Trip To Portland, Oregon With Kids

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Our family decided to spend a few days in Portland in October. I have been to Portland before, but my husband and Aiden haven’t, so I was definitely looking forward to Portland with kids. One of the things I love about Portland is the greenery. There are trees everywhere and the air feels so fresh, in comparison to Los Angeles. Also, tickets to Oregon from California are usually fairly cheap on United, and who doesn’t like cheap? 🙂

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We checked the weather before we left so we knew it was going to rain. Aiden was excited. As you know, it doesn’t rain much in California, so any reason to wear a raincoat and rain boots is a win for Aiden. He got to Portland Ready!! I bought both from Target for about $10 last year when they went on clearance. I shop on the clearance rack 99.9% of time. I had no idea if or when Aiden was going to wear it, but it was too good of a deal to pass. I am definitely glad I got it. If I had to buy both last minute, I would have spent at least $40, and that wouldn’t have been worth it for a few days of use only.

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Travel To Portland, Oregon With Kids

Renting A Car In Portland

We rented a car from National and we stayed at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Portland.

I have stayed here several times before and have always enjoyed my time there. The hotel has restaurant that serves pretty decent food and is open until 10pm, as well as a bar that is open until 11pm. When I stay here for work it’s pretty convenient because I don’t have to go around looking for a place to grab dinner or even a glass of wine. My husband and I enjoyed a drink from the bar on one of the nights there. Don’t worry, we didn’t leave Aiden in the room by himself, we took our drinks to the room with us. Parent life! lol

Panoramic view from our room. Nothing spectacular, but nice to see. Especially the color.

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I spent some time researching kid/family friendly activities for us to do, as well as places to eat and was able to find quite a few things to keep us busy. We spent a total of 3 days and had something to do on each day.

Things To Do In Portland With Kids

Day 1

It was raining so Aiden got to wear his rain boots and raincoat and jump in puddles. Which kid doesn’t enjoy jumping in puddles? We took a trip to a small mall close to our hotel, The Lloyd Center . There is a play area there and Aiden ran to it immediately and took his shoes off. He loves meeting and playing with other children, so he had a blast. He is a champ at making friends in no time!

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After we left the Lloyd Center, we made a stop at the famous Voodoo Donut. There were so many to choose from and Aiden couldn’t make up his mind. He finally decided on the M&M donut. This was definitely a treat for him as I don’t allow him sweets often. We also got a few others to try it out. I don’t like donuts very much so I didn’t enjoy it as much as my husband and Aiden did.

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After a thorough Yelp search for good Thai food, we decided on Khao San Pao for dinner. We ordered a soup and a curry, as well as brown rice and white rice and ate it family style. We also ordered a Thai iced tea and it was perfect. Aiden didn’t like the soup or curry or tea so he ate plain white rice, chicken from the curry and drank water. He is a picky eater so this wasn’t a surprise. This restaurant has the coolest “tuk tuk” and Aiden pretended it to ride it when he was done with his meal.

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A Detailed Guide To Flying With Kids For The First Time

DAY 2

Aiden woke up bright and early, pulled back the hotel room blinds and to our surprise, it wasn’t raining. We decided to take advantage of this. After breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for our outdoor adventure.

Our first stop – Wahkeena Falls.  We walked around for a bit, talked about what we saw, and of course took a few photos. 

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Isn’t he just beautiful 🙂10g7a7129

Aiden said “Mom, I love this rainforest.”10g7a7144

Our second stop – Multnomah Falls. Aiden has visited the Niagara Falls and loved it, so he absorbed the beauty of this water fall as well. We hiked a mile up to the bridge and watched the water fall from the top. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

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When we left the Falls, the weather was still nice so we decided to get as much out of the day as we could. We headed straight to the Japanese Gardens. The scenery was beautiful. We walked all the paths, with Aiden leading the way. We let him explore at his pace and decide on what path we took and how long we stayed in each place. I strongly believe in child lead learning so this was perfect.

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After outdoor adventure, we were starving. We found a restaurant about 10 minutes away – Lechon. The food, service, atmosphere, etc I mean everything about this restaurant was perfect. We got there at 4.25pm and were told that they don’t start serving dinner until 5pm. We started off by ordering a few items from their Happy Hour menu. The waitress also took our dinner order and informed us that she was able to put it in at 4.59pm :). Everything we ordered was good.

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How To Keep Your Kids Entertained On Flights

DAY 3

We checked out of our hotel in the morning. After eating breakfast at the hotel for a couple of days, we decided to try something different. We had brunch at Le Petit Provence. The wait was about 40 minutes, but it was worth every minute of it. There is a boutique next door so I took Aiden there to keep him occupied while my husband waited for us to be seated.

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White chocolate croissant and a hazelnut latte

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Did I mention they have a bakery – YUM

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After stuffing ourselves, we headed to the Portland Children’s Museum. We make time to visit every museum and science center when we travel. Aiden looks forward to it each time. We spent the rest of the afternoon here, and then headed straight to the airport after. We were here until they closed at 5pm. Aiden had to be dragged out, he just didn’t want to leave. (Nothing New, lol)

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If you’re considering visiting Portland, I suggest that you do. There are lots of things to do. There are also several falls that we did not get a chance to visit. Just to name a few – Ramona Falls, Sahalie Falls, Oneonta Falls, Latourelle Falls, Dry Creek Falls, Silver Falls, Fairy Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Spirit Falls, Wahclella Falls, Tumalo Falls; Lakes -Trillium Lake, Crater Lake, Lost Lake. We also did not get a chance to visit the Oregon Musuem of Science and Industry. This is great because we definitely have a reason to visit Portland again.

See below for video highlights of our trip

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Booking Your Trip – Tips & Tricks

How To Book Cheap Flights

Looking to book the cheapest flights you can possibly find on the internet, then make sure to use Skyscanner when searching for flights. Don’t forget to download the Skyscanner App also which is very handy. Both the Skyscanner website and Skyscanner App are my favorite booking tools. This is how I was able to get $12.40 airfare from Los Angeles to London, as well as $9.40 airfare from London to Italy.

How To Book Affordable Accommodation

When booking accommodation, TripAdvisor is the way to go. I love TripAdvisor because you can read reviews and see photos from other travelers to get a feel of where you will be staying. TripAdvisor will also route to you the cheapest vendor to book from such as Booking. Don’t forget to check Airbnb for house rentals.

How To Book Activities

My favorite website to search for activities, tours and especially skip the line tickets is Viator. This makes trip planning so much easier because you don’t have to search several sites, Viator has several options to choose from.

Why Travel Insurance Is a Must

People book trip and forget the most important part, purchasing travel insurance. Because we travel often, I purchase our travel insurance place through Allianz for a year at a time. This means that we are covered for all trips within that year. Travel insurance will protect you and your family against theft, injury illness, flight cancellations and so much more.

Looking to save even more money when you travel?

Visit my Travel Resources page to see all the reliable and trustworthy brands that I use to book my travel with. I only recommend brands that I’ve used and can vouch for, so you’re in good hands! ? Also check out these posts below:

Top Travel With Kids Tips

Traveling with kids and have a few questions you need answers too, these posts below will help your trip run smooth.

Kay, The Mom Trotter

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I am an entrepreneur and travel enthusiast who is passionate about sharing an alternate way of living surrounding travel, homeschooling, parenting and financial independence, with a mission to inspire other families.

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