Things to do in Salem
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Salem
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weeks: iris and peony bloom, long evenings, falls still strong and everything open.
Harvest, Art Fair, golden oak savanna and thinner crowds, with the State Fair tail in early September.
Short, dark and persistently rainy, gardens bare and Enchanted Forest closed, but falls roar and hotel rates are lowest.
Shoulder gamble: cherry blossom and early gardens against a real chance of a fully rained out weekend.
What's on
- Cherry Blossom Day Late March
The Capitol Mall cherry trees in full bloom with Japanese cultural programming.
- Peony and iris season Late April to mid June
Adelman Peony Gardens open house and Schreiner's Iris Gardens bloom season.
- Make Music Salem 21 June
Free, citywide, all day music on streets and in parks.
- World Beat Festival Late June
Salem's signature summer festival in Riverfront Park, with global food and dragon boat races.
- Marion County Fair Early July
County fair classic, very local and very fun with kids.
- St. Paul Rodeo Over July 4
One of America's top Fourth of July rodeos, 20 minutes north in St. Paul.
- Oregon State Fair Late August to Labor Day
Eleven days of concerts, livestock and carnival; hotels fill citywide and prices peak.
- Salem Art Fair & Festival Mid-September
Over 200 juried artists under the oaks at Bush's Pasture Park.
- Magic at the Mill December
The Willamette Heritage Center mill dressed in lights with heritage holiday programming.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Salem
Oregon State Capitol
Oregon's 1938 marble capitol and park, free to visit, with murals, exhibits and seasonal tower tours.
Riverfront Park
Salem's 23 acre riverfront lawn for picnics, walks and summer events, right by downtown.
Salem Riverfront Carousel
A volunteer carved carousel in Riverfront Park, cheap rides and pure small city joy.
Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge
The white arch pedestrian bridge linking Riverfront Park to the trails of Minto-Brown Island.
Bush's Pasture Park
A 90 acre oak park locals treat as their Central Park, with roses, camas prairie and a derby track.
Bush House Museum
The 1882 home of Asahel Bush, with one of Oregon's oldest greenhouse conservatories beside it.
Deepwood Museum & Gardens
A Queen Anne house and formal English gardens next door to Bush's Pasture Park.
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Willamette University's serious art museum, strong on Pacific Northwest and Native American work.
Where to stay in Salem
Downtown / Riverfront
first trip, all-round base
The Capitol, Elsinore, Hallie Ford, Riverfront Park and nearly every top restaurant within a 15 minute walk.
Fairmount / South Salem historic streets
B&B and quiet stays, couples and longer stays
Leafy, hilly older home streets near Bush's Pasture Park, a short walk or drive from downtown dining.
Independence
wine-country and small-town alternative
A revived riverfront main street 15 minutes west, with immediate access to Eola-Amity wineries and the bikeway.
Near I-5 / Mission St (SE) & Keizer
road-trippers and State Fair or sports stays
Chain hotels by the freeway and fairgrounds, convenient with free parking but nothing walkable of note.
Think twice about
- Lancaster Drive NE
A six lane big box strip of ageing budget motels, car dependent and unpleasant to walk, with locally reported transient camping, open drug use and property crime near the I-5 motels.
- Portland Road NE / North Salem motel strip
Older motels, heavy traffic and visible street homelessness and encampments along the corridor and underpasses, with nothing a visitor wants nearby on foot.
Best restaurants in Salem
The Cozy Taberna
Salem's best dinner, a Spanish inspired taberna in Electric Alley with shared plates and cocktails.
DaVinci Ristorante
Downtown Italian fine dining with handmade pasta, live piano and a dim romantic room.
Amadeus
Contemporary American downtown all rounder with a full bar and a strong early happy hour.
Rudy's Steakhouse
The classic Salem steakhouse in the Reed Opera House building, aged steaks and old school service.
Ritter's Housemade Foods
A family run gastropub locals live in, for brick oven pizza, burgers and cocktails.
Word of Mouth Neighborhood Bistro
Salem's brunch institution in a converted house, famous for huge breakfasts and the Oregon Hash.
Basil & Board
Neighbourhood Italian downtown for individual pizzas, pastas and salads, good for families too.
The Yard Food Park
Salem's food cart pod done right, with rotating carts and space for kids and dogs.
Best coffee in Salem
French Press Coffee & Crepes
Coffee and crepes, part of Salem's well liked independent coffee tier.
Broadway Coffeehouse
The coffeehouse pick for space and pastries in north Salem.
The Governor's Cup
Downtown coffee for serious roasts, the local connoisseur's cup.
Outdoor things to do in Salem
Silver Falls State Park
Oregon's largest state park, where the Trail of Ten Falls walks behind four waterfalls.
Willamette Valley Vineyards
The headline estate tasting room near Salem, with vineyard views, a lookout tower and full food menu.
Cristom Vineyards
The connoisseur's pick for single vineyard Pinot Noir made with Burgundian intent.
Eola Hills Wine Cellars
Approachable wines and a concert series, a mid tier local favourite west of Salem.
Brooks Wine
Riesling and biodynamic farming credibility plus a strong food program, just north in Amity.
Lingua Franca
A respected Eola-Amity Hills winery on the mid tier loop locals rotate through.
Bjornson Vineyard
A family vineyard stop on the Eola-Amity and Van Duzer corridor tasting loop.
Van Duzer Vineyards
A corridor winery stop west of Salem, part of the local self driven tasting loop.
Best hotels in Salem
The Holman Riverfront Park Hotel
Salem's newest and best hotel, steps from Riverfront Park with a serious restaurant and bar.
The Grand Hotel in Salem
The long standing class act attached to the Salem Convention Center, central and traditional.
The Independence Hotel
A small modern riverfront boutique hotel, built for wine and cycling weekends.
Best Western Plus Mill Creek Inn
A reliable freeway chain hotel with free parking, breakfast and an indoor pool.
Hampton Inn & Suites Salem
A consistently well reviewed chain stay on the I-5 and Mission Street corridor.
Holiday Inn Salem
A well rated I-5 corridor hotel trading walkability for value and easy fairgrounds access.
The Hotel Salem
A serviceable, better located cheap mid option when the top downtown hotels are priced up.
La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Salem
A better located cheap mid option for legislative session or fair week pressure dates.
Is Salem expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $150 a person |
| Splurge | $300 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Elsinore Theatre: a few days ahead
- Enchanted Forest: a few days ahead
- Willamette Valley Vineyards: a few days ahead
- Cristom Vineyards: a few days ahead
- Brooks Wine: a few days ahead
- Lingua Franca: a few days ahead
- Bjornson Vineyard: a few days ahead
- Van Duzer Vineyards: a few days ahead
- Book Cozy Taberna, DaVinci, Amadeus and Rudy's for Thursday to Saturday dinners.
- Book Cristom and Willamette Valley Vineyards tastings on weekends.
- Book downtown hotels early for legislative session, State Fair, Art Fair and Willamette events.
- Arrive at Silver Falls before 10am on weekends and Word of Mouth before 9am instead of booking.
Is Salem safe?
- Leave nothing visible in your car anywhere, including at Silver Falls trailheads.
- Expect visible homelessness near downtown services and the river bridges, and use normal city awareness at night.
- The Willamette is cold and faster than it looks, so life jackets for kids and paddlers.
- Check air quality before outdoor days in August and September wildfire smoke.
Salem travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Booking a Lancaster Drive motel to save money.
- Driving to Silver Falls at noon on a sunny Saturday and circling full lots.
- Promising kids Enchanted Forest without checking its seasonal calendar.
- Expecting downtown nightlife or bar hopping, which belongs in Portland.
- Chain dining along Lancaster Drive and Commercial St SE, when every independent pick is 10 minutes away.
Getting around Salem: public transport and more
- You need a car for Silver Falls, wineries, gardens and golf.
- Downtown, the Capitol and Riverfront to Minto-Brown are walkable and bikeable.
- Amtrak Cascades stops downtown, about an hour to Portland or Eugene.
- Most visitors fly into PDX, about an hour north, traffic permitting.
- Add 30 to 60 minutes for I-5 on Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings, or take the train.
Who Salem suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Salem your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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