- West of Lisbon, and onto Porto
- Porto, Douro valley, Coimbra and back to Lisbon
- Lisbon Portugal, City of 7 hills
- More Lisbon Portugal
Porto is the 2nd largest city in Portugal, and has been inhabited since 300BC, by Celtics, Romans, Moors, Crusaders & French under Napoleon. Porto region of Douro valley became well known for the production of quality wines and port wine in the 18th century and has remained that way.
After resting up from our drive from Lisbon to Porto, we drove into the older part of Porto and walked around a lot to check out this place. Breakfast was Pasteis de Nata and coffee. Pasteis de Nata is an ancient recipe passed on from Monks who used egg whited to starch their clothes, and the egg yolks to make these delicious pastries. With the expulsion/closing of many of these religious orders, the recipes emerged out of the monasteries and became available widely. They are quite delicious, sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
We walked all over the old town to the waterfront, and below are some scenes from Porto
There are many historical and old buildings all around the old town; so it was good to walk around and admire the sights and buildings. There were a lot of tourists here, as this part of Portugal is a popular tourist destination. We walked downhill to the port area, passing multiple historical buildings like the market (now gentrified into an art gallery), the Wine Museum where we got a short tour showing us where the wines of Douro valley are chemically analyzed and wine tasters taste and characterize the wines . The Port area of Porto was quite lively, below are some images from the Port area and from Villa Nova de Gaia, the town across the Douro river from Porto.
We took the river taxi across to Gaia, for 3 euro’s each, to check out the views
After this short stop in Gaia, we walked back to the Porto side by crossing the large suspension bridge
We walked back to where our car was parked, and on the way, stopped for lunch and wine at Pedro Dos Frangos, for Peri-Peri chicken.
After lunch, we decide to drive to the Douro valley region, where all the good wineries are located; and we took what we thought was the Romantic route through the wine growing district, but in fact ended up on the Rota do Romanico along the N222 and N108 roads, which is the Romesque architectural region of this area.
The area was quite scenic, and a pleasant drive though nice small towns along the Douro river
We stopped and asked for directions to local wineries for wine tasting, but very few people spoke English and even fewer that understood what we were looking for. No winery for us today :(. We ended up in a nice small town called Castelo De Paiva, where we stopped for a refreshing coffee and snacks at the Tropicalia Padaria
By now, it was getting to 5PM, and we were not likely to find any open wineries, even if we were able to locate a winery. So we decided to drive over the seaside beach town of Matosinhos, just north of Porto, check out the beach and find a good restaurant to have some fresh fish dinner. After a short drive, we arrived in Matosinhos; some scenes below
After a nice fish dinner, we headed back to Porto.
Next day, we started early, driving back to Lisbon. We stopped at Coimbra for breakfast at a local café in the old town. The old town of Coimbra is very well preserved, and still has the narrow cobble stone gulley’s. The University of Coimbra, reputed to be the 2nd oldest University in the world, occupies the old town, and has multiple roman era buildings in use.
We did not have much time to spare in Coimbra, but it is definitely worth checking Coimbra out more thoroughly as it seems like a nice lively university town, with lots of old world character.
We then got back onto the E1 Tollroad, and drove back to Lisbon, returned the car at the airport, bought weekly metro/bus/tram unlimited use-passes at the airport metro station for 30 euro’s each, and headed off to our AirBNB apartment which was located a 3 minute walk from the Cais Do Sodre metro station.
wowser!!!!!!!!! awesome pics!!!!!! on my bucket list!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Alamara; you will enjoy
Hi Ali,
We could not make it to Porto, but now I have seen it through your eyes.
Lovely images
Merci
Muslim
Thanks Muslim; glad you enjoyed
Lovely article
Thanks Ashraf, happy you liked it
Thanks. I can see that you enjoyed your trip.
Hi Aziz, we certainly did, thanks. I think Coimbra needs a 2nd visit….
Thanks – we are thoroughly enjoying it !
Thanks for the feedback NoorJehan; glad that you enjoyed it.
Hi Dilshad & Ali,
Your Northern Portugal blog posts have definitely inspired me to travel north from Lisbon at some point! Pictures are beautiful and the write-up is so descriptive, it actually transports the reader to the location!
On July the 12th, my husband Gulam & I drove south from Lisbon to the Algarve and stayed in Albufeira for a week. We did day trips to Portimao, Silves, Faro & Loule.
Not sure if you have been to the Algarve, it is beautiful – nice beaches and lots of sightseeing – museums, castles/forts, cathedrals.
Happy & safe travels!
Azizeh
Oakville, ON
Thanks so much for the kind feedback Azizeh; really appreciate it.
We went to the Algarve region and the region about 32yrs ago. Which is why this time, we went to the northern part of Portugal vs the south. I am sure the Algarve region has changed a lot and I do remember it being very beautiful 32yrs ago.
THanks again
Hi Ali,
We could not make it to Porto, but now I have seen it through your eyes.
Lovely Images.
Our love to Dilshad
Merci
Appreciate the nice feedback from a great photographer
Good Morning, beautiful pictures.
Have a wonderful day.
Love.
Naz.
Thanks Naz
Thanks a bunch:). Love reading them bursting full of info. Off the beaten path to Main street…your writing encapsulates the reader and makes you feel you are there. You are a passionate and gifted writer and photographer. Love your pics very unique sights and stuff you delve into. Keep it up while you can.
Love it
Hi Sabira, thanks so much for the kind words; I really appreciate it; makes me want to keep writing when I know people are enjoying it.
Thanks again
Interesting reading. We did similar route with friends and family. Your podcast took us back then.
🙂
Thank Ali for sharing. As usual pictures are very nice and beautiful.
Hi Nasir, thanks so much for the feedback. Glad you are enjoying reading them.
Take care