The overnight flight on Christmas Eve had us arriving at Lisbon airport in the early morning. We picked up our rental at the airport and made the three hour journey north to Porto. The A1 was quiet on Christmas Day and it was a very easy drive.

After resting up in the afternoon, we headed out to see the town in the evening. We were looking forward to checking out the Christmas decorations around the downtown area.

The next day we did a more thorough walk of the downtown area. It was a bit cool and overcast but that made it excellent walking weather. We started from our accommodations just north of Trinidad railway station and made our way south towards the river.

We walked down to the riverfront, where there it was more crowded. The restaurants along the waterfront were busy while street vendors sold chestnuts and other snacks.

After crossing the lower portion of the Ponte Infante Dom Henrique bridge, we were on the south side of Porto. The waterfront here was just as busy as on the north side, with vendors here selling paintings, pottery, handbags and knick-knacks of all types. We made our way west along the waterfront towards the cable car at the far end. There is a ticket booth under the cable car station where we bought tickets for 7 euros each.

It was a short ride up to the top again, where people began to gather in the Jardim do Morro close to the bridge and watch the lights of the city come on.

We now walked across the upper part of the Ponte Infante Dom Henrique bridge before making our way back up towards our place back in the north of the city.

On the way back we had dinner at a local place in the downtown area. The food was simple but cheap and came with ample portions. K. had fried sardines and I had a version of the popular Francesinha with pork, ham, chips, rice and gravy on it.

One afternoon we took the tram over to the Matosinhos district on the coast for a walk on the boardwalk. It only took about half an hour from the central Trinidad train station near our accommodations to Matosinhos Sul. It was easy getting multiple fare tickets from the machines at the station. Most of the “subway” system is actually above ground in Porto so you can see a bit of the suburbs as it travels along.

This was one of only two rainy days we had on the 12 day trip. The wind was blowing along the coast and it was cool so it wasn’t the ideal conditions to get some walking in, but once we got off at the tram station we went to a coffee shop close to the beach. From the station to the castle taking the beach walk it took around 40 minutes not including the coffee stop.

Contructed in the 15th century over another older fort, the Fort of São Francisco Xavier was remade again in the 1660s. Rebuilt again in the 1700s, it was occupied during the Siege of Porto in the 1800s.

There was a small military museum inside, as well as a tiny bar which was closed when we visited. We spent less than 20 minutes there in total.

We enjoyed the four nights in Porto. The weather around Christmas was mostly cloudy with temperatures from 13c (55f) down to 4c (40f) at night. The downtown is compact and it’s easy to walk through it while allowing us to leave the car behind. There is a lot of up and down walking but it’s a chance to work off the snacks from the pastry shops! I would recommend staying on the edge of downtown or staying somewhere near the metro if you rent a car.

We made one day trip during our Porto stay to a beautiful, award-winning set of walkways in a valley located about one hour away, which will be in the next post.