Porto

Introduction

I booked this trip almost a year in advance since I found a very cheap deal, took a risk, and jumped on it. I have no regrets! Porto is a very beautiful city with great food. I found it very easy to just walk around and take my time! Porto is pretty walkable, so you can do a lot without walking too far. But, there are a lot of hills so you will be walking up and down - it reminded me a lot of San Francisco.

To get around besides walking, you’ll want to get an Andante card at the transportation hub you get into. The city and metro buses are charged as either a one-way zone-based fare, or a 24-hour pass based on per zone. A lot of the things you’ll be doing will probably fall within zone 2, so there’s no need to pay extra for a more expensive ticket.

I stayed at the Porto Spot Hostel which was slightly better than average based on my past experiences. The hostel was clean and had free breakfast, but the top bunks were consistently creaky and my pillow was lumpy. The bathrooms were nice and clean, but on an entire floor (for the men’s side) there were only 3 sinks, 3 showers and 1 toilet. I never really needed to wait to use the bathroom, but I was expecting more toilet stalls. Overall, I would come here again since it was so reasonably priced.

I stayed for 4 days, but you can really do most of Porto in around ~2-3. In this article, I’ll split off my trip into individual days and then break down what I did into various categories. Bolded bullet points are ones I really liked or would recommend prioritizing.

Day 1 - the downtown core

Attractions
For most of these attractions, they are either just things you can see for a short bit, or you just look at the outside (since you may not want to go inside, etc.)

Clérigos Tower - the tower is super cool to look at, but no need to do anything more besides that.
São Bento Station - if you’re taking the train to/from Porto, I would say you don’t need to make a special trip here. The station hall is incredibly beautiful though.
Cais da Ribeira / Ribeira Square
Luis I Bridge - Highly recommend walking across the bridge during sunset

Just passing through

Rua Santa Catarina - the street is very touristy.
Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar
Mercado Ferreira Borges
Muralha Fernandina
Monumento aos Heróis da Guerra Peninsular
Mercado Bom Sucesso

Churches / Religion
For the churches, I didn’t really go inside and just looked at how beautiful they were outside because 1) they weren’t letting people in that day, or 2) I wanted to prioritize something else. I would at least recommend admiring the architecture.

Igreja de Santo Ildefonso
Chapel of Souls
Bolsa Palace / Monument Church Of St Francis
Porto Cathedral / Paço Episcopal do Porto
Igreja do Carmo / Igreja dos Carmelitas Descalços

Nature

Jardim de João Chagas
Jardim do Morro - this was one of my most favorite parks of Porto. The park overlooks the river splitting the city into two, which makes a great photo opp. I highly recommend coming here a little before sunset, bringing some drinks and snacks, and then enjoying the sunset!
Parque das Virtudes

Food

Leitaria da Quinta do Paco
Casa Guedes - I came here to try one of their infamous sandwiches, so I tried their classic #14 combination sandwich. Overall it was a really simple, well done sandwich but I had to wait a while to get the sandwich and then pay.
Manteigaria - this is definitely one of the bigger chains in Portugal selling these tarts, but man they are so good. I ate at least 8 of these while I was in Portugal. You definitely have to try this.
Mercado Beira-Rio - This small market has an interesting assortment of vendors. I got this “salad” which wasn’t really a salad (piadina mia - salads nostra) but it was interestingly good.

Day 2

Attractions

Taking the Tram 1 (Infante tram stop to Tram Linha 1 - Terminus Passeio Alegre)

Taking the old school Tram 1 is highly recommended, and you can find the two ends in the italicized text above. Instead, I would recommend taking the 500 bus to get the ocean view. The tram itself is a cool experience, but the bus and the tram run on the same route and the bus is faster/cheaper. At either terminus, just get a picture with the tram if it’s really important to you.

Foz do Douro (Jardim do Passeio Alegre / Praia do Carneiro / Praia dos Ingleses)
- When you take the tram in the westbound direction, you’ll end up in a slightly beachy neighborhood called Foz do Douro. I recommend walking in the area a little bit since it is definitely cute!

Nature

Parque de Serralves / Treetop Walk Serralves
Jardim Botânico do Porto
Jardins do Palácio de Cristal - The garden itself on first sight is nice, but the real gem of these “gardens” is to walk further in and go to the point where you get a nice view of the city!

Food

Cafe Santiago - I had a hard time deciding if this should be bolded, but it’s only because you’ve got to try the francesinha (a beef type of sandwich), which is a Portuguese specialty. On the menu, I got the francesinha santiago - bide do lombok & the legumes da Horta (vegetable soup). The sandwich was definitely tasty but was a little heavier than I would have liked. I think the cafe itself is very good, but the sandwich itself was not my cup of tea.

day 3 and 4

These days were slightly more chill, so I’ll lump them into one.

Confeitaria do Bolhao - I got the fruit tart and marzipan but there are just so many options here.
Matosinhos
- This is another beachy area of Porto but it’s further north. I would say it’s at least 45min out of the city center. But, I would definitely recommend going here as well! It’s much quieter than Porto’s city center and has great seafood. I went to Dom Zeferino for lunch. I got the salmon, olives, and bread. The salmon was done to perfection, but I wasn’t expecting the olives and bread to cost extra.
Livraria Lello - the bookstore itself is absolutely gorgeous and famous for a reason, but I personally felt like it was underwhelming. I always like a good bookstore, but it’s very crowded inside. Also, it costs 5 euros to get in (via online) and 6 euros at the door (if you pay cash). I also waited around 45min to get inside.
Douro Valley (via Airbnb Experience)
- Doing this Experience was hands down one of the biggest highlights of the trip. The tour was super well done and my guide Bruno took myself and 6 others on an amazing tour of the Douro Valley. The link says it all, but the valley is absolutely beautiful. The tour consists of visiting a family-owned winery and a wine tasting, a boat cruise on the Douro River with a cocktail, and a multi-course meal at a local family’s home which was amazing. I highly recommend carving out a day to do this, if you have the time!