Porto is Portugal’s second city, located near the mouth of the Douro River, and grew as a hub for Portugal’s wine industry with burgeoning global trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. Britain, Portugal’s oldest ally united in mutual fear and hatred of the Spanish Empire, became a major consumer of Portuguese wine, not least because periodic warfare with France choked off traditionally sourced French wine supplies.

Sweet desert wines from the Douro such as port generated one of the world’s earliest global brands, and also one of the first lifestyle ailment epidemics (excluding anything that the Romans got up to) – that being gout amongst the English upper classes in the 18th century. Port is as sugary and cloying now as it was in 1780.

Porto lies across rolling hills, with the main city rising on the north side of the banks of the Douro. You are in northern Iberia facing the Atlantic, so it is a city built to deal with wind and rain.

It’s Portugal, so the funky azulejo tiling brightens up the facades.

The riverside Ribeiro area has mostly been converted from dockside to a touristy pedestrianized strip. Nice for a walk but probably not to stay, unless you plan to head for the port company warehouses on the south side of the river. If you are in the mood for a walk or jog, Porto’s famous 19th century iron bridge, designed by Luis Eiffel, has a lower level that you can access to get to the south side.

A good way to get yourself on the road to a lifestyle ailment is to try the delicious yet artery-clogging Porto specialty, the Francesinha (roughly translated as “Little Frenchie”). It’s a steak, ham and sausage sandwich (white bread), covered in melted cheese and then doused in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. It is a recent creation, inspired by Portuguese workers returning from France in the 1960s and wondering how best to adapt a croque monsieur. The version served at Cervejaria Brasão Aliados is a fine example and comes with additional sauce in a jug, which you will need to help wash this down.

Porto is well visited and you have to balance the character of an interesting northern Portuguese town with a bit of a Euro tourist trap down by the river, which now has it’s own cable car running along the south riverside for some reason. Porto is a food-centric town and there are plenty of places to pick up something to take home, helpful when you are back to eating salads in a large industrial city between daily commutes. The historical Bolhao Market on Rua Formosa, in the center,  is worth a visit.

There are plenty of wine and port wine tasting operations throughout the city – the port wine lodges south of the river are the obvious destination but are well-visited. One location north of the river that looks promising is run by the wine association and housed in the old stock exchange building, the Palácio da Bolsa on Rua Ferreira Borges (see https://www.viniportugal.pt/OgivalRooms). Be ready for a bit of a line.

Porto hosts the National Museum Soares dos Reis, Portugal’s first public art museum. The Portuguese continue to meditate on their colonial past, which is what this duct tape horse is about, probably.

It has a neat collection of Japan 16th century screens that depict their interaction with early Portuguese traders. The other major art destination is the Fundacao Serralves for contemporary art.

The azulejo-tiled architecture takes a step up when applied to grander buildings, both outside:

And inside. Porto’s 19th-century railway station, Porto São Bento, has tiled depictions of various major battles, although you have to go to the Campanhã station,  to connect to the mainline intercity service south to Lisbon or north to Spain.

Logistics

Porto is a popular holiday and weekend break location in Europe – I found staying north of the Ribeira provided better value but wherever you go book ahead as best you can. There are plenty of apartment rentals that are comfortable and cost-effective, just check to see if they admit you by appointment. The metro works well to get you out to the Campanhã railway station or to the airport.

Food options are extensive across all the value ranges, some of the ones that worked out well were:

Cervejaria Brasão Aliados, Rua de Ramalho Ortigão 28 – quality gastro pub offering.

Antunes, Rua do Bonjardim 525 – very typical and not fussy.

tascö, Rua do Almada 151A – casual place with the Portuguese favorites.

Portuguese craft beer is getting a well-deserved reputation and some good venues are:

Letraria Craft Beer Garden, Rua da Alegria 101 – if you go to just one, go here.

Beer Warehouse, Rua Formosa 130

Pattria – Craft Beer, Rua dos Mártires da Liberdade 30