Porto

Porto rises in steep granite tiers from the north bank of the Douro River just before it meets the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike flat river capitals, the city is built into a dramatic gorge: pastel merchant houses and terracotta roofs tumble down to the Ribeira waterfront, while the two-level iron arch of the Dom Luis I Bridge links the historic centre to the hillside Port wine cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia on the opposite bank.

Compared with Lisbon to the south, Porto feels more compact, mercantile and rooted in the granite and Atlantic breezes of northern Portugal. Start with our first-timer briefing and azulejo churches and northern food guide.

Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport (OPO) sits 11 km north-west of the centre and connects straight to Trindade station on Metro Line E in around 30 minutes. Long-distance Alfa Pendular and Intercidades trains from Lisbon arrive at Porto Campanha, with a free five-minute suburban rail transfer into historic Sao Bento Station. See how to get to Porto.

Staying on the upper plateau around Avenida dos Aliados, Sao Bento or Cedofeita gives you gentler walking gradients and immediate Metro links, whereas sleeping down on the Ribeira quayside or across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia puts the Douro and Dom Luis I Bridge right outside your window. We compare six areas in where to stay in Porto.

Admire the twenty thousand blue-and-white tiles inside Sao Bento Station, walk down through the medieval steps of Barredo to Ribeira and both decks of the Dom Luis I Bridge, cross into Vila Nova de Gaia for a Tawny Port tasting, and pair the Clerigos Tower with Livraria Lello and tiled baroque churches. See the full list in things to do in Porto.

Northern Portuguese cooking is hearty and built for Atlantic appetites: flaky salt cod (bacalhau à Gomes de Sá), slow-cooked tripe with white beans, crusty bifana and cachorrinho pork sandwiches, and the indulgent francesinha layered with steak, sausage and melted cheese in a spiced beer sauce, washed down with crisp Vinho Verde or aged Tawny Port. Read where to eat in our tiles and food guide.

Porto gave its name both to the nation of Portugal (from the Roman port of Portus Cale) and to Port wine, shipped down the Douro in flat-bottomed wooden rabelo boats and aged in Gaia since the 17th-century trade treaties with Britain. Its citizens are proudly known as Tripeiros after legend says they gave all their prime meat to outfit the 1415 maritime expedition from the Douro, keeping only tripe for themselves.