Porto – 2 Days in April
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Porto in April
April 15
Majestic Cafe and Porto at Night
We arrived at the awesome Cocorico Luxury Guesthouse, right in the heart of Porto, around 6:00 p.m. We parked the car in a nearby public garage for $20 a day. Not bad for parking in the center of a busy European city!
Unfortunately, the guesthouse’s beautiful tapas bar is closed on Mondays. Following the recommendation of the hotel desk clerk, we headed next door to Rio’s Tapas & Bar for dinner.
Afterward, we ventured out to explore the city. Porto was buzzing! The streets were lively, restaurants were full, and the nightlife was in full swing.
We eventually found our way to the famous Majestic Café, an absolute Porto institution. Opened in 1921, this beautiful Belle Époque café has been a gathering place for artists, writers, and intellectuals over the years. These days, it’s perfectly suited for travelers like us looking for a little history, and opulence with evening drinks.
I ordered a glass of port, Em opted for a port cocktail, and we couldn’t resist the amazing French toast dessert. The black-tie waiter assured us it was fantastic. He was right!
After a little more wandering through the lively streets, we returned to our very nice room at Cocorico around 10:00 p.m. A lovely first evening in Porto!
Exploring Porto and Discovering Port
April 16
After an elegant breakfast at the guesthouse, we set off on the 15-minute walk to Livraria Lello, often described as the most beautiful bookstore in the world. Some even claim it was an inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, although that connection has been disputed.
Fortunately, we had purchased the gold, skip-the-line tickets online. We arrived around 10:45 a.m. and were very happy to bypass what was an extraordinarily long line. With only one full day in Porto, standing in line is not how we wanted to spend our precious sightseeing time. The gold tickets were money well spent!
The bookstore is beautiful, with its elaborate woodwork, stained glass ceiling, and famous winding staircase. However, it was also VERY crowded.
From there, we continued on to Trinity Church, and then Porto Cathedral, one of the city’s oldest and most important historic landmarks. Porto has no shortage of beautiful churches, impressive architecture, and reminders of its long history.
Between Trinity Church and Porto Cathedral we passed the beautiful Porto City Hall building…
…and the stunning Sao Bento Railway Station, with event-depicted art panels consisting of over 20,000 blue and white azulejo tiles!
Then on to the Romanesque/Gothic/Baroque 12th century Porto Cathedral.
Next, we wandered down to the Porto Ribeira Riverwalk, where we stopped for lunch along the Douro River. This is one of the great pleasures of Porto: beautiful river views, colorful buildings, and plenty of opportunities to sit back and eat and drink while taking it all in.
After lunch, we crossed the Douro on the lower pedestrian level of the famous Luís I Bridge, heading over to Vila Nova de Gaia. Gaia is actually a separate city from Porto, and is the home of the area’s most famous export: port wine.
Gaia is lined with historic port wine lodges, many of which have been aging and storing port for generations. We weren’t exactly experts on which lodge was which, so we took the highly scientific approach of randomly choosing one to try. Our selection was Quinta do Noval, and it turned out to be an excellent choice! We enjoyed a port tasting with wonderful riverside seating, a great server, and, of course, some very good port. The whole experience was terrific. There is something particularly enjoyable about tasting port while sitting beside the very river that helped make this wine region famous. We had a lot of fun!
Feeling sufficiently refreshed (and perhaps a little more knowledgeable about port), we continued our exploration. We walked up, up, and then further UP to the Monastery of Serra do Pilar. The monastery is perched high on an outcrop in Vila Nova de Gaia, overlooking the Dom Luís I Bridge and the center of Porto. Unfortunately it was closed, but at least we enjoyed the views.
We eventually made our way back across the river to Porto, this time taking the upper pedestrian level of the Luís I Bridge. The bridge, designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel, is an engineering marvel and offers spectacular views of both Porto and Gaia. It’s definitely worth crossing at both levels.
Back at the guesthouse, we enjoyed a relaxing drink on the quiet patio before taking a short rest in our room. After a full day of walking, a little downtime was definitely in order.
For dinner, we headed to L’Osteria de Porto, about seven minutes from our hotel. It was a basic, local-focused Italian restaurant rather than one catering to tourists, and the food was very good.
After dinner, we took another stroll through the energetic city to help walk off the meal. Porto was still buzzing, even as the evening wore on.
We returned to the guesthouse around 9:00 p.m. for a nightcap in the lounge.
A wonderful day in Porto. We managed to see a lot, taste some excellent port, cross a spectacular bridge twice, and climb enough hills to earn the food we ate.
Off to Bed
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