Porto – São Bento Station
We arrived in Porto via train at the São Bento station. Immediately, you see a beautiful old station that will take you back in time a hundred years. The station is nestled into the side of the hill and due to a tunnel the train barely fits on the platform. The São Bento station is in the center of town, similar to most European cities. This is why using the Eurail Pass is a great option; you won’t be 30 or 45 minutes away from your destination and sitting at an airport or in traffic.
As we walked toward the main exit of the station, I realized that there is more here than I remembered from our research. The main lobby of the station is covered in blue and white tiles like the station in Aveiro. However, this was on a much larger scale as it included artwork along with the tiles. You will have to leave the lobby eventually, and when you step outside, the city is bustling around you. This is not a bad thing, you feel as you have arrived somewhere special.
We took a few minutes to decide if we wanted to walk to the apartment we had rented or to take an Uber. We decided an Uber would be the best option as Porto is a very hilly city and we still had our backpacks. The Uber took 5 or 10 minutes to arrive. We enjoyed the city views while we waited.
Apartment
We arrived at the apartment and used our codes to enter the building and the apartment. Unfortunately, we were early and the previous tenants still had their bags and other items there. Also, the apartment had not been cleaned. I immediately reached out to the person managing the property. Due to our early arrival, they needed 1-2 hours to get it clean and everything removed. Therefore, we decided to visit a café on the next block to grab a bite to eat while we waited.
Fast forward 90 minutes, we returned to the apartment to find it in the same condition. I contacted the person again and they said the cleaners were delayed and will be there shortly and we could leave our bags inside. If the old tenants could still access the apartment, I wasn’t leaving our backpacks. Therefore, I requested to cancel the reservation and it was approved and processed after a firm discussion.
What Now?
With that issue behind us, we now needed a new place in Porto for 2 nights. Luckily in the digital world, this was easy, our phones were out looking for a place to book at the last minute. Luckily, we found another apartment that was in a better location and about the same price. We booked it and notified the person managing the property that we would be there in less than 30 minutes.
Our new apartment was down a small quiet one-way street in the artsy area known as Baixa. A few minutes after our arrival, we were met by the property manager. She walked us up the apartment and apologized it wasn’t cleaned due to the late booking. The apartment was not dirty; it had probably been a few days since someone had been there. Not a problem, it was fine but the cleaning crew was there in a few minutes. She provided maps and some tips on what to see and how to get around. By this time we had been in Porto for about 4 hours and were ready to see the town.
Transportation in Porto
Due to Porto being a hilly city, we needed to get public transportation passes as recommended by the property manager. I can’t remember the cost, but it was about $15-20 for each 2-day Porto Card. There are 2 types of passes, the Andante and Porto Card, the latter is a city card that provides discounts at some tourist locations. and includes transportation. It also includes 11 free museums and discounts on other attractions and activities. The Andante Card is for transportation only.
Now that we had our Porto Cards, we grabbed the first bus towards the river. Unfortunately, the river is the tourist thing to do but it is where we wanted to start. The city of Porto is built on the edge of the river and the side of steep hills.
Boat Tour
As with Aveiro, we decided to take a boat tour to see the city from a different view. Our boat trip took us out to the ocean’s edge and back, it also goes up the Douro River a short distance. The boat ride is very relaxing and takes about 45 minutes. With the boat tour complete, we walked along the river for a while before taking a bus back to the area around the apartment.
Dinner
My daughter was not feeling well and wanted to head back to the apartment and our son went with her. My wife and I had a few hours without the kids; we just needed to pick up some food for them on the way back. Luckily, there were a few restaurants within 10 minutes of the apartment in the Baixa area. We found a tapas restaurant/bar that was fairly busy but had a couple of open tables. The restaurant was named Lareira and was very good, and wallet-friendly. If you are in Porto I would recommend you try them. After dinner, we picked up some take away food for the kids and returned to the apartment.
A Full Day in Porto
Our first stop of the day was Jardins do Palácio de Cristal not far from the apartment. This is the city center park for Porto and has great views of the skyline and of the Douro River. We only spent a short time at the park as we wanted to see the other side of the river before it became too crowded with tourists. We took 2 buses to the river and then walked across the iconic bridge to the other side.
Primarily there are shops, port wine producers, and some restaurants along the river. All of the wine producers have tastings and tours of their facilities. Some of them are at tourist trap prices; so we opted for a food market to partake in some of the local liquid varieties and some food.
The Douro River valley is known for its wines and ports, so this is a great place to try some. Even though this is a tourist area, 5 glasses of port wine were only about $20. In addition, the food was also reasonably priced.
Going Up
After some port wine and food, we took the Teleferico de Gaia: (cable car) up to the top of the bridge. You get a great view of the river and Porto while in the cable car. We received a discount with our Porto Card. As you exit the upper cable car station you are in a park (Jardim do Morro) next to the old fort. My wife and daughter wanted to kick back in the park while my son and I walked up to the monastery for a better view.
If you have seen any pictures of Porto with the iconic bridge in the foreground, they were probably taken at the old monastery. I had to take some pictures from there as well. My son and I returned to the park to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather for a little while. After a short break, we took a tram back toward our apartment and downtown.
We spent a few hours walking around and ended up at São Bento Station again, Therefore, I took a video of the lobby to go with the pictures from earlier in this post.
End of the Day and Porto
All of us were starting to get tired and hungry, so we found a restaurant near the apartment. After dinner, we stopped to get ice cream on the way back to the apartment. Below are some pictures of a church covered in blue and white tiles.
Unfortunately, we still needed to pack everything as we were leaving in the morning. The next morning after breakfast, we ordered an Uber to take us to the airport for our flight to Ponta Delgada.
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, due to writing this post 2 years after the trip, some details may have been lost or the info is not complete. I will update as more details come back to me. Porto is a great place to visit, be prepared to use public transportation as it is quite hilly. If you are in good shape, you will be ok to walk in most places. Porto is a beautiful city and should be on your shortlist of destinations. However, you really need more than 2 days to see Porto, so give yourself at least 4 or 5 days.
I had a hard time selecting my primary picture for this post, see the finalists below.
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