Perfect Porto

Do you like sunshine? Do you like cheap wine and delicious food? Well if so, make Porto your next stop!

Our two hour flight to Porto was an absolute steal at €60 per person return (no checked bags) and with no time difference you pretty much pick up where you left off. It's a small enough city with a fairly uncomplicated Metro system, so for €2.60 you can get the 'E' line directly from the airport to the city (Trinidade stop) and you're there within 40 minutes. Literally no hassle at all.

Usually myself and Dean like to stay in Airbnb's when travelling but as the rates were so cheap we 'treated' ourselves to a nice hotel. The Exe Almada Hotel is very modern, very central and the rooms were a bit bigger (and nicer) than most European city hotels. I have the hotel marked on the map below and anywhere from the hotel down to the water would be considered central (as you can see I've saved loads of bars and restaurants in between the hotel and the river). For the three nights we paid €287 for room only, but just remember that price is for off season!

From the hotel to the river is about a 15-20 minute walk/stroll.

As you do on any holiday, we ate, ate and then ate some more. But I have to say this was one of the best 'food holidays' I have ever been on, so the calories were worth it! Most places offer very local produce so everything is extremely fresh. The wine is also very local, so a bottle at dinner would only be about €12.

Here's a few of the delicious places we tried:

Zenith - Brunch Spot

Linha 22 - Breakfast

The Feeting Room - Coffee

Bacalhau - Drinks with a view

Sushihana Foz - Sushi

There's also plenty of nice bars and restaurants down by the river where you could sit for hours people watching.

Money wise, dinner was never more than €50 per night including a bottle of wine in a decent restaurant. We spotted a few higher end places and there's also plenty of cheap eats so there's really something for everyone. 

Drink is also cheap, especially the wine! We stopped off in one lovely bar where it was happy hour from 1-6.30pm and a glass of wine was only €2!

During our three days in Porto we kept ourselves busy, and walked the feet off ourselves, by taking in as much as the city as we could. But take my advice and pack comfortable shoes! I wore new slip-ons which were no match for the many hills and steps we walked up and down.

We were classic tourists and went to the Clergios Tower straight away. From the top of this beautiful church you have a birds eye view of the whole city. Tickets to view the church and go up the tower are only a fiver, but be warned, the stairs are narrow!

Port Tour

On our second day we took a trip across the river to Taylor's Port Cellars for a tour. This was €12 per person including two tasting drinks at the end. These kinda tours aren't really my thing but it was actually quite interesting, there was plenty of good selfie opportunities and it was laid out extremely well. You get a little audio guide going in and you can easily skip through a section or two if you're not interested.

On our last day we headed to the beach. While the weather was nice it wasn't sun bathing weather just yet! But the beach was probably my favourite part of the holiday. I'm not sure if it was the time of year or just that day, but the waves coming in were outrageous! They must  have been about 20ft tall and came in and out with such force! We walked along the pier while the waves came crashing up against us, hoping to get a little splash of sea water.






Other than that we just spent our time strolling around. Popping in and out of shops and bars, sitting in the sunshine and taking it all in. The city is a UNESCO World Hertitage Site so most if the buildings remain unchanged as they are of cultural significance. Many of them are covered in bright beautiful tiles and even the McDonalds building has stained glass and a chandelier.





I have no doubt in my mind that I'll be returning to Porto. The city is so beautiful, so calm and there's still so much I didn't get to see or do.

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