Skip the hilly hike with a scenic cable car ride…read more Teleférico de Gaia is a gondola cable car route down along the hillside of Vila Nova de Gaia from the upper terrace by Dom Luis I Bridge. It features a colourful view of historic Porto across the Douro River. We paid €9 pp for a return ticket for efficiency rather than hiking between these viewpoints after landing & touring historic Porto and walking across the famous bridge. After a walk down a tunnel, the gondola ride-on system from the top is efficient like a ski lift. The ride itself is only around five minutes each way, but those five minutes gives you panoramic views of the Dom Luis I Bridge, the Douro River and Porto hillside neighbourhoods. At the bottom, we found a lively waterfront with music, wine patio, street vendors and Mercado Beira Rio. The ride back from the lower cable car station took much longer due to the lineup heading back in the late afternoon. As we ate dinner, we noticed a few cable cars still operating at sunset past the posted 6pm closing time for the perfect golden hour view across the Douro River. Skip it or hit it? It's worth the view & quick journey but be prepared to lineup at peak rush.

This is a good way to get a nice aerial view of the bustling Porto tourist area by the river. Keep…read morein mind this ride is VERY short - I'd say it will be 5-7 minutes max before you're already reach the other gondola station at the top of the hill but it's a great way to still take some nice photos and honestly save you a brutal walk up to the top area where the bridge is. There are also some nice little vendors at the top of the hill by the park where the gondola station is especially a great vendor who was serving some insane delicious lemon gelato from a street cart. You also are a short walk away up top from the bridge that you can take some awesome photos of the city and riverside area. Here's the deal, this will cost you a bunch of Euros so unless you're young and hardy and don't mind a long ass walk or aren't averse paying for a taxi to go up to the top, this is probably a good option if you want to save some energy or time or save any older people or kids in your party from a long walk.

Great metro system that Porto has, wish they would have this for all of CA in the states…read more Can be a bit confusing at first but after a couple trials you will get the hang of it. If you're visiting, get the Porto card & Andante Tour card which gives you unlimited use of the metro, buses, and some regional trains to get around the city. The Andante Cards are rechargeable travel cards which can be used on Porto's public transportation. The Metro is a lot more reliable & on time Vs the bus system in Porto. Highly recommended, very clean & fast public transportation.

Porto Wine Hostel is a port-themed hostel conveniently located within walking distance of…read morerestaurants, public transportation, and popular attractions. What I liked: * The free glass of port wine at check-in was a nice way to start my stay. The wine theme continued throughout the hostel, with bottles lining the stairs and rooms named after port wines--a cute and creative touch! * My room was a private room with an en-suite bathroom. The full-length mirror was a small but much-appreciated detail. * Towels smelled freshly laundered (not always the case in hostels) and the staff were helpful and friendly. They answered all my questions and made sure I had everything I needed during my stay. What could be improved: * My "garden view" turned out to be more of a view of a large park under construction. Not quite the greenery I'd imagined. * Noise was a huge issue! The hostel warned about noise from the college crowd on the weekends; however, I wasn't prepared for loud music and gatherings lasting until 3 AM. Even with earplugs, it was tough to sleep. * The bathroom in my room was unusually narrow and dark, with an odd smell. I had to leave the door open for extra space. Things to know before you book: * There is no elevator in this hostel. This was fine for me; however, it's something to consider if stairs are an issue for you. * This is not a social hostel, so if you're traveling solo and looking to meet people, you might need to venture out or arrange a tour through the front desk. * Consider booking a different hostel if you want to fall asleep before 3 AM.

Love, love, LOVE this place!…read more First off, it's a bit of a hike from the metro station. It's not horrible, but it's not right around the corner, either. For myself, that was the only bummer. That being said, the short walk up a hill gave myself, my sister, and husband plenty of chances to look at the stunning Portuguese architecture and note some places to get coffee and shop for sandals and maybe some extra clothes. The Wine Hostel is fairly well marked and we had no trouble finding it. There's a small foyer you can enter where then you have to get buzzed into the building or swipe your fob. In this foyer, there was a vintage bicycle with a dozen empty port bottles in the front basket, a crate of empty port bottles on the back rack, and an empty crate of port bottles on the floor. The receptionist buzzed us in, and crates of empty port bottles lined the wall up the short stairs to the front desk landing. My sister turned to me grinning: "Are we in the right place or are we in the right place?!" The receptionist, Carla, was friendly and got us checked in. While she copied the info from our Passports, my group logged into their free wifi on our phones. Then she showed us around the hostel. The stairs continued up the left from the front desk landing with a gorgeous balister and opened to another landing that had a wide open kitchen and laundry area for guest use on the right and to the left an equally large common room where there was a dining table, several cushion chairs, 2 computer stations, a tv surrounded by bean bag chairs, and plenty of Portugal tour books and board games for free use. In the evenings there was port tasting for anywhere between 1-3 Euros, depending on the type of port you wanted to have, and every day there was a Happy Hour where they were even cheaper. We continued up the magnificent staircase to the next floor where our dorm room was. We stayed in the LBV room and it was beautiful! Three white wooden bunks and matching storage cabinets had plenty of room in this tall yet cozy dorm, with floor to ceiling windows that could be shuttered with doors. The room had an attached modern bathroom that was beautifully tiled with a toilet, sink, and stand up shower. There was a tall woven rack that offered plenty of room for holding toothpaste and deodorant and such. The only thing that was a slight bummer was the laundry dryer was currently broken, so if we wanted to do laundry, we would have to air dry it (which wasn't really possible because it was a foggy, rainy stay in Porto, but we weren't desperate for clothes just yet anyways). The Wine Hostel isn't very near a lot of sight seeing attractions, but it was close to a lot of wonderful restaurants, and that's honestly just as good. Walking out to find a delicious and affordable dinner was no problem at all, and Carla was happy to point us in the right direction. Another night my group stayed in and maybe had a touch too much Port while we used The Wine Hostel's wifi to finish checking in online to planes, securing train tickets, and paid for print-outs of said tickets. Since Porto is the home of port wine, the options are basically unlimited as to what kind of port you want to drink, and what only costs mere Euros here would wipe you out in the United States. My husband and I are huge port fans, so this was basically heaven. When it was time to check out, the Wine Hostel offered to hold our bags until our train left, but we declined as we could rent lockers at the train station to hold our stuff until it was time to head to Lisbon. It wasn't as cheap as leaving them as the hostel, which would have been free, but it would save us a trip and precious time. I would 100% go back to The Wine Hostel. I absolutely loved it and had a wonderful time and experience. The beds were comfortable and the sheets and comforter were new and clean, the residence was gorgeous, and the staff was friendly. I definitely recommend it!

I love the blue tile panels; they're stunning…read more The station is for local commuting (no trains go to Lisbon from here). Construction is underway, so some of the tile panels are covered halfway for protection.

Another country with great train transportation! We were staying at Lisboa and went to Porto for a…read morefew days! The train there was newer and had great AC,nice and cold. But the train on our way back was older. About 45 minutes from Lisboa, the cool air disappeared. That was the only negative from our travel back. Easy to take and only one change over to another train!

Porto is Portugal's second city but its airport is the best…read more Porto's Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport services both domestic and international flights with one modern well-organized terminal. We arrived in the busy mid-morning and it was a quick exit from the gate to the arrival area and then out of the airport. We were already in the EU Schengen zone from a domestic flight but the security and signage are well-streamlined at this airport. The airport feels modern and large, with connection directly to the historic downtown. You can take the purple metro line via light rail from the airport to Trindade within 30 minutes and then transfer to the yellow line for the more central Aliados, Sao Bento or Jardim do Morro stations. Before exiting the airport, the arrival area has a Tourism Interactive Store where you can pickup the 72h Andante Tour card for about 15 EUR to provide unlimited transit to sightsee. Since the Porto Card now excludes transit, this was a better alternative for us. The side of this store has a huge slanted TV display which you can't miss. Skip it or hit it? There's no need to fret about Porto Airport as it's one of the best in Europe.

This review covers arrival experience…read more Arriving late at 11pm in Porto, our plane from Munich is parked elsewhere, and we are shuttled to the airport itself. Being within the Schengen Area, we are pleasantly dropped off at baggage claim and exited the security area easily, no customs needed. Giant and clear signs marked metro or Uber/Bolt transportation. We booked a car, followed the signs, and were at the dedicated lot in maybe 3 minutes. So easy. Side note: The lot is a bit messy, but that's due to the people, not the airport's fault.

I absolutely loved this location! It's right in the historic plaza in downtown Porto--just steps…read morefrom City Hall, the metro, and even the famous "most beautiful McDonald's." Plus, it's only about a 10-minute walk to many of Porto's must-see sights, which made exploring super easy. I booked a room with a plaza view, and it was incredible. I celebrated my birthday solo here and was pleasantly surprised with a thoughtful welcome-- a bottle of Porto and delicious cream puffs waiting for me upon arrival. Such a special touch! The staff truly made the experience even better. A big thank you to Pedro for always being so helpful, making sure I was comfortable, and answering all my questions. And shoutout to Ricardo as well for assisting me with my luggage and getting everything settled smoothly. I would definitely stay here again!

Great location. My family and I have stayed here several times as they are close to bulhao where I…read moretake the bus to visit my grandparents. The breakfast is not the largest selection but is tasty. They have gotten a bit high priced and wanted me to pay extra when i asked for a crib so decided to try a different hotel my last visit. Close to the metro that goes to and from the airport.