Destination Report: Porto – Part One: What to do, eat, see (& avoid)

One of our favorite things about our nomadic lifestyle is that we can design it however we’d like based on our priorities. We can slow it down or speed it up, go to a food destination or a cultural city, spend time sightseeing or working on projects, meet up with friends or set out on our own, save money in Central America or splurge (within reason of course!) in the Caribbean. One of the biggest advantages to us is the ability to spend long periods of time with family and friends that live in different parts of the world. Since my family lives in France, I didn’t get a chance to see them very much during my 10 years in the US. Now we plan on spending 1-2 months every year with them and focus on great quality time versus the quick holiday catch up I was used to do. This is what brought us to Europe this summer!

Today we are fast forwarding a bit to our first slow travel destination of our 2nd year of long term travel: Portugal. (June was spent in France with family and was all over the place. Early July was spent with friends in beautiful Costa Brava Spain and we well talk about both at a later time). Given how popular Portugal is among expats, digital nomads and retirees, we were looking forward to see what the hype was all about! We decided to spend about 2 months in Portugal, spending our time between Porto and Lisbon. Porto was our first stop and we ended up with pretty mixed feeling about this city. Let’s see why by exploring Porto!

Overall, we gave Porto a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating (see our rating legend below). Our accommodation was the second most expensive we had to date (after Aruba) and we noticed a few annoyances that nobody mentioned on the reviews which makes us think we might have been the only one saying in this apartment for a long period of time. The apartment we booked was actually directly managed by a property management company so we missed both great customer service/hospitality as well as the functionality that we usually get by being directly in touch with the owner of the place we choose to live in. The location, however, was great as it gave us easy access to the old part of the town, its markets, grocery stores, restaurants and (touristy) sights. Groceries and food, in‌ ‌general, was extremely affordable (which nicely balanced our budget). The public transportation (along with Uber) made commuting in the city both affordable and extremely easy/convenient. The proximity to the Douro Valley definitely increased the value of our stay (check our 2 days itinerary in the Douro Valley for more details) The major drawbacks for us were price of accommodation (due to real estate that has almost doubled within the past 5 years!), the touristy atmosphere and huge crowds. 

Our five stars rating system:

• 1 star: We hated this place and definitely do not plan to come back.
• 2 stars: We did not like this place and do not plan to come back.
• 3 stars: We liked this place but do not plan to come back.
• 4 stars: We really liked this place & we might consider coming back.
• 5 stars: We loved this place and are actually consider coming back This is a place we could call home someday. 

With that being said, let’s look into what we liked the most and what we recommend to do in Porto! 

Where We Traveled Porto, Portugal

Number of Days 4 weeks (from July 16, 2019 to August 13, 2019)

Type of Travel Married Couple, Slow Travel/Nomadic, Price Conscious

Note: Unless specified otherwise, prices are in USD and were converted from the local currency (EUR or Euro) to USD using a 1:12 ratio. (so 1 USD = 0.89 EUR). 

Introduction

Porto’s geography is hard on the feet, but pleasant to the eye! The city is extremely hilly (which reminds us of the streets of San Francisco) and make for a great daily workout! Across the river from Porto proper, is the suburb of Gaia, where there are warehouses of notable companies dealing with Port Wine. Locals told us that the only reason they like to go to Gaia is to enjoy the view of Porto (obviously, someone from Porto!). Which is definitely a great reason for going there 🙂  

What did we do / see and eat?

A good starting point if you want to know what is happening in Porto is to check Meetup.com and spot specific events. The next thing we like to recommend is to get on a Free Walking Tour as they are by far the best (and extremely affordable) way to discover a new place and connect with locals which are passionate to share with you the culture, history and the best places to go hang out. Our favorite walking tour was Porto Walkers who offered two 3 hours long free walking tours. The city is big enough that taking both of them will be really complementary. (Note: those tours are donation based so keep in mind to leave a tip at the end).

Ok, now let’s dig into our favorites places to eat, shop and get entertained. To help you, we’ve included all the places (and more) that we are calling out below in the following Google Maps. 

Our Favorite Grocery Stores/Markets:

The old town where we stayed has a pretty big market which has been temporarily relocated as the city is rebuilding the area. Once you know where to look for the new location, you still get access to the same range of products. The city also has supermarkets and a lot of fruits/vegetable stores that sell produce at an extremely affordable price!

Here are our top recommendations:

• Mercado do Bolhão – This is a great mercado where we got our fish (we made some yummy paella after getting some inspiration from our time on the Costa Brava) as well as some cured meat. You will find local artisans there too. Too bad we could not see the original location which was still under renovation. If you’ve been to the original one, let us know how it was! 
• Lidl – This is a chain all across Europe that we are familiar with. What is great is that since it’s a chain they carry the same produce all over Europe. We found that nuts are really expensive in general but they were quite affordable at Lidl.
• Pingo Doce – We asked locals where they go grocery shopping and they told us Pingo Doce which is a national chain. Prices are affordable and produce quality is good.
• Ludite – This was our go-to store to get fruits and vegetables for our cooking at home. Prices are really really good and the quality is good as well. We miss it already :-/
• Quintal Bioshop – If you are looking for a health store (and get a Kombucha fix), this is the best place we found in Porto for that. Owned by two ladies which are from the UK and very nice. They make their own kombucha which explains why they have it because we could not find others elsewhere.

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Our Favorite Restaurants:

• Churrasqueira Lameiras – A very local place that offers dishes around 4.5 EUR (~5 USD) that are really typical, like the tripe dish (Tripas à moda do Porto) that Porto is famous for.
• daTerra (Vegetarian Buffet) – A great and very affordable vegetarian buffet (for lunch or dinner) that we enjoyed twice. 

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Our Favorite Sweets Spots:

• Gelataria artesanal Mo&Mo – We tried a few ice cream stores in Porto and this one was our favorite with 1 scoop for only 1.5 EUR (~2 USD).
• Com Cuore (GF Bakery) – The only gluten free bakery we were able to find in the city. They do make the famous Pastel De Nata if you can’t have regular flour. 
• Nola Kitchen – Delicious and healthy! We went there for our #dateaversary to share a great smoothie. 

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Note: If you are familiar with Portugal, you might have noticed that we don’t have a recommendation for two of the very common foods you can find in Porto: Pastel De Nata and Francesinha. For the former you will find a lot of options to choose from in the old town and for the latter, we don’t eat much cheese so that was not something we tried. But if you do have recommendations, please let us know is our comment section! 

Any recommendations outside of Porto?

Glad you asked. Yes, we do have a few!

In Matosinhos: 

• Restaurante Cais à Doca – The best seafood we had during our trip. We learned that Matosinhos was famous for its seafood and we got blown away by this place. Friendly staff, very generous portions that won’t leave you hungry. Highly recommended by both myself and Mrs. Nomad Numbers.
• Modì – Gelateria Italiana – A top notch ice cream / frozen yogurt store that sells a great cacao sorbet which we loved. 

In Aveiro:

• Restaurante Palhuça – A good lunch place in Aveiro that served authentic portuguese food and that locals like to go eat at (which is a good sign for authenticity). They are known for their traditional eel dishes (fried and in a soup) but we skipped that to tried some grilled fished.
• Gelataria Milano – We thought that 1.5 EUR / scoop was already inexpensive, but we had yet to try this place where two scoops are 1.5 EUR! 

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Our Favorite Sights/Activities:

As we said in the introduction, start your journey in Porto with a free walking tour. It is a great way to learn more about its history, the origin of the city, the culture, the typical dishes as well as getting first hand recommendations from the guide that are usually locals that are passionate about the city they have been living in for many years. We have never been disappointed by them but if you have, please let us know. Btw, did you know that the free walking tour started in Germany? 

Here are the places we recommend to check out in Porto:

• Jardim do Palacio de Cristal – A great oasis to meditate, relax and get some gorgeous views of the city. 

• Jardim de Morro – A great place where locals hangout. We did not really hangout there but we went there to take plenty of pictures of Porto since this is where you get the best shots. Wait for sunset and see the magic unveiling in front of your eyes (actually walk towards the bridge for the best compositions).

• Livraria Lello – [**Tourist spot alert**] This library is where JK Rowling got inspiration (apparently) for the Harry Potter books series. You quickly get that sense once you enter the building as some of the features of this library can be found in the story. It is so popular that you need to purchase a 5 EUR ticket (redeemable for only one book purchase – you cannot combine multiple) and then wait in line. We recommend to show up before closing time (like 7:30pm) and stay until they close to get a nice shot of the place without the crowds.

After that, there are a few places worth checking outside of Porto for an entire day. We recommend Matosinhos and Aveiro that we personally visited. Locals also recommended to visit Braga and Guimaraes that can be combined together as one day trip.

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• In Matosinhos, check out the mercado and the docks. Walk along all the restaurants that have outdoor barbecues where they grill their catch of the day from right across the street (literally). Also walk along the beach and enjoy some nice views of this town.

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• In Aveiro (also known as the Venice of Portugal due to the Venice looking boats that tourists like to take – hum hum :D). We checked out the downtown area which is really nice, learned about Ovos Moles, and then visited towards the Salt Flats. 

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Last but not least, make sure to save at the very least 2 days to visit the Douro Valley. We liked it so much that we wrote a dedicated article about it. Check out our 2 day itinerary / guide to Douro Valley for all the details about this wonderful region of Portugal.

What to avoid

While it’s great to call out what to check out, we think it is as important to also include what NOT TO do. These are activities/places we stayed away from. Of course, taste is personal and so your mileage might vary.

• Don’t take Teleferico de Gaia – This gondola bring you from the river level to Jardim de Morro for a pretty hefty price tag of 6 EUR (one way). Use your feet instead that will get you a free workout and better views along the way to the top of the hill.
• Don’t take a boat cruise or go wine tasting in Porto – Instead make sure to spend time in The Douro Valley (just a couple hours drive away). There you will get a more immersive experience to enjoy both of these activities. If you don’t know how to get started, check out our 2 day itinerary / guide to Douro Valley for more details.
• Don’t take a Tuk Tuk tour – Instead take a free walking tour to have a more enjoyable experience of the city at a fraction of the cost. 
• Don’t go to the “most beautiful” McDonalds in the world – Unless you eat and breath McDonalds and need your regular shot of the most nutritious and amazing food you can save your time to do something else.

Our Slow Travelers Tips

Slow travel is part of our philosophy. It gives us the opportunity to really connect with a place by not having to experience FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and getting unnecessarily stressed for being on a schedule. With slow travel, we can see all the iconic sights and have time to spare to find the more offbeat spots that most tourists miss. Most of the time, those are the absolute gems. And as this blog post explains, we spend much less by leveraging “local” pricing and being able to leverage long stay discounts.

Here are some tips to maximize a nice and enjoyable stay in Porto:

• Don’t stay too close to the old town. While this is where the action takes place, it is extremely touristy (at least it was for us when we visited in the middle of the summer). Also check that your accommodation has good insulation since people like to party really late (6am) on weekends and sometimes on weekdays.
• There is no such thing as free appetizers in Porto! When you go to a restaurant you might already find appetizers on the table (if not, they will come pretty quickly). Usually breads/olives or small bites. These will get charged to you at the end of your meal unless you don’t eat them. And sometimes the price can add up at the end of your vacation.
• Have delicious gourmet meals at home. While eating out is inexpensive in Porto, cooking at home is a steal! We often bought a great filet of fish at the market for less than $2. 

So that’s it folks for the first part of our destination report about Porto!

But wait, what about the cost? 

Because our destination reports were getting so long, we decided to split them into two parts. Part one (or this part) will be about what to do/see/eat. Part two is about the costs. In part two we uncovers all the juicy details about our budget and how much the two of us spent for the 4 weeks we spent in this city.

In the meantime, if you really want some numbers, feel free to take a look at our short getaway in the Douro Valley or review our past destination reports.

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Would you be interested in going to Porto? Does this place peak your attention? Maybe you’ve already been? Feel free to share your experience and ask questions by leaving a comment below.