Porto, Porto

experience

Church of Saint Ildefonso

If you are seeking out blue tiles - here is another for you. Super close to the Rue de Santa Catarina.

Porto, Porto

cafe • restaurants

Fábrica da Nata

Along the Rue de Santa Catarina! Was my first trying the imdamous Pasteis de Nata - the hype is real. I could probably eat 12 of these in a sitting. Imagine crème brûlée wrapped in warm pastry dough. Two of these and an espresso were a perfect midday snack.

Porto, Porto

destination • lodging • outdoors

Ribeira

I treated myself to a room at the 296 Heritage Apartments, stylish retro furnished rooms and a view out the balcony that did not disappoint. Although most walking around you want to do will be on the north side of the river, you have to cross the bridge to the southside to get views like this! This has got to be up there in one of the most iconic coast lines, along side Positano in Italy and Santorini in Greece.

Porto, Porto

bar • restaurants

À Bolina

The receptionist at my hotel recommended this gem. Their menu is a small list of petiscos, like tapas but Portuguese! Here is where I fell in love with Alheira! Imagine a pulled pork tasting sausage, soooo tasty! I also tried a few other local dishes like black eyes peas with tuna and for dessert, Toucinho do céu de Murça - which is the texture of like a lemon bar but made with pumpkin. Would definitely recommend this place, feels very authentic and why dont ya look at that view of the bridge over the river.. imagine a sunset here!

Porto, Porto

destination • experience

Clérigos Tower

Beautiful bell tower surrounded by the most picturesque buildings. If you only see a few monuments, add this to your list to stop by. I didn’t know it at the time but you can climb to the top of it!

Porto, Porto

restaurants

Pedro dos Frangos

If you are looking for an instagrammable meal, this definitely is not your place. Interior is super underwhelming and food is no frills lol but it is some great chicken & SO cheap!! The chicken if fresh off the spit, with crispy skin and good flavor. I ordered a salad as well that was just lettuce, onions, tomatos and a gallon of olive oil hahaha not mad though, it was great for dipping the bread into after. I paid 7 euros and left soo full from only a half order!

Porto, Porto

destination • outdoors

Praça do Município

This is the large square where city hall is - which to me didn’t stand out too much but there are tons of people lined up to take a picture with the Porto sign. This square has much more to offer than just the city hall building, I enjoyed walking around the square, where there are buildings lining the sidewalks with great architecture.

Porto, Porto

destination • outdoors

Jardins do Palácio de Cristal

Great places to walk around if you have an hour or so to spare. There are great viewpoints and gardens to walk around! Also I had no idea there were peacocks! Sooo many of them and chickens, pigeons, and ducks haha so random

Porto, Porto

destination • experience

Chapel of Souls

One if my favorite things about Porto is the blue tiling that is on many of the buildings! Chapel of the souls is a great stop while you are walking up Rue de Santa Catarina - where all the shops are like Zara, Pull & Bear, etc. There is a indoor shopping mall as well with H&M and a number of other shops.

Porto, Porto

restaurants

Brasão Cervejaria Coliseu Baixa

Our favorites were the octopus and alheira sausage! We also tried our first francesinha here! It was pretty good, tons of different meats with cheese melted over the top. They are supposed to have one of the best ones, I really liked the gravy it was in! We tried the blooming onion too which you cant go wrong with and we loved the ham that was in the butter for the bread!! Such a good idea, i hadn’t seen before.

Porto, Porto

bar • cafe • restaurants

Zenith - Brunch & Cocktails Bar

Classic little brunch spot! I ordered the shakshuka and honestly everything that came out of the kitchen looked so good. We heard the cocktails are great here as well! Come early since its always crowded.

Porto, Porto

bar • cafe • lodging • outdoors • restaurants

O Buraquinho da Ribeira

We didn’t know where to grab a quick bite one afternoon so we gambled on this riverside cafe. The OPO wine spritzer i ordered was perfect, not too sweet and really refreshing (i think you can get this a lot of places) We ordered alheria sausage, a caprese salad, and gave the codfish balls a try! What really caught our eye was sausage on a skewer that a table next to us ordered which they lit on fire! Looked so good. All around, great choice, and ambience with some street music placing in front on the riverwalk!

Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto

bar • experience • restaurants • shopping

Espaço Porto Cruz

Can’t beat trying port wine with this view! Unfortunately they didn’t do tastings on the rooftop terrace but we created our own! Our favorite was the 20 yr tawny, the least sweet of the port wines and had a smokey taste. Great afternoon activity or for sunset!

Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto

bar • experience

Porto Cálem

Very well known port wine cellar right along the south side of the river. Their upstairs bar is a bit dark but the wine is fantastic and I went back later before I left to pick up this port wine tasting kit that had 6 small bottles, one of each type of port which is great for a souvenir or a gift! They have tours of their cellar/tasting as well!