Part 2: Porto and Braga. Wine not?

We are in the middle of our vacation in Portugal and how not to visit the one and only: Porto. We spent 3 days in this northern area, explored the surroundings in Braga and Guimaraes and found a lot of interesting things here. Why are the people of Porto called Tripeiros? Where does the name of the country come from? or what is the story of the famous wine?

Find below our itinerary:

• Day 5 – Porto: São Bento, Santa Catarina, Batalha, Bridge Luis I, Cathedral (Sé), Barredo, Ribeira, 22 Tram, Clerigos Tower
• Day 6 – Braga: Arco de Porto Nova, Braga Cathedral, Placa da Republica, Jardin de Santa Barbara; Bon de Jesus do Monte; Castel Guimaraes; Gaia and Miradouros
• Day 7 – way to Lisbon, Bathalha Monastery, Convent of Christ, Boca del Inferno, Cascais, Estoril

Day 5:

Accommodation: 100 Contos
Parking: On the same street, the most accessible parking option I found was 15 euro / day.

• Porto Walkers Tour (São Bento railway station, Santa Catarina, Batalha, Bridge Luis I, Cathedral (Sé), Barredo neighborhood, Ribeira quarter)
• City-center with Tram 22 (3.5 euro/ticket)
• Cafe Santiago for the faimous Francesinha
• Clerigos Tower (6 euro/ticket)

A new day, a new adventure. We had breakfast (btw all our accommodations in Portugal, have breakfast, because we wanted to have more time for wandering) and we went to Placa da Libertate to meet Fiel.

(below you can download a nice pdf with hidden places and nice tips from Porto)

The day before we arrived in Porto we booked a 3-hour tour with Poro Walkers. More than just “walking” through a city, it’s about the experience itself and the cool stories you hear. That’s how I found out that:

• the name of Portugal comes from the city of “Porto” + “Gaia” the city located after crossing the Luis I Bridge, on the other side of the river Duoro.
• their famous bridge was named after King “Don Luis I”, but it did not come to the inauguration and the people kept the name, but took that “Don”, as a sign of losing respect for him.
• Porto wine is actually an invention of the British, who halted the fermentation process and added pure grape juice, so that it reaches 20% alc.
• the people of Porto are called Tripeiros (from the typical food of the area: Tripas à Moda do Porto – a kind of plate with animal intestines.

Not to lose all the charm, the rest of the stories I let you discover them and I promise you will love it. Even if it is called a free tour guide, if you like the experience, you can offer 5-10 euro tips.

Together with the guide, we visited Sao Bento train station, the Cathedral, Luis I Bridge and a very nice area called Barredo, with colorful houses and small streets.

Tram 22 is gorgeous! I’m really glad we took it, because it wasn’t crowded at all, looks incredibly good and it’s a much more pleasant experience than the one in Lisbon. It costs 3.5 euros a trip, (you can pay inside) and its route is a circular one. We wondered where in Porto we find the best panorama of the city, and the locals told us that the best place is the Clerigos tower. The ticket price is 6 euros and you have to climb a few steps to the top.

There are a lot of nice spots in Porto, so always check to see what you have nearby. If you are lucky and it is a nice weather :)) (a bit hard in Porto) there are some very good sunsets spots: Passeio das Virtudes, Jardim do Morro, both are from Gaia, thus having a view to Porto.

#FOOD ALERT

At Cafe Santiago, I tried their famous Francesinha sandwich with meat and cheese.

Vinho do Porto. Long story with it. If time allows, I think it is 100% worth a wine tasting on a special tour for that. However, I will share with you what I found out about it: there are 2 types Tawny and Ruby. As differences, the Tawny one stays in small oak barrels and measures the number of years it has been in the barrel (wood-aged), while the Ruby one, it stays in large barrels and counts the number of years in the bottle (bottle- aged). Both wines have about 20% alcohol and they are usually served by the glass. We have a funny story :)) because I told the waiter we would like a bottle, not a glass. He was stuck for a few seconds and tells us that someone has never bought a whole bottle and that he has to go and see his manager, because no idea about the bottle price. An hour later, he has a second shock, as the bottle is empty :))

Braga / Guimaraes / and again Porto

Day 6:

• Braga: Arco de Porto Nova, Braga Cathedral, Placa da Republica, Jardin de Santa Barbara
• Bom Jesus do Monte
• Guimaraes Castel
• Porto: Rua de Santa Catarina (Majestic Cafe, Menteigaria, Mercato)
• Porto: Paju restaurant – Bacalhau cremoso si faimosul Tripas
• Porto: Luis I Bridge & Gaia walk

Your lastname to be Braga, to come to Portugal and not go to Braga? No, no… I couldn’t imagine :))

We went early in the morning to Braga, parked somewhere near Arco de Porto Nova, and then continued on Rua Don Diogo de Sousa. After a tour of the city and an artisanal ice cream at Pappa Lab, we continued our adventure at Bom Jesus do Monte, a sanctuary that looks very good, the entrance is free, but you have to climb many stairs. As an alternative to this workout, it would be to take the funicular that costs somewhere at 2 euros.

The place where Portugal was born is at Guimaraes Castle. Alfonso I. was born here, the one who faced his mother in the battle of Sao Mamede and established the independent kingdom of Portugal. It is more spectacular from the outside, inside being only ruins and to visit it, the ticket costs 2 euros. This castle is also part of the 7 wonders of Portugal .

In the afternoon we spent it in Porto, we returned to Rua de Santa Catarina, here you will find the famous Majestic Cafe, which unfortunately was closed in June, due to the pandemic and also in the area you will find the best Pasteis de Nata at Menteigaria. If you want to wander through a specific market, Mercado do Balhao is a famous one and we here devoured a fresh fruit juice.

#FOOD ALERT

Paju – is a restaurant quite far from the center, but so good to eat. It is open between 9 pm and 5 am and to enter, you have to knock on the door. If you want to try their traditional food like Tripas or Bacalhau Cremosso, this is the perfect place !! And also here I drank for the first time, a white sangria. Terribly good. 😀

We really liked Porto. It was a pleasant surprise, an uncrowded city and according to the locals, it is in its best shape in recent years. Even our guide said that, until 8 years ago, Porto did not know what it means to have tourists and to be able to earn from it. He said that the city started to become touristic after Ryanair introduced many direct flights with other main cities in Europe :)) And in recent years, many buildings have been rehabilitated, precisely for tourist purposes. If you stay here for several days, it’s worth going to the beach and renting a bike.

Day 7:

• Batalha Monestery
• Convent of Christ
• Boca do Inferno
• Cascais & Estoril

I was talking above about the 7 wonders of Portugal. On that list are also some famous monasteries. We decided to visit: Batalha Monestery and Convent of Christ.

Both are spectacular with their architecture; some informative things: Batalha needed 1 century to be built (~ 1400 – 1500), during 7 kings and 15 architects, being built to thank the Virgin Mary for the Portuguese victory over the Castilians. The Convent of Christ was built even earlier, in the 1200s by order of the Knights Templar in order to protect the Christian border from the Moors. Tickets cost 6 euros each, but if you want to visit Alcobaça Monastery, you can buy a 15 euro ticket for all 3.

The next stop was at Boca del Inferno. The last part of the road, we wanted to be close to the ocean, to see the surfers and have a beautiful view. The whole coast is rocky, the ocean is always choppy and makes the whole atmosphere “swirling”.

The place where we wanted to spend the evening and wander through tiny streets, was in Cascais. We would have liked to catch a nice sunset too, but we didn’t have any chance this holiday, nowhere :)) There are enough beaches, so if the weather is beautiful you can easily find a nice view. Their center is quite small, but beautifully decorated with painted and pedestrian streets.

#FOOD ALERT

A nova estrella – it’s the restaurant where we had dinner. Seafood, a white sangria, as I only had experience with it from Porto and besides the food, which was delicious (octopus and seafood skewers), in the end we received an almond liqueur from the house . And that’s not all, to keep a great memory from there, we also received an instant photo made with a Polaroid. Nice. This is the perfect type of place, with a good quality-price value.