My daughter is graduating from high school this year. She has chosen Portland as the place where she wants to take her graduation vacation with the family. I am strongly considering flying into Seattle and working our way down the coast to Portland and flying back to Atlanta from there.

What areas of Portland are the best to stay in for a tourist? I have never been there before.

The coast is definitely your best bet. That way you can check out Seattle and see the Puget sound and surrounding area and then follow the coastline for some amazing scenery. Itll depend on what shes into down this way. Some nice waterfall hikes or urban area depending...

ETA: Depending on timeframe you can also check the Portland calendar for any cool goings-on.

https://calendar.travelportland.com/

Congrats to you and your daughter.

The Puget Sound area is nice...not a lot of "beach" to be had coming down the Washington coast line, the harbors and bays make it a tough, non-beach viewing drive...Nice drive, just not like Oregon.

I would hit the coast out of Portland if time allows. Tons of scenery. Lots to do around Portland too (see the Dash link above).

Columbia River Gorge (30 min)
Mt. Hood (1 hour)
Coast (1.5 hour)
Central Oregon (2.5 hour)

welcome...

As asked above, what is she hoping to see/do here in Portland?  If we know that, we can give you better advice.

I will have to ask her about specifics. What are safe and recommended areas of Portland to stay in?

Let's see...18-year-old....Shopping?

We have a couple of larger malls...Lloyd Center near downtown, agree with Dash below...Washington Square 15 minutes west, Clackamas Town Center 15 minutes SE.

Hippy tendencies? Shop on Hawthorne Blvd...actually, just go walk that for the experience...(from 12th ave. up to about 48th). Also go walk Division St.( from about 12th to 39th)..Eat at Pok Pokon Division and order some wings

Downtown? Pretty accessible city. You can walk most all of it (we do) but there are street cars and trains. Street car is pretty convenient.
Go the Pearl Districtand shop/eat...Descutes Pubis one of my favorites (I'm not a real food expert...)

My favorite Pizza? Lovely's Fifty Fifty(NE Mississippi)...kind of trendy but great pizza and a cool street to walk (Portland Hipster, as are most of the areas I've listed)...

Is she a geek? OMSI is our science museum...probably a little old for that but I still hit it at 53.

Hiking? Forest Parkis the largest park for a US city

If you go towards Multnomah Falls up the Colombia River Gorge, stop by Mcminamins Edgefield for a brew or soft drink...walk the historic grounds and poor house. Really cool stuff...

Portland also has the smallest park for a US city, I believe.  Mill End Park

Most areas around popular spots are safe but once you have an idea what you want to do we can probably make better recommendations.

Id avoid Lloyd Center...

Depends on what you like, as you are probably aware, you can never count on good weather in Washington and Oregon, plan on rain, then if it is sunny, that is a bonus!

The Oregon coast line is generally a lot more scenic and easier to enjoy by automobile than Washington. You can drive on the beach at low tide in Washington at Long Beach, but you had better know what you are doing, seen quite a few people get stuck, and vehicles ruined when the tide came in, entertaining to watch.

You could spend a night at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington, which is a water park with lodging, depending on if your daughter enjoys that type of thing, then you can either continue south on Interstate 5 to Portland, or take Hwy 6 over toward the Washington coast, cross over the Columbia River, then Astoria and Cannon Beach in Oregon are places to check out, then you can head east to Portland.

Mt Hood or the Columbia River gorge are well worth exploring, lots of trails and waterfalls in the gorge.

Skamania Lodge on the Washington side of the Gorge is nice, a little pricey for my budget, but might work for you.

Be prepared for all sorts of "characters" in Portland itself, it is an interesting city, personally I am glad I don't live there, but a lot of people love it.

If you don't take the time to hit some of the food cart pods you'll be missing the boat. The ridiculous restaurant start up cost in the area have pushed a lot of really talented cooks into food carts. I highly recommend just wandering around and everyone gets something from a different cart and sharing family style. That's replaced gong to a fine restaurant on a nice day for a lot of people.

2nd this idea...
Google Portland Food Carts once you hit town and find a few year your hotel or area....

Steer clear of Voodoo donuts unless you like mediocre dick shaped maple bars.  Totally over hyped.

If you are coming down for seattle and renting a car to do so, one thing I would do is to get on the ferry in seattle and take it to Bremerton or one of the other ports to the west of Seattle.  We did that once with the kids and it was really cool.  Also, be aware that traffic in and around seattle totally sucks at rush hour.  Which is another reason to take the ferry.  The Highways coming down from the west are way less traveled.  You cut into I-5 around Tacoma and are GTG the rest of the way south.  Another thing I would hit if I were you, and I have yet to hit it myself, is the Army Museum at Joint Base Lewis McCord.  I hear it's pretty good, but to get on base can be a bit of a PITA just to see it.  But they have some cool stuff out there.  I plan on going there next time the wife and I are up there with out the kids.  That way we can really take our time and not have to deal with the whining.

As for in Portland, there are lots of things to see and do.  If you want relaxing, check out theLan Su Garden.  It is pretty cool.  Also the Japanese Garden up by the zoo is pretty cool as well.  SE portland has some cool shops and restaurants.  The Food carts all over town are pretty good usually as well.  Personally, I find the Coast depressing and rarely go over there unless my wife forces me to go.  Tillamook has the old Blimp Hanger with an airplane museum and such there.  It is pretty cool.  Not super spectacular, but cool none the less.  The Tillamook Cheese factory has good cheese and ice cream.  Seaside is super touristy and has stuff to do there.  I like going over to Bend in Central OR.  Cool little town with good food and pretty desert surroundings.  Hood River (about an hour east of portland in the Gorge) is a cool, small town.  You could hit there and drive up to Mt Hood.  Very scenic and pretty.  Plus Hood river is home to Juanitas chips.  The best F-ing tortilla chips ever.

It isn't that bad.  I am there most days during the work week.  

I'm in plenty of crappy areas too but I figured if they want to be outside enjoying the city, that's not the best.

If you happen to do any driving here be advised that the Spandex mafia rules the streets and if you hit a joke there will be hell to pay
They rule the road and cars are just a irritation in their way.

This is in reference to the bicycle riders in Portland, most of whom are militant assholes in regard to their "rights" as bicycle riders.  And by "rights" I mean that they won't get over, they ignore all traffic signs and lights, they don't signal for turns or stopping, etc.  Most drivers now look out for bicycle riders and are very cautious around them as the bicycle riders won't look out for the drivers and most drivers assume that if they have the misfortune to hit a bicyclist they'll be held at fault.  This allows the bicyclists to become even more aggressive and militant.

^^^^
Very well said...Read this again and take heed.

So close to reality in that skit... except they are not actually vocal nor signal with douche whistles.