Perfect Porto: City Tour and  Highlights

Where and when: Porto, Portugal,  September 2024

We started our time in Porto with a free city walking tour with Revolut tours.  

Starting point of the walking tour was the Portugese centre of photography. This imposing building was originally built as a prison, but closed in the 1970’s.

Our second stop was Miradouro da Vitoria. This is a great viewpoint to see the old town of Porto,  the Duoro River and town of Vila Nova de Gaia on the other side of the river. 

As we stood there, our guide gave a quick history of Porto. It was first founded by the Romans who called it “Portus-Calle” or “place of the port”. Over time, Portus-Calle became “Portugale” – in essence, Porto gave Portugal it’s name. It was the most important city of Portugul for a long time, until Lisbon became the capital. 

Today, Porto is the 4th largest city of Portugal, after Lisbon, Sintra and Vila Nova de Gaia. 

Porto also gave its name to Port wine, which is a wine fortified with Brandy. Portugal and Britain had a millitary alliance that started with the marriage of Philippa of Lancaster to King John I of Portugal in 1387. The alliance is still in effect today, making it the longest military alliance in the World.  Trade between the two countries increased, including the export of Portugese wine to Britain. But due to the distance and the long sea voyage between the two countries, the wine that arrived on British shores would almost always be “off”. So, the wine was fortified by adding Brandy, which made the wine sweeter, more alcoholic, and able to withstand transportation over choppy waters.  

Production of Port took-off in the 18th and 19th century due to the British-French wars, which cut-off access to French wines for the British. So British manufacturers set up large Port warehouses in Porto – or rather in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto. Most of these original Port producers still operate today.  So in reality, all the Port wine we drink comes from Gaia, not Porto. 

Our walking tour covered several places of interest in and around Porto.

Livraria Lello bookshop

Known as one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world – more on this on a later post. 

Clerigo Church and Bell Tower

Baroque church with a marble altarpiece & a 75-m bell tower.

Praça da Liberdade

The main square of Porto. Although when we visited, most of it was blocked-up due to the building of the new Metro. 

The prettiest McDonalds in the World

The building in which the McDonalds is housed is in a Unesco conservation area, so McDonald’s were not allowed to change it, or put their Iconic Golden arches over it. The result is a McDonalds in a really nice building.

Porto São Bento

This is a 19th-century railway station noted for its elaborate azulejo tilework in the entrance hall. The frescoes in the halls depict key moments from the history of Portugal.

Porto Cathedral

This is a beautiful Romanesque cathedral, where Philippa of Lancaster was married to king John I. Set on the hilltop by the river, it was originally built as a fortress to defend north of the river against the invading Moors. 

The tour ended here, so we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Cathedral and the narrow streets of Riberia – Porto’s old town.

On the way we also had time to try some local food and drink – (White) port & tonic, Green wine and cheese. More on these on a later post.

We spent the evening at the waterfront by the Duoro river. 

The waterfront is very lively, with lots of live music and performances. There are plenty of places to eat and drink too, and watch the lights of Vila Nova de Gaia come on.

Tomorrow, we head out to explore the vineyards of the Duoro valley and taste some wines and Ports. More on that later…

Hotels

We stayed at the Portobay Flores Hotel on Rue de la Flores. The hotel is fantastic with five star facilities. The hotel consists of an a Palace dating back 500 years combined with a new wing. It is located right in the centre of Porto old town – on Rue de la Flores, also known as the “living room of Porto”