Porto, Portugal (5/14-17/2016)
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| Sunset Douro River - Porto, Portugal |
In the mist
of a remarkable renovation, Porto quickly
reveals its once historical spender. With new redevelopment everywhere, there
are enough charming elements and new trendy hotels and restaurants to easily overlook
the scattered dilapidated buildings.
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| Porto, Portugal |
Staying in
Porto’s energetic Ribeira historical
center, a UNESCO World Heritage site,
next to the Rio Douro river is a great place to be - surrounded with
restaurants, wine bars, and traditional wine boats traveling up and down the
river. The excitement here is contagious and there are many things to do.
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| Port Wine Boats at Night - Porto, Portugal |
We very
much liked wandering along the river on Porto’s picturesque Praca da Ribeira promenade framed by
the titled town houses (now many are small hotels).
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| Port Wine Tasting at Augusto's - Porto, Portugal |
From here you can see the
port wine lodges across the river, have a lunch/dinner (or just a drink) at one
of the many restaurants/cafes, and watch the former port wine boats (barcos
rabelos - see photo) make tours up and down the river (a fun thing to do).
The food in this
region is normally traditional Portuguese – very filling but sometimes rather
bland. It appears the spice route bypassed Portugal.
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| Villa Nova de Gaia Port Wine Cellars |
From
Porto’s riverside promenade you can easily cross the huge double-decker Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge to the Villa Nova de Gaia waterfront esplanade
where you can visit scores of port cellars open for wine tasting. Some of the
better ones are Kopke, Noval, and up on the hill, Graham. We stopped into
Augusto’s for a nice presentation of port wine making, history, and tasting.
Great walking tour of
old town Porto...
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| Porto Historical Center |
Although we started this walking town from the Ribeira riverfront area, this
walking tour can be started and stopped anywhere along it. (Note: * denotes the things we liked
best.
1) Portugal
history buffs will love the Casa do
Infante (birthplace of Henry the Navigator) on Rue da Alfandega.
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| In Front of Our Hotel - Porto, Portugal |
2) At the
top of the street turn left for a visit to Porto’s most beautiful church (Igreja de Sao Francisco) for a baroque
gold leaf overload. If you have seen other larger churches around the world,
you may be a bit underwhelmed by this one. Then next door poke your head into
the Palacio da Bosa. This former stock
exchange building is a nice example of the splendid neoclassical period from
the late 19th century.
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| Shop - Porto, Portugal |
3) * Head
north and walk along Porto’s interesting shops and cafes on lovely Rue des Flores. This is where the rich
and famous lived and is a great example of Porto’s historic slender.
4) * At the
top of Rue des Flores, do go into the front hall of Porto’s train station (Estacao de Soa Bento) for a wonderful
display of tile work (azulejos) showcasing Portugal’s history and every day
life in the past.
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| Port Wine Boat in Ribeira Old Town - Porto, Portugal |
5) North of
the train station is Avenida dos Aliados
with Porto’s grand building where they hold many public events and festivals. Having
reached the top of Porto’s hills, we enjoyed a break at one of the cafes at the
bottom on the left to enjoy some coffee and beer.
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| Mercado do Bolhao - Porto, Portugal |
6) A couple
of blocks east of the top of Avenida dos Aliados is Porto’s open market (Mercado do Bolhao) – interesting to
visit where you can find fresh produce, cheese, less costly port wine, and
local Portuguese handicrafts (closed Sundays). You may want to make a church
stop just west of the market at Capela
das Almas.
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| Cafe Majestic - Porto, Portugal |
7) * Head south on Rue Santa Catarina for some upscale shopping and nice walk. A great
place to take a break for lunch or just coffee/tea is the beautiful Café Majestic (see photo). For tea lovers, try the wonderful
vanilla bourbon tea – it’s wonderful!
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| Rue Santa Catarina - Porto, Portugal |
8) Now
cross back over your path taking Rue de 31 de Janeiro for several blocks
enjoying the shops along the way to the Igreja
e Torre dos Clerigos. The energetic can climb the 225 steps to the top of
the spiral staircase for one of the best views of Porto’s historic center. At
the plaza there, we stopped at the Portugal
Experience for a codfish cake filled with cheese and small glass of port
wine – very nice.
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| Chez Lapin Restaurant in Ribeira - Porto, Portugal |
9) Just
west enjoy the nice park (Jardim de
Cordoaria) and then make your way south down back to Porto’s Ribeira waterfront.
Drop into one of the restaurants/cafes for a drink and some food – you deserve
it now! We liked the atmospheric Chez
Lapin restaurant (see photo).
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| Breakfast at Guest Hotel Douro - Porto, Portugal |
We stayed
at the beautifully restored Guest House
Douro located in the middle of the action in the Ribeira area on the Douro
River. With fantastic views of the river and its activities, it is definitely
the place to be and owners go out of their way to welcome you and make your stay
in Porto a memorable one. Breakfast is one of the best we have had (see photo).
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| Pat - Porto, Portugal |
Porto Travel airport tip: Take the modern metro from the
airport and old town area. For a few Euros, it takes about the same time (30-40
minutes) as a taxi costing much more. You can buy a metro card at the
Information Booth right outside of customs – get some Euros at the nearby ATM
first because they only take cash. We got off at Porto’s Trindale station and
took a less costly taxi ride to our hotel – reversing this process back to the
airport.
Please see our other 5 travel blog posts for Portugal:
Lisbon, Portugal (Capital)
Lisbon, Portugal (Capital)
Portugal Algarve Faro Praiada Rocha (Portugal's most popular tourist destination)
Madeira, Portugal
Douro Valley (Portugal's premier port wine country)
Medieval Towns of Obidos, Aveiro, Figuerira da Foz, &Coimbra, Portugal
Please enjoy 250+ wonderful places around the world, with award-winning photos, from our BLOG ARCHIVE on the right ---->
Madeira, Portugal
Douro Valley (Portugal's premier port wine country)
Medieval Towns of Obidos, Aveiro, Figuerira da Foz, &Coimbra, Portugal
nice info..
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