Stephanie Visits Porto & Aveiro
Porto and Lisbon is the usual combo people think of when deciding what cities to do on a twin centre Portugal trip. I love Lisbon, but have been a few times already so I decided to look and see if there were any other options. Just 1h 20mins on a train from Porto Sao Bento station is Aveiro, marketed as the “Venice of Portugal”, with colourful boats sailing past the traditional buildings, it looked like a great alternative.
We landed in Porto early afternoon, the tram from the airport is very cheap (€2.90each*). We took the tram all the way to Sao Bento, 1 change, and then purchased our tickets to Aveiro. In case of flight delays I hadn’t pre-booked these tickets, but there’s 1 train per hour and the cost was €4.50pp, we just missed the 13:55 train so stopped in the station café for a coffee. Sao Bento station is one of the sites you want to see in Porto anyway, covered in beautiful blue tiles it’s stunning – so waiting the hour with a coffee was no hardship at all!
The train couldn’t be easier as Sao Bento is the start of the line and Aveiro the end. You pass through a lot of cute stations on the way, and the journey takes you past both the sea and the countryside.
Once you arrive in Aveiro, another very pretty station, it’s a short wander into the centre of the city, and you find yourself among the canals very quickly. The centre is quite compact, so finding your way around is easy. Although, the narrow twisty streets and lanes can turn you around a bit until you come upon another canal, which helps orientate you again! We stayed at the Aveiro Centre Hotel, a great little 3* property with a breakfast room and very friendly staff. We took their recommendation for dinner and ended up at Zico, a traditional Portuguese restaurant where a bottle of the house red was €5 and the food was excellent. If that’s not your sort of thing Aveiro does have a Michelin starred restaurant the Salpoente.
Unlike Porto and Lisbon, Aveiro is almost completely flat! Known for centuries of salt production, there used to be hundreds of salt pans here, only a few artisan producers remain but you can still see the landscape from the old pans. You can book tours to see these and learn about the history of how the salt, or white gold, shaped Aveiro. We opted instead for a canal cruise on a traditional Moliceiro boat. Traditionally used to harvest seaweed, these wooden boats can now be seen taking passengers on tours through the four main canals of the city. They have become a symbol of the city and their high bows and sterns are decorated with humorous or satirical paintings that are re-painted annually. Our guide was enthusiastic, funny and knowledgeable dropping lots of hints and tips along the way.
Two nights in Aveiro was about right for us, you could stay longer if you wanted to visit all the museums or head along the coast to the beaches. For us it was time to head back to Porto for the second part of our trip.
Back in Sao Bento, we headed for our Porto accommodation and first impression, is hills! Porto is built on the granite banks of the Douro and there are significant elevation changes in almost every direction. I still felt it was a walkable city but at times it can be quite a climb, there were 398 steps from the base of the Dom Luis I Bridge up to our accommodation! There are lots of options though if you don’t fancy the climb.
There is a funicular that runs all day, only takes about 2 mins and offers amazing views as you climb (€3.50 one way), or, if you are on the other side of the river in the Vila Nova de Gaia area, where all the Port cellars are, there is the Gaia cable car, it’s about a 5min ride and costs about €7 one way. If you’re not a fan of heights though, the taxi’s are incredibly cheap. After a long day and a Port tasting tour we took a BOLT back to our hotel – a 15min drive only €2.60! So I definitely recommend downloading the app before you go.
Day 1 in Porto we put in the miles, well over 20K steps just wandering around ticking off the things we didn’t want to miss but also getting distracted by things we discovered on the way. I was surprised by how green the city is with little parks and squares dotted around everywhere, all with statues or art or peacocks! The streets are also filled with art so you can be looking up at all the ornate tiles one minute and suddenly come across a mural or art installation.
Our second day in Porto we decided to take things a little easier, so we hopped on one of the trams along the coast to Foz do Douro. Unlike Lisbon, Porto hasn’t many working trams and they’re really just for the tourists, but it was a fun experience and another way to see a lot more than you might on foot.
In the afternoon we had a Tour of the Taylors Port cellars and a tasting, it was an audio guide so you can go around at your own pace, interesting and full of history and the 3 ports we got to try (generous measures) were all really different but all delicious.
On our final full day, we decided to add another city to the itinerary and took a day trip up to Braga. About an hour on the train (€7.20 return) and like Aveiro, it feels totally different, as one of Portugal’s oldest cities it’s all fortified walls, medieval streets and a solitary 14th century keep from the former castle. If you have the time I would add a night, maybe 2 here as well as we only scratched the surface before the rain sent us back to Porto.
Our final morning before heading home we indulged in some retail therapy, picking up the obligatory fridge magnets and such on the Rua de Santa Catarina where you can find all the international brands, local shops and some lovely cafes as well. Then it was back on the metro out to the airport and time to say goodbye to Portugal…more like see you later!
I would highly recommend a multi-centre in Portugal, and depending on the time you have there are so many options, I took my parents on this trip and they continued onto Lisbon for a few more night (joys of retirement!) but if you only have a few days and don’t want long train rides, Aveiro or Braga could really help make your trip to Porto extra interesting, either as day trips or a longer stay like I did.
What would I do differently?
- I would have stayed in Porto first. That way you start the trip in the busy and bustling city with lots going on and doing the hills with fresh legs! Then off to Aveiro for a slower few days (and on the flat)
- I would have also taken a local taxi from the airport, the metro was cheap and easy but with cases to juggle and now knowing how cheap the taxi’s are with BOLT or UBER it would have been a little easier.
- Done a little more research on restaurants, a lot are closed on a Sunday which nearly caught us out.
*This inc €0.60 for the transport card, keep a hold of it as it can be re-loaded and used again on all Porto transports
To find out more about Steph’s visit to Porto and Aveiro, or if you’re interested in a similar trip,
give the team a call on 0131 243 8098 or send us an email.
