Everybody loves Porto....
And I had never been there. Maybe because of my terrible experience in Lisbon. Or maybe because I was not looking forward to all the climbing I had to do in that city.
But stuff just happens. I happened to stumble upon the street artist Francisco Fonseca who makes amazing illustrations of fairytale like houses, all inspired by his hometown...Porto.
So predictably at some point, my curiosity won. I needed a longer than average city break that was still somewhat affordable. I also wanted to become visually inspired. And Porto somehow suddenly seemed to be the perfect destination to make that all happen.
A few weeks later, I was on my way to Porto with all of my camera's. And a ton of good intentions...
I had a perfect apartment right in the heart of Porto. It was at the bottom of the Rua das Flores, one of the most trendy streets in Porto. I would learn during my trip that it was also probably the only trendy street... But whenever I needed anything, that would be my go to street. Tons of shops and restaurants, and of course plenty of gift shops mixed in between.
The cosy but very touristy Cais da Ribeira waterfront area
Across the square I was staying at, there was a small chocolate & port shop. And every time I would sit on the couch at the window, that was all that my eye wanted to see. Unfortunately, the chocolate was extremely expensive. So I went a little broke...
Just a little bit down the hill was the stop for the Hop on hop off bus, my go-to activity for every city trip. I was struggling with my energy levels, so this bus was again the best plan to get a feeling for Porto. I soon found out that Porto was undergoing massive road works all over the place. So the bus would basically just drive the route all around.
But there isn't really much to expect from a Hop on hop off bus experience anyway. It's (for me at least) a perfect way to find out what area's of a city you'd like to explore in more detail. And you all can do that while being driven around and listening to a cracky voice tell you uninteresting facts in broken English on the audio system.
As part of the bus ticket, I had a voucher for a 6 bridges Douro cruise. And the boat would be at the riverside. The streets were too narrow so the bus wouldn't go there. So it was a matter of walking downhill from the city centre to end up in a buzzing square with terraces overlooking a long row of boats and a massive amounts of tourists queuing to get on board.
I decided I would grab a quick lunch then and there and do the boat another time. I wanted to check out Livraria Lello first! This book store is gorgeous with a wooden staircase and stained glass windows and is famous since it is said to be the inspiration for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books. However, J.K. Rowling denies this and has never ever been to the place.
But we all know that propaganda works. And so it is busy when I arrive. I am not surprised, but still a little disappointed. I didn't really expect to be able to get inside anyway, but I guess I was somehow praying for a miracle. The queue was an hour long and I decided to skip it. If you're curious: here you can find some info and photos.
The queue to see what didn't inspire Harry Potter
Cruyff said it well:"Every downside has its upside". Where I found the hills that Porto has a pretty annoying downside, it is also a guarantee for the most amazing views.
Just FYI. I have been very unfit lately, so the thought of walking up a few hundred steps up a hill already raises my heart-rate. But I took it slow, sat down a few times to catch my breath. And in the end I made it to one of the best viewpoints that Porto has to offer. From a small square with one mini market stall that sold homemade jewellery, you could see the rooftops of the houses near the waterfront, a little bit of the river, and the houses across the river. All while enjoying the most out of tune singing street artist I had ever heard.
Another way to see great views is from one of the many bridges that Porto has.
People hanging around the bridge at sunset
It is almost an obligation to at least check out the Luís I Bridge for a photo of the subset. This bridge is a steel, multi level arched bridge with the lower level reserved for cars and the top level for the tram and pedestrians.
I was a bit of a pussy. The steel structure of the bridge was moving too much to my liking. I quickly looked at the view and took a photo, but didn't stay too long. It was way too high and too wobbly. I'll go back whenever I find a strong man to support me. For now, this isn't for me.
Cais da Ribeira waterfront from above
I'd rather just stick to a way too touristy boat that looks like it is overloaded with a tiny house build on top of it. I still had my voucher, so it was time to get on board a typical, but oversized Rabelo boat.
Boats and me go rather well, so it's never a wasted experience. I can still enjoy just being on a boat in itself. But this was just very underwhelming. The boat would just join a water traffic jam of tourist boats sailing to the right and then to the left. I don't even remember if there was an audio guide explaining much about the bridges that we saw. I think it was over in about 30 minutes.
I did enjoy the view of Porto from the water. The tiny, somewhat crooked, apartments all stacked on top of each other were just exactly what I liked about the illustrations of Francisco Fonseca. It was almost like I was right in the middle of his art.
After the bus and the boat, it was time for my feet. So many houses were covered in colourful tiles and I wanted to see that up close. The bus wouldn't take me to the narrow streets and I didn't really have a plan. So it was time to just try to get lost and walk around at random, following my eyes.
This is the best way to discover the real beauty of a city. If I had to believe Tripadvisor, the best things to do in Porto were: go on a river cruise, drink port and explore all the churches. The first part I had already done and the port & churches are not really my cup of tea (I hardly ever drink and I have seen too many churches in my life).
The outside of the churches were gorgeous, though. Often covered in blue and white painted azulejo tiles . The houses sometimes had mini patterns, which was a fashion trend many years ago. But there were also houses just covered in plain colourful tiles, like the green example in the photo.
Porto isn't afraid to use some color and I am loving it for that. The yellow restaurant was located on a hidden tiny square and Porto has many of those hidden treasures. The many narrow sneak through streets that connect larger areas of Porto may feel a little unsafe after dark, but I believe the best bars and shows are located in those streets.
Another thing that Porto isn't afraid of, is combining modern buildings with old ones. One of my personal highlights was the Praca de Lisboa, a small park on top of a shopping mall, right in the centre. There was a small bar with terrace on top of it, and people were just chilling in the grass with a drink. While the sounds of the city surrounds you.
From the photos, you probably can't tell that half of my trip was hijacked by an imminent storm. I even received a warning text on my cell for heavy rain and possible flooding. It wasn't a big deal, because I stayed in Porto for 8 days. I bought myself chocolate and hid in my apartment, watching Netflix and doing some reading. But the storm kept moving further and further into the future. Which made it hard to plan my other activities: like my train ride.
From Porto it is possible to take a train that almost completely follows the Douro river. Porto in itself isn't very large, so it makes sense to also explore the hinterland. This train sounded like an amazing scenic ride, that I didn't want to miss.
The train starts at São Bento Station, a gorgeous train station right in the city centre, covered in the same blue painted tiles as many churches. When you enter, it is packed with tourists that are not there for the trains, but for the entrance hall.
It was pretty easy to find my train, that was already waiting on the platform. It wasn't the most luxurious and comfortable train, but I didn't expect that either. I found a nice and quiet train car and found a seat at the window. The next 4 hours, it would zigzag along the Douro river, on my way to the end point Pocinho. Locals and tourists came and went, it rained along the way, my ass started hurting, and once I arrived in Pocinho, it seemed like nothing was there. Until I noticed another tourist with an icecream.
It may have been just a regular icecream, but it took me a 3,5 hour journey to be able to buy it. So I enjoyed it. And then, the train turned around and we went the same way back. Another 3,5 hours later, I was exactly where I started. In the entrance hall of the train station. But with a fun and beautiful train ride behind me. I found a döner kebab place on the way back to my apartment and called it a night. How knackered can one be after 7 hours on a train?
View from the train
