Exploring Porto (May 2023)

The Camino Walk was definitely the highlight of the two weeks I spent in Portugal. But I also loved my time in Porto. I spent nearly a week in the city, one day before my Camino and 6 days after. Two of those days I did full day-tours, one to the Paiva Walkways and Arouca 516 Suspension Bridge and one to the Douro Valley. I also walked to Matosinhos, a beach town north of Porto. Details on these three adventures are in different posts.

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My first full day in Porto was May 16th, 2023. I planned to get an overview of the city so I had a better idea of what I would like to do when I returned after my Camino walk.

I signed up for a 2 hour free (but paid by donation at the end) walking tour provided by Guru Walks. The guides are local and very entertaining with many stories about the city and it’s history. I should have recorded it because there are so many things I don’t remember now! Our guide was Ana, born and raised in Porto. The group was fairly small, about 15 people and it turns out most were Canadian! When I returned to the city a week later, the tours were much bigger.

Highlights of the walk included Sao Bento Train Station, an Art Deco McDonalds, the main Cathedral (Se) from which many pilgrims start their Camino, Igreja dos Clerigos, Miradouro. And a surprise highlight – our guide sang us a Fado song. She has a beautiful voice! She also gave us a list of good traditional Portuguese restaurants and places to see in Porto. Below are a few photos…and some of the landmarks will be highlighted later in the blog. The weather was warm and sunny, a great day for walking!

Porto is a lovely city, very easy to walk around although you need to be prepared to walk up and down hills and steep stairs! I walked pretty much everywhere during the days after I returned from my Camino walk. Even though I did two full-day tours out of the 6 days in Porto, I still managed to register over 95 kms. I always felt safe anywhere I walked.

Rather than give a day-to-day of my Porto adventures, I have highlighted sections of my time in this lovely city.

Food and Drinks

Let’s start with some of my favourite food and drinks! Every morning started with a cafe con leite and a pastry. And on hot days, I certainly enjoyed a cold beer and some wine with dinner. Many restaurants don’t open for dinner until 8 pm, so I often had a late lunch instead. So many patios to choose from. One of my favourite restaurants was Honest Greens on the busy Santa Catarina shopping district street. Many Portuguese restaurants are very meat focused, with not too many veggies. Honest Greens had excellent, fresh food and lots of “greens”! They had a very interesting order procedure. You got a menu, then lined up to place your order. They gave you a disc, which I am guessing had a GPS in it. You found a seat (and encouraged to join others if seating was limited). Then a server brought you meal to you. Very efficient!

And sometimes, I used the garden patio at my hotel to enjoy a glass of wine and some snacks while I worked on Facebook posts and messages to my family!

And Portugal is famous for its pastel de nata, a rich egg custard tart in a flaky crust. We had a few of them when we visited Lisbon 4 years ago. Lisbon is best known for this treat, but Porto has their own take on them as well. But the best one for me was at Mateigaria Porto, near the Bolhao Market. Freshly baked and warm.

Bolhao Market

I can’t mention food and not highlight the Bolhao (pronouced bol-yao) Market. This was once a fish market, and my Portuguese friend Joao thinks it now doesn’t have as much charm.

The market houses over 80 merchants, mostly family run businesses. It is very organized and clean with stalls that sell meat, fish, fresh produce, olive oils, sweets, flowers and much more. And you can have a glass of wine while you browse, or do a tasting. Lots of traditional Portuguese foods to eat as well. There are also several restaurants on the upper floors.

McDonalds on Ave dos Aliados

This is described as the most beautiful McDonalds in the world, and I would have to agree. It was opened in 1995, after a restoration of the 1930’s Imperial Cafe. To create a similar ambience, there are crystal chandeliers and art deco stained glass. A majestic eagle overlooks the entrance. It is truly beautiful.

We visited during the walking tour on my first day in Porto. Outside the restaurant there was a woman with a hawk on her arm. I learned that she brings the raptor at various times to scare away the pigeons from the outdoor seating. I wasn’t fast enough to get a photo of her.

Sao Bento Train Station

My first view of the station was on the walking tour. Then a week later, I arrived back in Porto from Vigo, Spain at the station! It is stunning. Built in the early 1900’s (over 13 years), it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Monument of Portugal. The views of the outside of the building are currently obscured by the massive upgrading of the metro; however the inside is on full view. During the tour, it was very busy, so I went back early one evening to get a better look.

There are approximately 20,000 hand painted azulejo tiles depicting several historical scenes, and life in Portugal, along with representation of various forms of transportation. The yellow and plaster ceiling with Minho and Douro represent the two districts served by the station. I’ve heard that there are a few “mistakes” in assembling the tiles. I’m sure that would take quite a bit of time to discover!

Ponte Luis I

This is the famous bridge in Porto, connecting the old town to Vila Nova de Gaia across the Douro River. It has an upper and lower deck with the upper facilitating the metro and pedestrians and the lower facilitating cars and pedestrians. The Guru Walks guide, Ana, told us that young men used to hang out on the lower deck and dive off, if someone paid them a Euro. I didn’t see any evidence of that.

The bridge was completed in 1886, designed by German architect, Téophile Seyrig, a disciple and business partner of French engineer, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame). It was built beside the towers of an earlier railway suspension bridge, the Ponte Pênsil, which was disassembled. Two towers of the suspension bridge on the east side of the Douro still remain.

I must have walked over and back on this bridge three times during my stay. The views were amazing.

Vila Nova de Gaia

This is the city across the Douro River from Porto. Although I didn’t foray too far into the city, I did wander along the waterfront. Many restaurants, and market booths selling souvenirs. There were a few modes of travel on this side including a Sky Cab that reminded me of Expo 86!

Gaia is where people do tours and tastings of the famous Douro valley ports and explore the port caves of various wine makers. The biggest is the World of Wine building. I’m not a big fan of port, so I didn’t do a tasting here.

The Fantastic World of Portuguese Can was an interesting display. The shop is dedicated to quality canned fish…a very big industry in Portugal. It is a multi-sensory display with music, colour, light and movement. Here’s a link to more about this and other displays in Portugal https://www.comur.com/from-comur-to-the-world/?lang=en

On my last night in Porto, I walked over to Gaia for some last views of Porto from this side of the river. I noticed two young girls on a restaurant patio (upper level) who were dancing. I am guessing there was a family event happening. They saw me and waved, so I waved back and they rewarded me with hearts! The photo is, unfortunately, a little blurry.

Ribeira

Ribeira is an historical area closest to the Douro river on the Porto side. It is a busy area for tourists with lots of restaurants and shops. The waterfront is lively. On my first day in Porto, there was a tall ship docked here. I don’t know the story, and it was gone when I returned to Porto.

Street Views

Oh so many street views. I loved wandering the streets and seeing what I can find in what we might consider an alley but is actually access to stores and apartments.

Then there were the main shopping and tourist streets! The Ribeira area had many historical buildings now used for hotels, museums, apartments. As mentioned earlier, the crowds had grown substantially from my first visit on May 16 to the time spent after the Camino (May 25 – 31). Santa Catarina Street is a very popular shopping street, just a 5 minute walk from my hotel.

And so many interesting store fronts . I wish I had seen the sign for tile painting workshops before my last day. I would have loved to have participated.

And some interesting restaurant views, too!

Some more sights from the streets of Porto. I think the swan was left over for a festival of some kind. I watched people training on segways, then saw them on the hilly streets later. The view of the bolo trailer was after I saw two men pulling it uphill to attach to the vehicle.

Porto Landmarks

Many, many landmarks in Porto including all the bridges! Here we go….

Se do Porto

A Roman Catholic Church located in the historical centre of Porto and is a starting point for many pilgrims undertaking a Camino. This site is where the city of Porto was born and was built in the late 1100’s. It is surrounded by a medieval stone wall and although much of the wall was replaced over time, some of the original wall remains. The spiral column on the plaza served as a place for hangings during the dictatorship years, meant to be a deterrent to others. As the church is situated at a high point of the city overlooking the Douro River, the views are outstanding.

Views from the Church plaza and the street below it. The picture with the blue tiled building is called Rua Escura meaning Dark Street. There is not much sun exposure here and it was one of the first streets to be built outside city walls (the black cat is sitting on the wall). People have been scared to go on this street as they thought it was unsafe; however, recent tourism has improved the area. I saw this woman sitting in a sunny spot and asked if I could take her picture. She nodded.

Other Churches

I believe there are at least 40 churches in the City of Porto. Here’s photos of some of them. Just outside the front door of my hotel is Igreja do Santa Ildefonso covered by approx. 11,000 azulejo tiles depicting imagery from the gospels. There was a daily market in the plaza here.

Another tiled church was just a few blocks up the street on Santa Catarina, Capela das Almas – Chapel of Souls. The tiled panels represent scenes from the lives of S. Francis of Assisi and Saint Catherine. 16,000 tiles on this church.

Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelitas stand side by side separated by a 1 meter wide house. Although legend says this was to separate the monks from the nuns, the structure housed chaplains and artists who worked on the decoration of the churches as well as doctors serving the church hospital.

Another church easily seen on Porto’s skyline is Igreja e Torre dos Clerigos with its 75 meter tower, the tallest structure in the historic centre. One can climb the 240 steps to the top of the tower for stunning panoramas…this visitor do not do that. The lines were too long and I had other streets to visit!

City Hall and Ave dos Aliados

This was the first landmark that I visited in Porto. It was just down the street from the first hotel I stayed at and it is a central meeting place for tours. At the end of Ave do Alidos is the Praca da Liberdade with a monument to King Peter IV. This is also an area of major construction as Porto expands its metro system (which is already very good). In fact, there is lots of construction in Porto. You can see the sky cranes in many of my pictures.

Miscellaneous Landmarks

Other buildings of note include the Museum of Photography which is housed in an 18th Century former prison which was in use until the uprising and end of the dictatorship in 1974. The bottom floor of this prison was for the poor and was dark and dank. The top floors were aristocrats and others who were well off. If a prisoner could pay, they had access to two of the upper halls (with wooden floors) where the doors weren’t locked until night time.

University of Porto, downtown campus is located in the historical district with a lovely fountain in the plaza

Funicular dos Guindais that travels up the hill from the Douro river to the edge of the historical district (Batalha). Passengers kindly waved to me as I took a photo. I found this view as I walked down mulitple flights of stone stairs.

Colourized photos

On my last evening in Porto, I captured a few “artistic” photos of Ribeira and Gaia, and will likely have one printed for my office!

Final Thoughts

I love Portugal and Porto. Now that I am looking back, I realize that there are many other places I could have visited in the city, and close to the city. The transportation network is amazing and it is so easy to visit other communities close by like Aveiro and Costa Nova to the south and Braga to the north. But I think its always good to come home knowing there is much more to see and do. Perhaps another trip in the future!

Thanks for reading my long blog. If you are planning to go to Porto and would like to chat, let me know.

~Lynne