After 1500 km of exploring southern Portugal and Spain under our bike wheels, we decided to give our bikes and bums a rest and give industrial tourism a try. In the past, we have not been especially good at it….Museums, cathedrals, and crowds, oh my!
So one train ride, two taxis, and an airplane ride later we arrive in Porto, Portugal. We find our booking.com apartment and are very pleasantly surprised-it is huge with a comfortable, giant bed and a shower that feels like dermabrasion. It’s all good and we are here for three nights. For those of you who know me, you know that cathedrals and museums are not really in my wheelhouse. I’d rather eat, walk around aimlessly, and drink wine! But when in Porto…and Alan really likes history.
If I can wine taste while visiting museums and cathedrals- I’m all In. Porto is on the Duoro River and is known for its port wine cellars. It is also home to the Majestic Café where J. K. Rowling wrote “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” while sipping coffee there. The streets in Porto are steep and winding and filled with beautiful colors. The river is definitely the heartbeat of the town with its bustling cafés, street musicians, and throngs of tourists.
We did visit cathedrals, a museum and took a boat ride up the river…. and we did get to do some port tasting.
We had some great meals and after 2 ½ days of being tourists we were ready to come back to our Lagos apartment. People watching, walking the steep, cobbled streets, winding our way through crowds of people and exploring a new city was good fun but we’re ready to get back on our bicycles again. We enjoy the slower and more intimate pace that bicycling through towns and the countryside provides.
That male model keeps following me everywhere. Lagos and Porto are both touristy but Porto is larger and has more bus tours and cruiseline folks. It is a beautiful city and worth a visit.
The place looks great. Nice pictures. That male model you use is especially scintillating. Is Lagos less touristy than Porto? You make the place look inviting.