Portland’s city centre contains an exciting combination of top-class shopping, exciting entertainment and gourmet dining.

With great attractions and plenty of affordable accommodation, the centre of Portland is a great base for your visit to the city.Pioneer Courthouse Square is the cultural heart of Portland and the perfect place to begin your visit to the downtown district. The 3,700-square-metre plaza is affectionately known as Portland’s living room and regularly plays host to events – around 300 every year – meaning you’re visit is likely to coincide with a concert, festival or a open-air movie in the amphitheatre.Another popular place for summertime festivals is the Tom McCall Waterfront Park which hosts larger gatherings, such as many of the Portland Rose Festival events. It’s also a popular place for a leisurely stroll, bike or roller blade with wide pathways and beautiful trees.As you wander the centre of Portland you’ll soon discover the unique mobile dining craze that has spread through the city. “Pods” of food carts group together offering a variety of different tastes from Mexican to Greek and everything in between. Some even provide sheltered seating so you can enjoy your low-cost meal under cover on one of the city’s frequent rainy days.The city also has a huge range of restaurants and the eateries in the city have a reputation for using organic, locally sourced ingredients. There are also plenty of places with top-quality food at reasonable prices – drop by a local café for breakfast or brunch: two very important meals in the city.It’s not just foodies who’ll feel at home in the city centre however, shoppers will be amazed at the range of independent book shops in the area, including Powell’s City of Books, which has over a million titles and covers an entire city block.