Discovering Portland the car-free way

Q: Have any of you ever done a "car-free" trip to Portland — Amtrak Cascades from/to Seattle and MAX and the downtown street car in Portland? How did it work out? Any tips?

— Vito, Seattle

A: I've done nothing but "car-free" trips to Portland the past few times I've been there. It works beautifully. From the Amtrak station, you can walk to most downtown hotels, take a bus, or depending on where your hotel is, take the free streetcar. All the schedules are at www.trimet.org. I use the buses and MAX to get out to neighborhoods such as the Alberta Street arts district or the Hawthorne area. Go to www.trimet.org and plug in your destination to pull up all the information you'll need to make connections. Print out the info and bring it along.

Now's a great time to consider taking the train. Travel Portland (www.travelportland.com) is offering a 19 percent discount on adult fares through Aug. 29. Go to www.amtrakcascades.com and type in promotion code H773. For two adults traveling together between Sept. 4 and May 22, there's a 50 percent-off companion fare available. The promotion code is H779. — Carol Pucci