Last summer, a group of friends and I travelled to Portugal’s second city for a six-day stay. Having been to Lisbon a few years ago, we thought we knew what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised. Porto is on the Douro River estuary in northern Portugal.
It is one of the oldest European centres, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a National Monument of Portugal. The western part of its urban area extends to the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Despite Lisbon being larger, it is much hillier, making it harder to traverse easily, especially on a very hot day. Though the capital is very pretty, Porto’s minor imperfections, with its tiled old buildings and winding streets, captured my admiration. Lisbon is much more of a modern capital, while Porto retains some of that ‘old Europe’ charm.
We arrived to scorching temperatures, friendly people and stunning sights. Our little holiday let was tucked down a quiet road close to a handful of independent restaurants and stores.
Our first day in the city was mainly spent on a private boat trip down the Douro with drinks and snacks. I know this sounds very fancy, but when the cost was split between six people, it was well worth it to spend a few hours on the water.
We got incredible views of both Porto and Gaia, the city on the other side of the river, and our driver was extremely knowledgeable about local history, answering every silly question we had on even the most random of sights.
Another highlight of our trip was a port tasting tour in Gaia. The fortified dessert wine is typically richer, sweeter, heavier, and higher in alcohol content than normal wines.
Port became the city’s main export in the 17th century, and it’s still a huge part of its culture, with signs for port companies’ warehouses dominating the skyline.
We visited a handful of port producers and tasted at least three varieties. You can imagine that by the end, a group of 20 (mostly British) tourists were likely rather…merry. Of the three main types – ruby, tawny, and white – tawny was my personal favourite, but each producer had something different and wonderful to offer.
The rest of our time was spent exploring the city, drinking sangria, eating great food, and (unfortunately for me) watching the Euros. One afternoon, we even made it to a huge nearby beach, where we spent hours lounging on the sand and splashing in the Atlantic.
I would recommend Porto for those who aren’t crazy about big capital cities. Flights to the city leave from London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham. There are lots of places to stay, including hotels and holiday lets.