A day sampling some of the microbreweries of Portland

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
1
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
5
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
8
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
3
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
5
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
65 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
228th/453
Top 50%
continent
North America
country
USA
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$60 ($20-$100 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
May
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Breweries Partying / Lash
All Tags
Cool neighbourhoods
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐
Summary

Portland? Oregon? I mean it’s not usually top of the list of fun places round the world.  What if I told you it had the most microbreweries per capita?  (and most strip joints per capita of any city?)  Yep, give it a go – working your way through the various microbreweries in this super friendly, and very liveable, city is good fun and a pleasant surprise

Drinking in Portland was a small part of a whirlwind road trip around the Western US states.  See the itinerary and tips for this adventure here – Rapid 2 week roadtrip around the US West Coast States

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other fun Drinking Experiences around the World

Cycling and drinking craft beers around the Chico Circuit in Bariloche
Overall Score: 88

Wine tasting and cycling around the vineyards of Mendoza
Overall Score: 78

Oktoberfest in Munich
Overall Score: 75

Sampling wines in the Champagne region
Overall Score: 85

Eger – wine tasting in the Valley of the Beautiful Women
Overall Score: 58

Nights out and soaking up Havana
Overall Score: 83

Munich Christmas Markets, Beer Halls and visiting Neuschwanstein Castle
Overall Score: 85

Two night stay in Las Vegas
Overall Score: 78

Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui – mopeds, beaches, ping pong shows and full moon parties
Overall Score: 78

Learning to love Guinness in the Dublin Guinness Storehouse
Overall Score: 70

The Trans Pennine Railway Real Ale Trail
Overall Score: 58

Day trip to Macau from Hong Kong
Overall Score: 65

Score Detail

The scores you see above are really the point of this whole site, rather than just the individual travel review you're seeing above.  They fit into a much bigger summary of 20 years of travel, across 100+ countries, from dirt-poor backpacking to the luxury end, rushed weekends to months on the road.  Every one of the 500+ experiences have a "wow factor" score and a few other scores that add up to a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score.  For more info, have a look at the About page for the travel philosophy that drives them.

But, more importantly, have a play with the map above and on the Home page to see which of these experiences rank as really Maximum Wow-factor all the way down to the proper "Gash".

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