Top Things to do in Willamette Valley
Top Hotels in Willamette Valley
- 1. Hotel Lucia
- 2. The Hotel Zags Portland
- 3. The Benson Portland, Curio Collection by Hilton
- 4. Royal Sonesta Portland Downtown
- 5. Radisson Hotel Portland Airport
- 6. Hampton Inn & Suites Portland-Pearl District
- 7. The Porter Portland, Curio Collection By Hilton
- 8. Paramount Hotel
- 9. Staypineapple Hotel Rose Downtown
- 10. Hampton Inn & Suites Salem
Top 10 Gardens in Willamette Valley, Willamette Valley
Discover the best top things to do in Willamette Valley, United States including The Thyme Garden, Schreiner's Iris Gardens, Brooks Gardens Peonies, Wayward Winds Lavender Farm, Lord & Schryver Conservancy, Washington Park, International Rose Test Garden, Secret Garden Growers, Portland Japanese Garden, Jackson-Frazier Wetlands.
Restaurants in Willamette Valley
1. The Thyme Garden
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
2. Schreiner's Iris Gardens
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 239 reviews
Iris bloom season is in the month of May. OPEN DAILY MAY 8 - MAY 31, 2020 9AM - 6PM. Bloom season events run Mother's Day through Memorial Day. Visit our website for details on bloom season events. Iris Display Gardens closed in summer and winter months. OFFICE remains open year-round, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m; office is closed New Year's Day, 1/2 day on Good Friday, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day. Closed for the week of Thanksgiving. Closed for the week of Christmas.
Reviewed By casaahha - Salem, United States
For three short weeks in May, the Schreiner's Iris Gardens become one of the most beautiful spots in the world. The 10 acre display gardens are arranged in rectangular beds with multiple iris plants supplemented by rhododendrons, day lilies, oriental poppies and other flowers. This is augmented by circular beds of iris surrounding a flowering tree or large plant. The color combinations are excellent. This is heaven for a photographer. There are plenty of chairs and benches to rest if needed. There is a flower shop and gift store. We came on a week day and our only regret was that the gift shop did not have hot drinks available. It is hard to believe that the gardens are within sight of the I-5 freeway. The commercial iris growing areas surround the display gardens. It only costs $5 per car to enter.
3. Brooks Gardens Peonies
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 4 reviews
Oregon peony farm. Open during May and early June for potted peonies and cut flowers. The secluded peony farm on Topaz Street NE, just over 1 mile north of Brooks, OR. See the flowers in bloom May 1st - June 15th. No large tour buses. Vans and small buses are okay. Open by appointment for peony plants off-season.
4. Wayward Winds Lavender Farm
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 5 reviews
One of the largest u-pick fields in Oregon will be open from July 1 - 31, 10-5 daily for your enjoyment. Experience an abundance of the most fragrant and beautiful lavender in existence. Come experience everything lavender you can imagine, and some things you probably haven't. Lavender edibles, pampering products, plants, and our award winning essential oil.
5. Lord & Schryver Conservancy
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Elizabeth Lord (1887-1976) and Edith Schryver (1901-1984) were the first women landscape architects to open a practice in the Pacific Northwest in 1929. They were trained at the renowned Lowthorpe School in Massachusetts in the classically inspired Beaux Arts tradition of design that dominated the early 20th century. Gaiety Hollow, located in the Gaiety Hill Historic District in Salem, Oregon was designed by Lord and Schryver in 1932 as their home and office. Gaiety Hollow is a true reflection of their aesthetic and exemplifies their design principles in a Pacific Northwest landscape. In 2015, the Lord & Schryver Conservancy acquired Gaiety Hollow and is restoring the gardens and opening them to the public. We offer informal "open garden" visit days and guided tours from March-September.
6. Washington Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,532 reviews
This popular park offers miles of trails, an extensive rose garden, a large Japanese garden and a zoo. For information on free shuttles, attraction admission hours and pricing within the park, and maps, visit our website.
Reviewed By PaulPapich - San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
My wife and I live immediately adjacent to Washington Park in Southwest Portland. In fact, being close to the Park was one of the major reasons we selected the property we bought. We visit it every week without fail. To start with, Washington Park is immense and gorgeous! It is home to the International Rose Test Garden, Japanese Garden, Holocaust Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, the city's zoo, arboretum and forestry museum, archery range, tennis courts, walking trails, and much, much more. It would be a world-class destination if it only had the Rose and Japanese Gardens, which are extraordinarily beautiful. But perhaps the greatest draw for me personally are the trees - my ancient, stately friends, covering the hilly terrain, providing shade to walkers like me, and peace to anyone seeking a haven in today's chaotic world.
7. International Rose Test Garden
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,561 reviews
The oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States boasts more than 8,000 roses.
Reviewed By PaulPapich - San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
If you are ever in Portland during its glorious summer months, you absolutely owe it to yourself to visit the International Rose Test Garden. It is one of Portland's true gems. Imagine tens of thousands of perfect roses in full bloom, dozens of rose varieties, colors of every hue! Now imagine lovely walks among the rows and rows of roses, the perfume in the air, the tranquil atmosphere, the stately conifers that enclose the Test Garden on three sides, the view of downtown on the fourth, and the happy people taking photographs and stooping to smell the flowers. There you have the Rose Garden!
8. Secret Garden Growers
9. Portland Japanese Garden
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6,182 reviews
Considered the most authentic Japanese Garden outside of Japan, the Portland Japanese Garden is a haven of tranquil beauty in all four seasons. In Spring of 2017, the Garden opened its new Cultural Village, complete with new garden spaces, classrooms, exhibition and gallery space, and the Umami Cafe.
Reviewed By mrg0137
On a recent trip to Portland, my wife and I stopped in Washington Park with the intention of seeing the Japanese Garden and nearby International Rose Test Garden. Since it was clearly out of season for roses in mid-November, there wasn’t much to see when we stopped at the Rose Garden first. We almost then skipped the Japanese Garden, since it was chilly and raining, and I hadn’t realized that unlike the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden is an attraction with its own admission fee, not just part of the park that you can meander through freely. I’m really glad we ultimately decided to pay the $18 per person and visit the Japanese Garden, since it was absolutely serene and beautiful, even while walking through in the pouring rain on a chilly day. The line for tickets didn’t look particularly long that afternoon, but it was a bit slow-moving, since there was only one person working the admission window and others had a lot of questions and were buying memberships. I would definitely buy tickets online in the future to skip the line. We entered the gardens close to 3:00 pm, and were told that the last admission of the day would be at 3:30, although it sounded like there was no real time pressure, with the gardens staying open for a while after 3:30 so the final guests of the day could still make their way through. The gardens are built into a hill, so there was a bit of a leisurely uphill climb to get from the entrance at the bottom of the hill to the start of the gardens at the top. There is a shuttle service offered for those who want to avoid the walk and start at the Cultural Village at the top of the hill. From the Cultural Village, which includes restrooms, a gift shop, and a terrace with beautiful bonsai trees, you can start to meander through the gardens themselves, which are absolutely beautiful, with stunning landscaping and water features. Everything in the gardens is currently marked out with one-way paths to help promote social distancing, and the only thing that appeared to be closed was the Japanese Tea House. The gallery building that currently has a photography exhibit with photos from internment camps was open with limited capacity and was interesting to visit. Outside of that, we really enjoyed taking a leisurely walk through the various garden paths and discovering the various sculptures and plantings. It was especially gorgeous to be able to see the variety of changing colors on the trees in the fall. We also really liked that the size of the gardens was manageable so that it didn’t take forever to see everything, but there was still enough to do that the $18 admission was just about worth it (it could maybe be a couple dollars cheaper, but it’s so lovely that I didn’t mind supporting them through our ticket purchase). We spent about an hour at the garden in total, and probably would have spent more time if it wasn’t raining the entire time. I imagine that on a nicer day, you could easily spend a couple hours meandering through the gardens and taking time to relax at various spots along the way. Despite seeming a little pricey at first, the Portland Japanese Garden is absolutely beautiful and worth a visit. It’s a serene paradise in the middle of Portland, and it’s an interesting chance to see what I’ve read is one of the most accurate Japanese gardens in the United States.
10. Jackson-Frazier Wetlands
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 14 reviews
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