Today, I am continuing my recap of my family’s adventures in Portugal and this post is dedicated to the beautiful city of Porto.  In case you missed it, last month, I covered Part One, where I talked about what we did in Lisbon, Sintra and Belem.

Porto is a city that is easy to fall in love with.  It is truly a beautiful place, filled with small town charm and it’s probably why I fell in love with it instantly.  Every street we turned on had so much character – you’ll find winding streets, colorful-colored houses and stunning architecture but to me, it’s the laid-back ambiance that made Porto such a captivating place.  

Here’s our story…

DAY 1

After four days in the capital, Lisbon, our little family headed to Porto.  The drive took us 2 hours and the views on the way were beautiful.  We arrived in Porto at around noon and checked in at Casa Carolina, our home for the next two days.  

Casa Carolina is a bed and breakfast that is situated in a building that has been around since the 1900s! The spacious facilities including a quiet garden with a pretty terrace immediately appealed to us.  Breakfast was included and our room was comfortable – simple yet homely. It had a balcony overlooking the main street and the location was convenient as it was walking distance to the city center and metro stations.  There were all sorts of cafes, restaurants and shops nearby as well.  

Upon check-in, we settled down for a few minutes and did a quick change.  Next on our agenda was to grab a treat to have food in our bellies and you can’t visit Portugal without having their famous Pastel de Nata pastries.  The original Pastel de Nata pastries came from Pasteis de Belem and they supposedly still make the best in town. Since we did not get a chance to eat these small custard tarts in Belem, we weren’t going to let the opportunity get away in Porto! So, we walked over to Rua das Carmelitas and took a seat at Bela Torre Cafe right next to Livraria Lello.  It was such a perfect little spot to just relax, do some people watching and enjoy our little treats.  

Torre dos Clerigos/Praca da Liberdade/Camara Municipal do Porto

Filled up with sugar and caffeine, we headed towards Clerigos Tower.  If you feel brave, you can climb 200+ steps to the top for a panoramic view of Porto.  We considered visiting the inside of tower but decided we had seen enough historic sites for the time being and just observed from the outside.  Instead, we continued our walk to Praca da Liberdade, and made it to Camara Municipal do Porto before jumping on the 500 bus.  Not only was it a great way to escape the heat but it’s also one of the best ways to see a lot without having to walk even more!

Other than that, we didn’t do very much – just reveled in Porto’s beauty and soaked in the atmosphere. We ate dinner at Restaurante O Buraco before calling it a night. 

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DAY 2

Our second day in Porto was dedicated to the other side of the Duoro river because when in Porto, tasting port is a must do! And that is exactly what we did…

Vila Nova de Gaia

After breakfast at our B&B, we walked towards the Se do Porto (Porto Cathedral) and it is quite a sight! It is built like a fortress and while it’s not the biggest cathedral I have seen, it is remarkable.  We walked around it and stayed long enough to admire the beautiful view over Porto from the cathedral’s hilltop location.  From there it was an easy stroll on the famous Dom Luis bridge.  This double decker arched bridge took us from Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia, where we were spoiled with a spectacular view of the city and surrounding area. 

Once we were on the Gaia side of Porto, we took the Teleferico de Gaia cable car ride to the bottom and from there, we found our way to port tasting but not before stopping at a playground.  Right across from Ramos Pinto Cellars, there is a playground.  Our little guy went straight to the play area, so we spent a few minutes there to let him expend his excess energy. To say he loved it would be understatement! He was in his element.  It’s too bad it wasn’t shaded because it was on a prime location, right on the waterfront! After our little man had decided he had enough play time, came the hard decision, where to taste?  

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Quinta dos Corvos

With so many great choices, it was hard to choose which port house to visit.  While we could have taken the tour and tasted with one of the larger and more prominent cellars like Taylor’s, Graham’s or Sandeman, we wanted to try port that you can only drink in Porto.  We chose to tour and taste at Quinta dos Corvos, which is a small family run vineyard.  Our group was only 5 people and the tour was relatively short, but quite informative.  We learned how port wine is made, stored as well as the different varietals.  Did you know there is a white port? 

At the end of the tour, we got to wine taste.  This was the first time my husband and I tasted a white port and we both enjoyed it.  In fact, it was so good that we took home a 20-year old white port back to the hotel with us to be enjoyed at another time.

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Top | Shorts | Shoes | Sunglasses | Lip gloss

After soaking it all in, literally, it was well past noon. Since port wine is fortified and has a higher alcohol concentration at 18-20%, we all agreed that it was time for lunch.  We ate at Sancho Panza, which was a nice pause from our activities. It gave us all a chance to chat a bit before we continued our walk to another port house and our final stop, this time to Cockburns.  The walk up was tough as it’s very steep and long, but we made it with our calves burning and all! 

Exhausted and sweaty, from a long day of walking, we took the cable car back up to the bridge and we made our way back to the apartment to recharge our batteries. To end the day, we ate dinner at Restaurante Capim Dourado and it was just what we needed. The next morning, we were off to Lagos.  

Do you like port wine? What’s next on your travel bucket list?

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