Porto, October 2018

My love for Portugal seems to grow with every visit, and my visit to Porto was long overdue. My friend and I thought about visiting Porto whilst we were at school but never actually got around to it, so we decided to change that in October when we were trying to think of a new destination to visit. It's an easy comparison to make between Porto and Lisbon, and it's a hard pick between the two if I'm honest. I think Lisbon may have the edge in my mind, as I  feel like there is a little more to see and do and I'm definitely someone who likes to keep busy. Nightlife wise I think Lisbon also has the edge, but I would say that Porto is prettier and feels more traditional somehow. You'll be happy to know you can get Portuguese custard tarts in both which, let's face it, is one of the many highlights of Portugal. (Thank god they appear to be popping up over London and other areas of the UK now, and my latest find was in Peterborough - Look out for signs saying 'Pastiel de Nata') 



The best area of Porto to explore is Ribeira which is the cultural / old town area. A walk along the Douro river is well worth the breathtaking views and a view of the higgledy-piggledy houses along the river. You can get stunning views over the whole of Ribeira from Gaia which is the Port making region across the river, perfect for a visit and a quiet drink whilst the sun is setting. I would really recommend a guided tour around the area and we booked a half-day tour on the Sunday afternoon which enabled us to try all three Port types of Ruby, Tawny, and Rosé. (All equally as delicious)





If you want great views whilst in the Porto side of the city I would recommend visiting the Clérigos Church and climbing the tower. The Livraria Lello is the famous library presumed to be one of the inspirations for JK Rowling's Harry Potter stories, and as you can imagine because of that it's pretty packed in there. It's worth a visit if you're interested in that kind of thing, for me the busyness took away from the beauty of the building somewhat. 





Unfortunately, the Cathedral was under construction whilst we were there so we didn't get the full opportunity to explore the building but we did pay admission to walk around the Cloisters (photos above) which were pretty impressive. We also visited the Church of São Francisco which is a beautiful church, though no photos allowed so I'll just have to try and remember what that looked like!

During our holiday we also managed to pack in a half-day trip to Aveiro which is a fisherman's village close to the sea. On the way to visit Aveiro, we stopped off to have a walk on a nearby beautiful and empty beach and photographed some lovely striped colourful beach houses on the way. The village is small and I wouldn't say a must-see but it was interesting to see somewhere else in this area of Portugal, and there were a few cute shops to wander around to kill a couple of hours. We also took a boat tour around the canals in a traditional Moliceiros boat originally used when collecting seaweed - Interesting, but not a particularly picturesque trip. The area is also known for its sweet the 'ovos moles' a delicious custard wafer in the shape of seashells. 

If you fancy something a bit unusual to do, I would 100% do the Porto bridge climb in which you climb up half of the Arrábida Bridge. The views are to die for and we decided to book the early evening slot so that we could watch the sunset over the sea, luckily enough for us the sky was clear and it was one of the most breathtaking sunsets I have ever seen. Once you have walked up to the top they tell you some amazing historical facts about the bridge and how people used to climb it without harnesses ect in the past... I couldn't imagine ever having the guts to do that and I was very thankful to be well and truly in my harness when hearing those stories!