Portland: Wonderful city of weird

Weirdness awakes: Portland at sunrise. Photo / 123RF

From books to bikes and beers - Shandelle Battersby looks at the best of Portland.

Think Portland, Oregon, think words beginning with "B": beer, beards, bands, bikes, bridges, books. The stereotypes satirised on TV sketch show Portlandia walk its streets and make this Pacific Northwest hipster mecca one of the most unique places you'll visit in the United States. How can you not love a city with the motto "Keep Portland Weird"? Here are some of the must-dos and highlights if you're spending a few days in the City of Roses.

1. BEER
This is probably what New Zealanders know best about Portland, which claims to have more breweries than any other city on Earth, with more than 60. There's also a stack of beer festivals celebrating the lovely bubbly brown stuff, and if you want to kill two birds with one stone, there are beer and bike events and "brew n view" movie theatres.

One of the most established brew pubs is Deschutes which occupies a vast space in the Pearl District. There are 26 beers on tap, including seasonal and experimental drops, and the menu revolutionises classic pub food. Do yourself a favour and try the elk burger.

2. BANDS
Our own Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who won the 2015 Apra Silver Scroll award for Multi-Love last week, are based in Portland which has a strong indie music scene. For a city of only about 600,000 people, the list of musicians who call it home is long and impressive: The Gossip, the Dandy Warhols, the Decemberists, M. Ward, Modest Mouse, Sleater-Kinney, the Shins, Stephen Malkmus of Pavement ... Among the best live music venues are the Doug Fir Lounge, with its rocket-ship-meets-log-cabin decor; the historic McMenamin's Crystal Ballroom, which has a floating dance floor; and new venue, Revolution Hall, housed in the former George Washington High School building.

3. BIKES
Portland is flat, has more than 480km of excellent bike lanes, paths and low-traffic streets, and the city prides itself on its high cycling commuting numbers. There are loads of places you can rent bikes from, and several operators offer guided tours.

It's a great way to see the city and traverse some of its cool bridges over the Williamette River which separates the east and west. The locals seem really tolerant of cyclists, even those who haven't been on a bike for years and don't know where they're going...

The aerial tram offers great views of the city. Photo / 123RF

4. BOOKS
You'll find one of the best and biggest independent bookstores in the world on West Burnside St, taking up a whole city block. Powell's City of Books is so amazing, you'll want to make several return visits. It stocks everything you can imagine, including used and rare books, and has a fantastic gift section. It's hard to miss, but make sure you don't.

5. BEDTIME
If you want to be close to the action, you'll probably want to stay around the southwest of the city, where you'll find scores of excellent food trucks, cool hotels such as the Ace, great restaurants, diners and bars, and interesting shops.

6. BEAUTY
We're talking the great outdoors here - Portlanders are very active, and with Mt Hood on their doorstep are really into hiking, mountain biking, fishing, and nearly year-round skiing. If you're short on time, head for the Portland Aerial Tram which leaves from the South Waterfront district and climbs Marquam Hill and offers great views of the downtown city, its surrounding forest and, on a clear day, Mt Hood and Mt St Helens.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Air New Zealand flies direct to Los Angeles and San Francisco from Auckland, with onward connections to Portland on partner airlines.

For more information: Visit DiscoverAmerica.com