Aerial Tram Ride with Doughnuts near Sunrise in Portland Oregon
Description
Note: Sunrise is too early in the summer to ride during the tram’s open hours! We will be riding after sunrise April - August. The early tour guest gets the spectacular views. We’ll meet you on the edge of downtown Portland, where you will have a chance to pick up coffee (or tea). We will head over to OHSU, where we will walk with you to the Aerial Tram. We’ll ride up this feat of Swiss engineering up to the top as the early sun reveals the city’s glowing colors. Once there, depending on sunrise timing and weather, we'll watch the sun crest the horizon, or check out city views in the early morning light. After we ride back to the bottom, we'll tell you the story of the bridge and its quixotic lights, and orient you to the city whose east-west divider lies before us. The Aerial Tram was built in 2006 to connect the main campus of Oregon Health Sciences University with the new neighborhood of the South Waterfront. We will be joining students and medical staff on their daily tram ride!
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will stop in to a coffee shop, with the opportunity to purchase the unique fusion of the owners' Moroccan and German heritages
We will experience the doughnuts locals call "worth waiting in line for."
From the top to the bottom, the Aerial Tram is a quick ride; we'll take our time at the top and then descend down together to the Lower Tram Terminal. Here, we'll learn more about why the tram was installed at OHSU, and what it means to the city and its visitors.
OHSU is Portland's biggest employer and an architectural marvel, perched as it is on top of a tall, narrow peak of the Tualatin mountains. Thanks to its dedication to patient well-being, the teaching hospital and research facility is packed with art, some of which we'll experience before boarding the tram.
We'll introduce you our favorite bridge, the Tilikum; and learn why it came to be here, and what makes it so special (and, at its launch, controversial).
We'll pass through the South Waterfront neighborhood (where we will pick up doughnuts!)
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(29)
It was a fun ride to the top and beautiful views from the hospital. Nice to enjoy the view with coffee and donuts.
Tour guide was really knowledgeable about the neighborhood and Portland in general. She’d grown up there in the 50s. Beautiful view. Fun to learn something new about the city.
Nancy was our tour guide and now I need her to do every tour that I ever go on for the rest of my life.
Our tour guide was wonderful, however, we booked a “sunrise” tram ride with coffee and donuts. Sunrise was at 5 we found out and it was explained that tours don’t start that early. You should really change the tour name to remove “sunrise” as it’s very misleading. We also had to buy our own coffee which we thought was part of the ticket price. We were just very confused by it all. Having said all of this, we were very pleased with the tour guide and what we learned. We realize she has nothing to do with how the tour is marketed. I would recommend the tour as it’s beautiful views, but just let people know they’re not going to see the sun come up.
Hi Trish! We used to do the tour only in the winter but had a lot of demand for it in the summer. The aerial tram does not open early enough for a sunrise ride due to the tilt of the earth and the latitude, and the coffee and doughnut places do not open until 6 and 6:30. It would be a sad sunrise tour with nothing to do but watch the sunrise from outside closed businesses and conveyances. Because we note that in the tour description, changing the title for the three months when sunrise is so early seems silly, and unfortunately we cannot change any of the other factors. I’ll be reaching out to people booked at the 6:30 time in the future to let them know they have to see the sunrise on their own. Coffee is not part of the ticket price. The tram fare and doughnut is. It is clearly stated in the exclusions. I’m sorry you missed that in your booking. It sounds like you had a great time and I would ask you in the future to consider that three star reviews over small details do impact the small businesses you are booking with.
Sarah was fabulous! We loved the stops for coffee and donuts. She made the tram ride more interesting with information about the city. She has a great and fun personality that makes the experience even better. Would definitely do it again.
Our tour guide often walked at the front of the group talking forward, not often audible. It appeared she read off the hospital timeline wall about the history, something we could have done. She was very nice . We really wanted the sunrise experience, which isn’t available this time of year. Maybe we could have done it ourselves . Disappointing.
Hi Bonnie, I’m sorry but not surprised you had a disappointing experience, as when you messaged to ask about the sunrise, I informed you that the sunrise is too early to see on the aerial tram in May, June and July due to the opening times of the tram and the coffee shop and offered you a refund. The day was cloudy and you wouldn’t have seen a sunrise even if we could have ridden the tram before it opens at 5:30. If you had accepted my offer you would have avoided disappointment and read off the history wall yourself. It may be that you are just as disappointed with your decision; or the weather; in either case I am sorry about that. When we are walking from doughnut shop to tram, we have a policy of only chatting and not delivering narrative, because everyone may not be able to hear, which is why we wait to deliver history until the group is assembled. The wall seems like a good place to do it, and when people are engaged, they usually get a lot more out of it than you did.
Great tour guide Sarah. She was very knowledgeable and fun to talk to. Easy walk and great views. Donuts were delicious also. Went back after tour to take some back to condo.
Great little tour! Our guide was so knowledgeable about the tram, the hospital system, and Portland in general. The views were pretty, too. Would definitely recommend!
Sarah was a great guide and enjoyed the experience and got to try some of the best Portland coffee and donuts and to learn a bit about the history of the city
Pickup location changed but Sarah was amazing picking us up. She was very helpful, providing us with historical data.
