Porto Highlights?

[Patch]

I have booked my flight to a Porto for June of next year. Will stay the first couple of nights in the city. Which begs the question of what are the not to be missed highlights?

 

[SYates]

I have booked my flight to a Porto for June of next year. Will stay the first couple of nights in the city. Which begs the question of what are the not to be missed highlights?

It might be better if you ask your question in a new thread to not confuse things/answers here ;-)
Buen Camino, SY

 

[Kanga]

Done!

 

[SYates]

My personal highlights in Porto were eating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesinha and walking through the harbour area (including a visit to the port caves). Unfortunately I missed http://www.livrarialello.pt/en/ so that is on my bucket list for next time. Buen Camino, SY

 

[Former member 22438]

Beware. The Francesinha dish is a cholesterol bomb ! Anyway very delicious !
Downtown at the the river quai on the terraces ask for grilled sausage in aguardente.they light the 80° proof aguardente and your sausage-called chouriço-gets a delicious flavour when the aguardente has been burned and evaporated
A speciality from Porto. Not many know this.

If you like traditional and original Portuguese musical instruments ,visit the music shop Casa da Guitarra. It is close to the Sé cathedral at the left side on the way to the upperside of the famous Porto bridge . Next to beautifull instruments they sell nice artistic articles like brooches .When you are lucky, there are rehearsals with famous artists and the owner likes to inform you where the typical fado rehearsals are. We were lucky by then that in a small bar -without his knowledge you'll never will find it -was a great fado rehearsal done by locals.

Do not forget to visit the the São Bento railwaystation with its famous Portugues tiles -azulejos.
Porto is a beautifull town !

Bom caminho

 

[KentuckyJay]

I have booked my flight to a Porto for June of next year. Will stay the first couple of nights in the city. Which begs the question of what are the not to be missed highlights?

Sao Ildefonso church with its blue tile facade is remarkable as is the Altar of Jesse which is in a church by the river front.

 

[christy wharton]

I have booked my flight to a Porto for June of next year. Will stay the first couple of nights in the city. Which begs the question of what are the not to be missed highlights?

I got to 2 Bars with great fado music/song just off their main pedestrianised street . They really let give 100% in performance, even the locals. The mercado near Balhoa? metro and all the things mentioned above. Even the outdoor/indoor retro decor and location of the Macdonalds surpriseses. Their Main art gallery. the view from the Eifil Bridge. All are walkable to.

 

[gittiharre]

Do one of the walking tours.They are by donation and last about 3 hours. Very informative and they take you to hidden and intesting places.

 

[timr]

I was cross that I had to pay to go into Livraria Lello, but I bit the bullet and did so. Wouldn't have missed it. You get the price back off a purchase. I think it's €3 if you just turn up and maybe €5 if you book online (because you don't have to queue then.) if you are worried about weight - just get a few bookmarks. Or they have Camino guides in many languages. THey have that quirky little guide to the CP with a hole running through it - mentioned elsewhere on these threads.

 

[Patch]

Hey, thanks for all the tips, very useful. Have been to Portugal before so I know all about the food

 

[Martin Groeger]

Hi, I started in Lisbon last August. I walked via Porto to Santiago. When I got to Porto I took the open topped bus tour of the city. I found it great and then saw places that I would like to go back to. If you hope to spend a few days there, then this might be a possible starting point. Porto is nice and I think that it will be on my list to revisit.

 

[John Briscoe]

All good stuff above, there are also the port cellars over the river. But if I went back I would also take a day to catch a train up the Douro River and valley (it is about 5 hours or so) then catch the boat back after visiting a few wineries.

 

[Former member 22438]

All good stuff above, there are also the port cellars over the river. But if I went back I would also take a day to catch a train up the Douro River and valley (it is about 5 hours or so) then catch the boat back after visiting a few wineries.

If you can find the boat back !

 

[scruffy1]

Go Modern!!! Casa de Musica and the Serravalves Museum of Contemporarty Art!!! Casa de Musica built by Rem Koolhaus do take the tour!
https://www.google.co.il/search?q=c...KEwjKx7Lu4drQAhXBJSwKHbyEBCUQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1.5
Serravalves Museum of Contemporarty Art was built by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira is a marvelous building not at all similar in appearance but sharing the faults of the Guggenheim in Bilbao - the building is far more impressive than the exhibits.

 

[Ray J]

I have booked my flight to a Porto for June of next year. Will stay the first couple of nights in the city. Which begs the question of what are the not to be missed highlights?

If you have time, check into taking a motorcycle sidecar tour with Side Ride Tours http://side-ride.pt/en/ . We didn’t know about/go on it until the night before we left, which was unfortunate because our driver showed us many places we wish we’d known about. Regardless, it’s a great way to get a feel for the city. Bonus: You will feel like a rock star – everyone waves and takes pictures of you as you tool around town!

Good place to stay in Porto: Nice Way Hostel http://nicewayhostels.com/porto/ . Only open for two weeks when we were there, so they were still working out some kinks, but I’m sure they’re good to go now. Nice place (as all the Nice Way Hostels we stayed at were), very centrally located.

Also, a tour of a Port winery is worth the time. We went on the Ferreira tour and really enjoyed it.

 

[DurhamParish]

Beware. The Francesinha dish is a cholesterol bomb ! Anyway very delicious !
Downtown at the the river quai on the terraces ask for grilled sausage in aguardente.they light the 80° proof aguardente and your sausage-called chouriço-gets a delicious flavour when the aguardente has been burned and evaporated
A speciality from Porto. Not many know this.

If you like traditional and original Portuguese musical instruments ,visit the music shop Casa da Guitarra. It is close to the Sé cathedral at the left side on the way to the upperside of the famous Porto bridge . Next to beautifull instruments they sell nice artistic articles like brooches .When you are lucky, there are rehearsals with famous artists and the owner likes to inform you where the typical fado rehearsals are. We were lucky by then that in a small bar -without his knowledge you'll never will find it -was a great fado rehearsal done by locals.

Do not forget to visit the the São Bento railwaystation with its famous Portugues tiles -azulejos.
Porto is a beautifull town !

Bom caminho

I'll be in Porto in late April. I've been to Porto three times in the past and one of the things I LOVE the most are the Tunas, the University Student singing groups. On two occasions I have been lucky enough to run across their performances and the recordings I made with my camera I still consider treasures. My question is, how can I find out when these singing groups are planning their performances while I am in town? Thanks.

And thanks for the heads up on the grilled sausages in aguardente and the Casa da Guitarra. Something new for this trip.

 

[Former member 22438]

I'll be in Porto in late April. I've been to Porto three times in the past and one of the things I LOVE the most are the Tunas, the University Student singing groups. On two occasions I have been lucky enough to run across their performances and the recordings I made with my camera I still consider treasures. My question is, how can I find out when these singing groups are planning their performances while I am in town? Thanks.

And thanks for the heads up on the grilled sausages in aguardente and the Casa da Guitarra. Something new for this trip.

Don't forget to eat the pasteís de nata, not special in Porto but everywhere in Portugal is this a national delicatesse.

At one of the pilgrimage recordings on You Tube I saw a pilgrim buying a ukelele at Casa da Guitarra and played on it during his camino to Santiago.
I did it in a different way. On our first caminho from Lisbon we ended up in Barcelos and made the detour by bus to Braga to visit the famous Bom Jesus do Monte church and after the visit we went to the towncenter and just like in Porto, close by the cathedral we discovered a nice music shop .we spoke to the owner ,admired the beautifull instruments and returned to Barcelos to continue to casa Fernanda and the rest of the camino.
The year after we came back to casa Fernanda after acomplishing the camino Inglès and went again to Braga and bought a beautifull gypsy jazz guitar. Since then we have been several times in Braga and this year I bought a typical Portuguese instrument, a cavaquinho, similar to a ukelele but used in folkmusic of Portugal, Madeira, Cabo Verde and the Açores. Mine is a variation, a cavaquinho Brasileiro as used in typical Brasilean choro music. And how interesting.. outside Brasil and Rio de Janeiro in particular here in Rotterdam the Netherlands where I live , by coincidence I discovered the only existing choroschool in Europe so now I am playing cavaquinho in a choro ensemble...
Coming year we go back to Portugal to be hospitaleiro at casa da Fernanda but also back to Braga to score another instrument...

On the picture in the middle Luis Múxima ,owner of the music store Som da Sé (sound of the cathedral) In Braga The picture was taken in May this year during the Roman festival.. Braga is a Roman town.
Luis is a famous singer/ musician around Porto and in the north of Portugal.

 

[DurhamParish]

It would be nice to buy a guitar, or some other string instrument as a souvenir of Portugal, but I'm flying United.

 

[Former member 22438]

It would be nice to buy a guitar, or some other string instrument as a souvenir of Portugal, but I'm flying United.

Ha Ha I have seen vids like these, grabbed among others in China.. a guy loading cases on the conveyer belt into the aircraft. Dancing on them,throwing them , and now and then missing the belt. Horrible ...that's my Gibson guitar..($$$$$$) oh my God.....
So the message of my post is.. buy a cavaquinho. It fits in your cabinluggage .I play stringed instruments like cavaquino, jazzguitar ($$$ Gibson archtops) and double bass and specially play on a so called electric upright bass with a detachable neck .folded in, it fits in the overhead compartment of an aircraft.! Unfortunately or you may call it fortunately I never travell with my instruments in (United) aircrafts . Jazzmusicians are poor guys they cannot afford to travel business class with champaign and caviar like those dj's or guys who only can play three campfire guitarchords but are on top of all charts .
Me-poor guy-have to walk and far too..all away to Santiago

Bom caminho .

 

[peregrina2000]

I was cross that I had to pay to go into Livraria Lello, but I bit the bullet and did so. Wouldn't have missed it. You get the price back off a purchase. I think it's €3 if you just turn up and maybe €5 if you book online (because you don't have to queue then.) if you are worried about weight - just get a few bookmarks. Or they have Camino guides in many languages. THey have that quirky little guide to the CP with a hole running through it - mentioned elsewhere on these threads.

Today's Travel section of the New York Times includes an article on "must visit" bookstores around the world. The Lello makes the list.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/travel/temples-for-the-literary-pilgrim.html

 

[DurhamParish]

Beware. The Francesinha dish is a cholesterol bomb ! Anyway very delicious !
Downtown at the the river quai on the terraces ask for grilled sausage in aguardente.they light the 80° proof aguardente and your sausage-called chouriço-gets a delicious flavour when the aguardente has been burned and evaporated
A speciality from Porto. Not many know this.

If you like traditional and original Portuguese musical instruments ,visit the music shop Casa da Guitarra. It is close to the Sé cathedral at the left side on the way to the upperside of the famous Porto bridge .

Bom caminho

Made it to Casa da Guitarra. Indeed there were beautiful instruments to be found.

 

[Rainerbernd]

Olá,

don't miss a tram ride with one of the famous old trams. For instance: http://www.stcp.pt/pt/viajar/linhas/?t=horarios&linha=22&sentido=0&th=1 It starts at Carmo, near the Cordoaria and you can do a round trip.
Or take Nº 1 from Infante (down near the river) along the river Douro to the park Passeio Alegre and have a short walk to the mouth of the river Douro. http://www.stcp.pt/pt/viajar/linhas/?linha=1&sentido=0&t=map

 

[Coleen Clark]

If you have time, check into taking a motorcycle sidecar tour with Side Ride Tours http://side-ride.pt/en/ . We didn’t know about/go on it until the night before we left, which was unfortunate because our driver showed us many places we wish we’d known about. Regardless, it’s a great way to get a feel for the city. Bonus: You will feel like a rock star – everyone waves and takes pictures of you as you tool around town!

Good place to stay in Porto: Nice Way Hostel http://nicewayhostels.com/porto/ . Only open for two weeks when we were there, so they were still working out some kinks, but I’m sure they’re good to go now. Nice place (as all the Nice Way Hostels we stayed at were), very centrally located.

Also, a tour of a Port winery is worth the time. We went on the Ferreira tour and really enjoyed it.

Oh! Oh! I want to go on the Side Ride Tour! I'm gonna save up and do that one! Can't you just picture Adventure Nana on wheels? Dude!