Travel: Flights to Portland

Portland International Airport (IATA: PDX) is located 9 miles northeast of downtown on the Columbia River. Most major airlines serve Portland from nearly all major airports in the United States. Non-stop air service is also available from Vancouver, BC, Canada; Tokyo, Japan; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Guadalajara, Mexico; and Frankfurt, Germany. Daily direct service is also available to Mexico City, Mexico; and Singapore.

A taxi from the airport to downtown is around $30. The MAX light rail will only set you back $1.95 and will take you from one end of the Portland to the other. Plus it goes directly into downtown. All light rail connects with the city wide bus system. You be the one to decide: MAX or taxi.

If you're renting a car, the best way to get to downtown Portland from the airport is to take I-205 south to I-84 west, then follow the signs to the City Center at I-84's terminus and interchange with I-5. This will take you over the Morrison Bridge into downtown. Renting a car for a downtown destination is not recommended: inconvenient, spendy and hard-to-find parking combined with active parking meter enforcement (8AM-7PM) and nonintuitive street closures, transit malls and restrictions make it frustrating--even for locals. Within downtown, buses, Max and the street car are free. Most people can walk from one end of downtown to the other in 15 minutes?-faster than driving at times.