You guys, I think Porto is a winner. It was honestly the best 6 days of this trip so far. Between the cooler weather, easier walks, and lovely people, I had so much fun. I arrived in at around 9pm on the 8th of August, feeling sad to be leaving Nazaré already, but equally excited to see Porto as every traveller who I had met so far had said Porto was the place to be. As I was checking in, a girl asked if I wanted to join for some drinks later. Of course I did. I quickly had to get some Burger King first though as it was right across from the hostel. I was already happy with how much closer everything seemed in Porto. We headed out to a nearby outdoor bar called Base (would recommend) and chilled there for a few drinks just getting to know each other, exchanging stories and taking in the buzz of the city.
The next day, I took to exploring the city. It is so beautiful there, I worry I won’t even describe it properly. It’s hilly, so you know if you’re going downhill you’ll find yourself by the river, but it’s so much easier than Lisbon (prepare for a certain level of Lisbon shade in this post, sorry). They also don’t have slippy stones in the way that Lisbon does (I did warn you). There are a million and one churches, all very striking, but the most impressive, in my opinion, is the Capela das Almas. It’s covered in vivid blue tiles depicting various images. That’s not the only church covered in tiling, as many of their buildings are also decorated in all sorts of patterns and bright colours, so you can be sure that any street you go down is going to be stunning. I really like cities where each street is beautiful and quaint, where it’s not just one specific “touristified” street that’s decorated and colourful. Porto was packed full of little alleyways where local restaurants found nooks and crannies to fit their outdoor dining and where laundry hung from the apartments above and nonnas would have a puff of a cigarette on their small balcony above the restaurant. It was all just so quaint, cultured, and fun! After plenty of walking, I sat down beside the Ponte Luis I bridge, where a group of teenagers were jumping off the bridge and into the river below. The bridge, which is already a tourist attraction, had amassed groups of people all their to watch these kids jump and dive, many taking videos and providing concerned commentary. You could tell the teenagers loved the fame as they would often get the crowd to clap in a certain beat before each of them jumped. I think I might’ve sat there for over two hours.
I had arranged drinks with a few people that evening, so I eventually headed back to get ready and grabbed a codfish bun stuffed with cheese. They love cod in Porto for some reason, and many of their dishes will be cod-orientated. I was getting attacked by a seagull as I ate it (there aren’t as many seagulls in Porto as in Dublin, but some of them have the same amount of confidence). I made it to the drinks in one piece. It was a cute and very stylish bar with a massive garden overlooking the city and the river. What was meant to be one drink turned into several, and what was a group of 4 turned into a group of 14. It was so fun getting to meet more people, and everyone is down for inviting everyone, so you’re always bound to meet many more people than you expect. Canadians, Australians, Americans, South Americans, Scandis…it’s always a mixed bunch. We had a lot of laughs that night, and a lot more plans made for the remainder of our time there, including the Jardins do Palacio de Cristal and wine tasting. By the early hours of the morning we headed on to Burger King (you shall soon realise this became a routine) and filled ourselves up with chilli cheese bites and a chicken burger (the pescatarian thing was honestly just a phase).
The gardens were so lovely, I would absolutely recommend. They are so green (obviously, but I just love green). The views overlooked the city, where you could see much of the town cascading down to the river, with its high bridges towering above the river. The park is also full of peacocks and cockerels? Random, but so fun, especially seeing the baby peacocks. We wanted to cool off for a bit after the garden, so we booked a boat tour to see the 6 Bridges of Porto. We also had to build our thirst for wine and food, but sure enough the minute we were off that boat we found a nearby restaurant. Its name, “The Local Food Experience”, was straight to the point and won us over immediately. As none of us were sweet tooths, we didn’t do the Port wine tasting, but opted for a ‘normal’ wine tasting of Portuguese wines. Initially, the waitress said they were small wine glasses, but when she delivered them she said “I mixed this up with another wine tasting, this one has the big glasses”. I think we were all equally nervous as it was only 3pm and we had four big glasses staring us down. We thought it be good to get food. We ordered a Portuguese salad (that’s what it’s called. As I said, this place is very to the point), and a Francesinha (a traditional dish of chips, with a sandwich including 4/5 different meats, coated in melted cheese and an egg). It was good and very filling. The wine was even better. We had the Portoguese green wine, which is perfect on a hot day as it’s a bit fizzy and felt more refreshing than a white wine. Their rosé was 10/10 so we ordered another glass (4 feels like an odd number to finish on anyway). We also had a bit of a dinner and a show. A homeless man was sat just down from us with 4 dogs, all who would bark and terrorize the tourist dogs until the man would yell ‘hey’ and they would immediately sit and be quiet. We began to anticipate when the man might yell ‘hey’ whenever we would see an innocent poodle plodding up the street. It was very entertaining. To end the day, we went to a sunset DJ event at WOW (their cultural district). The vibes there were good, but the event finished at 10, so we found some fellow travellers and went to another wine bar, though I think at this point we couldn’t drink much more wine. It was a good day. It was busy, it was fun, it was social, it was wine-filled, it was sun-filled. A 10/10 day. And we ended back in Burger King.
The next day, some of us headed to the beach as we all felt in the need of a bit of ‘nothingness’. There’s not too much to say on that, as we literally just lay in the sun for hours. The waves were big at this beach, and they crashed dramatically onto the rocks near the shore, so not many of us went properly swimming. I know I haven’t seen all of Portugal, but I am getting the sense that their entire coastline has big waves. We each headed back to our own hostels to clean up a bit and grab some food, after which two of us went to Jardim di Morro to watch the sunset. This garden overlooks the city and the river. There was a band playing at the bottom of the hill, adding to the vibes, and plenty of men going around with freezer boxes selling drinks. We bought our drinks beforehand as we suspected they might be expensive (or only accept cash as well), and we sipped away and watched the sunset. As the sun disappeared behind the city, everyone started clapping and cheering (did not know that was a thing, but it was very sweet). We linked up with some more travellers for some late night drinks, but we had to make a pit stop for food first. It was Burger King again. This group were so funny and I honestly think we all got stitches from laughing. We were a mix of Irish (me), Scandis and Icelanders, Canadian, Australian, German, and a Brit (I did give out about the colonizing thing). The Australians left and the remaining group of us went to a locally recommended bar called Bar Aduela. It’s a really cute wine bar with olive trees and little wooden tables filling a square out front. It’s also full of locals, so it was nice to get away from the busy crowds. The Canadians really wanted to split the G when they heard I was Irish, but this bar only served a SuperBock stout so we split the B instead. The drink was sh*t, but the vibes were so good. I don’t know if any of you guys feel this sense of pride to be Irish when you’re abroad, but it kicked in big that night. I was also glad to clarify to my fellow travellers that Irish people don’t like Conor McGregor. Anyway, the drinks were flowing and the vibes were good. They were so good that a Brazilian man joined our circle to start twerking? He went up to each and every one of us asking “where you from”, before making us twerk beside him. Everyone got their round, except the German, who left almost immediately. But the others were good fun about it, each giving it socks and doing a bit of beatboxing so that our Brazilian friend could have his moment. I won’t play the videos though. Unfortunately, the night came to an end and we all had to bid each other goodnight and goodbye as most of the group were leaving the following day.
On my last full day, I had an original plan to go to another beach, but it was cloudy, and a bit cold, so instead I headed over to Gaia (across the river, overlooking the main city of Porto). I then headed back over the waters to the famous Porto markets. When I saw this being on the recommended Porto list, I was worried it was a tourist trap and therefore hadn’t been in a complete hurry to see it. But it was definitely worth it. The seafood section there is just wild, with everything you can imagine, and cute old women and men behind it packaging all kinds of fish for their customers. There were local wine stores as well, where I caved in and got some Port wine. I am sorry to the Portuenses out there, but I really don’t like it. It’s so sweet! But anyway, I sipped on that as I strolled past the mushroom stall, pasta stall, tomato stall, flower stall…you get the idea, there’s many stalls there. I went back to get some Portuguese white wine (that stuff was amazing). The man at the stall was so sweet. He was one of those guys who you could tell just loved his job. He engaged with every customer, recommending different wines, greeting everyone with a big smile, and just full of trust that everyone would return their wine glasses (everyone did, but I appreciated the trust). I sat on the stairs overlooking the market and just people watched for ages as I sipped my wine. It wasn’t long before I got pasta by the pasta stall, where he cooked it in the parmesan wheel of cheese. It was so good. I also got another glass of wine.
It was another one of those ‘insignificant’ moments where I just felt like smiling the whole time (cringggeeee). But I was so content. It was one of the best weeks I had, I was sipping good local wine, paid for with my own earned money, watching other people doing the same, each of us really happy with where we were. At least that’s the narrative I made up. But you could see everyone content here. Kids showing their parents the funny fish they saw at the mongers, a man approaching a woman asking if she wanted wine, two photographer friends each snapping pictures of the buzz, families sitting on the steps enjoying a gelato as it melts down their hands. I like these moments of people watching because I often feel like I’m watching, while very much being part, of the best parts of society. Just watching humans being humans. It’s a really beautiful thing to see. I’m also still listening to the Guide to Parenting podcast so I was laughing away to myself in all the insignificance of it all.
Last days are always a bit weird. My flight to Milan wasn’t until the evening so I was a bit lost trying to kill away the day while also allowing for enough time in the airport. I got breakfast at Garden Porto following a recommendation. It was well worth the trip, and I got an amazing avo toast that cost me under €10. I did some of the more touristy stuff that day and visited a few churches, went down some new streets, bought a postcard for my collection, and sat by the river to watch the divers again. I then packed up and bid goodbye to Porto.
This city has won me over from day one. Again, I’m sorry for the Lisbon slander, but I would choose Porto over Lisbon any day. This is partly because I had better experiences with fellow travellers in Porto as Lisbon very much felt like people were leaving everyday, whereas in Porto we had a proper group as we all overlapped for the same time. It was less hot, which is a big factor if you’re doing a city stop. The locals were also so lovely and patient and never had a problem speaking English if they could see that you didn’t know how to order wine in Portuguese. I find the types of tourists in Porto were also nicer and perhaps a bit more appreciative of a different culture? I find big cities can often become so busy that it’s hard to get a sense of local culture, but Porto still felt very Portuguese and not just like any European city, and the tourists there generally seemed to respect that. I say all of this to say that if you are ever thinking of going to Porto, definitely do. Vibes, food, drink, views – everything is 10/10 and I miss it already.
Recommendations
Best wine bar: The Local Food Experience/Bar Aduela
Best food: Mercado do Bolhao (specifically the pasta stall)
Best people watching: Ponta Luis I
Best activity: Sunset at Jardim do Morro
