Porto and the Douro: Portugal's northern soul
Portugal's second city tumbles down to the river in a tangle of tiled lanes, and upstream lie the terraced vineyards of port.
If Lisbon is Portugal's sunlit face, Porto is its soulful heart — a working city of granite and tile that tumbles down steep hills to the Douro River, less polished than the capital and all the more atmospheric for it.
The old riverside district of Ribeira is a tangle of narrow lanes and tall, crooked houses, their facades clad in blue-and-white azulejo tiles, leading down to a waterfront lined with cafes. Across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia, the port wine lodges offer tastings of the fortified wine that made the city's fortune.
Porto rewards aimless wandering, from grand railway stations tiled with historic scenes to soaring baroque churches and one of the world's most beautiful bookshops. The food is hearty and unfussy — this is the home of the francesinha, a gloriously excessive sandwich smothered in sauce.
Upriver, the Douro Valley unfolds in one of the world's most dramatic wine landscapes: steep hillsides terraced with vines above the winding river, dotted with whitewashed quintas. A slow boat or train journey through the valley, or a stay at a riverside estate, ranks among Europe's great travel experiences.
Together, the city and its valley offer a quintessentially Portuguese blend of beauty, history and warmth, best savoured slowly over a glass of port as the light fades over the Douro.