The People's Coast

The Best Oregon Beaches Within 3 Hours of Portland

Our coast brims with spectacular beaches. Here are a few that will leave you breathless.

08/29/2025 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen and Sam Stites

Swimming

Portland Hotels with Outdoor Pools for Summer Splashing

Why should tourists have all the fun? Avoid the city's overcrowded public pools by treating yourself to a lil' staycation.

08/26/2025 By Margaret Seiler and Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Best of PDX

Your Quintessential Portland Bucket List: 50 Things to Do in Town

These are our city's can't-miss activities, whether you’ve lived here all your life or are just passing through.

03/26/2025 By Portland Monthly Staff

Year in Review

9 Hellos and 6 Goodbyes: Portland’s Biggest Restaurant Moves of 2023

Kaede. Lil’ America. Yaowarat. Castagna. Mama Dút. Matta. It’s been a joyful and gutting year.

12/29/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Hiking

6 Post-Thanksgiving Hikes in and around Portland

Skip Black Friday and spend your turkey recovery day at Forest Park, on Mount Tabor, or taking advantage of free parking at a state park.

11/22/2023 By Gabriel Granillo With Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Power Ranking

We Ranked Every McMenamins in and around Portland

The local brewery-winery-distillery-historic-hotel-theater-concert-hall-wedding-venue-etc. empire turned 40 in 2023, and we graded every one within 20 miles.

09/22/2023 By Dalila Brent, Arianne Cohen, Katherine Chew Hamilton, Isabel Lemus Kristensen, Michael Novak, Margaret Seiler, and Sam Stites

Food Carts

Meet the Food Carts at Lil’ America, Portland’s Most Exciting New Pod

Come for Korean fried chicken wings, longanisa burgers, and a sense of community and camaraderie.

04/18/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton Photography by Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Disaster Prep

How to Prepare a Portland Home for Earthquakes and Wildfire Smoke

You’re living in a disaster-prone state. Are you ready for the next one?

04/07/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen Illustrations by SanQian

Coffee

The New, Joyful Face of Portland Coffee

Goodbye, coffee cool kids' club. Portland’s modern cafe scene has evolved into a multiverse of ideas, destinations, and self-expression.

04/05/2023 By Jordan Michelman

Coffee

The Definitive Guide to Portland’s Best Indie Coffee Shops

The revolutionary roasters and old-school cafes shaping Portland’s dynamic new coffee culture.

04/05/2023 By Jordan Michelman, Matthew Trueherz, Karen Brooks, Katherine Chew Hamilton, and Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Camp Cooking

How to Dutch Oven Cook like a Pro

Tournant chefs Mona Johnson and Jaret Foster share tips and tricks for cooking great open-fire meals, plus their recipe for clam stew.

03/29/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

In Bloom

Wildflower-Covered Hillsides to Elegant Gardens, Oregon Blooms Are Booming

Tulips, azaleas, wild irises, begonias, roses ... whatever flower you’re thinking of, it’s probably growing right here in Oregon.

03/20/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Trails

Hike of the Month: Linear Trail at L. L. “Stub” Stewart State Park

Spend a day exploring this state park’s 25-mile network of hiking, mountain biking, and horse-friendly trails.

03/06/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Theater

'Where We Belong' at Portland Center Stage Grapples with Identity, Colonialism, and Shakespeare

Native theatermaker Madeline Sayet’s play runs through March 26.

03/02/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Food News

Less and More Coffee Will Open a New Location This Spring

A year and a half after the downtown coffee stand opened, it’s already expanding into a second location, a brick-and-mortar by Pioneer Courthouse Square.

03/01/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Theater

Pandora's Box Meets Alice in Wonderland at Shaking the Tree Theatre

Audiences are invited to embrace their curiosity at this installation performance, which runs through April 1.

02/24/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Trails

Hike of the Month: Oxbow Loop

Explore 12 miles of trails through towering old-growth forest and the glacier-fed Sandy River just minutes from Portland.

02/14/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Travel

Getting Wrecked in Astoria: 28 Hours of Beer, Food, and History

Czech-style pilsners, blackberry English pub ciders, creamy frozen custard, barking sea lions, famous shipwrecks, historic military batteries, and more

02/10/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Self-Care

4 Local Spa Treatments to Shake the Winter Doldrums

A Hawaiian massage, a float tank, and your choice of soaks

02/08/2023 By Karen Brooks, Katherine Chew Hamilton, Isabel Lemus Kristensen, and Margaret Seiler

Theater

Review: ‘Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson–Apt. 2B’ at Portland Center Stage

Playwright Kate Hamill’s witty, relevant, gender-flipped, pandemic-set adaptation of Sherlock Holmes runs through February 12.

02/01/2023 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen