Hello friends, today I want to tell you about our trip to Porto, the second-largest port city in Portugal. We had a lovely walk in this city and I believe it's worth showing you the most famous spots of this interesting and beautiful city. We started our walk in the tourist area - the Ribeira district. Here there are musicians, various cafes and of course crowds. One of the best landmarks is the iconic Dom Luís I Bridge, which offers stunning views of Vila Nova de Gaia. As you can see there is another city on the other side. This bridge connects the two cities and you can find the famous Porto houses here. In the evenings everything looks even more vibrant as everything is illuminated.
Many people think that the bridge was built by Gustave Eiffel, but that's not entirely true. There's a bit of confusion here because the bridge was designed by his student Théophile Seyrig. It has become a symbol of Porto, known as the city of bridges. Gustave Eiffel actually designed another bridge in this city, called the Maria Pia Bridge. You can feel the city's entire glow here. Unlike Lisbon Porto has a quite refined atmosphere, but it also stands out with its magnificent views. One of the notable buildings above is the Serra do Pilar Monastery. This is also a great spot to watch the sunset.
When we passed by the São Bento train station, we wanted to take a look inside. It's impossible to skip this place, as it is a kind of free tourist attraction. The station is famous for its stunning traditional blue and white ceramic tiles, some of which are colored. We heard there are about 20.000 pieces here. Although there are fewer passengers and greeters than tourists, it's definitely worth a visit.
Next to the train station, we visited St. Anthony Church, a very charming church. The interior is bright and quite pleasant.
Later we went to Liberty Square and from there, we visited perhaps the most famous bookstore in the world, Livraria Lello. This store opened in the early 20th century. It has a neogothic appearance from the outside and very interesting artworks inside. It's worth mentioning that all its doors are handmade. The entrance fee is 5 Euros. If you plan to visit, it's recommended to buy tickets online as it is a very crowded bookstore.
Since it got dark we decided to continue our walk the next day. In Porto taking a river tour in the morning is a great idea because you can see all the city's bridges. We decided to take a short tour in the morning. Besides the first bridge and the Maria Pia Bridge, there are four more bridges. Of course they were all built at different times and have different designs. The Maria Pia Bridge was built 10 years before the first bridge. Another interesting fact is that Gustave Eiffel built the Maria Pia Bridge almost 10 years before the Eiffel Tower, so he wasn't as well-known at that time.
I recommend the boat tour. It was a great trip. However I think the price is a bit high. In my opinion 15 Euros for 35 minutes is not very affordable.
We visited Infante Dom Henrique Square. Here you will find the Palácio da Bolsa, a stock exchange building. The Ferreira Borges Market is also located in this square and it now serves as a kind of gourmet food market. On the corner, right by the river, is the Church of São Francisco, one of the iconic tourist spots. We could see the church much better from the riverside.
And if you don't drink but want to bring back nice gifts from Porto, I recommend visiting the CastelBel boutique. It's right in the city center but not too far. You can buy items like creams and hand soaps here. And of course, they have home fragrances and candles, all beautifully decorated and with a wide variety. So if you plan to create a nice interior decor you should visit this place.
Of course, if we're visiting Porto it would be a crime not to visit the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art because it is amazing. I had detailed this museum in a previous post. The museum is located in Serralves Park and was designed by Alvaro Siza. And of course it's a place where we encounter new exhibitions every time. During our last visit, there was Cindy Sherman's metamorphosis exhibition, where she photographed herself in different costumes and makeup over several years. Watching a person transform into completely different forms is really an interesting experience.
The museum, as usual, was attractive and filled with inspiring exhibitions. We left this inspiring building and moved on to another inspiring structure. Villa Serralves is quite an impressive building. The park is also a beautiful corner worth exploring.
After that, it started to get dark in Porto and our tour of this impressive city came to an end. We returned to Ribeira, the district where we started our tour. Before finishing we managed to take a look at one of the wine cellars along our way.
