It does feel a little bit silly to be reviewing a free public park, but you know what, it was on my…read moreitinerary specifically, so why not? Unfortunately, I got here just slightly too late to properly enjoy the gardens themselves, as there were a *lot* of great art galleries to stop at on the way nearby (intentionally), so as it was already starting to get dark when we got here. But that is also a great time to enjoy the view back over the river and the heart of Porto from above on the hill. It was also a great time, until it got fully dark and they all went to sleep, to see, basically right when we walked in, a bunch of ducks, a handful of large geese (cool, but we gave them a wide space; geese have an attitude and you could tell they knew they could walk wherever they liked!), even a couple peacocks (though I would later learn, the best place in Portugal to see peacocks by far would be the castle in Lisbon, which has a whole huge flock of them.) Would I pay to get in? Probably not. But I also didn't have to; it's a free public park. :D

A gem of a park for everyone! A gem for the watchers, the walkers, the water lovers, the scenery…read moresoakers, the park sleepers, the picnic partiers, the everyones! Get lost by your curiosity. Walk and walk, bring your creative photo eye since some of the best views of the river can be found here. Public restrooms, often food vendors. A Porto staple to visit.

Iconic bridge in the heart of Porto…read more Dom Luís I Bridge is a 19th century double-deck iron bridge spanning 172m across the Douro River between downtown Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. It was designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel who incorporated a metal arch reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower that blends modern design with versatility to this day. The upper level is used by metro streetcars while the lower level 45m below it for cars. Each offers a unique perspective to those of us who walk across it. From Gaia, many locals and tourists alike come for the sunset view next to this UNESCO world heritage landmark. At golden hour, the view of the bridge was picturesque with Porto's historic backdrop and drifting boats under the bridge. While huge crowds gathered at Jardim do Morro with a tree obstructed view, we found the best view to be on the other side above it at Miradouro da Serra do Pilar by the monastery. Don't try climbing Pedra dos Gatinhos, as it was fenced off along the path underneath the monastery. While bridge viewpoints at golden hour are busy, we felt the energy of local musicians playing relaxing tunes. This bridge can also be viewed from the Teleférico de Gaia cable car including during sunset. After dinner the bridge is brightly illuminated and we observed locals gathering merrily at Jardim do Morro. Conveniently there's a metro station nearby for the streetcar which crosses Dom Luís I Bridge back to Porto. Skip it or hit it? Walk it twice if you can for both upper & lower bridge crossings experiences.

The Dom Luis Bridge is one of the iconic sights in Porto, and one of the biggest bridges I have…read moreever seen that pedestrians can walk on! Aside from its giant stature, it's also quite famous because the architect behind the Dom Luis Bridge was a student of Gustave Eiffel, the mastermind behind the Eiffel Tower. When you keep that in mind, you can definitely see his influence in the structure of this bridge. It's almost like the bridge version of the Eiffel Tower! The Dom Luis Bridge goes over the Duoro River, which is gorgeous in its own right as well, but extra cool to see from this bridge. It spans the two sides of Porto - which are the town of Porto proper and then the district of Vila Nova de Gaia on the other side. Seeing the Duoro River splitting the two sides of Porto was really cool from the top of the bridge. I think lots of folks work or live on either side so there were lots of folks coming and going on the bridge whenever we would walk on it. I will say, if you have a fear of heights, this may not be the best bridge for you to traverse, because it is very high up and you can see through the metal grating straight down, which can be disconcerting if you have that fear already. Dom Luis is an amazing architectural wonder that also serves as a great commuter bridge for pedestrians - and throw in the beautiful sights from atop the bridge and you have the best of both worlds!

Great music, beautiful views, cocktails and mocktails, dinner and appertizers what else could you…read morewant? I highly recommend the Charcuterie board. It was filled with all sorts of cheeses and the prosciutto was really good. I also liked the jam which I think was fig. I appreciate that they had mocktails. And really enjoyed the Morro Sunset.

The Morro garden is about 100 years old, and today it is a popular spot for both local residents…read moreand tourists to have a picnic, enjoy live music, and relax. The garden can be accessed via the metro, cable car, or bridge. My husband and I did a bus tour of Porto, and our tour guide made a stop at this garden. The garden had beautiful greenery and peaceful walking paths. We felt most interested in viewing the Douro River. We had excellent views of the water. We were at the garden during the middle of the day, but I heard that sunsets here look stunning.

Went with a large group of friends for a Douro Valley Wine Tour in March. Our Living Tours guides…read morewere Luis Matos and Pedro Teixeira, who picked us up from our hotel in two vans and drove us around all day while narrating the history and knowledge about the area. We stopped by two beautiful vineyards for delicious wine tastings (Quinta Dos Castelares and Quinta Santa Julia) with a peaceful boat ride on the Douro River in between. The whole day lasted 9am to 6pm. Luis and Pedro did a wonderful job and made the trip seamless and memorable. They mentioned that they partner with different vineyards daily, so you could get other wonderful options for wine if you go on the tour with them. Overall, highly recommend the experience and thank you for a great trip!

Living tours has a great Douro Wine Valley tour. Rita and Luis were fantastic guides and Rita is…read moreso knowledgeable about the history and we learned so much about the beautiful country of Portugal. The first winery was amazing! 100% recommend using this company.

They deserve a zero for communications, but a four for their 1 and 45 minute tour. Well let's start…read morewith their communications. Their website is absolutely ridiculous. There are no directions explaining where to initially meet the bus, and the FAQs were totally useless. We wandered around the city trying to find the location when we happened upon a Grayline representative who works for the competitor but was nice enough to help us. Once we were on the hour and 45 minute tour, we really enjoyed ourselves. The narration was good, and I enjoyed the added music. We hopped off the bus by the beach, walked around and had lunch and ice cream. It was great because the return bus was on time. The 45 minute city tour was just okay. Not alot to see and the narration did not work on this particular bus.

I like to take a bus tour to get my bearings in a new city but this was by far the poorest hop on -…read morehop off bus tour I have ever been on. 1. Almost no narration 2. Many earphone jacks did not work 3. No announcement of stops 4. Very little signage for stops Got off the bus and never bothered getting back on. Not recommended.

Spending the day with Ana in the Douro was definitely the highlight of our time in Porto! She is an…read moreamazing host, who clearly has a deep love of the area given that she was born and raised here. We've been to wine tours in several counties, and this was at the top of our list! Because we had some rain in the morning, Ana adjusted our tour to try to get us the best weather for our boat cruise on the river. We started at a boutique winery, which was fantastic. Fernando took us around his family's property and gave us an assortment of red and white wines for tastings as well as 40 year old tawny port from his family's personal barrels and a new wine that another winemaker friend brought over to him. From there, we went to a 3 course lunch at DOC, which was delicious and also could be personalized to your tastes. We ended the day with a tour at a boutique port producer and with the river cruise. We cannot recommend this tour enough!

This is the best way to see the Douro Valley. You can relax, enjoy and learn about the Douro and…read moreit's great wine. You will do things no one else has done with the owners of the vineyards: share a meal,watch the harvest, participate in the harvest and drive thru the vineyard in a 4 wheel vehicle. Awesome Solon OH

After the first full plate of bacalhau, I went back for a heaping second helping. I cleaned that…read moreplate as well. It was delicious, my first time with the classic Portuguese dish, plus I wanted to impress my friend's father with my healthy appetite. Unbeknownst to me, salt cod digests very different from its broiled cousin. I got the fish sweats, and I couldn't sleep. Before first light, I headed out for a walk. I crossed over the Dom. Luis I. Bridge. In Gaia, I walked behind two guys, I guess on their way to work. They stepped off the street and cut behind a row of homes: I instinctively followed at a distance. The path brought us to the top of a hill, where it was possible to get back on the road. The road lead to another of Porto's awesome bridges. As the sun rose, I crossed the Ponte Infante D. Henrique for the first time. Named for Prince Henry, the bridge was inaugurated on March 30, 2003. Ponte Infante D. Henrique was designed by the engineer Adão da Fonseca and it was built to replace the upper deck lane of the Luís I Bridge. I I took in the stunning views of the city and Douro gorge, while the morning traffic jam slowly built. On the Porto side of the Douro gorge, the waking city appeared from the Ponte Infante D. Henrique as if in miniature. Cars still had their headlights on as they snaked along the river road. A yellow tramway traversed a steep cliff and disappeared into a tunnel.

When I tried to put together a day trip to Douro Valley, I thought the price of 145.00€ per person…read moresomewhat pricey, but after the day, I can totally say it's worth it. Winery visit: I can spend on my own 30-40€ to visit the major wineries near the station, and listen to canned speech by employees. Or I can let Jorge takes me to small producers, where the owners personally take us to tour the properties that have been in their families for generations, pour us their wine, and over the glasses discuss everything from his recent NY visit to Vivino's effect on wine consumption. Lunch: I can spend 20-30€ at one of the restaurants near the station. They will likely be good, but it won't be as special as family style dinner in a vineyard manor that is hundreds of years old. Boat tour: There are hour-long boat tours for 10€ at the dock, where the narration is either from a recording or a printed handout. Here, Jorge takes us out on his own little speedboat, and answers any question we have as we go along. And to be able to drink all the wine samples and not have to worry about navigating the narrow, steep, unpaved and signless roads up and down the valley? Priceless.

Absolutely the highlight of our trip. We went to so many wonderful wineries - had an amazing lunch…read moreand learned so much about the Douro Valley

If you want to visit the Douro Wine country and don't want to drive yourself this is the way to go…read more The host was really sweet and very informative the stops were beautiful and fun with great wine and stunning views. If you're in the area you don't want to miss a visit to one of the most beautiful spots and certainly most incredible wine region I've experienced.