Porto

The city gave its name to port wine, long aged and shipped from the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia across the river, and the medieval County of Portucale, named after it, became the County of Portugal. Visitors come for the steep streets and tiled churches of the old town, the riverside Ribeira, the Clérigos tower, the azulejo panels of São Bento station, the Atlantic shore at Foz and the vineyards of the Douro Valley upstream. Apartments in the historic centre suit short stays, while Boavista, Foz and Gaia offer more space for families and longer visits. Braga and Guimarães are within easy reach.

Where to stay in Porto

The historic centre, spread over the parishes of Sé, Vitória, São Nicolau, Miragaia and Santo Ildefonso, rises steeply from the riverfront Ribeira to the Baixa around the Avenida dos Aliados and São Bento station. Staying here puts the Cathedral, the Clérigos tower and the river within walking distance, but expect hills, stairs and busy streets. These central parishes are also the city's containment areas for holiday rentals, where new registrations are restricted.

Cedofeita, north-west of the Baixa, has the small Romanesque Church of Cedofeita and quieter streets, and Bonfim, east of the centre, is mainly residential. Boavista, a more modern part of the city, suits business travellers and families. Foz do Douro, where the river meets the Atlantic, is quieter and more residential, a good choice for long stays. Across the Dom Luís I Bridge, Vila Nova de Gaia is home to the port wine cellars and has views back over Porto.

The old town and the main sights

Porto Cathedral, one of the city's oldest monuments, was begun in the second half of the 12th century and built in stages until the 16th; nearby are the small Romanesque Church of Cedofeita, the Gothic Church of Saint Francis and remains of the old city walls. Between 1732 and 1763 the architect Nicolau Nasoni built the Baroque Clérigos Church and its 75-metre bell tower, which can be seen from many points in the city. In São Bento railway station, around twenty thousand azulejo tiles painted by Jorge Colaço depict moments from Portuguese history and scenes of rural life.

The Stock Exchange Palace, the richly decorated churches of São Francisco and Santa Clara and the gardens of the Palácio de Cristal are other highlights. The Dom Luís I Bridge, opened in 1886 and designed by Théophile Seyrig, Gustave Eiffel's former partner, has two decks: the upper one carries metro line D and pedestrians, the lower one buses, taxis, cyclists and walkers between the Ribeira and the Gaia waterfront.

Port wine, Gaia and the Douro Valley

Port wine, a fortified wine that is typically sweet and red, is made from grapes grown in the demarcated Douro region, which a royal charter of 10 September 1756 defined as a protected area. For centuries the wine was brought downriver to be aged, bottled and exported from the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, known locally as caves, several of which offer guided tours and tastings today. The Methuen Treaty of 1703 between Portugal and England helped make the wine central to the region's economy.

The valley where port is produced begins around the village of Barqueiros, about 70 kilometres upstream, and stretches east almost to the Spanish border; the Douro winemaking region was declared a World Heritage Site in 2001. Pinhão, at the centre of the Cima Corgo subregion, is surrounded by quintas, wine estates on almost vertical slopes above the river. The scenic Douro railway line from São Bento runs up the valley to Pocinho, so wine country is reachable without a car.

History in brief

Settlement at the mouth of the Douro goes back at least to the 8th century BC. Under the Roman Empire the town, then called Portus Cale, became a commercial hub on the route between Olissipona, today's Lisbon, and Bracara Augusta, now Braga. In 868 the nobleman Vímara Peres was granted the fief of Portucale and founded a county between the Minho and Douro rivers that later became known as the County of Portugal. Prince Henry the Navigator, probably born in Porto in 1394, gathered ships and troops here for the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, which opened the Portuguese Age of Discovery.

The 18th century brought Nasoni's Baroque churches and the rise of the port trade, and the 19th and 20th centuries added Neoclassical and Romantic landmarks such as the Stock Exchange Palace, the buildings of Liberdade Square and the Avenida dos Aliados. Electric trams began running in 1895, among the first in the Iberian Peninsula. The Casa da Música, a concert hall designed by Rem Koolhaas, opened in 2005.

Beaches and day trips

Porto's Atlantic shore begins at Foz do Douro, where the river meets the sea, and continues north to Matosinhos, about 8 kilometres from the city centre at the mouth of the Leça river, whose Leça lighthouse in Leça da Palmeira stands 46 metres tall. South of the river, Vila Nova de Gaia has around 17 kilometres of seaside with many beaches. The beaches are often windier and cooler than inland areas, so bring a layer even in summer.

Inland, Guimarães, whose historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, is called the birthplace of Portugal because the country's first king, Afonso Henriques, is traditionally said to have been born there. Braga, about 50 kilometres from Porto Airport, is the seat of the oldest Portuguese archdiocese and is rich in churches and Baroque palaces. Within a two-hour drive of the airport lie four UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as Santiago de Compostela in Spain, so a rented home in Porto can anchor a longer tour of northern Portugal.

Getting there and around

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), usually called Porto Airport, lies about 11 kilometres north-west of the Clérigos Tower, and metro line E links it with the city centre, with connections at Trindade to the other lines and onward to the high-speed trains at Campanhã. Campanhã, in the east of the city, is the main railway station, with lines along the Douro and the Minho and towards central Portugal, while São Bento, in the old town, is the terminus for suburban trains and the Douro line.

The Porto Metro, a light-rail network that runs underground in the centre and above ground in the suburbs, has several lines, reaching Porto, Gaia, Matosinhos, Maia, Gondomar, Vila do Conde and Póvoa de Varzim. The Guindais funicular climbs from the Ribeira towards Batalha, and vintage trams run on a few heritage lines. A car is not needed in the city and is best kept for touring the Douro Valley or the Minho.

Weather and when to visit

Porto has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate typical of the northern Iberian Peninsula, combining the dry, warm summers of southern Europe with the wet weather of the North Atlantic. Summers are usually warm and sunny, with temperatures between about 16 and 26°C and up to 30°C during heatwaves, although brief rainy spells with afternoon highs around 20°C can interrupt them, and the coast is often windier and cooler than the city.

Annual rainfall is high and concentrated in winter, making Porto one of the wetter major cities in Europe, though long sunny intervals are common even in the rainiest months. Winters are mild and damp, from about 5 or 6°C in the morning to 14 or 15°C in the afternoon, and frost is rare. Late spring, summer and early autumn are the most reliable times for walking, river trips and the Douro Valley, and in the colder months a home with good heating makes a real difference.