We traveled for a week in Portugal and hit the highlights – Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Lisbon, and a day trip to Sintra. I’ll be detailing our journey in the next few blogs, focusing on what we did each day (and sharing what was worth it and what wasn’t), where we stayed, where we ate, and what I would do differently next time!

HUGE THANK YOU to my brother Ryan and his partner Brandon! They visited Portugal a few months before us and laid the foundations for this itinerary.

This blog will focus on the first three days of our trip – Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. Click the links on the days below to continue reading the other blogs! (as they become available)

Day 1: Arrive in Porto
Day 2: Explore Porto
Day 3: Explore Vila Nova de Gaia
Day 4: Travel to Lisbon
Day 5: Explore Lisbon and Alfalma Neighborhood
Day 6: Sintra Day Trip
Day 7: Explore Lisbon, LX Factory, Castelo de São Jorge, and Belém Tower
Day 8: Travel Home

Let’s jump in!

Day 1: Arrive in Porto

We landed in Porto at OPO at about noon. We took a taxi from OPO to our hotel (the Porto Axis Club), which was 20 minutes and 31 euros. Location is perhaps what’s most important to us when we travel and Porto Axis Club did not disappoint. It’s close to several metro stops, a 7 minute walk to the Sao Bento train station, and about a 20 minute walk all the way down to the water. It was very nice and clean, the kind staff gave us complimentary Port wine upon check in, and our room turned out to be the biggest of the trip!

We dropped our bags and walked to find some cachorrinhos. Cachorrinhos are basically like Portuguese hot dogs – pork and cheese in a bread roll. So delicious. Gazela is home of the original cachorrinho, so that’s where we headed. We paired ours with a basket of fries and two ice cold Super Bocks. Absolute perfection! Gazela is definitely a no-fills, quick service kind of place, making it perfect for a casual lunch.

We didn’t have any plans for our first day. We knew we’d be tired (we actually had already toured Tenerife in the Canary Islands and several cities in Spain [where we got MARRIED in Seville!] before making it to Portugal).

From Gazela, we made a quick loop around through the large Time Out Market food hall for coffee, then continued to the Sao Bento train station, the Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine, and Mantegeria for Pastel de Nata.

Whether or not you’re using the Sao Bento train station during your travels, it’s worth going in to see the interior. The incredible blue and white tiles Portugal is known for fill the space and it’s absolutely beautiful!

The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine is a tourist shop where you can get all kinds of tin fish. It’s carnival themed, over the top, and honestly… so fun! We did get tinned fish at some other more local spots, but I would say The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine is worth a visit, just for fun.

We ate Pasteis de Nata every day (multiple times??) of our trip. These egg custard tarts are so delicious and you honestly can’t go wrong. There are tons of places out there saying they have the BEST, but really, we never ate a bad Pastel de Nata in Portugal. Manteigaria has several locations over Porto and Lisbon.

After a quick afternoon nap, we headed to dinner. Before the nap, though, we made a reservation at Brasao around the corner from our hotel. It was a good thing we did, because it was PACKED when they opened and there was a line forming outside.

We loved Brasao and I would definitely go back! It’s a fancier restaurant, but still, our bill was 46 euros for two drinks, an appetizer, an entree (to share, but it was HUGE), fries, and a side salad. They also give olives and bread as a starter while you order. We tried Francheschina for the first time, along with white port wine. Unless you’re an absolute food BEAST, order the half portion to share between two people. The Francheschina is a massive stack of bread, meat, and cheese topped with an egg and tomato sauce. The side salad was delicious if to the craving some veggies.

After dinner, we returned to our hotel, picked up our Pasties de Nata from earlier, and redeemed our two free welcome glasses of port wine in our hotel’s lobby. 

Day 2: Explore Porto

We started our second day with breakfast at Fabrica. We were still used to Spanish-style breakfast (a pastry and a coffee and you’re off!) so we were surprise by the large dishes at Fabrica! If you’re an American visiting Porto and want your usual big spread, Fabrica is amazing. Think hipster aesthetics – avocado toast and fancy coffees.

After breakfast, we headed to our timed ticket at Livraria Lello. This bookstore calls itself the most beautiful bookstore in the world. The bookstore IS beautiful (and people often incorrectly say JK Rowling was inspired by its incredible staircase when writing the Harry Potter novels) BUT… I would say this is an attraction you could skip if you’re short on time.

The store is SO crowded, it’s hard to explore, appreciate the beauty, and take photos. We did buy a few books with Livraria Lello exclusive covers, but other than that, we were pretty much in and out.

You must buy a timed-ticket to enter the bookstore, but the ticket cost is then discounted from any book purchases you make.

A short walk down the street brings you to Clerigos church. We bought a ticket to climb the tower on the spot, but the next available time was about 2 hours later. No problem for us, though – we walked through the chapel (which is free), and then took a beer break under the tower.

The tower climb is pretty easy to do and offers great views of the orange tiled roofs of Porto and the water. However, it is SUPER tight. and it was difficult to fully enjoy the views because you were shoulder to shoulder at the top. If you’re claustrophobic, I would not recommend this one!

Walked a random way along Los Flores (but honestly, Caldeireiros is a way cooler street). While wandering, we saw the giant Cat mural and then had a quick food break at El Rey as we made our way to the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal.

The Jardins do Palácio de Cristal is a beautiful garden/park space. There are trails and fountains and flowerbeds… such as great place to mill around and take in the scenery. If you make your way to the edge of the park, you can see some amazing river views.

One warning: We totally got stuck inside the grounds. Apple Maps made it look like there were exits at various spots throughout the park, but we were either stuck behind walls or “employee only” driveways… we had an extremely difficult time making our way back out! We ended up having to backtrack and exit the same way we entered. Just, maybe keep that in mind as you explore the park. You’ll probably have to return to the entrance to exit!

After finally escaping Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, we made our way in front of San Francisco church, then down to the Douro River. The waterfront walkway of the Ribera neighborhood is pretty touristy (for good reason – it’s beautiful!). But the actual waterfront area is small and it’s in the sun in the afternoon.

We went one street (alley, really) behind the waterfront and had some beers at Casa Lopes.

After a quick rest, we took the funicular up back towards our hotel (just to eliminate a few stairs!).

The evening of Day 2 was pretty chill. We needed to do laundry (we were coming off 10-days in Spain from our wedding and a week in the Canary Islands!) We picked up some more pasteis de nata, got our laundry started, and then had a casual ramen dinner at KungFu Niuniu.

Day 3: Vila Nova de Gaia

We started with another incredible breakfast at Do Norte. This spot was super popular and full, but we didn’t have to wait too long. Again, the menu offered large breakfasts similar to what we eat in America.

From breakfast, we walked to Santa Clara. This cathedral had the most impressive interior of all the cathedrals we saw in Portugal. There is basically no exterior and it’s small inside, but the baroque style is insane. It’s just details on details on details.

After exploring Santa Clara, we walked across the bottom of the Luiz Bridge. There are tons of incredible photos ops here. The pedestrian crossing on Luiz Bridge is a MUST. This is where you’re going to get all those picturesque views of Ribera.

Once you cross the river, you’re in Vila Nova de Gaia – the HEART of Port Wine.

We spent half a day walking around, sipping Port wine, taking tours, and soaking it all in. If you’re familiar with the Texas Hill Country Wine scene, Vila Nova de Gaia would be like if the 290 Wine Trail was walkable. Can you imagine that? Winery after winery after winery all right next to each other. That’s exactly what the waterfront strip of Vila Nova de Gaia is like.

We stopped at…

• Koepke (their tasting came with chocolate and the gentleman there was SO helpful in giving us the quick and dirty rundown on what exactly Port wine was)
• Sandman Terrace (outside seating, cocktails, small bites)
• Ferreria (our one guided tour of the day)
• Taylor’s  (a bit hidden up the hill, but they have excellent small bites/port wine pairings)

Whatever you do, pace yourself! Port wine is a fortified wine, making it 19-22% alcohol.

We ate lunch at the Mercado Beira-Rio. This is a food hall with a bunch of different vendors. It’s going to be crowded, so be prepared to stand and eat at bar tops, most likely. I LOVE food halls like this and Mercado Beira-Rio was excellent.

The one guided tour we booked in advance was for Ferreira and it was definitely the right choice. We learned SO MUCH walking the Ferreria complex with our guide. I highly recommend booking this tour! It was about an hour and included a tasting at the end.

After Taylor’s, our last Port wine stop, we took the cable cars back to the Luis Bridge. We walked across the top this time and got some more amazing views of both Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia.

By the end of our day-long Port wine crawl, you can imagine the shape we were in. We had one last tourist stop to make, though – the most beautiful McDonald’s in the world! People call the McDonald’s in Porto the most beautiful McDonald’s in the world and I totally agree. It’s got stained glass, chandeliers, a spiral staircase… it’s something else.

Overall, Porto (and Vila Nova de Gaia) was an incredible city to visit. If you’re an English speaker and want to visit Europe, for maybe the first time, Porto is an excellent entry point. Nearly everyone speaks perfect English, so you’ll find communication very easy. The city is ADORABLE. It’s just so cute. Every building, every street… it’s detailed and tiled and just so picturesque.

While we were ok with moving on after 3 days, we could have easily spent more time in Porto. We would have just continued walking up and down the streets, popping in and out of cafes and bars as the caught our eye. If you’re more of a “see the big attractions and move on” kind of traveler, 3 days in Porto will be fine. If you’re more of a “I just wanna walk and eat and sit and drink” kind of traveler, you’re going to want more time to explore.

From Porto, we took the train to Lisbon. Continue reading about Lisbon HERE, along with our day trip to Sintra HERE. (links will come soon! still working on the Sintra day trip blog)