A classic holiday escape: Portland

Portland's tax-free shopping is just one of its lures. From the giant 75-foot Christmas tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square to the Christmas Ships that put razzle dazzle on the rivers, you can't miss: If you're a Puget Sounder looking for North Pole fun, head south.

Shopping tips

• Portland Saturday Market has more artists and craftsmen than Pike Place, and it's under a bridge to get you out of the weather. Look for amazing duct-tape wallets from 8 Sticky Fingers ($20), Love-Lite's exotic tie-dyed underwear ($7 and up) and shirts decorated with natural alder-bark dye from Oregon Nature Works ($35-$40). Food and music, too. Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 24, under the west end of the Burnside Bridge. See www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com.

• Powell's City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside, is the place to look for obscure tomes you can't find anyplace else — or just to pick up a $3.95 used copy of a Tony Hillerman mystery you never got around to. See www.powells.com.

• If Finnegan's isn't already your favorite Northwest toy store, give it a try, whether you need a windup hopping sushi (for about a buck), or a really obscure Lego set. 922 S.W. Yamhill. See www.finneganstoys.com.

Cozying up

• For $99, the old-world-charming Mark Spencer Hotel, 409 S.W. 11th Ave., gives you a studio with kitchen, free breakfast and afternoon tea and cookies. A block from Powell's; www.markspencer.com or 800-548-3934.

• More at home with the Jetsons than Jane Austen? Try the quirky-modern Inn at Northrup Station, 2025 N.W. Northrup St. King suite $119, with kitchen. Streetcar stop outside; www.northrupstation.com or 800-224-1180.

• Or indulge at one of Portland's finest: The Heathman Hotel, 1001 S.W. Broadway, puts you in the center of things for $159 for a Saturday in December. http://portland.heathmanhotel.com or 800-551-0011.

Ho, ho, ho time

Ride a decorated steam train during the Oregon Zoo's ZooLights festival (see today's cover photo); $7-$10, www.oregonzoo.org. And tour one of Portland's most highfalutin homes, the historic Pittock Mansion, decorated in a "Night Before Christmas" theme through Dec. 31 (3229 N.W. Pittock Drive, $4-$7). www.pittockmansion.org or 503-823-3623.

Budget bliss

• It doesn't cost a dime to watch from shore during one of the many holiday-night parades of Portland's all-volunteer Christmas Ships, up to 60 boats lit up far flashier than what you'd normally see on Seattle's tour. These people obsess (in a good way). See www.christmasships.org for where and when.

• Find lodging savings through the Portland Big Deal, which offers free parking (often a $20+ value) and breakfast at many downtown hotels. For cheap and easy travel, go Monday through Thursday and get half-off a second adult fare on Amtrak from Seattle to Portland (using promotion code H779). Details: www.travelportland.com/deals.

More info: www.travelportland.com or 800-962-3700.

— Brian J. Cantwell