We loved Porto. After three short days in Lisbon, walking a lot, the smaller scale of Porto was a relief. Both places were very interesting, but Porto was characterized by incredibly friendly people, affordable prices, and a vibrancy that was very compelling. At the same time, Porto was run down in places, with a lot of empty and derelict buildings, and apparently quite a lot of people living with not very much.
We were fortunate to have found an apartment right on the river, in the old town. We’d been warned it might be noisy, but it was fine, and so nice to have a little home where we could make some meals, and relax at the end of the day.
Porto is on the river Douro, which is the source from which a lot of Portugal’s wine comes. It’s a very long river, reaching into Spain, and we took a boat down a part of it, watching the hilly vineyards pass by, and seeing what look like freshwater beach towns, complete with heavily populated beaches.
The food was spectacular – inexpensive, and strong on seafood. We limited ourselves to dinner out, because we were usually busy walking during the day, but the octopus was incredible, as was the sea bream cooked in salt. Actually it was all great. As was the port, which has become an evening ritual for us. We did the tour at Sandeman, which was deliciously informative.
There’s a lot we didn’t do – so we have to go back. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what we saw.
The Douro River, from the old town 
Beautiful buildings, densely packed on the hillside 
The narrow streets of the old town 
There were quite a few run-down or derelict buildings 
Looking down from the Cathedral 
Water views everywhere 
Our tour guide 
Walking down from the cathedral 
No way to drive to this house 
The transition from the old town to the more modern 
A strange aesthetic in this column 
…and a closeup 
Tile is huge in Portugal. This is the railway station 
Also the railway station 
From which we took the train up the Douro Valley 
So we could take a boat back to Porto 
Passing gorgeous estates 
A monastery, now a hotel 
Vines everywhere 
The river is worthy of a holiday all to itself 
A beach on the river, heavily populated, although it was a week day 
Boats were all over the river 
These two huge locks control the water flow 
Preparing to enter 
In the lock at the top 
Looking up the lock walls from the bottom 
The water flow is controlled by these gates 
Back on the waterfront in Porto 
Looking across the river 
Every inch of land is built on 
The small barrels are for tawny port 
The big ones are for ruby port 
Reserve port is bottled. Some goes back to 1907. 
A fort at Figueira da Foz 
Heavy boat traffic – much of it for tourists 
Sun setting 
At the beach 
Watching the sun set 
Sunset over the rocks 
Sunset from town 
An organ grinder, for some reason with chickens 
The river at night 
A double decker bridge
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