
Lovely stone. Good for monuments.
What would be top of the Seattle to-do-list if you only had a day there. Thinking I’ll probably have to fly into Seattle.
Seattle is better. Jimi Hendrix museum, Pike Place Market, the heroin, coffee…
struggling to remember specifics but there’s a brewery there called elysian which is amazing. it’s since been bought out by coors but people have said it’s still good. i spent quite a bit of time up on capitol hill just going around record and thrift shops and wandering about getting pished.
I’ve note been to Portland for over 10 years, but I know that various DiSers have been recently so will let them fill in some up to date info. Suffice to say that I absolutely loved the place when I was there - easily one of my top three US cities.
As is Seattle actually, so I would say it’s well worth a visit for at least a couple of days. I was last there a couple of years back and I think it actually gets better with each visit,. You can catch the train up from Portland which is a lovely journey along the water and through forests.
For music/film fans the EMP Museum is a must see - it has so much memorabilia and some lovely hands on stuff:
Chihuly Garden is almost next door and that whole area around the space needle is worth exploring:
At the other end of the city, the area around Pioneer Square and downtown is really historic and has a load of good bars. The underground city tour is fascinating:
http://www.undergroundtour.com/
The nearby area around Pike Place Market is nice for eating, drinking, shopping, watching the sun go down:
Edited to get the links to work…
Thanks. I think I need to add Seattle to the topic subject too! Don’t suppose they can be edited?
Possibly a job for the mod squad?
Obvious piece of travel advice, but if you’re going to gigs in The US make sure you’ve got photo ID with you as they won’t let you in without it…
You’re there next Spring? My girlfriend is from Seattle and we have a lot of friends in Seattle and Portland. I’ve been quite a few times as a result - what kind of things are you in to?
The EMP is pretty cool to spend half a day at, and is right by the space needle, then freemont is great for coffee shops and seeing the freemont troll. Pike place is pretty iconic as well.
Probably going to visit in May. Was tempted by March when the flights seem a bit cheaper, but it could still be pretty cold then?
Interested in modern art. I’m a bit of a beer nerd so any breweries that do tours and have tap rooms would be good. I’d like to get to a Portland Timbers game if I can, but would also interested in going to any other sports stuff that might be happening around then – NFL, Hockey or Baseball. Then music stuff – good record shops and venues. It looks to be relatively close to the coast and forests too – so any suggestions where to head to there are welcome.
I’ll have a think and also chat with the GF later and let you know! 
A little bump for this seeing as I’m going there shortly, after postponing for a year.
Only got 24 hours in Seattle, so anything good to do or where to eat and booze in Portland is appreciated.
Thanks