Travel Guide: Pottering Around In Porto
An ode to going slow in Portugal's pretty coastal city
I love the term ‘pottering’. My boyfriend laughs when I use it, I guess because it can be seen as a bit of a frumpy word, insinuating a lack of direction. He sees me as a purposeful person, someone who crafts their days with intention and fills their calendar with careful consideration. This is true, I’m organised (for the most part) and conscious of how I spend my time, but I also love to potter.
It’s unhurried. It’s unassuming. It’s gentle. It’s kind of like mindful mindlessness. Because when you’re pottering, you’re not asking much of yourself. You’re only attached to the present moment, with absolutely no expectations.
Pottering around while on holiday is great. If you’re somewhere new you’ve never been to, even better. And if you’re travelling alone, well then you’ve hit the jackpot.
Read on for my guide to Porto, where I spent an incredibly chilled solo weekend B.C. (before Covid-19).
Porto is a hodgepodge of crumbling, charming townhouses, colourful azulejos, and well-worn cobblestones. It’s Portugal’s second largest city, but the medieval passageways and quaintness of it all lend it a small-town feel.
Freshly-washed linens drape from balconies, unintentionally adorning the streets and filling the air with a homely, soapy scent. I spent a slow weekend meandering through the narrow streets, marvelling at tiled façades, and enjoying long and languid seafood lunches.
If you’re able, there’s no need for public transport as all of the main sights are easily walkable. Besides, locals seem happy to be stopped and asked for directions. They’ll gesture the way and explain your route roughly three times before insisting on accompanying you there themselves. A river taxi is a novel way to cross over to Vila Nova de Gaia though, where you’ll find some of the city’s best port houses.
Where I stayed:
Infante Sagres carries a legacy of six decades and the title of Porto’s first 5-star hotel. Original features such as ornate cast-iron doors, carved wooden furniture that looks like it has some good stories to tell, gold-gilded walls, and stained glass windows have all been painstakingly preserved. You’ll want to stop and admire every intricate corner of the hotel’s heritage-heavy interiors. My favourite nook was a window seat in quite possibly the most lavish dining room I’ve ever had breakfast in. The hotel is right in the centre of Porto which made it an ideal base for exploring the city by foot.
Where and what I ate:
Porto is a compact city. I once read that there are 183 tourists for every 100 locals - a pretty shocking statistic. With this in mind, it’s worth considering off-peak travel, such as shoulder season months like April, May, September and October. The weather’s also a bit cooler, which is ideal for a city that can get really humid in the summer months.Â
Anyway, the food. Locals love to eat out here as much as visitors do, so I’d advise booking ahead for both lunch and dinner if you have somewhere specific in mind. For quick lunches, I skipped the meat and cheese-laden ‘Francesinha’ which was mentioned in every other travel guide, and sampled local sardines (which are in abundant supply!) in as many forms as possible instead. Fried, grilled, raw, sandwiched, atop tomatoes and garnished with herbs…you’ll find them on every other café menu, plated up in a million different ways.
Pick up a few tins to take home from Mercearia do Bolhão on Rua Formosa, an old-school deli.
For dinner, I booked a table for one (weirdly something that always makes me feel cool and independent) at Cantina 32 on Rua das Flores. This laid-back, industrial restaurant will give you a taste of hip, young Porto, and the most delectable butter you’ll ever eat. It’s sweetly infused with banana and served with crispy-edged, fluffy sourdough. I ordered the tuna steak, cooked rare and served with blistered potatoes, all swimming in a pool of fragrant olive oil. Dream. On the way back to the hotel, I took a little detour and stopped off at an intriguing little wine bar I’d spotted earlier that day, which seemed to also be selling second-hand books, called Candelabro.
You’ll obviously want to eat some pasteis de nata while you’re in Porto (unless you’re GF and DF, sorry) and in my opinion, there’s no best place to try them. It’s hard to find a pasteis de nata that’s not delicious in Portugal. For an authentic experience and taste of some other Portuguese pastries though, visit the over 100-year-old Confeitaria do Bolhão. It’s just next door to where I just told you to get sardines from ;)
In the riverside quarter of Ribeira, Adega São Nicolau is a romantic little local joint serving traditional and regional dishes. If you want a taste of home-style Portuguese food, this is it. Sadly, I wasn’t able to get a table as I hadn’t booked ahead, but wandering by, I imagined that this was the spot where loved-up locals would go to for quiet dinners. A 5-minute walk away you’ll also find the teeny tiny Taberna dos Mercadores, which is run by the same family. A waiter back at the hotel told me that his parents had been going to this place for years, and that the flambéed sea bass was the dish most diners flocked for.
What I saw and did:
On buildings, beneath your feet, in bathrooms...tiles are everywhere, in every hue. The oldest part of Porto, the Ribeira district is probably the most beautiful part of the city. Venture through the UNESCO World Heritage Site and get lost in the maze of steep streets, some of which offer the most picturesque views right down to the river. I happened to find a fantastic little artisanal ice cream shop here called Mo&Mo. They had some pretty creative flavours, but I’m a creature of habit and I won’t risk a bad dessert, so I ordered a double scoop in a cup - coconut and pistachio - and enjoyed it in the park nearby.
A visit to the neoclassical Palacio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace) provided a nice respite from the midday sun. Established on the grounds of a convent that was burnt down during the Liberal Wars, it's a stunning landmark worth seeing from the inside as well as outside and the 45-minute tour won’t take up too much of your day. (Entry € 10.00, open 9am-6:30 p.m.)
The city is full of old-fashioned family businesses with third and even fourth-generation retailers commonplace. I loved picking up some gifts at the Claus Porto store-meets-museum on Rua das Flores. The shop comprises three floors, one of which is entirely dedicated to the history of the 130-year old beauty and fragrance house.
There are dozens of markets in Porto and only so many I could squeeze into one weekend. Porto Belo (the name was inspired by London’s Portobello market) on Saturday afternoons is one of the most popular ones where you can dig around for vinyls, vintage clothing, accessories and antique cameras. Mercado do Bom Sucesso is a huge fresh produce market where you can sample local delicacies and a cocktail.
Just across the Douro (by river taxi!) you’ll find The Yeatman. The hotel is an ode to the city’s namesake trade, complete with a decanter-shaped pool, rooms inspired by the hotel’s wine partners, and the country’s largest wine cellar. I visited the hotel’s Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa, which offers - surprise surprise - wine-infused treatments such as barrel bath immersions and Merlot scrubs.
For my second night, I took a scenic one-hour train ride to picturesque Pinhão, where I checked into The Vintage House. A rustic retreat, it’s nestled in the heart of the port-producing Douro Valley, one of the oldest wine regions in Europe. My room overlooked the water and had a balcony just big enough for me to perch on as I watched the river cruises wade by every so often.
After a little nap (being around water always lulls me) I headed out to explore heritage port producer Croft's flagship estate, Quinta da Roêda. I’d highly recommend a guided tour of the 107 hectares here, followed by a tasting. You can even take a little break for a picnic amongst the vineyards.
After a day of sipping, strolling, and taking in the scenery, I headed back to the hotel for dinner (already quite tipsy, to be fair) and then up to bed with my book, feeling supremely content.
TL;DR:
Do/See:
Porto Belo market
Palacio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace)
Walk around the Ribeira district
Croft’s Port Wine Estate, Quinta da Roêda, Pinhão
Eat/Drink:
Stay:
Let’s make it a discussion - do you have any tips on Porto or pottering? Share them in the comments below!
It really sounds idyllic! I love to potter around new places too, especially to take photos of tilework. Tile design really varies depending on the area and there’s often beauty in really unexpected spots; under bridges, in tiny little alleys, in overgrown gardens... it’s one of my cheapest tricks to find joy!