Porto, Portugal
Living in Europe weekends away are so easy and we travel a lot. Meaning we also get the airline perks. Its always hard to use the points though. The options between destinations and times are slim. So we ended up with Porto, Portugal.
Oh my god, I wished we had a week. Who knew? I mean National Geographic did have it on their list of Undiscovered European Destinations last month. But, oh my god, I loved it.
It still is half authentic old world Western European and half revitalised modern influences:
Its close to beach and close to the stunning Duoro valley. You can take a helicopter ride or drive yourself for a longer visit. But the best is that it isn't yet completely run over by tourism.
But I would go back just for the food. Its a foodie heaven - from breakfast pastries, to lunch at the winery, afternoon chocolates and cake, and dinner in old town. The old town is jam packed with restaurants. We did a mix of winery restaurants, highly rated trip advisors, local recommendations, and top restaurants in porto. You can't go wrong. Our favourite was definitely Adega Sao Nicolau. Simple cooking done well. Really well.
But everyone knows it for its Port wines. I personally love old tawny port wine but there is a variety of wine that the wineries churn out which should accommodate pretty much any taste. The old winery warehouses line the other side of the river and are easy to walk to. Unfortunately, they haven't really refined their tourism trade though. So while you will have to pay for tastings and should definitely book into at least one tour to learn a little about Port (A lot of the tours are the same. Grahams was our favourite and can be booked ahead of time online. It has a good restaurant with beautiful views but is a little up hill), you should do a little research ahead of time on port wines in order to maximise your tastings and find the wines that will make your trip worthwhile. Most places give you a basic classic tasting not worth your money. Definitely upgrade and don't be shy - speak up and ask them what they recommend based on your tastes. My favourite bottle was Kopke 30 year old tawny. But we picked our bottles up at the duty free afterwards. Much cheaper and easy to fly with.
And that's not the only thing Porto has going for it. If that wasn't enough. There is good shopping and a bustling bar district which would make it an excellent girls weekend away. Next time maybe.
Oh my god, I wished we had a week. Who knew? I mean National Geographic did have it on their list of Undiscovered European Destinations last month. But, oh my god, I loved it.
It still is half authentic old world Western European and half revitalised modern influences:
- the old tram running to the beach
- old crumbling buildings next to beautifully restored buildings, with the classic Portugal tiles
- authentic crafts and beautiful artistic shops
- the old woman bringing her basket of fish for sale, stopping at each corner in the neighbourhood on her morning route
Its close to beach and close to the stunning Duoro valley. You can take a helicopter ride or drive yourself for a longer visit. But the best is that it isn't yet completely run over by tourism.
But I would go back just for the food. Its a foodie heaven - from breakfast pastries, to lunch at the winery, afternoon chocolates and cake, and dinner in old town. The old town is jam packed with restaurants. We did a mix of winery restaurants, highly rated trip advisors, local recommendations, and top restaurants in porto. You can't go wrong. Our favourite was definitely Adega Sao Nicolau. Simple cooking done well. Really well.
But everyone knows it for its Port wines. I personally love old tawny port wine but there is a variety of wine that the wineries churn out which should accommodate pretty much any taste. The old winery warehouses line the other side of the river and are easy to walk to. Unfortunately, they haven't really refined their tourism trade though. So while you will have to pay for tastings and should definitely book into at least one tour to learn a little about Port (A lot of the tours are the same. Grahams was our favourite and can be booked ahead of time online. It has a good restaurant with beautiful views but is a little up hill), you should do a little research ahead of time on port wines in order to maximise your tastings and find the wines that will make your trip worthwhile. Most places give you a basic classic tasting not worth your money. Definitely upgrade and don't be shy - speak up and ask them what they recommend based on your tastes. My favourite bottle was Kopke 30 year old tawny. But we picked our bottles up at the duty free afterwards. Much cheaper and easy to fly with.
And that's not the only thing Porto has going for it. If that wasn't enough. There is good shopping and a bustling bar district which would make it an excellent girls weekend away. Next time maybe.
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