Porto and the Douro Valley

There’s an old Portuguese saying that goes something like this:

Porto is where we work,
Lisbon is where we play,
Coimbra is where we study,
and Braga is where we pray.

Though when you consider that Portugal’s second city is named for its most famous export product – port – you’d have to think there’s a fair bit of play going on here as well. And you’d be right.

Porto does have a different feel to Lisbon; it’s somehow busier and more industrious (in a good way). Certainly it’s less colourful; the overall look in Porto is grey brick topped with terracotta tiles. But that’s not to say we think Lisbon is better. Porto is simply different. And also beautiful.

The city is divided by the Douro, the river of ‘gold’. On the north side, buildings bump against each other as they tumble down steep slopes towards the river. On the south side it’s all about the historic wine lodges where port, produced upriver in the Douro Valley, is brought to age in centuries-old cellars.

Having visited both Lisbon and Porto, our advice to travellers coming to Portugal would be to make time to visit both. Finding that work-play balance, that’s what it’s all about.

On our first morning in Porto, we wandered around the corner and found this small park filled with tulips; lucky strike!

Porto is known as the city of bridges; six structures cross the river Douro and provide wonderful vantage points

Ribeira is one of Porto's oldest neighbourhoods and the heart of the city

Unlike Lisbon, Porto wasn't affected by the 1755 earthquake, so this city is a lot 'older'

Many buildings here are decorated with azulejo, the traditional hand-painted ceramic tiles

They're an important part of Porto's heritage and culture

The Cathedral's 14th century Gothic cloister

The azulejo here were added later, around 1730

At São Bento train station, the azulejo tell stories of Portugal's history

The station attracts at least as many tourists as travellers

Livraria Lello, the Lello bookshop; made famous by JK Rowling

Apparently the author was an English teacher in Porto for a period, and this bookshop inspired scenes for her Harry Potter stories

These days the shop is so popular visitors are charged an entrance fee (which is reimbursed on any purchase)

Inspiration for the 'floating staircase'

Across the river is the place to be for the city's must-do activity, port tasting

It was actually the British who created port; they used grape brandy to fortify wine imported from Portugal and thus a new industry was born; today many of the best-known port labels are owned by Brits

After tasting the port we headed east into the Douro Valley to see where it's produced; happily for us, the wattle (or mimosa as it's known here) was in flower

They say that even though you've seen photos of the Douro Valley, you'll still be impressed when you get there; we thought...hmm, okay

Then we got here, and we were 🙂

Of course lunch included cheese and port

The Douro Valley is rocky country and these terraces have been hewn by hand from the schist; and the valley is so steep, the grapes can only be harvested by hand

In summer temperatures in the Valley reach 40-48 degrees, and it's humid; that's why the port is produced here but cellared downriver in Porto where it's cooler

Parts of the Douro Valley reminded us of Tuscany

It was around 4:00 in the afternoon when we turned south and away from the river

The man on this property was sitting looking out across his land, maybe reviewing the day's work and planning for tomorrow; it was a lovely moment

Olives are grown in the Valley too, but traditionally the trees also mark landholders' boundaries; that's my paddock, that's yours

We really enjoyed Porto and the Douro Valley, and we might even have developed a taste for port! 🙂