A day in Porto for port tasting and wandering through the Ribeira district

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
2
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
2
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
5
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
55 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
340th/453
Top 80%
continent
Europe
country
Portugal
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$90 ($25-$125 in 2021 prices)
Time of year visited
August
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Old town Restaurant recommendations Wine
All Tags
Bridges Christian site Cliffs River Experience Street Art UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐
Summary

Porto is nice enough, and definitely worth a day trip.  Its UNESCO-listed Ribeira district and waterfront are nice to wander around, if very touristy, and a visit to one of the port wine houses in particular is good fun to sample the wines, learn about the production and enjoy the views.  But I thought it was a slightly less attractive version of the Alfama district in Lisbon and is more of a conduit to the real highlight of the area (and Portugal) which is the Duoro Valley (see Wine tasting around Pinhao in the Duoro Valley for more details)

All sounds a bit negative! – definitely worth a visit on the way to the Duoro, but no more than a day needed

Highlights
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#1 Visiting one of the Port Wine houses to learn about the history of how they make the unique fortified wine. I'd recommend Taylor's

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#2 Enjoying the views of the river and Ribeira area at lunch in one of the Port wine houses, which tend to have superb views over the river

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#3 Walking through the pretty Ribeira area and getting lost in amongst the terracotta roofs and narrow alleyways

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#4 Seeing some of the wonderful Portuguese azulejos (hand painted tiles) that adorn the walls of many places in the town centra, especially in the Porto Sao Bento train station

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#5 Walking along the river to see the 5 iconic bridges that cross the Duoro River

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#6 Taking one of the electric tuk tuks for a whizz around the central highlights

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#7 Trying some of the upmarket restaurants for high end Michelin star dinners

Travel Tips

    • The Port Houses – the highlight of a trip to Porto is a visit to one of the various Port houses on the south side of the river.  It’s fascinating to learn about how they make the port wine, and great fun sampling them from the various beautiful viewing spots that the houses have.  I’d recommend Taylor’s for the museum / wine cellars explaining the history , the elegant rose garden where you sample the wines, and make sure you book in for lunch on the terrace – superb views of Porto.  All in all a real highlight (tour and tasting €15)
    • The Yateman Hotel – similarly has a wonderful setting and views from the terrace, with a  splurge option for its Michelin 2 star restaurant (tasting menu – €180, plus €90 for seasonal wine selection)
    • All within walking distance – other than a few pieces on the outskirts, the central sights are all very close together and you can easily have a 2 hour slow stroll from the Torre dos Clerigos or Sao Bento train station, down towards the river through the Ribeira district and cross over the famous Ponte de Dom Luis bridge to the south side of the river
    • If can’t be arsed with the walk or just fancy something different – there’s also the option of taking one of the electric tuk tuks through the narrow streets and across a few of the bridges.  We also did this for a couple of hours and was good fun (around €30 per person)
    • Accommodation – there are of course heaps of accommodation options. We stayed at the Porto Bay Flores, which I’d recommend for location and a good combo of traditional features but good comfort
    • For a restaurant recommendation, I’d suggest DOP in the centre which was fab
    • For further tips on Portugal’s other top experiences, and for a 2 week itinerary, see the travel entry for 2 weeks for the best of Portugal
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Score Detail

The scores you see above are really the point of this whole site, rather than just the individual travel review you're seeing above.  They fit into a much bigger summary of 20 years of travel, across 100+ countries, from dirt-poor backpacking to the luxury end, rushed weekends to months on the road.  Every one of the 500+ experiences have a "wow factor" score and a few other scores that add up to a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score.  For more info, have a look at the About page for the travel philosophy that drives them.

But, more importantly, have a play with the map above and on the Home page to see which of these experiences rank as really Maximum Wow-factor all the way down to the proper "Gash".

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