After visiting Lisbon and southern Portugal many times over the years, we were excited to spend a month in the northern part of Portugal. Porto is mainly known for it’s Port wine (a sweet dessert wine) and the Douro valley nearby (which produces some world renown wines!). But as you will see below, there is so much more to this city! There are the many touristy attractions in and around town that are entertaining and great to enjoy a couple of days in Porto. However by spending an entire month, it allowed us to explore more of the culture, day to day life and explore some of the off the beaten path activities. Here are some of the highlights:

• 516 Ponte de Arouca & Passadico de Paiva: Kaio wrote a great summary of our day trip HERE.

• e-bike city tour with Ciclo e-bikes: This was fun! It’s a 4 hour tour on electric bikes (Porto is hilly, so e-bikes made it a breeze to get around!). We actually had seen most of the sights they covered (like the cathedral, crystal palace gardens, Torre dos Clerigos, etc) but the tour guide was able to explain more of the history and answer questions. They offer children chairs for the younger ones! You can find more information on their website.

• The craft breweries: although the region is known for the wines (which we did enjoy!), Jason and I are craft beer fanatics! Over the years and our travels we have found some great beer places (like Australia, New Zealand, some limited cities in Mexico, Finland, etc) and were very happily surprised that Porto offered many craft breweries and most were great! For us it is not only about the beer, we consider space for the kids to play cards, us to enjoy a pint, some food, good beer and several options. Some of our favorites were: A fabrica da Picaria, Catraio, Fabrica Nortada and Letraria.

• Trying the francesinhas and other local dishes. We tried several francesinhas including some of the “must go” places and, by far, O Alfredo was our favorite! Get there early as it does get busy and it is small inside. We also enjoyed the local hotdogs (chachorrinho), Prego (sanduiche with a steak), bolinho de Bacalhau, and the many delicious desserts/pastries: pastel de nata, bola de Berlin, queijada, travesseiro. If you don’t know what they are, trust me, just try them they are delicious!

• Walking the cobbled streets and admiring the beautiful buildings decorated with amazing Portuguese tiles. Jason took many pictures and it is impressive how many types there are. There is also a small (free) museum that shows the many types used over the years and the history.

• Walking by the Douro river: There are 6 bridges in Porto and they are beautiful and unique. Most are not pedestrian accessible but walking on either side of the river and looking at these beautiful architecture marvels is a must! The most well known one is Luis I Bridge, a double deck metal arch bridge built in the late 1800’s.

• The beach: most people don’t realize that Porto is actually considered a coastal town and eventhough most tourists don’t get to the beach and spend their time around the Luis I bridge area, we recommend to check it out! If you head west of the the city, you will get to where the river meets the ocean. To the north, it’s called Foz do Douro. Great place to stroll by the boardwalk, stop for a drink or a snack. It it a bit more touristy. On the south side of the river, Lavadores, you will also have a great boardwalk and many restaurants. This is less touristy and you will have more of the locals enjoying the beach. Both sides offer an area with great seafood (fresh fish, grilled on demand!). On the north side it is in Matosinho and on the south part it is in Afurada. At both places you will find fresh, delicious and cheap seafood!

• The WOW: when you head to the ‘other side of the river’, in a neighborhood called Gaia, you will find most wineries (with tours and tastings) and many great restaurants by the river. You will also find the WOW museum. It is a fun place to explore and you can pick from many original and creative exhibitions. You can choose the classic “The wine experience” or the instagram fun “The Pink Palace” exhibition. They also have cafes, shops, restaurants and amazing views of the city. We also got lucky to enjoy a craft beer festival on one of the last days in town!

We really enjoyed our stay in Porto and there are MANY fun things to do and explore. Once again, we wished we could’ve stayed longer!