When we started looking at places to live in Portugal, I really liked the idea of Porto. A big city with lots to do, an artsy vibe, but still seemed affordable. The downside was the weather. It gets rainy and gloomy and I need sunshine. I get really bad seasonal depression so I knew I couldn’t live in a place where it would be gloomy and dark. But I knew I still wanted to visit.
My husband loves craft beer. He worked in the only brewery on the Las Vegas Strip until COVID shut it down. We love to go to breweries, even though I don’t and can’t drink beer due to celiac. But they usually have ciders. Many of our vacations throughout the years have consisted of brewery and bar hopping. I found out that Porto had a beer festival so we planned a trip up during that week so we could check it out.
Our friend Emma came along. There are short and cheap flights to Faro and back. We found a really nice apartment to rent. It was perfect, a 1 bedroom with a comfy sofa bed for Emma. Perfect for 3 people and right in the center of Porto.
We arrived and got a Bolt to the apartment. I was exhausted. I had stayed up the night before to watch the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup!!! #goknightsgo! I only had about 3 hours of sleep and a 30 minute nap on the plane, but I was excited to explore the city. There was going to be so much to do and we only had a few days. We dropped off our bags and headed out to explore and grab some lunch before heading to the beer festival.
We found this great restaurant called Honest Greens. They had absolutely amazing food and it was healthy. They had so many gluten free and vegan options and had the coolest vibe. It was definitely created to be on Instagram, it was just beautiful. They had a nice outdoor patio with a wall covered by plants. The food was delicious and they had these infused waters that were so refreshing. Emma and I shared a Ginger Goat Cheese Crunch bowl. It had steak with chimichurri, goat cheese, greens, sweet potatoes,candied walnuts and a few other items. It was huge and so delicious. Karl had a Latin Lover bowl with rice, beans, corn and other veggies. We also all shared some hummus with veggies for dipping. For dessert we shared a miso cheesecake, which we thought sounded interesting. It was a bit of a strange flavor, I didn’t love it.
After lunch we set out to explore. We walked all over the city. We went to a couple churches and to the Trindade Museum that also had a church connected to it, Igreja da Santíssima Trindade. The museum had a bunch of interesting information about the history of Porto and the Catholic Church. They had art and silver on display along with old books and robes worn by the Priests. The Church had a massive altar. We walked up to the tower up a very narrow, winding stone staircase where we were greeted by amazing views of all of Porto.
As we were walking, we came across a bar called Ilícito and decided to pop in for a drink. It was really hot out and we thought a drink would be a nice break from the heat. We expected just a normal bar but once we walked in we were delightfully surprised. This bar was so cool! It had an Alice in Wonderland theme. The walls were painted with beautiful murals of a circus. We sat down and the server presented us with a deck of Tarot cards along with a small bucket of popcorn. The menu on the window had very standard drinks, but the real menu was the Tarot cards. Each one had a unique drink presented on it. I chose the Starry Egg, which was a vodka drink with vanilla, lemon and strawberry topped with foam. I had no idea I would be presented with a giant egg! Emma’s drink was served in a mini bathtub with a rubber ducky floating in it and for Karls whiskey drink, the server burned some rosemary to sit next to the glass and the drink was poured from a genie lamp. The presentation was so cool, the drinks were delicious, and the staff were all friendly and fun. It was so much cooler than we expected and I am so glad we wandered by it.
After our drinks, we went over to see the world’s most beautiful McDonald’s. I had seen it on Instagram and wanted to see it in person. It really was beautiful. The place was originally the Imperial Cafe. In 1995 McDonald’s bought the building and kept most of the original decor. It has gorgeous stained glass windows and huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was so weird to see all of this in a McDonald’s but I’m glad they kept so much of the art. It’s also a great location for people watching. For people interested, McDonalds in Europe actually offers gluten free options, but I wasn’t hungry at this point so I just visited to see if it was as pretty as Instagram showed.
For dinner we ate some delicious pizza at Terraplana. They were really careful about gluten and made sure I would have no problems with what I chose to eat. We got pizza, mine had chicken and spinach and some really good cheese. I don’t get to eat pizza in restaurants very often so I was excited. It was really good. They also had a very cool vibe and atmosphere. They had numerous areas to eat including a nice back patio and an upstairs with couches.
After dinner it was time for the main reason we came. The Beer festival! I was super excited because I heard there would be ciders. I’ve mentioned before about the lack of varieties of cider in Portugal so I was very happy to have some different ones. I also knew there would be some meads. Karl and Emma were excited to try all the beers and they had brought their beer horns with them that they had each bought at the medieval festival a few weeks before.
The beer festival was great! They had so many beer tents and food trucks. They also had music. Everyone was dancing around, drinking and enjoying themselves. It was a lot of fun! There were 3 different ciders available and a few meads. I found one cider that quickly became my favorite! It tasted like a berry juice. Unfortunately, I drank a few too many of them and forgot to check what it was called so I could try and buy some. 🤦♀️😂 We also stuffed our face with some delicious french fries from a food truck.
The beer festival started winding down so we decided to make our way back to the apartment and stop for one more drink along the way. It was a long, exhausting day but it was so fun and we got to see so much. Day 1 of Porto was a success.
Day 2
Day 2 started out with a much needed coffee. We then headed towards the Mercado do Bolhão. It was a big market with so many stalls. Fresh food, produce, flowers, candy, and wine! We got some healthy lunch here and had a nice, refreshing glass of Vinho Verde because it was so hot outside.
We had signed up to do a free walking tour of Porto but we had some time to waste. We went to Com Cuore to grab another coffee and a snack. Com Cuore is a 100% gluten free place that makes Pastel de Nata along with a bunch of other goodies. It’s hidden away right in the middle of downtown. I definitely recommend it if you have gluten issues.
We booked our free walking tour with Hi Porto Walking Tours. Our guide was named Filipe and he was wonderful. He was so knowledgeable about Porto and literally took us all over the city. You should do his tour if you ever go! Along the way we saw the Jardim da Cordoaria which was a park with some really cool trees and statues, we went by the Catedral do Porto, the train station which is gorgeous inside, we stopped at an amazing viewpoint, we saw some museums and other important buildings that are significant to the city of Porto and we ended the tour in Gaia, right across the river. Along the tour we learned a lot about the history of both Portugal and Porto. I don’t want to give too much away because you should do it for yourself! And by the way, the walking tours are free but tips are appreciated.
After the tour we walked through a festival, got some food, and then hit a rooftop bar at Espaço Porto Cruz, one of the port houses for a nightcap. It was a lively place with great music and amazing views of Porto. Gaia had a really cool vibe and we wanted to return. We stopped near the bridge to get some amazing pics because it was such a beautiful place.
began construction in 1881
Day 3
This was going to be our last full day in Porto. We still had lots on our list of things to do but we had little time left. We went back to Honest Greens to try their breakfast, which again was delicious! I had some protein overnight oats with granola and fruit and an iced mint matcha.
From breakfast we went over to The Portuguese Centre of Photography. It’s a free museum that is housed in an old prison called Cadeia da Relação. It is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The museum explores all types of photography from the last 100 years along. There is also information about when it was a prison and has interesting information about some of the old prisoners.
Next up was the Salão Árabe do Palácio da Bolsa. This is the building of the Chamber of Commerce and it is gorgeous! The place was originally part of the St. Francis Convent, however a fire destroyed it in 1832 and Queen Mary II donated the ruins to the Commercial Association. The interior of the palace was not completed until 1910. There are several rooms in the palace with different types of architecture and art from different artists. It is breathtakingly beautiful, especially the Moorish Revival room. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when we stopped here, but I am glad we went. The pictures I took don’t even begin to show how beautiful this place is. The tour was informative and told about the history of the building as well as more history of Portugal. Events are held here regularly and the day we visited, they were setting up for a high school prom. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We made a quick stop at a Port Museum and then headed back to Gaia to do a Port tasting. We each had 5 tasting glasses of Port and they were delicious. Each of the Port houses offers tastings and tours however we were short on time so instead we went to the free museum in Porto to learn a little bit about it and then found a little spot that offered the tasting for €5! It was at the old Mercado Municipal de Gaia which has been converted into a food hall. It was much cheaper than the port houses!
For our final night, we went back to the beer festival! We still had tokens left and we all wanted more of that cider! It was way busier on Friday and the whole vibe was more energetic. It was a lot of fun. We danced and we drank and had a wonderful evening.
Homebound
The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast before going to the airport at 100 Culpa. It is a 100% dedicated gluten free restaurant. They have a great breakfast menu and a beautiful presentation. The food was delicious and healthy.
That was a wrap on Porto. I really liked the city and there is so much to do. It was hard to fit everything into 3 short days so we had to pick and choose what we could actually do. I would definitely love to spend more time there, maybe even a month or two. I really liked the energy of it and there is so much more I want to experience so I will absolutely be going back!
I will add a separate list of all the restaurants I visited with links.
Check out my instagram @vegas.to.portugal to see reels and more pics of Porto
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