I can’t believe that I’ve lived in Portland, OR for 4 years and it’s taken me this long to create a photo guide! I’ve written a series about my favorite coffee shops in Portland, OR (read here!) and a few street guides (here!), but I’ve never done a compilation of my favorite spots for Instagram photos so I figured it was time I did just that!

Powell’s Books

Powell’s Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world, is easily one of the best Instagram spots in Portland, OR. The “city of books” is a huge tourist attraction of course with several stories on an entire city block. I would definitely recommend hitting this spot on a trip to Portland, especially if you love shopping and books! There are tons of photo opps inside the store of course, but I also personally love the outside of the store with the cool Powell’s Books sign.

“Keep Portland Weird” Sign

The “Keep Portland Weird” sign is right across the street from Voodoo Doughnuts downtown. Both are definitely musts on a trip to Portland OR! It’s in a parking lot so it can be a little tricky to get a good shot but I love the angle in the shot above.

Portland, OR Sign

The Portland, OR sign is another popular photo op. The best place to get shots from is on the pedestrian part of the Burnside Bridge (that’s where I shot the photos above). Be careful of bikers! There is a homeless shelter located on Burnside right next to where the building with the sign is and it can be tricky to find parking in this area, so just keep those things in mind when visiting this area! The Portland Saturday Market and “Old Town” are right next to this spot too.

Pioneer Square

One of my favorite areas for shooting fashion photos is Pioneer Square in downtown. This is where you will find all of the really old buildings with cool, European architecture. It’s really close to a popular food cart area (right next to Target in the Pioneer Square Mall) so you can pop over there for something yummy!

The Holman Dock

In the summer months, you can always find locals at the Holman Dock sunbathing and swimming. This is a super cool spot for photos because you can see so much of the city from the dock! I shot this swimsuit campaign there.

Red Fox Vintage Mural

The Woodstock neighborhood of Portland is a cute area to visit (it’s near the Sellwood area, another cute area for vintage/antique shopping). If you make it over there, there are some really fun murals like this one in from of Red Fox Vintage. Very 70’s!

International Rose Test Garden

The International Rose Test Garden is another cool place to visit on a trip to Portland and it’s free! There are tons of beautiful spots in the rose garden. I actually shot these in the tennis courts near the garden but only when there weren’t any tennis players. The roses there are absolutely stunning!

TIP: You have to pay for meter parking in the rose garden area. It’s not too expensive, I think it’s around $2-3 an hour. It can get pretty full, especially on the weekend!

Broadway Bridge

I am a sucker for cool bridges with city views! Portland, OR was built along the Willamette River so there are a ton of bridges connecting the city. It’s one of the things Portland is known for! There are really cool views of the city from the bridges. Broadway Bridge is one of my favorites.

Hawthorne Bridge

Another one of my favorite bridges is the Hawthorne Bridge! It’s located right next Tom McCall Waterfront Park, another great spot to checkout. The Portland Saturday Market is held there.

Chinatown

Chinatown is an area that a lot of people avoid because of the homeless shelters in the area, which is unfortunate because there are some really cool buildings in this area! Most are rundown and have gone out of business because the owners could no longer afford to pay rent in downtown. There are still some cool spots to visit like The Hoxton and The Society Hotel (both have really cute coffee shops) and several other business that are trying to turn the area around as well. This is also where the Lan Su Chinese Garden is located where I shot the above photos. The other set of photos I shot at The Republic Cafe!

Pip’s Original Doughnuts

One of my favorite doughnut spots in Portland, OR! Their mini fried doughnuts are seriously out of this world. My favorite is The Dirty Wu! They are also known for their chai. They made my best photo spots list because of the cute mural on the side of their building! The perfect photo opp.

TIP: On your birthday (and up to 7 days before but not after), you can get a free dozen of their delicious doughnuts!

Voodoo Doughnuts

I’ve always loved Voodoo Doughnuts! My favorite doughnut there is the “Dirt” doughnut with Oreo bits on top of white icing. They are known for their crazy toppings and decor. A lot of locals prefer Blue Star which I do like as well, but Voodoo is super fun especially for tourists! I took these photos at their Sandy location because of this huge mural but their downtown location is cute for photos too.

Everyday Music

I love a good record store and Everyday Music does not disappoint! There is something super classic about record store photos too. I love the way these photos at their Sandy location turned out. This location only has cds and tapes though!

There are of course, TONS of other cool spots that I didn’t mention but these are definitely my favorites!

XOXO