Portland Walking Tours

Portland, OR 97204 (Downtown)

503-774-4522

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Expose the myths of the Shanghai Tunnels

Courthouse across the square where the tour group meets

EMF meter reading "activity," as all the lights were lit.

163 visitor photos

Ranked #11 of 96 activities in Portland

579 Reviews

Type: Tours

Owner description: Portland Walking Tours’ fun and award-winning events explore the excitement, history, food, architecture, neighborhoods, bridges, parks, fountains,... more » Owner description: Portland Walking Tours’ fun and award-winning events explore the excitement, history, food, architecture, neighborhoods, bridges, parks, fountains, artwork, and just plain weird places in Portland Oregon. Tours include the award-winning “Best of Portland,” showcasing what makes Portland such a fabulous place to live and visit (daily, 10 AM and 2 PM); our scandalous “Underground Portland,” aka "the worst of Portland," revealing both the physical and metaphorical subterranean story of Portland's sordid past; the eerie “Beyond Bizarre”, a hands-on exploration of Portland's paranormal, using real ghost-hunting equipment as seen on shows like "Ghost Adventurer" (TM) and "Paranormal State" (TM); our delicious “Epicurean Excursion” walking tour, a tasty immersion into Portland's amazing culinary "slow food" scene; our indulgent “Chocolate Decadence Tour," exploring and sampling chocolate in its many solid and liquid forms, from bean to bar and everything in between; "Roses Gone Wild!", which dishes the dirt on Portland's famous International Rose Test Gardens; and "Flavor Street," where you taste the best of Portland's incredible food cart scene - and skip the rest.

Useful Information: Bathroom facilities

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579 reviews from our community

pjm97140

Sherwood, Oregon

2 reviews

Reviews in 2 cities

“Loved our Portland Walking (Epicurean) Tour”

Reviewed 17 June 2013 NEW

Great tour guide (Adam) and lots of yummy food - entertaining, we even got to ride the Portland streetcar. Tried yummy desserts, beer, wine, stopped at a Portland food cart, bakery, great Father's Day treat. Looking forward to trying some of the other tours!

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Poetguy

Portland, Oregon

1 review

“A Walk On Portland's Wilder Side”

Reviewed 17 June 2013 NEW

Some friends were visiting from out of town so I decided to introduce them to Portland's "seedier" side by taking them on the Portland Walking Tours' Underground Tour. I'm so glad I did. Melanie, our guide, was knowledgable, sassy and an absolute pleasure to spend 90 minutes with exploring Portland's sometimes-dark past. Unlike one recent reviewer, I was not disappointed... More

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abrxas

Ashland, Oregon

1 review

“Fantastic!”

Reviewed 17 June 2013 NEW

Took the Underground Tour and had a great time! Learned more about Portland in one afternoon than in my entire time living there. And Melanie was not just an informative guide, she was fun, thoughtful, and approachable. I recommend this tour to anyone curious about Portland's history and how it got to be the way it is today.

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34607David_S

St. Petersburg, Florida

2 reviews

“Well worth the money”

Reviewed 17 June 2013 NEW

My wife and I were fortunate to be last minute additions to Richard's tour of downtown Portland.He was funny and very informative. While we had been staying in Portland for several weeks and making it our business to see as many different things as possible, this added to our sense of the history and culture of the city and how... More

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southwest_traveller9

Lafayette, California

Senior Contributor

24 reviews

Reviews in 23 cities

11 helpful votes

“Excellent, Top-Notch, Informative!”

Reviewed 15 June 2013 NEW

What a great way to get introduced to Portland! I took this approx. two hour walking tour on my first day of my first visit to Portland and I'm so glad that I did. Portland is a great walking city with a lot of neat things to see in the downtown area. With the help of an excellent tour guide,... More

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Dear southwest_traveller9, Thank you for the kind words of praise about our tour! We're delighted you had such a great time and found our guide and tour so top-notch. It sounds like you might have taken our Best of Portland tour, but since we get similar praise for all of our tours, I'd hate to assume. Would you mind writing... More

Jean H

Los Angeles, California

Top Contributor

58 reviews

22 attraction reviews

Reviews in 17 cities

17 helpful votes

“The fun way to learn about the seamier side of Portland.”

Reviewed 5 June 2013

Take the Portland Underground Tour. What a fabulous two hours. Superb guide, Jonah, walked us all around Chinatown and the waterfront regaling us with stories of the disgusting, evil, criminal and perverse side of Portland. Learned so much and never even knew I learned it. What a pleasure. Lots of scandals, racism, shanghaiing of sailors - Portland has had a... More

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See 5 more reviews by Jean H for Portland

Dear Jean, Thank you so much for your fabulous comments and review of our Underground Portland tour! We're glad you found Portland's seedy, greedy past as entertaining as we do. Some may feel it's weird to laugh at all that nastiness, but we all know that Portlanders have a quirky sense of humor. And the way Jonah tells the stories,... More

GEORGIA S

BEND

Reviewer

5 reviews

Reviews in 5 cities

2 helpful votes

“Bizarre Walking Tour”

Reviewed 31 May 2013

Donna was our guide and did a fab job with lots of laughter. We did the 10pm, adults only tour, so it was dark and fun. Learned a lot about the history of Portland and saw some pretty interesting sights. Easy walk with a very special treat at the end. Would recommend for anyone looking for something different and fun... More

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Dear Georgia, Thank you for your positive, kind review of our Beyond Bizarre tour! We're happy you enjoyed the tour so much. Donna certainly is an informative, engaging guide. You said you "saw some pretty interesting sights... with a very special treat at the end." We would love to hear more about those. Any... ghosts? We'd also like to clarify... More

ECPerkins

Boulder, Colorado

1 review

1 helpful vote

“A fun, lively way to learn about Portland”

Reviewed 30 May 2013

We took the Best of Portland tour. Our guide Richard, a self-confessed SNOB (Strictly Native Oregon Born, if memory serves), was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about his home city, the history, the sights, the districts, and so on. I think he took extra time with us - our tour went three hours. The weather behaved beautifully, as well. Nice little... More

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Dear ECPerkins, Thank you for the wonderful review! We're thrilled that you had such a wonderful tour with Richard. Not all of our guides will claim the title "S.N.O.B." but all are experts on what makes Portland a great, fun city to visit. One clarification for review readers - the tour is designed to be, and typically lasts, about 2-2.5... More

Messmaker

Southern Oregon

Senior Reviewer

6 reviews

Reviews in 5 cities

2 helpful votes

“Treat Yourself to an Eye-Opening Portland Walking Tour”

Reviewed 30 May 2013

Great experience! I've always wanted to learn about the underground of Portland, and this tour didn't disappoint. Joe was our guide, and I'd recommend him for any of the tours this company provides! You could tell he was proud of his city, regardless of its shameless past :) This tour offered more info about Portland in less than 2 hours... More

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Dear Messmaker, Thank you for the kind words in response to your recent Underground Portland walking tour experience. We love showing off Portland's past, even when it's the seedy, greedy, not-so-nice side... we think it helps show off Portland's great character and how far we've grown from those "bad old days." Just to make sure people understand something you mentioned... More

MrsCJR

Vancouver, Washington

Senior Contributor

25 reviews

7 attraction reviews

Reviews in 10 cities

18 helpful votes

“Be prepared to be hounded for a negative review”

Reviewed 28 May 2013

I've never forgotten the bad tour last June, nor getting several emails afterward asking me to review it on TripAdvisor, then getting hounded with phone calls and emails after I gave their tour a bad review. Even though I didn't like the tour, I probably wouldn't have bothered reviewing it if they hadn't kept emailing me asking me to write... More

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See 3 more reviews by MrsCJR for Portland

Dear MrsCJR, We're sorry to hear of your sub-par experience with our walking tour last June, and that you felt our private request for clarification was bothersome. We meant no disrespect. We only wanted to find out more about your experience, since it is so different than what so many others on our tours and on this review site have... More