Destination: Porto
Dates: March 2020
Nights 2
Hotel: Ribeira do Porto Hotel
Highlights: The hotel, location, food, coffee, port and hospitality 
Lowlights: Gaia.

Day 1. Sun, Views, Cruises, and Alcohol!

We arrived at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport in the afternoon. We had to make our way to the Ribeira as that’s where our hotel was situated. The airport has a Metro, which is located downstairs.  The airport is on the purple line and to get into the town centre you will have to go towards Trinidad.  We had to get to Sao Bento, which was on the yellow line and only two stops away from Trinidad. The Metro system was very easy to use, it costs 2.60€(including the Andante card)  and is valid for an hour on all transportation.

35 mins later, we arrived at Sao Bento. Check-in wasn’t till 3pm so we had time to explore areas before heading down to Ribeira.

The first stop was the Clerigos Tower. 

It cost 6€ to see the museum and tower. It is a beautiful baroque church, built for the Brotherhood of the Clerigos. It can be seen from various points in the city. The views on a good day are spectacular.

**Warning** There are 240 steps to the top and you have to walk in some very tight spaces, so go before lunch!

The next stop was Livraria Lello (the bookshop known for its red stairway). Long queues come with this building no matter what time of the day. We didn’t want to wait and it appeared that people queueing had a voucher, which you get online. 

We decided to head down to the Ribeira to check-in to our hotel. The hotel is situated in a UNESCO world heritage site, with beautiful views of the Pointe Luis bridge and the River Douro.

Usually, with our budget holidays, we book comfortable hotels way in advance to get it cheaper and we are always presented with a nice room at the back with a view of another building. Not this time! We hit the jackpot, we got a room at the front with a view. The room was immaculate, cosy, and stylish. We had everything right on our doorstep, the action, music, and most importantly, the food.

We were eager to explore our new surroundings for the next two nights. The hotel offers all of its guests 20% off a river cruise with Tomaz do Douro excursions.  We wasted no time taking advantage of the deal and headed straight for the boat to enjoy the 50 minutes 6 bridge cruise.

Most of the river cruises start from the Ribeira and are similar in prices,  15€ for a 50-minute bridge cruise. The cruise gives you some information about the bridges through a speaker inside the boat. There are some great photo opportunities to capture or just enjoy the boat ride with the sun and surroundings.

A short walk back to the hotel, we had to start thinking about dinner. There are a lot of restaurants near the Riberia and along the river.  The great thing about Porto is you don’t have those pushy people standing outside restaurants bombarding you with menus and deals. We asked the receptionist at the hotel what she would recommend, she suggested Ribeira Square.

It had good reviews and we got to admire our hotel room from the restaurant so we decided to try it out. I went with what Porto is known for…

The Francesinha

It’s a Portuguese sandwich that originates from Porto. It’s made out of bread, filled with steak, ham, sausage, covered with melted cheese and a tomato sauce, topped off with a fried egg. Oh yeah, accompanied by fries.  Be prepared not to move after consuming one of these calorific bad boys.

Struggling to move, we didn’t have to go far to find a bar. We could hear music coming from the bridge, which we assumed was a concert due to how loud the music was. To our surprise, it was a small bar underneath the wooden staircase, with a guy blaring music out of a speaker. The atmosphere was amazing! People of all ages dancing, 1€  beers, views of Gaia, and great Latino music. Now, that’s what I call a Saturday night.

Day 2. Recovering, rain, tiles and sightseeing.

After a really comfortable sleep and a delicious breakfast, we were ready to explore the rest of Porto. The weather was grey and the rain decided to join us on our walkabouts.

Sao Bento Train Station

-is a UNESCO world heritage site and is known for having over 20,000 blue tiles designed and painted by Jorge Colaco. Each section represents moments in the country’s history. The detail of the work is extraordinary.

We decided to do a city-sightseeing bus tour as it was too wet to explore on foot. All the tourist centres are based near Sao Bento station. We paid 20 euros each for two days on the red and blue line.

Red line- Avenida dos Aliados-Se Catedral-Praca da Batalha-Torre dos Clerigos-Igreja do Carmo-Palacio de Cristal-Casa da Musica-Bessa-Casa de Serralves-Parque da Cidade-Castelo do Queijo-Foz-Cais do Ouro-Massarelos- Ribeira

Blue Line- Avenida do Aliados- Se Catedral-Praca da Batalha- Torre dos Clerigos-Igreja do Carmo- Ribeira-Largo Dom Luis I-The Yeatman Hotel- Qunita da Boeira-Holiday Inn-El Corte Ingles-Camara de Gaia-Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar- Real Companhia Velha

The history on the tour buses are not that informative, but it’s a great way of exploring certain places in the city. Also, when you buy a ticket you get to visit the port cellars for free.

We found some cool places and buildings around the city, whilst hopping on and off the red line. The red line does take you to see the beach but probably best seen when it’s less windy and wet.

We found an antique shop called Armazem, with a fire pit and a bar inside to rescue us from the cold. Once the rain stopped, we walked around the old town, on the cobbled streets and made our way up to the Jardim Municipal do Horto das Virtudas.

We walked back to the Riberia from the gardens and found a little restaurant called Pregar to try a Porto prego. If you are a steak lover, then this place is for you!

After dinner, we headed up to the high-level crossing on the Luis I Bridge as I wanted to see the views of the Porto at night.

It wasn’t as busy on the other side of the river, but still beautifully lit up and inviting.  It has more of a peaceful atmosphere, where you can enjoy something to eat, port tasting and the view of the Ribeira. I am a port novice, so this was a great way to introduce me to the stuff. 6€ to try 3 different types..and I am still not a fan!

Day 3. Blue Line, Gaia, Port tasting and home time.

The sun made an appearance and it was a perfect day to see Porto for the very last time. We walked up to Sao Bento station to grab a pastel de nata, as we had to compare the difference between Porto and Lisbon. Porto won!

Now it was off across the bridge and not too far away to the town of Gaia, on the blue line. Gaia is full of port cellars offering tours and tasting sessions (free with the bus tour).

The port cellar tour we chose to do was The Real Companhia Velha, the last stop on the blue line. I was surprised by the effort they put on this free tour. You start off with a video about the company, then an informative tour guide of the cellars and the best bit was the free glasses of port at the end.

Once the tour was over and glasses were emptied we took the bus back to where we started.  Gaia is less touristy and has a lot of high rise buildings. Our time was up in Porto and so we took our last photo with the big blue Porto sign and headed back to the airport.

Porto is a quintessentially Portuguese city, with much heart, great food, and wonderful people. It was a pleasure staying in such a lovely city and I will be back as a port expert.

Things to do if you have more time:

• Porto bridge climb– we were booked on for Sunday, but due to the weather, we canceled.
• Port Wine Cellars- Ferreira, Calem, Churchill, Taylor, Porto Cruz to name a few.
• Ride a Tram- Line 1 Infante-Passeio Alegre, Line 18-Massarelos-Carmo, Line 22-Carmo-Guindais Batalha
• River cruise and lunch on the Duoro.
• The beach on a sunny day
• FC Porto stadium- if you’re into football.