Porto City Tour

In the morning, we had a local guide with us on the bus giving us information as we made our way through the business area to get to the largest Avenue in the country that is called Boa Vista. It is 3 miles long and takes you to the oceanside. We also got to see the Douro River that flows into the Altantic Ocean.

Other points of info...
- Porto's population is 220,000
- the University is the most renowned school of Architecture worldwide
- trolley system was inspired from San Francisco

We then got dropped off to do a walking guided tour of the City Centre. There is a lot of construction going on, and with the sidewalks being narrow in some places, it did make it challenging to get around. We walked by the Majestic Cafe (built in 1905), where JK Rawlings visited while living in Porto and wrote some of her early drafts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We checked out the Central Marketplace and then stopped for a coffee/tea and a piece of cake called "4th of May" as that was the day the cake was originally made 🤷‍♀️

We then checked out the Sao Bento Train Station. It was constructed over a number of years starting in 1904 and opening in 1916. It has around 20,000 ceramic tiles, murals representing moments in the country's history, and shows the people of the various regions.

Next up is the most beautiful McDonald's in the world! The Imperial Cafe was purchased by the franchise and was renovated in the historic building from the 1930's

We walked past the Lello Bookstore, which is famous for its architecture and is considered the world's most beautiful bookstore. There is a popular rumor that links Harry Potters author to it, but it is not true, and the line-up was huge to get in!Read more