A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to tag along with my fiancé, Richard to Portugal. The company he works for has two offices in Portugal, so i jumped at the chance to go with him on a European vacation. I said byyeeee and jumped on that plane!
My mom and sister tag-teamed watching our daughter, so we could jet off and enjoy some time together!
It was an interesting trip because I was able to explore the city of Porto by myself for five days by myself and met up with Richard at night. Best of both worlds!
I had a pretty hellish time getting to Porto because I bought a budget ticket (only $763 from Seattle), which ended up being 3 flights plus a 3 hour train ride. Yikes. Just yikes. Next time, I will splurge for less flights and a guaranteed isle seat!
I was there in early November and the weather was quite similar to Seattle. LOTS of soggy and wet rain with mild temperatures.
I broke down all the things you need to know about the beautiful and historic Porto, which has become one of my favorite cities in Europe.
How to get around:
Porto is a very walkable city and great for solo travel. You can walk or bike to most places within 20 minutes or less and it is not like Lisbon with all of the hills. The city is overall super pleasant and flat.
There is a great city metro/subway in Porto and you can easily get to the beach in 30 minutes or less. I was not able to make it out to the beach due to the rainy, weather – but I definitely plan on getting my tan on next time I am there!
If you are flying in from Lisbon, there is a 3 hour train that goes back and forth to Lisbon and runs every 30 minutes. The train is pretty nice, but it doesn’t have WiFi and does not have bathrooms in every car, so plan on bringing some non-internet entertainment.
Language:
If English is your first language, then you are in luck! Almost everyone I encountered spoke at least some English, so I just learned a few basic words to make me sound a tiny bit more like a native.
Bom dia: Good morning, good day
Desculpe: Excuse me, sorry
Obrigada: Thank you
Pastel de nata: Delicious yummy egg tart
Okay, I am sure there are a ton more easy ones to learn, but I was only there a week and this is what I was able to master!
Where to stay:
Ceidofida: The center of the city with lots of shops, delicious food and beautiful parks within walking distance. This is where I stayed and I fell in love with the black and white cobblestone streets and numerous tasty restaurants.
Ribeira: Beautiful and historic waterfront area that is both rich in history and stunning in scenery. There are port and wine cellars running all the way down the Douro river in this neighborhood. I took a boat tour on the river and I saw all the pretty little houses along the shore and thought, “dang, I should have stayed in this place!”. I am sure in the summer it gets super crowded here.
Where to Eat:
Breakfast
Pastel de nata (addictive egg tarts) and other various pastries can be found at little bakeries at almost every corner. The more bustling the shop, usually the better the pastry.
Lunch
La Reira Baixa: Omg guys. THIS PLACE HAS THE BEST SANDWICH EVER!
A less messy version of the beloved local Francesinha sandwich: sliced thick steak, local ham, melty cheese and a fried over medium egg on top. Sinfully delicious. On the side, they serve the best fresh garlic chips I have ever had in my life. Also, this place is very affordable, with my whole meal under 10 Euros. I cannot wait to get back here!
Dinner
Flow: Very cute and trendy upscale restaurants. Dinner was about $20-30 Euro per person and the interior was instagrammable. There was a great courtyard that opens for seating in the summer and a bunch of fresh seafood options.
I opted for the octopus entree while Richard enjoyed the cod. The octopus was better and the portions were huge. We probably could have split an entree and been completely fine.
The Yeatman Hotel Restaurant (pronounced Yet-men):
If you have the time and the funds, this is the place to go. One of 2 Michelin Star restaurants in Porto, this foodie paradise is nestled in the relatively new (and super boughie) Yeatman Hotel.
The locals call it the “Yet-men”, so don’t pronounce it “Yeet-man” or they will know you are a tourist! Let’s be honest, they will probably know you are a tourist.
The 6 course tasting menu will run €140 pp, but if you want all the of the goodies that aren’t mentioned on the menu, you will want to spring for the €170 pp secret tasting menu. This is where all the fun surprises are created by the chef. I believe the items change daily.
We enjoyed every single course and we probably ended up with 10-12 different courses. We also decided to try the wine pairing. It was delicious, but I was definitely more than a little tipsy because the service staff keeps your glass FULL!
The best part of dining at the Yeatman was the superb service. We had a dedicated team of servers and a fantastic sommelier who explained all of our wine pairings. Everyone was so kind, even though we were not dressed to the nines.
There are a ton of highly rated restaurants in Porto, but I would tell you to beware of Yelp or Google traps with a ton of reviews. These places are usually flooded with tourists, so usually it is best to just walk around and find somewhere that looks good.
Drinks/Bars:
Bar 77, lots of tapas and savory pastry treats.
We stumbled across this narrow college bar next to our AirBnb. It reminded me of the sticky floored bars that I used to frequent when I was studying abroad in San Sebastian. A little seedy, but always exciting.
The best part of this bar was the delicious late night snacks that were served. They had a spinach savory pastry that I could not stop eating. They also had pizza and other savory pastries that helped soak up the Portuguese Super Bock beer.
Late night snacks: Doner Kebab. Doner Kebab is bae. As a fan of super late night food, it was love at first bite with this delicious cousin of the Gyro. The first time I had one was in Spain and I noticed that every city in Europe has a slightly flavor of doner kebob. Some have chicken + lamb with different sauces while other have just chicken and white sauce. Either way you slice it, doner kebabs are lovely mediterranean/middle eastern taco that is served with fries and is utterly perfect for late night snacking.
Things To Do:
Boat tour & Bus tour: At almost every corner, there are tourist shops that sell tickets to both boat and bus tours. You can even buy packages that sell both for €30 or less.
I decided to take the Douro River boat tour to see all the 8 bridges in Porto. The boat was very chill and did not make me seasick at all. To be honest, I even took a nice little doze on it. I accidentally had a carafe of sparkling wine earlier, so I was sleepy!
Walk across Douro River: Like I mentioned earlier, almost the whole city is walkable within 20 minutes. The Douro River bridge can be easily reached and you can walk over the bridge and get some beautiful shots of the river. The Ribiera district is directly under the bridge and it is one of the oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods in Porto.
Livraria Lello: J.K. Rowling allegedly wrote the first few chaptes of Happy Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone here. The book store is apparently one of the oldest ones in the world and it looks very whimsical on the inside.
Be warned that the line is typically very long and it costs around 5 Euro to get into the the library.
Walk to Mall Area – I ended up at the mall a lot. Richard’s luggage was severely delayed and I needed to find him extra clothes while he was at work. I ended at the mall and found quite a few nice sweaters for him at decent prices.
Overall, I highly suggest giving Porto a visit if you ever find yourself in Portugal. I enjoyed the warm ad friendly people, delicious foods and stunning historical sights. It was such an easy city with lots of charm and lots to do.
I can’t wait to make my way back to the lovely city! If you want to see more of my trip, check out my travel vlog on YouTube channel below!
