Portland is the gateway to Oregon. In addition, driving directions throughout this book often use Portland as a reference point, assuming that the traveler will be flying into Portland and then driving to the destination.
By Plane
The major carriers to Portland Airport (www.flypdx.com) include Air Canada Jazz (tel. 888/247-2262; www.flyjazz.ca), Alaska Airlines (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com), America West (tel. 800/235-9292; www.americawest.com), American (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com), Continental (tel. 800/523-3273; www.continental.com), Delta (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com), Frontier (tel. 800/432-1359; www.frontierairlines.com), Horizon Air (tel. 800/547-9308; www.horizonair.com), JetBlue Airways (tel. 800/JETBLUE; www.jetblue.com), Lufthansa (tel. 800/645-3880; www.lufthansa.com), Northwest/KLM (tel. 800/225-2525; www.nwa.com), Southwest (tel. 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com), and United (tel. 800/864-8331; www.united.com).
By Car
The distance to Portland from Seattle is 175 miles; from Spokane, 350 miles; from Vancouver, British Columbia, 285 miles; from San Francisco, 640 miles; and from Los Angeles, 1,015 miles.
If you're driving from California, I-5 runs up through the length of the state and continues north toward the Canadian border; it will take you through both Portland and Seattle. If you're coming from the east, I-84 runs from Idaho and points east into Oregon, eventually ending in Portland.
One of the most important benefits of belonging to the American Automobile Association (tel. 800/222-4357; www.aaa.com) is that they supply members with emergency road service. In Portland, AAA is located at 600 SW Market St. (tel. 503/222-6734; www.aaaorid.com).
By Train
Amtrak's (tel. 800/872-7245; www.amtrak.com) Coast Starlight train connects Portland with Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, and stops at historic Union Station, 800 NW Sixth Ave. (tel. 503/273-4860), about 10 blocks from the heart of downtown Portland. Between Portland and Seattle there are both regular trains and modern European-style Talgo trains, which make the trip in 3 1/2 to 4 hours versus 4 1/2 hours for the regular train. One-way fares on either type of train run $25 to $30. The Talgo train, called Cascades, runs between Eugene, Oregon, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
