The Porto email

We (and by this I mean me) have decided we’re doing an annual friendship holiday between my ex-work-wife, her partner and the two of us. Our first trip was Oslo which was fantastic and you can read all about it here. Our next trip was a three night city break to Porto. And next year a barging trip of sorts is in discussion – with other friends looking to join too! So friendship holiday may be getting super-sized!! Yeeees! If we’re friends, you can bet good money on the fact that I will cook for you and will most likely convince you to go on holiday with us. Welcome to friendship with me, it can be expensive…

Anyway, back to Porto! We were zooming around Google Maps looking for a close enough destination with reasonably priced flights, accommodation and dining options. After Ryanair cancelled our inbound leg the flights were no longer reasonable BUT otherwise, Porto was a fantastic choice for an affordable city break. Bonus points for not losing an hour when travelling as Porto is in the same time zone as London!

Restaurants we loved in Porto

– Join the Culinary Backstreets Tour
Yes, this is technically not a restaurant but it involves many restaurants! We absolutely loved our time on this food tour and would highly recommend it. We visited seven spots with many delicious bites including pastries, cheese, wine, fresh fruit, barnacles (!!), cod fritters, famous sandwiches, port and GREAT cake. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and super helpful with recommendations for other restaurants to visit for the rest of the weekend.

I have included a couple of the spots we visited on the tour below but others I haven’t included because honestly they will be so much better visited with the Culinary Backstreets Tour which will bring them to life. Our guide was Bruno who covers all the afternoon tours – so if you want to hang out with our mate Bruno – book an afternoon spot! The tours are all small group tours – with our group being five people and the maximum size being seven.

– Cervejaria Gazela
Home to the famous Porto hot dog which was made famous by Anthony Bourdain himself. It’s of course not a hot dog at all but has picked up the name anyway. Gazela’s Cachorrinhos is a thin crusty bread roll filled with spicy sauce, sausage and cheese. And it is insanely delicious. We got incredibly lucky – joining them for their last day ahead of closing for their annual break. It was the most fantastic sandwich and possibly one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. If you have a chance to visit Porto this is a mandatory stop!

– Brasao Coliseu
Porto is home to the Francesinha which is a monumental sandwich of two thick slices of bread holding ham, steak and sausage covered with a mountain of cheese and hanging out in a beer-infused tomato sauce baked until everything is hot and gooey. It’s mad BUT it’s a true porto dish and one to try. We tried this giant sammich at Brasao Coliseu as recommended by our food tour guide and it was a hit! Hot tips for Brasao Coliseu include – order ONE sandwich between TWO people, it’s a must book if you’re a bigger group or don’t want to wait and order jugs of sangria! We booked via their online booking portal and it was easy peasy. Other dishes we loved include the blooming fried onion, mushrooms and asparagus in smoked ham lard and the goats’ cheese salad.

– Casa Expresso
Fantastic super affordable pulled pork sandwich. This is truly tender melt in your mouth pulled pork on a cloud-like bun. If you’re hungry – or even a little greedy – you may want more than one! We went with a takeaway as it was so busy and grabbing a table would have taken time. But I think it would be good to sit down as the sandwich is probably even better with a bit of hot sauce!

– Dona Mira
Fantastic cakes! We LOVED the carrot cake and the ding dong cake. AND if you’re super lucky with your timing, once a week their South African chef makes milk tart. And team – it is authentic! It’s a really lovely vibe and a great stop for port and cake! This gem of a spot is closed on Sundays so don’t muck about if you’d like to visit. Every time Tegan and I realised we’d missed our chance for a second visit we’d look mournfully at one another and say “I know…”.

– Terraplana
Cool vibe cocktail bar. Would recommend their port cocktails.

– The Wine Box
Great spot for a wine or port tasting if you won’t have the chance to head out to the Duoro Valley. We found it pretty pricey but the wines and ports are a more premium selection. We enjoyed a couple of canapes whilst doing our tasting but again they were really expensive! Our group of six (we made friends) tried the white wine, red wine and port tastings. If you can – do more than one. If you only do one I would suggest the port tasting as they had a brilliant selection. The gentleman who took us through the tasting was super knowledgeable and spent time and effort explaining everything to us. This is definitely an educational tasting vs a get smashed tasting.

Places we visited but weren’t our favourites

– Any of the highly recommended pastel de nata spots. Fabrica de Nata, Nata Lisboa and Manteigaria. To be fair, Lisbon is for pastel de nata, not Porto, but I was hopeful. Skip the pastel de nata and try other things!

Things we did when not eating

– Walk along the Dom Luis I Bridge – we crossed one way along the top of the bridge and the back along the bottom. Great views of Porto and takes you into the Ribeiria.

– São Bento train station – floor to ceiling blue and white tiles, also more correctly known as azulejos. Need I say more? There are over 20,000 individual tiles covering the station walls that make up pictures of battles, coronations and other events in Portuguese history and took the painter eleven years to complete.

– Baroque church of Igreja do Carmo – beautiful church (don’t miss around the back of the altar) with a beautiful azulejos wall down the side of the church.

– Pop your head into Cafe Majestic because it’s beautiful but don’t eat there because apparently it’s not very good.

– Buy ceramic swallows. They’re all over Porto with the first swallow being designed in 1891 by a famous Portuguese handcrafter, Bordallo Pinheiro. They’re a symbol of family and home. The quality of the swallows is hugely variable so I would suggest looking about for the ones you love best. If you do find ones you like – buy them there and then as many of the shops are closed on Sundays or only open later on Sunday morning.

– Walk, walk, walk. Porto is so beautiful and is a great city for wandering around, popping into beautiful spots and admiring the street art. Spend time slowly strolling around. BUT heads up – Porto is hilly and somehow it feels like you spend more time going uphill than down!

If you get a chance – definitely pop into Claus Porto on Rue das Flores who have been making fragrances since 1887 and the little museum on the second floor is charming. I also loved Benamôr 1925 on Rue das Flores for more gorgeous displays and incredible perfume. I was very tempted to take a posh hand cream home as a memento!

– Day trip to the Duoro Valley. It’s a big and busy day but I would highly recommend the early start to explore the Duoro for a day. Our tour included two wine tasting visits, lunch and a boat trip down the Duoro River. It’s a gorgeous day out and the wines are fantastic. Temper your expectations around the food as our tour’s lunch offering wasn’t great but apparently, there isn’t much in the specific area. We booked through Get your guide and they all seem pretty similar but I would recommend a smaller group tour as it just makes for a better experience.

– We did NOT visit the Harry Potter bookstore (Livraria Lello) as apparently there are long queues and you need to pay to enter. No thaaaanks. If you do want to visit, go early. Additionally, your entry fee can be offset against a book purchase.

Where we stayed in Porto

We stayed in the beautiful Porto XL apartments – super clean, modern, well furnished, large apartments in a fantastic location. Would highly recommend both the location and the apartments.

Other great links for reading about Porto

We largely used these three links for ideas on how to spend our time in Porto – Museum of Wander, Dan flying solo and Where Goes Rose. I loved this link on a self guided walking tour to discover the street art of Porto.

Have the best time in Porto

with all my love, Tahlia