Across the Douro River from Porto Portugal is the small neighborhood of Calem. It's located along the south bank of the river below the Monastery of Serra do Pilar in the Nova de Gaia district, which it is a part of.
A cable car runs from the top of the hill near the Monastery, and goes down to the bottom of the main strip - something to keep in mind if you want to save your legs. The other option would be to take the stairs and winding streets, like we did, though its a lot of work and effort.
I imagine that taking the cable car would provide some great views of the city of Porto across the water though.
We walked across the Luis I Bridge in the evening and took a stroll along the promanade before heading up to the Monastery to view the sunset.
Here is the view of the River from the lower deck of the bridge,
and for fun, the view above.
Calem has a large cluster of Port wine cellars located along the main street that's close to the water. Tours and tasting are sort of the neighborhoods claim to fame. There is also a wine museum there and many bars that offer flights of tastings as well. It's a good place to check out if you're into wine and and/or if you're looking to try a variety of Ports.
Doing a tasting was one thing that we didn't do during our trip that I would have like to if we had a bit more time. It just wasn't in the cards for us, though I did try some different wines at dinner. The wine is strong in Porto.
We just walked the strip that evening and took in the views of the city of Porto across the water. It was very satisfying in itself.
The evening light really brought out all the colors in the buildings in the old town.
This might be slightly confusing but to clarify, these city shots are of Porto, taken from across the water in the Calem district.
So anyway, we didn't spend a great deal of time in the area, maybe just an hour after supper before going to watch the sunset, but I think that it was worth checking out in the evening for the views of Porto and a place to keep in mind if a Port wine tour or tasting is on your list of things to do during your visit.
