Porto, Portugal in the Fall

It's been a hot minute since I shared about our Portugal trip, but my goal is to get all the pictures up on the blog in the next few weeks! If you missed it, we went to Portugal for our 10 year anniversary in the Fall of 2021. We were traveling with our 3rd child, who at the time was 7 months old and still nursing:) I did not know much about Portugal before we visited, but wow, it truly is a magical country! 

If you want to start at the beginning, you can see our spectacular experience in the Algarve, the coast of Southern Portugal (Where to Stay in the Algarve, The most amazing Airbnb in Portugal, The most beautiful resort in the Algarve,  Visiting Lagos, and a beautiful family friendly hike along the cliffs).

But Porto...WOW. It took my breath away! It is SUCH a unique city and 100% worth visiting. There truly was something to marvel at around every corner (think painted tile, stunning architecture, waterways, boats, Port wine, etc!!) 

We stayed in Porto for 2.5 days and I felt like it was a good amount of time to really get a feel for the city. Being that we were there in early November, the Fall colors were on display and it was a delight! We stayed at an incredible Airbnb around the University, and we had a balcony that looked out over the city. At night, we could hear the local university students singing fado music at the cafe below. It felt so dreamy. We were a 1 minute walk away from the famous blue and white churches of Carmo & Carmelitas.   And a 5 minute walk from the famous bookstore Livraria Lello. 

Day 1 we used our travel guide to walk through the city on a self guided walking tour. We walked around the University square, to the Sao Bento train station to see the beautiful paintings inside. Then down the main drag ducking inside all the cute shops and marveling at the painting tile!! We walked towards the Palacio da Bolsa (the historic stock exchange palace) and  tried to go inside but all the tickets were sold out. I'd recommend getting them in advance if you can! 

From there we walked down to the Ribiera which is the waterfront area. We stopped at a restaurant and ate along the water. The view was so pretty and it was fun top people watch! After a delicious lunch of the local cuisine, we walked across the bridge to the Vila Nova de Gaia side to do some Port tasting. We chose Sandeman as we had heard good reviews, and it did not disappoint. Our guide was hilarious. It was so interesting learning about how Port is made, and then of course tasting it ourselves. I'm not a beer drinking, tolerate wine...but man, I was shocked at how much I LOVE Port! Probably because it's a sweet dessert wine haha! But don't leave Porto without trying it! 

After our Port tour, we explored a bit and then headed back across the river towards our Airbnb. We got caught in a rainstorm, so ended up ducking into a little shop that offered Port & Chocolate "experiences". It was actually so fun to try the local Port paired with special chocolate. We spent the night with friends who live in Porto, and it was a lovely evening hearing about the beautiful work they were doing there! 

Day 2 we spent the entire morning around the University. We explored the Carmo & Carmelitas churches, taking a few pictures outside it's gorgeous fresco painted walls! We then headed to Livraria Lello. (I will do a more in depth post on that, but don't miss it! It was spectacular!). We found the cutest brunch spot right in the area called Noshi Coffee & Healthy Food. As I am gluten and dairy free, it was the perfect place to eat. Everything was delicious and the cafe was adorable! 

From there, we hopped on the Hop on, Hop off bus that took us further around the city. Evenidently there are 2 Hop On/Hop Off buses and we got on the wrong one. The one we wanted goes to all the sites in and around the downtown, and then on the other side of the river. The one we actually took takes you far out of town and back along the Atlantic ocean and then the Duoro river's bank. It was still lovely, but it takes a long time for the bus to come back in to town, and because it started to rain and was cold, we were ready to be back in the downtown area! That night we ate at a lovely restaurant near the University. 

The next morning we took a leisurely stroll around the area before hopping on to the train to take us to Lisbon! If you're headed to Portugal, don't miss out on Porto! 

You'll see pictures of our airbnb at the very end of this post...you can book it here.