A Guide to Porto
Where to stay ?
- We stayed at Feels like home hotel it is very central and Ideally placed in Porto.
- It’s quite inexpensive we paid around 80€ /night for the room including breakfast
- It’s really central to everything you want to do in Porto you can easily walk from the hotel anywhere.
- They serve the breakfast to your room on trolleys that you convert into a little table it’s very cute.
- It’s really pretty
We parked the car next to the hotel in a Private parking for 20€ a day. (Cash only)
Where to eat ?
- We tried Oficina dos Rissóis and we ate these little pies and we have to say the one with mozzarella cheese and tomato was the best !
- Restaurant Tapabento S.Bento, we tried to eat there and it was fully booked and it looked so good. I will definitely try it next time I come.
- We ate at Santo Pizzeria and Steakhouse and it was really good. While the guys took meat to share I still had good options as a vegetarian. There mozzarella buffala and tomatoes was delicious !
- Majestic cafe, this is the historic cafe in Porto, it’s kept as the original design and is great to have a cup of tea / coffee in the afternoon to experience this atmosphere.
What to see ?
Capela das Almas
You can photograph it from every angles it’s a true beauty ! Very accessible from the main street. Simply be careful with the cars and buses passing by if you want to take photos crossing the street with the Chapel in the back.
Porto-São Bento Station
Go inside and photograph those beautiful tiles. One of the most impressive station I have ever seen.
Sé do Porto / Porto Cathedral :
3€ entrance fee for the full monument. Admire the view at the top over the city / Visit the inside and the beautiful arches of the cloister. Go up to see all the beautiful tiles it showcases. You can go up in the tower and you will even have the view over Porto’s Bridge.
Ponte Luís I
Go down to the River and take the boat to cross the river for sunset (3€ to cross). Go slowly in the direction of the Bridge 1h before sunset so that you don’t rush. Take the cable cars Funiculo de Gaia (costs 6€ to go up) we arrived at the top of the bridge. Take only the way up as you will cross the bridge at the top to go back to the city center. You can also go all the way up to the Miradouro da Serra do Pilar to have the view over the bridge and watch the sunset.
However if you wish to take a photo like @explorerssaurus_ with the bridge in the Background (you will need a professional camera with 70mm -200 mm lens for the ideal result as the bridge will be far behind). You will this time need to walk further to Ponte do Infante and to walk on the path in direction of Ponte Luiz I.
Largo da Pena Ventosa :
From Porto Cathedral esplanade take the stairs down and turn left at the bottom to join the very narrow street going down to arrive at this little square of picturesque houses. When we were there it was very windy ! If it gets crowded wait a little bit until the crowd vanishes and snap your pictures before the next flow arrives.
Igreja do Carmo
Is very nice to visit as well but is much bigger and we liked Cappella das Almas better for the photos.
Igreja de Santo Ildefonso
This church is right in the middle of the city center. However when we wanted to go the fences were completely closed so we couldn’t come up close.
Palacio da Bolsa
This place looked amazing and we wanted to take beautiful pictures over there. The entrance in 10€, however I have to say they only make group visit and you cannot explore on your own. The registrars were also very unfriendly so we decided not to go. However if you are interested to visit the place on a cultural aspect then I would say it seems worth visiting.