Porto, Portugal

The cozy city

Porto, Portugal

Oh Porto, you are small but have a big personality. Automatically you draw us in with your colorful streets, cool breeze, and gorgeous views. Home of Port wine and the cheesiest sandwich I have ever eaten, Porto, you have my heart.

This old city is filled with colored tiles, cobble stone streets, narrow alley ways, the smell of fresh seafood, and wine. Really I wish we could have spent more time here but between delayed flights and lost luggage, we missed out on some of our journey, but that's a story for another day. Here is what we did in Porto.

Make sure you check out the video at the end of this post!

Luis I Bridge

We started our adventure by walking to the Luis I Bridge, definite icon of this cozy city. The bridge was the longest built in its time and spans the River Douro between the cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal. The bottom of the bridge is for cars trying to get across although there are still side walks, you can use to get to the other side. The top of the bridge, however, has a much larger pedestrian walkway with the most beautiful panoramic views of the city. Those panoramic views you see pictured in travel catalogs of Porto can come to life from the top of this bridge.

After crossing the bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia we sat down for a bit to enjoy the view and drink some of the best freshly squeezed orange juice ever! Seriously, Portugal is known to have amazing orange juice and they squeeze it right in front of you.

My Orange Juice

Cais da Ribeira (river side)

This was absolutely my favorite place to hang out, especially at night. The illuminated city, of Porto and the Port wineries across the river, with the soft Portuguese music, creates such a romantic atmosphere that you never want to leave. There are plenty of restaurants on the water, although I must admit, the one we tried was terrible! I realize as I am writing this that I didn't get the name of the restaurant but from what I have read, all of these restaurants are pretty much the same, which is typical for a central location of a tourist destination.

If I could do it over, I would eat before hand, then come out to the river side, and just order a bottle of wine and some snacks and just enjoy the music and the view.

My not so good meal

São Bento railway station

This train station is one in the historic district right in the center of Porto. It's such a beautiful train station with blue and white colored azulejo tiles surrounding the inside of the train station. The large panels of tile were designed and painted by Jorge Colaç. The murals represent moments in the country's history showing the people of various regions. We ended up taking a train from this station down to Lisbon, where we stayed for a few days.

Livraria Lello

When in Porto, you must see this beautiful Library called Livraria Lello, which is said to be the inspiration for J.k. Rowling's Harry Potter movies. Rowling lived in Porto for a little while and is said to have frequented this library often. It's ranked among the top libraries in the world and its one of the oldest in Portugal.

When you walk in, it's extremely busy. It definitely gained some popularity after the word got out about Harry Potter. It's almost impossible to take a picture on the red spiral stairs as there is always waves of people walking up and down. Once you get past the crowds, it's truly a beautiful place. The architecture, the details, the books, it was so cozy and breathtaking at the same time.

Porto Cathedral

One of the most important churches and building in Porto is the gorgeous Cathedral which began construction in the 12th century. It is located at a high point in the city and you can see amazing panoramic views of the city from its courtyard. I would highly recommend visiting at sunset as the color of the sun reflecting on the buildings is heavenly.

The Porto Cathedral mixes Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles which is most likely due to its continued construction through the 13th, and 14th centuries and then additions and reconstructions in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Cathedral is one of the oldest historical monuments in Porto.

Praça da Liberdade

This is the central square of Porto and it connects the old city with the new city. In the middle of the Praça is a 10-meter bronze equestrian statue of King Peter IV from 1862 since he fought to protect it during the Liberal Wars.

The Food of Porto!

Okay, I have been waiting to talk about this. My beloved francesinha, which literally translates to "little french girl" Usually, a francesinha is made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça (a portuguese sausage),roast beef, everything covered with melted cheese and a delicious tomato sauce. Although some places serve it with a sunny side egg on top, I had one without the egg but there are always fries on the side that you are supposed to dip in the sauce. They say that thew secret is in the sauce and many restaurants around Porto argue that theirs is the best. I am quite sad that I didn't get to make that determination myself as this is the only one I had but I can say I was not disappointed.

But seriously, this is probably the only sandwich you will ever eat with a fork and knife and it's so good I can't believe I haven't tried to recreate it, yet. I am not sure how they make their sauce but it certainly doesn't taste like regular tomato sauce, it has a kick to it that was so delicious.

Drink port wine and eat pastries

Well it's not Porto, if you don't drink Port wine so make sure you do. We stopped at Manteigaria which is a place where they make the delicious Portuguese pastry called Pasteis de Nata. Pasteis de Nata are said to have originated in The city of Belem, which is right outside the city of Lisbon (wait for my Lisbon post for more). These tarts have a flaky crust with an egg custard center, they are perfectly sweet and addicting. In Porto, they serve their Pasteis de Nata with Port wine and let me tell you that this was fabulous. I love dessert, I love wine, and I love both together even more. If you go to Porto, you must try these here!

Drink Coffee at the Majestic Cafe

Last but definitely not least, you mist drink coffee at Majestic Cafe.The famous Cafe in Porto opened in 1921 after WWI and is known as Porto's most elegant cafe. You certainly sense that you have gone back in time when you walk in. I love the ambiance in this cafe with the wood counter tops, chandeliers, and a pianist playing classical music, it was a nice experience. I'm not sure if this is true but I have heard a few times that J.K Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter book here! The coffee was good but I didn't get a chance to try anything else as we had already eaten when we got here!

I really wish we had more time in Porto because this is a place I would love to come back to every morning for coffee.

Our Accommodations

We stayed at an awesome Air B&B

Our host was super accommodating and spend about 30 minutes with us explaining where we needed to go and what we needed to see. They even gave us restaurant suggestions. We went through some challenging things with our flight and lost luggage but the host was super helpful and communicated with us as the airline tried to get a hold of us to deliver our stuff. If you are considering visiting Porto, check out the link!