Porto

We’ve spent the last week in Portugal’s second largest city, Porto, home of Port Wine. Like Lisbon, Porto is full of tourists. Our apartment was in the centre of the action, surrounded by bars and restaurants and narrow streets packed with tourists.

Most people head for the Cais da Ribeira, the historic river district alongside the Duoro River, the port warehouses in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto, and the Cathedral. Both sides of the river are bustling with tourists. There are amazing views and ample opportunity to sample Port.

For those who like museums, there are several. We are getting museumed out so visited only a couple. One we do recommend, that practically no one visits, is the Bishop’s Palace. The ornate interiors are impressive but what is most fascinating is to see how Catholic bishops live.

We spent most of our time exploring further afield. One day we took a local bus to the suburb of Matosinhos, for a leisurely lunch of the fresh grilled fish for which the town is famous. Fabulous. Lunch was so good we walked the 10 km back to Porto to burn off the calories.

Guimarães

Guimarães, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was our first day-trip. It is a sleepy town with a small medieval quarter packed with sidewalk restaurants and cafes. There are limited “sights”. We spent more time just wandering the alleys of the old town. Judging by the beautiful street lighting it would be better to visit later in the day to the enjoy the ambiance on the streets. It was beautiful in daytime nonetheless.

Santa Maria de Feira

Santa Maria da Feira was another day-trip. It is a small town with not much reason to visit except that for the first two weeks of every August they hold a Medieval Festival. The whole town gets turned into a medieval market. The townspeople are dressed in costume. Their beautiful Castle is used for medieval chant, plays and jousting. During the day there are plenty of activities for kids. We would have loved to have stayed for the evening performances but the train schedule did not allow that. If you go, plan to stay overnight. The main performances do not begin until 10 pm, and there appears to be much merriment all night long.

Our train trip that day added an extra adventure. Trains in Portugal are – for the most part – modern, fast and efficient. The same can’t be said for small local lines to the out-of-the-way places we tend to visit.

Aveiro

Aveiro is billed as the “Venice of Portugal” due to its canal-lined streets. Historically it was a prosperous fishing village, sending schooners to Newfoundland to fish cod. Now it relies largely on tourism. The beautiful old homes lining the canals and nearby streets are testament to the wealth that cod-fishing brought in its day.

There is little to do but wander the streets admiring the architecture and relax over a nice meal at one of the many seafood restaurants. A canal tour on a moliceiro, the traditional flat bottomed boats used for collecting seaweed from the lagoon, is of course obligatory.

Enroute back to Porto we took a small detour. We got off the train in Espinho, an old-style beach resort, and walked along the seaside boardwalk to the town of Granja to catch the next train. The boardwalk offers a perfect way to get some exercise and take in the sea air. For the energetic, the boardwalk extends to Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto’s neighbouring city.

Braga

For our final day-trip we randomly chose Braga, about an hour by train. The city has turned its historic centre into a pedestrian-only zone. There are a few historic buildings to visit. We preferred to do as the locals were doing – stroll the streets and relax in sidewalk cafes and restaurants. You have to like a town where people are sitting out drinking wine at 10:00 a.m.!

Braga is most known for the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte (Good Jesus of the Mountain). It is a mountaintop church. Pilgrims approach the church by an elaborately decorated 650-step zig-zag staircase.

Porto São Bento

Porto São Bento (São Bento Station) was built in the early 1900s as Porto’s central train station. The station is one of Porto’s jewels. It is a grand old building from the exterior. What is most remarkable though is the vestibule. It is decorated with over 20,000 tiles, depicting historic battles and scenes of everyday life in the era.

Next Stop: Zadar, Croatia

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