Portugal Guide: Porto

Traditional boats on the Rio Douro, Porto, Portugal

Porto, also known as Oporto. Traditional port boats on the Rio Douro, with Vila Nova de Gaia district in the background.

Portugal's second city, Porto [also know as Oporto], lurking at the centre of a spider's web of motorways, has an appealing, tiled and terraced World Heritage section crawling downhill to the River Douro, the Ribeira district.
This is the place to relax beside the waters with a chilled glass of white port before hitting the hills in search of azulejos [Igreja do Carmo and Sao Bento train station especially], baroque churches, and a clutch of good museums before a high altitude walk across the Ponte de Dom Luis I to Vila Nova de Gaia, pictured above.

Vila Nova de Gaia is the place to visit port wine lodges - there are more than twenty - and do some serious taste tests, otherwise known as getting blitzed at someone else's expense. Lodges do not have tours on Sundays.

The 'old' barcos rabelos boats [pictured above] do short cruises up the river that are hardly worthwhile, better to take a day for a ride on the spectacular old Douro railway and really see some views.

And by the way, it's hell to find the city centre by car and Porto has more than it's fair share of wacked-out winos [or should they be known as portos?] - no surprise there then - so take care at night.

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