My wife and I visited Portland in August 2019 to celebrate my birthday. We have used the hop-on, hop-off buses for sightseeing in other cities, and thought it would be a cost-effective option here.
First, we had to purchase the tickets on the waterfront, which was just a few blocks walk from our hotel (Hi-Lo Hotel, the Autograph Collection). We used a $3 discount coupon from our hotel concierge, and purchased the tickets. The bus takes passengers on a narrated ride through and near many of Portland’s most popular attractions.
The driver/narrators were mostly personable and well-informed, although one did confuse the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. Besides that, we learned a lot about the history of Portland and many of the attractions.
We hopped off on the 23rd Street shopping corridor, which has a large amount of great restaurants and shopping. We had an excellent meal at Thai Bloom! We hopped back on and rode the rest of the circuit back to the waterfront. The driver also provided paper schedules to help riders know when and where to get back on.
The highlight for me was the beautiful and scenic Rose Garden and Japanese Garden, which show why Portland is known as the City of Roses.
I would highly recommend this as a relatively inexpensive way to get to know Portland, and to help figure out which sights to want to see in more detail.