Two Weeks in Portugal - Porto (Part 1)
In June, I spent two weeks in Portugal, traveling with my family. One week in and around Porto in the north of the country and one week in the south, Lisbon and surrounding area. June is a month full of festivities in Portugal, as it is the month celebrating saints. A lot of the trip was spent walking up and down hilly, cobblestone streets, sampling pastéis de nata, guzzling espresso and photographing my mother. Read on for a rundown of our time in Porto, Braga and Guimarães.
Porto
We landed in Porto and the first thing I noticed when I got outside was that it was not as hot as I was expecting, actually a bit chilly, around 19C. We took the metro to the city centre, it is very easy to take the metro and there are signs everywhere. Just be sure to know what stop you need to get off at. Even at the ticket kiosk, there are signs that show what type of ticket you need to purchase for your stop from the airport.
Porto is a coastal city right on the Douro River. The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I'm already living for it. The riverside is lined with colourful buildings and the streets are full of souvenir vendors. We stayed here for five days and took a couple day trips to nearby cities.
My first order of business was obtaining a coffee, in some shape or form. Espresso is commonplace, but I wanted to ease into it. We were walking downtown and I saw a cute cafe called Esquires Coffee, went in and ordered an Americano and a pastel de nata (custard tart). The coffee was really good but the pastel was meh. I think this is one of the few speciality (or should I say third wavy) coffee shops in town. Overall cute vibe, wish I had stayed to chill for a bit, but we were on our way to the Clérigos Tower.
We took a "free" (pay what you want) walking tour of the city, with New Europe Tours. It was around 3 hours long and the guide explained the history of Porto, and took us to some viewpoints and the major sights such as the Sé Cathedral, Ponte de Dom Luis I, walked us by the Lello Bookstore (inspiration to JK Rowling, you have to buy an entrance ticket and it's about an hour line to get in there...once inside, it was quite crowded, but it was definitely a bookstore with a lot of character and interesting design) and Sāo Bento station, which is a really lovely train station with painted scenes on tiles on the inside (pictured below). Painted tiles are everywhere, and it's because it's a fairly cost effective way of making a wall pretty. I feel that.
Across the river is Vila Nova de Gaia, where the majority of the port wine cellars are located. Historically, port wine was shipped by boat down the Douro River from the Douro Valley where the vineyards are to Porto, where it was aged in the cellars and then shipped to other places for sale. A lot of the tastings include a brief tour and are around 5 euros. We went to Augusto's for a tasting and had a variety of port wines; tawny, ruby, white. It was interesting to learn about the process of port winemaking, but I have to say that port wine is a bit too sweet for me.
Fun fact, you can walk across the Ponte Dom Luis I at the river level and also above, but you have to walk up a huge hill. The Miradouro da Serra do Pilar is a viewpoint in Gaia that gives amazing views of Porto. It's a nice way to spent a relaxed day across the river. The Jardim do Morro is also a really nice park with great views of the river and Porto. When we were there, we happened upon some sort of festival. There was a pop up market with local vendors selling knick knacks, food and the most expensive beverages I've seen in Porto yet, and there was a DJ spinning beats. People were chilling on the lawn enjoying the music. I took a power nap. We walked by again in the evening and there was still music blasting, and now people were dancing. It was great. Europeans really know how to enjoy life. We should take a page from their book.
Now let's talk about food. One thing we noticed was that many restaurants brought out some appetizers without our asking, and these are not free. If you're not interested, just say no! Tap water is safe to drink in Portugal but most restaurants do not serve it, and only serve bottled water. Usually beer was cheaper. Or just bring a water bottle.
Portugal is on average less expensive than other popular European destinations, an average dinner cost around 12€, which included a main with a side and a drink. I didn't have too many memorable meals but I did try a francesinha sandwich (above). It's a sandwich, native to Porto, filled with ham, sausage, steak/roast meat, covered with melted cheese, a beer/tomato sauce and topped with a fried egg. It's a lot. You can also get giant prawns, one of the best we had were at Tapabento, near São Bento station. Be sure to make a reservation. I noticed that the majority of highly rated restaurants on TripAdvisor or Yelp were booked out fully, so walk-ins were a no-go.
One of my favourite activities in life is eating baked goods. Each day we tried a different pastel de nata, I have to say that my favourite in Porto was Manteigaria (also has locations in Lisbon), second was Fabrica de Nata (also in Lisbon). The shell was perfectly flaky with beautiful lamination, and the custard was sweet, creamy and nicely caramelized (maybe a bit on the sweeter side, but perfect with an espresso). The best thing was there were no line ups. A lot of other local pastelarias also had great pastéis, like Nata 3 (pictured below).
Super Bock is an easy to drink pale lager that is super popular in Portugal. I would say that the majority of restaurants and cafes have this, or Sagres (similar pale lager) on tap. It's like the Bud Light of Portugal, but it was cheaper than bottled water at restaurants.
Wifi was a bit hard to come by, even in the city, but one place that never fails me is McDonald's. There is a fancy Mcd's in Porto, and has chandeliers and stained glass windows. Definitely worth a look, but let me warn you against the cabbage soup. I don't know why we had that.
Be sure to check out some of the traditional grocery stores in Porto. A Pérola do Bolhão (above) has a funky art nouveau facade and is filled to the brim with wine, cheese, deli, dried fruit and nuts. It kind of felt like stepping into a hoarder's shop because there was so much packed into a little shop. It's been around since 1917 and there are quite a few shops similar to this in the city. Definitely worth a look.
Another highlight of Porto was the Mercado do Bolhão (pictured below). The original was under construction but they have opened a temporary market that is fully covered. Tons of produce, cheese, meat, fish. We bought a ton of fruit, all product of Portugal (mostly from the Algarve region) and it was the cheapest and best quality fruit we had our entire trip. Another market in Porto is the Mercado Bom Sucesso, and has a lot of prepared food options as well, makes for a great lunch stop.
Braga
Braga is north of Porto, the third largest city in Portugal. About an hour and a half train ride from Porto, you can take the regional train there from São Bento station in Porto, making for a nice day trip. Note that the cards you get from the metro in Porto can't be used on the regional trains, you need to get another reloadable card, or you can buy individual tickets.
We got on the train with no real plan in place. I was a bit concerned because the GPS on my phone wasn't working. The entire trip I didn't have data so it was very much Maps.Me and random wifi spots that led the way (shout out to McD's). The historical city centre was a quick walk from the train station and full of plazas, little shops, cafes and cobblestone streets. In one of the plazas, they were setting up for festivities celebrating São João, pictured below.
We walked around and saw a bunch of different churches and gardens, including the Garden of Santa Barbara, pictured below. You can see the Archbishop's Palace of Braga in the background.
There is a huge cathedral a bit outside of the city called Bom Jesus. It is accessible by bus #1 or by taking an Uber or Kapten (more on that below). The place reminded me of a mini Versailles - beautifully manicured gardens and water fountains, but replace the palace with a cathedral. It was also on top of a large hill, and then there were seven sets of stairs to walk up to the cathedral, so granted extra nice city views.
For lunch, we had pretty good burgers at this place called Bira dos Namorados. It was 6€ for a burger, salad/fries, drink and espresso. What a deal!!! They also have a location in Porto. We also stopped by the Mercado Municipal de Braga, and bought some fruit - cherries, apricots, loquats. I've never had a loquat before, and am pleased to say that I am now a fan of them - they're juicy, tangy and probably full of vitamins.
Guimarães
We took a day trip to Guimarães, known as the birthplace of Portugal, because it is said that the first King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, was born there. The town centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I love me a World Heritage Site. There are many well-preserved medieval structures there, like the castle of Guimarães and the Palace of the Dukes of Bragança, pictured below, respectively.
We also took a cable car up to Penha Hill, I think the hike up would have been two hours, quite challenging. The cable car ride was about 15 minutes, so it was certainly not a tiny hill! On top of the hill, there were lots of large boulders, green space where people were having picnics and of course, a church. It was smaller and more modern than others we've seen so far, with a fountain out front in the shape of a cross. Of course, the views were wonderful.
We had dinner at a place called Sala141, chosen by the fact that it was close to the train station. The first time we walked by, around 8 pm, there were no people inside so we decided to keep walking. Returned at 8:30 pm and the place was packed. It turned out to be more of a bar, but they had a small tapas menu and it was pretty good, especially the grilled mushrooms. I also tried some vinho verde, which comes from the very north of Portugal. It was light and slightly sparkling, makes for a nice summer patio drink, for real.
Northern Portugal, Other Notes
I wish I visited the Douro Valley, because I'm obsessed with vineyards overlooking bodies of water, but it is fairly difficult to get around the area without a car or being part of an organized tour. The tours are quite expensive from Porto, the cheapest one I found was 90€ per person, but it included a pick up from your hotel, lunch and transportation to various wineries in the valley. There are ways to go by train to Regua and Pinhao, however the way our schedule worked out, it was a Sunday and train services are a lot more limited.
A ridesharing app called Kapten is available in Porto and Lisbon, and is a few euros cheaper than Uber on average. I used it a bunch, and it was relatively hassle free. One thing I liked about it was there were no surprises on cost - the price that is calculated when you order the ride is the price you will be charged (except for wait time over 5 minutes). The only thing is that the cancellation fee is 2.50€ after 2 minutes, and you are charged for this even if the driver cancels. You can use my referral code GLONG1 for 6€ off your first ride, or GMAPS to get 2€ off your first 2 rides in Lisbon.
From Porto, we headed south to Lisbon. By train, it is around 3 hours. There is assigned seating and if you buy your tickets in advance (5+ days before) online through Comboios de Portugal, the train service website, you can get discounts on the tickets (I've noticed it's certain time slots only). Our tickets were 25€ each.
Stay tuned for Part Two where I write about my time in and around Lisboa.
Porto
We landed in Porto and the first thing I noticed when I got outside was that it was not as hot as I was expecting, actually a bit chilly, around 19C. We took the metro to the city centre, it is very easy to take the metro and there are signs everywhere. Just be sure to know what stop you need to get off at. Even at the ticket kiosk, there are signs that show what type of ticket you need to purchase for your stop from the airport.
Porto is a coastal city right on the Douro River. The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I'm already living for it. The riverside is lined with colourful buildings and the streets are full of souvenir vendors. We stayed here for five days and took a couple day trips to nearby cities.
My first order of business was obtaining a coffee, in some shape or form. Espresso is commonplace, but I wanted to ease into it. We were walking downtown and I saw a cute cafe called Esquires Coffee, went in and ordered an Americano and a pastel de nata (custard tart). The coffee was really good but the pastel was meh. I think this is one of the few speciality (or should I say third wavy) coffee shops in town. Overall cute vibe, wish I had stayed to chill for a bit, but we were on our way to the Clérigos Tower.
We took a "free" (pay what you want) walking tour of the city, with New Europe Tours. It was around 3 hours long and the guide explained the history of Porto, and took us to some viewpoints and the major sights such as the Sé Cathedral, Ponte de Dom Luis I, walked us by the Lello Bookstore (inspiration to JK Rowling, you have to buy an entrance ticket and it's about an hour line to get in there...once inside, it was quite crowded, but it was definitely a bookstore with a lot of character and interesting design) and Sāo Bento station, which is a really lovely train station with painted scenes on tiles on the inside (pictured below). Painted tiles are everywhere, and it's because it's a fairly cost effective way of making a wall pretty. I feel that.
Across the river is Vila Nova de Gaia, where the majority of the port wine cellars are located. Historically, port wine was shipped by boat down the Douro River from the Douro Valley where the vineyards are to Porto, where it was aged in the cellars and then shipped to other places for sale. A lot of the tastings include a brief tour and are around 5 euros. We went to Augusto's for a tasting and had a variety of port wines; tawny, ruby, white. It was interesting to learn about the process of port winemaking, but I have to say that port wine is a bit too sweet for me.Fun fact, you can walk across the Ponte Dom Luis I at the river level and also above, but you have to walk up a huge hill. The Miradouro da Serra do Pilar is a viewpoint in Gaia that gives amazing views of Porto. It's a nice way to spent a relaxed day across the river. The Jardim do Morro is also a really nice park with great views of the river and Porto. When we were there, we happened upon some sort of festival. There was a pop up market with local vendors selling knick knacks, food and the most expensive beverages I've seen in Porto yet, and there was a DJ spinning beats. People were chilling on the lawn enjoying the music. I took a power nap. We walked by again in the evening and there was still music blasting, and now people were dancing. It was great. Europeans really know how to enjoy life. We should take a page from their book.
Now let's talk about food. One thing we noticed was that many restaurants brought out some appetizers without our asking, and these are not free. If you're not interested, just say no! Tap water is safe to drink in Portugal but most restaurants do not serve it, and only serve bottled water. Usually beer was cheaper. Or just bring a water bottle.
Portugal is on average less expensive than other popular European destinations, an average dinner cost around 12€, which included a main with a side and a drink. I didn't have too many memorable meals but I did try a francesinha sandwich (above). It's a sandwich, native to Porto, filled with ham, sausage, steak/roast meat, covered with melted cheese, a beer/tomato sauce and topped with a fried egg. It's a lot. You can also get giant prawns, one of the best we had were at Tapabento, near São Bento station. Be sure to make a reservation. I noticed that the majority of highly rated restaurants on TripAdvisor or Yelp were booked out fully, so walk-ins were a no-go.
One of my favourite activities in life is eating baked goods. Each day we tried a different pastel de nata, I have to say that my favourite in Porto was Manteigaria (also has locations in Lisbon), second was Fabrica de Nata (also in Lisbon). The shell was perfectly flaky with beautiful lamination, and the custard was sweet, creamy and nicely caramelized (maybe a bit on the sweeter side, but perfect with an espresso). The best thing was there were no line ups. A lot of other local pastelarias also had great pastéis, like Nata 3 (pictured below).
Super Bock is an easy to drink pale lager that is super popular in Portugal. I would say that the majority of restaurants and cafes have this, or Sagres (similar pale lager) on tap. It's like the Bud Light of Portugal, but it was cheaper than bottled water at restaurants.
Wifi was a bit hard to come by, even in the city, but one place that never fails me is McDonald's. There is a fancy Mcd's in Porto, and has chandeliers and stained glass windows. Definitely worth a look, but let me warn you against the cabbage soup. I don't know why we had that.
Be sure to check out some of the traditional grocery stores in Porto. A Pérola do Bolhão (above) has a funky art nouveau facade and is filled to the brim with wine, cheese, deli, dried fruit and nuts. It kind of felt like stepping into a hoarder's shop because there was so much packed into a little shop. It's been around since 1917 and there are quite a few shops similar to this in the city. Definitely worth a look.
Another highlight of Porto was the Mercado do Bolhão (pictured below). The original was under construction but they have opened a temporary market that is fully covered. Tons of produce, cheese, meat, fish. We bought a ton of fruit, all product of Portugal (mostly from the Algarve region) and it was the cheapest and best quality fruit we had our entire trip. Another market in Porto is the Mercado Bom Sucesso, and has a lot of prepared food options as well, makes for a great lunch stop.
Braga
Braga is north of Porto, the third largest city in Portugal. About an hour and a half train ride from Porto, you can take the regional train there from São Bento station in Porto, making for a nice day trip. Note that the cards you get from the metro in Porto can't be used on the regional trains, you need to get another reloadable card, or you can buy individual tickets.
We got on the train with no real plan in place. I was a bit concerned because the GPS on my phone wasn't working. The entire trip I didn't have data so it was very much Maps.Me and random wifi spots that led the way (shout out to McD's). The historical city centre was a quick walk from the train station and full of plazas, little shops, cafes and cobblestone streets. In one of the plazas, they were setting up for festivities celebrating São João, pictured below.
We walked around and saw a bunch of different churches and gardens, including the Garden of Santa Barbara, pictured below. You can see the Archbishop's Palace of Braga in the background.
There is a huge cathedral a bit outside of the city called Bom Jesus. It is accessible by bus #1 or by taking an Uber or Kapten (more on that below). The place reminded me of a mini Versailles - beautifully manicured gardens and water fountains, but replace the palace with a cathedral. It was also on top of a large hill, and then there were seven sets of stairs to walk up to the cathedral, so granted extra nice city views.
For lunch, we had pretty good burgers at this place called Bira dos Namorados. It was 6€ for a burger, salad/fries, drink and espresso. What a deal!!! They also have a location in Porto. We also stopped by the Mercado Municipal de Braga, and bought some fruit - cherries, apricots, loquats. I've never had a loquat before, and am pleased to say that I am now a fan of them - they're juicy, tangy and probably full of vitamins.
Guimarães
We took a day trip to Guimarães, known as the birthplace of Portugal, because it is said that the first King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, was born there. The town centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I love me a World Heritage Site. There are many well-preserved medieval structures there, like the castle of Guimarães and the Palace of the Dukes of Bragança, pictured below, respectively.
We also took a cable car up to Penha Hill, I think the hike up would have been two hours, quite challenging. The cable car ride was about 15 minutes, so it was certainly not a tiny hill! On top of the hill, there were lots of large boulders, green space where people were having picnics and of course, a church. It was smaller and more modern than others we've seen so far, with a fountain out front in the shape of a cross. Of course, the views were wonderful.
We had dinner at a place called Sala141, chosen by the fact that it was close to the train station. The first time we walked by, around 8 pm, there were no people inside so we decided to keep walking. Returned at 8:30 pm and the place was packed. It turned out to be more of a bar, but they had a small tapas menu and it was pretty good, especially the grilled mushrooms. I also tried some vinho verde, which comes from the very north of Portugal. It was light and slightly sparkling, makes for a nice summer patio drink, for real.
Northern Portugal, Other Notes
I wish I visited the Douro Valley, because I'm obsessed with vineyards overlooking bodies of water, but it is fairly difficult to get around the area without a car or being part of an organized tour. The tours are quite expensive from Porto, the cheapest one I found was 90€ per person, but it included a pick up from your hotel, lunch and transportation to various wineries in the valley. There are ways to go by train to Regua and Pinhao, however the way our schedule worked out, it was a Sunday and train services are a lot more limited.
A ridesharing app called Kapten is available in Porto and Lisbon, and is a few euros cheaper than Uber on average. I used it a bunch, and it was relatively hassle free. One thing I liked about it was there were no surprises on cost - the price that is calculated when you order the ride is the price you will be charged (except for wait time over 5 minutes). The only thing is that the cancellation fee is 2.50€ after 2 minutes, and you are charged for this even if the driver cancels. You can use my referral code GLONG1 for 6€ off your first ride, or GMAPS to get 2€ off your first 2 rides in Lisbon.
From Porto, we headed south to Lisbon. By train, it is around 3 hours. There is assigned seating and if you buy your tickets in advance (5+ days before) online through Comboios de Portugal, the train service website, you can get discounts on the tickets (I've noticed it's certain time slots only). Our tickets were 25€ each.
Stay tuned for Part Two where I write about my time in and around Lisboa.
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