Destination: Porto, Portugal
Time of travel: July 2012
Duration: 14 days
Travel plan: 7 days in Porto with day trips to nearby towns, overnight trip to Santiago de Compostela via Vigo (Spain), 6 days on the island of Madeira. Beginning and end of trip from Porto.
Porto is a great base to explore northern Portugal, including Douro valley and all the vineyards as well as north-west part of Spain. Porto itself is amazing also; you can easily take a weekend trip to explore the city without paying a small fortune.
The climate in Porto is not even nearly as hot as it can get in Lisbon due to it's location by the Atlantic ocean. Makes it even nicer to explore the city by foot. While Porto might not be the best beach destination due to the winds and chilly water, it is however, great for history, food, shopping, architecture and more.
Why should you travel to Porto instead of a more popular city in Europe?
Porto is very authentic, to us it seems like the most authentic Portugal. It is somewhat touristic with the Port Wine Tastings but that's about as touristic as it gets - which isn't that much at all!
The city is very beautiful and if you've been to Lisbon before, you will surely love Porto! Due to it's long and rich history, the city is full of beautiful architecture, museums and sights.
The cost of the trip will most likely be a fraction of what you need to pay for pretty much any other European city destination including flights, hotel and food. From further parts of Europe flying can be pricey, though. In that case we recommend a longer trip.
Talking about food, Porto is a great food destination. In our experience the food was even better than in the capital itself! Try the espresso and one (or many) of the amazing savory pasties, Pasteis de Nata (of course!), or the sandwich everyone, especially the locals are boasting about, called Francesinha. However, be aware that it's important to pick a really good restaurant to try the sandwich, if it's not well made you'll probably hate it, like we did at first because it was cold and mushy. The meat and the fish is, however, the best! Try the Espetadas, meat skewers as well as the Bacalhau, the cod.
Few tips for port wine tastings:
- Do 2 or max. 3 tastings a day, otherwise you'll be quite tipsy by the end of the day
- Walk up the hill to the more authentic, traditional wineries
- no need to pre-book a tour, just walk in. You might have to wait for a while in case you’re interested in a tour around the winery also (recommended!) but you can taste some port while waiting.
Visit at least the following wineries
- Caves Croft, Rua Barão de Forrester, 412, 4400-034, Vila Nova de Gaia
- Caves Sandeman, Largo Miguel Bombarda, 3 , 4400-222, Vila Nova de Gaia
- Caves Grahams, R. Rei Ramiro 514, 4400 Vila Nova de Gaia
During a longer trip you can easily have your base in Porto and travel around the surrounding areas especially by car as car rental is very cheap and the service is great. Being located in the North of Portugal, you can explore the beautiful yet windy coast and it's beaches, the nearby towns and villages that will blow you away in their beauty, drive up to the Douro valley for the wines and take a trip to Spain to visit the famous Santiago de Compostela which is only 2,5h drive away from Porto.
Great places to visit nearby in Portugal are Guimaraes, Braga and Coimbra.
You can also easily fly to Azores or Madeira.
We go on and on about combining destinations and Porto is one of the greatest destinations for a multi-location trip. Have a 2 week holiday? Book 5 days in one city, 6 in another one and three in the third one. It's cost efficient, you see more and this will make the holiday feel much longer than staying in one place.
On the cost efficiency I have a good example here;
From central Europe you can fly to Porto for 50-150 euro's, from Nordics and Baltics 200-350.
You can combine this and fly to one of the Portuguese islands for about 40-70€ (Transavia, Ryanair) and 90-120€ (TAP Portugal), which is a great deal! There are several airlines flying daily to Madeira and Azores from Porto.
Flights from further Europe to the islands are about a double in cost. It really pays off to combine!
Time of travel: July 2012
Duration: 14 days
Travel plan: 7 days in Porto with day trips to nearby towns, overnight trip to Santiago de Compostela via Vigo (Spain), 6 days on the island of Madeira. Beginning and end of trip from Porto.
Porto is a great base to explore northern Portugal, including Douro valley and all the vineyards as well as north-west part of Spain. Porto itself is amazing also; you can easily take a weekend trip to explore the city without paying a small fortune.
The climate in Porto is not even nearly as hot as it can get in Lisbon due to it's location by the Atlantic ocean. Makes it even nicer to explore the city by foot. While Porto might not be the best beach destination due to the winds and chilly water, it is however, great for history, food, shopping, architecture and more.
Why should you travel to Porto instead of a more popular city in Europe?
Porto is very authentic, to us it seems like the most authentic Portugal. It is somewhat touristic with the Port Wine Tastings but that's about as touristic as it gets - which isn't that much at all!
The city is very beautiful and if you've been to Lisbon before, you will surely love Porto! Due to it's long and rich history, the city is full of beautiful architecture, museums and sights.
The cost of the trip will most likely be a fraction of what you need to pay for pretty much any other European city destination including flights, hotel and food. From further parts of Europe flying can be pricey, though. In that case we recommend a longer trip.
Port wine at Graham's
Talking about food, Porto is a great food destination. In our experience the food was even better than in the capital itself! Try the espresso and one (or many) of the amazing savory pasties, Pasteis de Nata (of course!), or the sandwich everyone, especially the locals are boasting about, called Francesinha. However, be aware that it's important to pick a really good restaurant to try the sandwich, if it's not well made you'll probably hate it, like we did at first because it was cold and mushy. The meat and the fish is, however, the best! Try the Espetadas, meat skewers as well as the Bacalhau, the cod.
Porto is known for it's excellent seafood
Few tips for port wine tastings:
- Do 2 or max. 3 tastings a day, otherwise you'll be quite tipsy by the end of the day
- Walk up the hill to the more authentic, traditional wineries
- no need to pre-book a tour, just walk in. You might have to wait for a while in case you’re interested in a tour around the winery also (recommended!) but you can taste some port while waiting.
Visit at least the following wineries
- Caves Croft, Rua Barão de Forrester, 412, 4400-034, Vila Nova de Gaia
- Caves Sandeman, Largo Miguel Bombarda, 3 , 4400-222, Vila Nova de Gaia
- Caves Grahams, R. Rei Ramiro 514, 4400 Vila Nova de Gaia
During a longer trip you can easily have your base in Porto and travel around the surrounding areas especially by car as car rental is very cheap and the service is great. Being located in the North of Portugal, you can explore the beautiful yet windy coast and it's beaches, the nearby towns and villages that will blow you away in their beauty, drive up to the Douro valley for the wines and take a trip to Spain to visit the famous Santiago de Compostela which is only 2,5h drive away from Porto.
Bewildered horses in the mountains somewhere near the borders of Portugal and Spain
right across the ancient Via Nova Romana.
Great places to visit nearby in Portugal are Guimaraes, Braga and Coimbra.
You can also easily fly to Azores or Madeira.
Ponto da Rosto, Madeira, Portugal
We go on and on about combining destinations and Porto is one of the greatest destinations for a multi-location trip. Have a 2 week holiday? Book 5 days in one city, 6 in another one and three in the third one. It's cost efficient, you see more and this will make the holiday feel much longer than staying in one place.
On the cost efficiency I have a good example here;
From central Europe you can fly to Porto for 50-150 euro's, from Nordics and Baltics 200-350.
You can combine this and fly to one of the Portuguese islands for about 40-70€ (Transavia, Ryanair) and 90-120€ (TAP Portugal), which is a great deal! There are several airlines flying daily to Madeira and Azores from Porto.
Flights from further Europe to the islands are about a double in cost. It really pays off to combine!
