Portland Outdoor Sculpture Tour

Name: Portland Outdoor Sculpture Tour
Brand: VoiceMap
SKU: 519
Price: 2.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 3.8 (19 reviews)
Author: Jonah

(19 reviews)

Portland, Oregon audio tour: Portland Outdoor Sculpture Tour

This is a 0.8mi walking tour

It takes an average of 20 mins to complete.

Portland, Oregon

The United States

$2.99

Access all 21 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

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About the Tour

Portland's downtown is dotted with outdoor sculptures. Some immense and famous, some hidden in plain sight. The outdoor sculptures of Portland exemplify Portland's unique character, charm, and history in a number of ways. Take a walk and discover Portland in a new and interesting way!

Tour Producer

Jonah Geil-Neufeld

1 tour

I am a musician, podcast producer, and Portland Timbers supporter. I like biking, hiking, eating good food, and seeing the world.

Preview Location

Location 1

Pioneer Square Weather Machine

You should be standing in Pioneer Square facing the Pioneer Courthouse building. Just behind you are the fountains at the entrance to the TriMet Ticket Office. Hey, and if you're new, welcome to the city of Portland.

I'm Jonah Geil-Neufeld, and I'll be your guide on this w... You should be standing in Pioneer Square facing the Pioneer Courthouse building. Just behind you are the fountains at the entrance to the TriMet Ticket Office. Hey, and if you're new, welcome to the city of Portland.

I'm Jonah Geil-Neufeld, and I'll be your guide on this walk through some of Portland's impressive outdoor sculptures. We'll get a bit of history along the way as well. I moved to Portland in 2007 from Chicago, and now make a living editing and producing podcasts. I also love to play music and ride my bike around this awesome city.

Ok, Shall we get started?

Turn around so you are facing the fountains, and look to your right at the odd-looking pole with the metallic ball on top. This is the Weather Machine. It's about 30-feet high and includes two bronze wind scoops. You'll be able to see the temperature displayed on the vertical colored lights along its stem. It's even more visible at night. The Weather Machine took five years to plan and build, came at a cost of about $60,000, and it was installed in the square in August of 1988.

If you're here at noon, you'll hear a two-minute sequence that includes a trumpet fanfare, mist, and flashing lights, and the machine will display one of three metal symbols as a prediction of the weather for the next 24-hours. It will show a sun for clear and sunny weather, a blue heron for drizzle, or a dragon for rainy or stormy weather. And yes, it does drizzle a lot here - I like to call it a "grocery store produce mist," because the rain here often feels like the mist they spray on vegetables in the store to keep them fresh.

We're about to move on, but first let me explain how this tour works. VoiceMap uses your location to play commentary automatically. This means you can just put your phone away and focus on your surroundings. If you get stuck or lost, there's a route map on the screen. A bit of silence between locations is normal, so just keep going the same way if you don't hear from me. Most importantly, enjoy the experience!

Now turn your back to the Weather Machine and face the courthouse again. In the left corner of the square is a tall white pillar exiting to the street. Go there now and I'll meet you there. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

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Major Landmarks

Portlandia Statue
Benson Bubbler

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
701 SW 6th Ave, Portland, OR 97204, USA
Total distance

1km
Final location
United States, Oregon, Portland, SW 6th Ave, #130
Distance back to start location

29.61m

Directions to Starting Point

Start in the middle of Pioneer Square, known as "Portland's Living Room." Pioneer Square is a whole city block between Broadway and 6th avenue to the East and West, and Morrison and Yamhill to the North and South.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Grab a bite at a food cart or duck into a local coffee shop to refuel.

Best time of day

Start a few minutes before 12pm for a nice surprise with our first sculpture. Otherwise, start anytime during the day when there is enough light - it gets dark as early as 4pm in the winter, and stays light until 9pm in the summer!

Precautions

Downtown Portland is a busy place on a weekday, but people are friendly. You may run into street musicians, homeless people, food carts, and more!

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“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”