Weekend in Porto, Portugal
Mar 10th, 2015, 09:58 PM
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Weekend in Porto, Portugal
Hello Fodorites
Bikerscott and I just got back from a long weekend in Porto. Had a great time and thought some might be interested in our photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7648961467343/
Cheers!
Bikerscott and I just got back from a long weekend in Porto. Had a great time and thought some might be interested in our photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7648961467343/
Cheers!
Mar 10th, 2015, 10:14 PM
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Great photos, are you going to supply a narrative. The food looks good and would be interested to hear where you ate. Was it part of a wider trip? I haven't been to Porto but these photos confirmed that I should go.
Mar 11th, 2015, 04:20 AM
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I wasn’t planning to post a full trip report but I can include some details.
We really loved Porto. The people are very helpful and friendly and almost all spoke excellent English.
We stayed two nights at Vitoria Village and would highly recommend it. We had a HUGE apartment, access to the spa, in the perfect location of the pedestrian street. All this for about €90 a night. http://www.vitoriavillage.com/cms/
For foodies many people say there is not much there. But I did some research and we had some lovely meals:
Traditional lunch place recommended by our hotel: Restaurante Ze Bota where we had cod cooked on a tile (roof tile). It was excellent. http://www.zebota.com.pt/
We had a lovely dinner at DOP http://ruipaula.com/web/# this is a formal restaurant doing more modern food.
Lunch the next day was spent at one of the many wine bars called The Wine Box. It was great; we had some tapas and some lovely wine. It was right beside the large tunnel in centro.
Dinner was at the highly rated O Paparico (make reservations 28 days in advance). http://www.opaparico.com/ It is a taxi ride out of centro but taxis are very affordable. Lovely atmosphere. They serve everything for two so more of a date night kind of place.
We took the cable car down to the Vila Nova de Gaia side and spent the afternoon one day tasting port at the famous houses. We also ended up at a Portuguese wine festival where we could try all the wine we wanted for €7! Lucky weekend for us!
All in all we loved our weekend there and found it to be the perfect place for a weekend break.
We really loved Porto. The people are very helpful and friendly and almost all spoke excellent English.
We stayed two nights at Vitoria Village and would highly recommend it. We had a HUGE apartment, access to the spa, in the perfect location of the pedestrian street. All this for about €90 a night. http://www.vitoriavillage.com/cms/
For foodies many people say there is not much there. But I did some research and we had some lovely meals:
Traditional lunch place recommended by our hotel: Restaurante Ze Bota where we had cod cooked on a tile (roof tile). It was excellent. http://www.zebota.com.pt/
We had a lovely dinner at DOP http://ruipaula.com/web/# this is a formal restaurant doing more modern food.
Lunch the next day was spent at one of the many wine bars called The Wine Box. It was great; we had some tapas and some lovely wine. It was right beside the large tunnel in centro.
Dinner was at the highly rated O Paparico (make reservations 28 days in advance). http://www.opaparico.com/ It is a taxi ride out of centro but taxis are very affordable. Lovely atmosphere. They serve everything for two so more of a date night kind of place.
We took the cable car down to the Vila Nova de Gaia side and spent the afternoon one day tasting port at the famous houses. We also ended up at a Portuguese wine festival where we could try all the wine we wanted for €7! Lucky weekend for us!
All in all we loved our weekend there and found it to be the perfect place for a weekend break.
Mar 11th, 2015, 04:36 AM
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Thanks for that Jamikins. RyanAir are starting flights from Dublin to Porto any day now so it is on my radar as a weekend break and all that information is really helpful. The apartments look perfect.
Mar 12th, 2015, 11:51 PM
#16
your TR prompted me to look at Porto as an alternative to the trip to Bordeaux that we are considering in mid-June, and to my surprise I see that we could fly there from Bristol - knew that Easyjet had flights to Lisbon, but not to Porto.
however the flight times aren't as good and it's a bit more expensive, though not much. I also looked at flying into Lisbon and out of Porto but the flights into Lisbon are much more expensive.
BTW do you find that the prices fluctuate on Easyjet quite a lot? the first time I looked, the price for a single fare on 10th May was £95; when checked back only a couple minutes later, it had come down to £88. I wonder what it will be if I go back to it again? [it was the same, lower price].
so it's probably going to be Bordeaux this time, but I'm definitely putting Porto on the list.
however the flight times aren't as good and it's a bit more expensive, though not much. I also looked at flying into Lisbon and out of Porto but the flights into Lisbon are much more expensive.
BTW do you find that the prices fluctuate on Easyjet quite a lot? the first time I looked, the price for a single fare on 10th May was £95; when checked back only a couple minutes later, it had come down to £88. I wonder what it will be if I go back to it again? [it was the same, lower price].
so it's probably going to be Bordeaux this time, but I'm definitely putting Porto on the list.
Mar 13th, 2015, 12:23 AM
#17
The problem with a weekend break in Porto, is that it will take me the weekend to get there 
Mini breaks just aren't the same in Oz, 3 hours in a plane and I'm still in Australia.
But, I do love to travel through your TR's, always such excellent photos.
Mini breaks just aren't the same in Oz, 3 hours in a plane and I'm still in Australia.
But, I do love to travel through your TR's, always such excellent photos.
Mar 14th, 2015, 12:56 AM
#19
jamikins - the last time we flew Ryanair, it was a lot better than before. no silly rules about having to put your handbag in your carryon bag, for example.
I agree that easy jet are pretty good [though going the same way as Ryanair with the add-ons] but I would use Ryanair again.
I agree that easy jet are pretty good [though going the same way as Ryanair with the add-ons] but I would use Ryanair again.
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