0871 423-5056
Only £25 deposit per booking
- Portugal Sub Region Menu
- Portugal
- Algarve
- Algarve West
- Lisbon & Estoril Coast
- North Portugal
- Madeira & Azores
0871 423-5056
Only £25 deposit per booking
Porto city has gradually spread out through the years from The Ribeira, the old medieval town that lines the River Douro. The old town retains its medieval feel with lots of steep, narrow, cobbled streets lined with tall brightly painted houses all topped in terracotta roof tiles. These streets all eventually wind down to the river Douro - once the main focal point for trade to the region. It is within the old town that the majority of tourist sights are located.
The striking bridge Ponte de Dom Luis I connects the Ribeira to Vila Nova de Gaia across the river. The characteristic Ribeira waterfront that has been featured in many a picture of Portugal, has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is fantastic that these higgledy piggledy streets have not been lost to modern regeneration of which there has been a lot since the end of the dictatorship in 1974. Much of this was needed as Porto had become rundown, but today Porto has been carefully renovated preserving many of the medieval buildings and city layout. Porto is often famously associated with port wine having given the drink its name, but it's across the river at Vila Nova de Gaia that is actually the port centre of Portugal.
The Ribeira is the medieval old town that gives Porto its distinctive look from the River Douro. It was once the focal point for shipments from all over the world, but today it much more the vibrant social centre of the city with restaurants and cafes lining the riverfront giving fantastic views over to Vila Nova de Gaia and the port wine lodges. In the daytime this is a relaxing, laid back area where you can leisurely sip a coffee at one of the cafes along the main promenade, Cais da Ribeira, while planning your route around town or watch the river cruises pass by. At night the Ribeira comes alive as the cafes, clubs and restaurants fill up. One of the liveliest events to take place in Porto, but particularly in the Ribeira, is the annual Festa de Sao Joao (St John's Festival) that takes place on the night of 23 June. This is where one of the least understandable customs has grown up around this festival - bashing each other over the head with hammers! Plastic ones of course. Everyone is fair game and the city becomes a riot with parties, music and competitions. Sao Joao is the patron saint of lovers so the hammer bashing doesn't quite seem to be in line with that sentiment.
The 14th century wall and its four gates flank the Cais da Ribeira behind which are the narrow steep streets that make up the Barredo district. This has largely been untouched for centuries and which are still being lived in such as the Torre da Rua de Baixo, a five floor house typical of the buildings of the 13th century. To get a good view over the Ribeira try the Elevador da Lada, open daily from 8am-10pm at the eastern end of the Cais near the Ponte de Dom Luis. It's a funicular type of lift that climbs up to the top of the Bairro da Se.
The western end of the Cais opens out into the Praca da Ribeira in which there are two fountains, the Fonte da Rua de Sao Joao that bears the Portuguese coat of arms and three empty niches in which images of local saints are inserted during the Santos Populares celebrations in June. The other fountain is from the 20th century - the 1970s "O Cubo" by Jose Rodrigues which incorporates a bronze cube with pigeons sat on top that are sometimes kept company by live pigeons. There are a wealth of bars and restaurants here and down the narrow streets around this area. Nearby on Rua da Alfandega is the Casa do Infante, the birthplace of Prince Henry the Navigator. This is an impressive mansion built in 1324 by Dom Alfonso IV and after a dispute with the Bishopric functioned as a customs house for five centuries. Today it holds city archives and a museum displaying finds from in situ excavations that revealed the remains of a large Roman palace. There is a small tourist information office in the northern extension.
From the bottom of the Elevador you can cross Porto's most distinctive bridge the Ponte de Dom Luis I over the Vila Nova de Gaia. The bridge is stunning in its own right and you can get some very good photographs from it and looking across the river to it. It was designed by Belgian Teofilo Syrig to replace the Ponte Pensil whose obelisk shaped pillars have been left beside the current bridge. Ponte de Dom Luis can be crossed on foot, by car or train. There are two tiers - the lower tier gives stunning enough views and in the summer local children dive off this level into the river below for the tourists' benefit; but if you're not frightened of heights you can also walk the higher tier, 60 metres above the water! The train crosses the higher tier too. Near the bridge on the Porto side is a bronze plague that commemorates the tragedy of the Ponte de Barcas where in 1809 the bridge collapsed under the weight of people trying to flee the French siege of Porto. Candles are still lit in remembrance today.
Porto is known as the City of Bridges and with 6 bridges spanning the River Douro within less than 10 kilometres of each other it's easy to see why. The bridges are: Ponte Maria Pia, Ponte Dom Luis I, Ponte da Arrabida, Ponte de Sao Joao, Ponte do Freixo and Ponte Infante Dom Henrique. Several companies offer hour long Pontes (Bridges) Cruises along the River Douro so you can get a close up view of some of them. These shorter cruises are often on the traditional wooden barcelos rabelos. Check our Porto Tours page for more information on tours along the Douro River.
As you clamber back up the hill towards Porto's centre a must-see is the Igreja de Sao Francisco open daily March-Apr and Sept-Oct 9am-6pm, May-Aug 9am-7pm. This is now deconsecrated and open to visitors, but it is a fabulous church that was founded by the Franciscan Order in the 13th century and epitomises the opulence once bestowed on religious buildings. As you approach it looks little more exciting than a typical 14th century Gothic church - it is actually the best example of Gothic architecture in Porto. However, once inside you'll be blown away by the dcor - not only are there intricately carved scenes from the bible that leave you in awe of the craftsmanship, but nearly everything is covered in gold! Even if you're no aficionado of architecture you can't help but recognise the over-the-top Baroque style jam-packed inside - in fact this is considered one of the most outstanding examples of the Baroque style in Portugal. Particular features include the elaborate altarpieces including one detailing the Tree of Jesse completed by Filipe da Silva and Antonio Gomes as evidenced by a contract dated 1718.
Photographs are not allowed to be taken inside the church, but there is a useful English language leaflet describing the features of the church available on request when you pay your entrance fee. Not to be missed is the small museum and the catacombs that are in the building adjacent to the church. The museum displays artefacts from the monastery. Until 1839 cemeteries didn't exist in Porto so the dead were buried as near to churches as possible in an effort to bring them closer to god. Here the "ossario" yielded thousands of human bones and you can go down into the catacombs for a slightly eerie tourist experience.
Beside the apse of the Sao Francisco church and built where the Sao Francisco Monastery was, is the Palcio da Bolsa, the Stock Exchange Palace. This is classified as a national monument and is an impressive 19th century neoclassical palace built by the merchant class of Porto. Guided tours can be arranged in English as well as Portuguese, French and Spanish. Open daily Nov-March 9am-1pm and 2-6pm; Apr-Oct 9am-7pm.
Top