-
Brody Theater
3 reviews
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Category: Comedy Clubs
Portland Walking Tours
Rating Details »
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 774-4522
(503) 774-4522
Check out limited time web specials
Visit our website and be sure to look for the specials we are now offering. Buy tickets today as these specials change often!
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
11 reviews for Portland Walking Tours
I'm a fan of walking tours and this one did not disappoint. We took the 2 1/2 hour "Best of Portland" tour. Our guide, Amanda, was informative and friendly. The walking was easy and the tour provided a nice overview of this eco-friendly city that is so well planned, that city planners from around the country study the best practices implemented here.
From all the art sculptures to the tree-lined streets to stunning theaters to the world's smallest park, it's a fun way to introduce yourself or your guests to the city of Portland. We're considering moving to this area, so it was perfect for us. Once we live here, I'd take visiting guests on the tour as well.
Can't beat the price. I booked online in advance and it was only $15 for me (web special) and $5 for my daughter (10 and under).
My review is of the Epicurean Tour, which was a 4 hour walking tour -- which was way too long and nowhere close to what I would really call "epicurean." Well, I suppose it would be, if your idea of fine food includes a selection of salad and breadsticks from the Olive Garden.
Our tour leader was friendly and pleasant... but really didn't seem to know much about food, pronouncing amuse bouche as "amuse boo-shay" and basically using the Slow Food movement as an excuse for the slow, boring pace of the tour.
The samples from the restaurants were pretty lame, too. The Heathman provided as an "amuse boo-shay" a bland, pedestrian deviled egg (!!) (which tasted as if it were procured from the local Safeway) while patting themselves on the back about having a James Beard award-winning chef in their kitchen. Most of the places we visited (Cacao, Flying Elephants Deli, Yoga Pearl, etc) we didn't speak to or even SEE the principals of the places we were sampling. Which means, I guess, that those vendors think this tour is a piece of crap, too.
The only standouts were the visits to the Rogue Brewery, which included a great presentation and tastings of their spirits hosted by their distiller, and a stop at Sweet Masterpiece, where we were treated to a presentation of wine and chocolate pairing. These visits were the only worthwhile parts of the tour.
I'd recommend that this tour company take a few epicurean tours in other cities (the Savor Seattle Gourmet Tour, for example, is amazing) and find out what makes a worthwhile tour. Otherwise, I'd say this one in its current form is overpriced and not really worth the time.
Comment from David S. of
Portland Walking Tours
6/25/2009
Your June 5th guide, Herb, *does* knows how to pronounce…
More »
If you are from out of town, it looks like based on other reviews, that you may like this.
If you are actually wanting to learn more about the city you love, STAY AWAY. You can learn more in a Willamette Week.
I went on a ghost tour on halloween night. It was embarassing how bad it was. Like, I almost felt sorry for our tour guide, it was that bad. And for the price of the ticket ($29!!), I would have had more fun with a few friends at an amazing restaurant for happy hour.
They did not follow through on what they promised on the website, and the stories they told were lame. Perhaps because we Portlanders love this town so much and appreciate her history, we venture to learn some on our own, or maybe it's because we expect more from the folks who claim to love her the way we do. In my opinion, this walking tour company might have been a group of folks who *used* to love Portland like the rest of us, but somehow decided making money off her beauty was more important... and thus the magic is lost.
I would highly recommend you find some amazing hidey-hole in portland (because we are a town famous for really awesome things to do) and enjoy your night NOT on a Portland walking tour.
What a great set of tours! On a recent trip to Portland, I got to experience both the epicurean and best of Portland tours. I had a blast getting to learn about all Portland had to offer.
The epicurean tour was both fun and tasty and I got to learn about some amazing places to eat, but also about the businesses themselves and the culture of the food in Portland with a focus on local organic and sustainable food.
The best of Portland tour was also a great time, understanding the values of Portland, the history of the city (and those ubiqitous bubblers) and gave me a renewed sense of appreciation for the city to the south of Seattle.
The tour guides obviously enjoyed what they did very much, which only added to the great experience. I had a great time and would recommend these tours to anyone.
This is a great way to learn more about Portland in an informative and fun atmosphere.
I took the Best of Portland walking tour which was just under 2.5 hours. I'd been to Portland once before and felt like I learned a great deal about the city's history (you see the actual penny used in the infamous coin toss - Portland of course won out but the city could have been called New Boston?); architecture (Portlandia's hand is about 5'4 and the repousse technique used to create her is the same as the Statue of Liberty); and culture.
Our guide Bob was friendly. It was just my friend (a Portland native) and I on the tour so things were pretty casual and we asked a lot of questions.
I would definitely go again next time I visit...I'd love to try the Epicurean tour.
This review is for their Beyond Bizarre Tour. This tour was not "spooky fun." I just went last night, on Halloween, with friends, thinking this tour would be fun and a good night for seeing and hearing about spirits especially it being Halloween night. A couple of friends did not grow up in Portland, so we all thought it would be fun for them to see another side of the city. First, their tickets for this tour is $29 a person. For a walking tour, for that price, it better be fantastic. I had been to the Shanghai Tunnels Tour before, and that was okay, so I figured this too, would be worth the price. DON'T waste your money! They said that they will give you equipment for ghost hunting and it was only an K2 meter and they only had 5 of them for a group of 11. That's okay, we shared. No big deal. What was a big deal, is that all we did was walk in downtown, heard a little bit about the architecture, a little history, and just a couple of ghost stories. We didn't get to go into the actual buildings and check out any reported hauntings or see where these actual hauntings took place. Our stop in the Benson Hotel was basically a bathroom break. Why this tour is for people only over 18, I don't know. It was boring and we all want our money back! We are history buffs, love architecture, and we go on ghost tours when we are in different cities, so, I'm not exaggerating on how lame and overpriced this tour was last night. One of our friends is a lawyer, and she was actually looking up their website for the description of this tour, while we were on the tour. She used the word, "misrepresentation.' I thought it was a nice word for "sucked." We were actually getting really frustrated and felt like the only thing that got shanghaied were our wallets. We were also irritated when a stop on the tour was at Voodoo Doughnuts. Why was this on the tour?! We wanted ghosts, not doughnuts. And no, a doughnut was not included in the tour. The guide received two and proceeded to share, which was a kind gesture, but we would have rather spent the $30 on cocktails and walked around downtown ourselves, and if so inclined, picked up a doughnut. I have found things in our drain pipes more bizarre than this tour. Our last stop was back at Old Town Pizza, where we all met. We went down to the basement and stopped for about 10 minutes and that was it. We were in the tiny part of the underground and we couldn't walk around and explore. We saw other people through the archway in the basement and I asked them if they are part of the Undergound Tour, they were, and we wished we would have been in their tour instead. I was ready to climb over the rubble and join them. Seriously, save your money, and go on another tour. On the positive side, the tour guide was kind, and she knew her information; but still she was contradicting herself on what was truth and myth. Even though, she, herself was nice, it couldn't save our time and money we felt were wasted.
Even if you're a local, I highly recommend Portland Walking Tours. Brad is especially informed and entertaining--ask for one of his tours.
Next time you've got visitors in town, why not take them on a Portland Walking Tour? You know you don't want to drive out to Multnomah Falls again!
This was a 2 hour worth while tour of downtown Portland. Talked about scandals of the local government, police, famous events that Portland is known for AND took us to see some of the underground Shanghai tunnels. The tour guides were very funny too.
Went to Portland last weekend and wanted to learn more about the city. My boyfriend and I took the "Best of Portland" tour and really enjoyed it. It was 2.5 hours, covered about 2 miles of the city, and was very informative. Our guide was a Portland native and had great stories about the city's roots, architecture, history, etc. We definitely learned about things that we wouldn't have learned any other way.
Definitely a good thing to do if you are in Portland to visit, or if you already live there and want to learn more about your city.
With out a doubt we had the best tour guide and it was a lot fun. Didn't realize how many breweries there were in Portland! And the dark side to Portland was very interesting to learn about. I would definitely take out-of- town visitors on this tour.
this review is for their Epicurean Excursion, ONLY.
wow!! this is cool! if you have visitors coming or if you are going to be visiting pdx yourself, this tour is a must. it's totally worth the $$. you'll get to see a good chunk of downtown and the pearl by foot as well as sample a bunch of our local yumminess. also- you'll get a taste of how devoted portland is to the environment and "green" business practices. i learned a lot about the city and some local institutions, and i live here already!
