Nikita’s Nomadic Notes

Wow, unexpectedly, Porto is has become my favourite city I’ve visited so far! The city had so much charm and beauty situated along the Douro River and the Ribeira (riverside) area was stunning.

Porto is very well known for its history with wine. The nearby Duomo Valley produces a lot of wine, which then would get transported using Rabelo Boats (traditional Portuguese cargo boats) down the Duoro river to Porto city. Porto is the birth placa of Port Wine – go figure. If I was more of a wine connoisseur I would have partaken in one of the many wine tastings offered at the wine cellars around the city. Something else I found very cool was that on one side of the river is Porto, and then on the other side of the river is actually a seperate city, Vila Nova de Gaia. So while it looks like one city, parted by the Duoro River, it is actually two different cities!

While I spent 4 nights in Porto, the whole first day I was in bed feeling awfully unwell and sorry for myself. It didn’t help that we were in the middle of a heatwave with 40-45C weather, and the air conditioning in my hostel room was questionable. But I LOVED the rest of my stay. I didn’t have a lot planned here, so I wandered around the streets of the historic centre, visited main tourist attractions such as Episcopal Palace, Monastery of Serra do Pilar, the town square, and Puente Don Luis 1 Bridge.

My personal favourite was the Jardim do Morro viewpoint and park. I stumbled upon this park earlier in my stay after wandering across the Luis Bridge, but returned here for sunset on my final night in Porto. The sunset was beautiful, but man it was a very popular location, it was essentially shoulder to shoulder packed with people in the park to watch the sunset on a random Thursday night (it is the peak of summer I guess tho). However, with the live musical performances, and food + drinks on sale, it was a really wholesome vibe.

The Ribeira area along the riverside was fun and engaging with lots of market stalls and food places. I enjoyed just walking along and browsing the stalls. Another highlight of my time in Porto was a river cruise along the Duoro River to see the famous 6 bridges along the river. This was interesting, it was cool to learn the history behind each bridge. Plus, a 1hr boat cruise for only $30NZD! Conveniently, English was very widely spoken in Porto (as well as everywhere else in Portugal I visited) so I had no issues or difficultly with this. Even on the cruise, they gave the information in both Portuguese and English.

Considering how much I loved Porto, I don’t really have a whole heap to say about it. The city was charming, and cute, it was easily accessible, but do be warned, there are many hills. I would 100% love to spend some more time here, and explore more of the wider area including the coastal areas, fishing villages, and the Duomo Valley.

~ Nikita’s Nomadic Notes