We drove45 minutes from Amarante to Porto and parked at our hotel, the Boeira Garden Hotel, Curio Collection around 10am. We were able to check in early. I will have a full review of the hotel in my next post.

We took an Uber to the City Hall area of Porto. My plan was to walk downhill to some of the sights and avoid as much uphill walking as possible. This was the hottest day of our trip and temperatures in Porto reached into the 90s.

From there we walked to the famous Ildefonso church.

Then we walked to the Sao Bento train station to take some pictures of the tiles on the walls (along with every other tourist in Porto it seemed).

We stopped into some antique and craft stores while we walked. We also stopped at a local restaurant for a great lunch of sangria, port & tonic and a francesinha sandwich, the local specialty.

On our way down to the river, I stopped at the St. Augustine church, but to be honest, it really wasn’t worth the price of admission.

From there, we walked down to the Ribeira neighborhood near the river and walked down to Armazem, a unique art & antique store with an on-site bar that my wife enjoyed exploring.

At that point, we had been walking for about five hours in the heat, so we grabbed an Uber back to the hotel.

Later that evening we had dinner at O Buracao, a less touristy, local fish restaurant and had tripe (her) and cod (me) again. It was much better than the local restaurant in Amarante. The wine was also very good and very reasonably priced.

After dinner, we had gelato with a friend who had recently moved to Portugal from Atlanta before grabbing another Uber back to the hotel.

The next morning was a little cooler. We got a very early start and Ubered to a huge flea market, Feira da Vandoma, on the east side of Porto. My wife enjoyed browsing around and finding some bargains.

From there, we Ubered to Clerigos tower where I was one of the first ones up the tower when it opened at 9am. My wife enjoyed a coffee while I climbed up and got some great pictures of the city.

We next walked through an area with lots of antique stores before walking back down to the Porto Cathedral. While my wife enjoyed a sangria, I went into the cathedral complex and up the tower for some more great views.

I also stopped into the main church and there was a service going on.

From there, we walked over the Ponte Luis I Bridge.

Once on the Vila Nova De Gaia side, we took the cable car down to the port warehouses.

For lunch we had, you guessed it, tripe (her) and cod (me) along with sangria (her) and port/tonic (me). This cod was made a different way and really tasty.

At this point, we were exhausted from all the hills so we Ubered back to the hotel for a rest. I got in some pool time as well.

That night, we wanted to watch the Champions League Final but the local sports pub I contacted said we would have to be there 2-3 hours early to get a table. Instead, we got some food at the hotel to use up our property credit and watched the match in our room. Unfortunately, Liverpool lost a close match.

We loved our two days in Porto, although I think overall, we slightly preferred Lisbon. That might just be because it was our first stop and the weather was a bit cooler than Porto. Either way, it’s a must do if you come to Portugal as there is much to see and do (and drink!)

Next up: Boeira Garden Hotel Review

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