Porto is one among Europe’s oldest and most photogenic cities and whether or not you are staying some time or calling in on a cruise, it shortly has you below its spell. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed historic core is a peach, all blue-and-white-tiled baroque church buildings and vibrant, red-roofed buildings lining steep, cobbled lanes that weave all the way down to the bars and eating places strung alongside the north financial institution of the River Douro. Having been seduced by this metropolis on earlier visits (the primary time as a callow backpacker), I’ve returned on an upscale cruise with Silversea, and have the afternoon to mooch round. However my plan is to depart Porto instantly.
My goal as a substitute is Vila Nova de Gaia, a neighbouring metropolis on the alternative aspect of the Douro, just some hundred metres away because the gull flies. Gaia is residence to the majority of the well-known Port wine lodges, and vacationers, particularly cruise passengers, are sometimes bussed over for excursions and tastings earlier than heading straight again to Porto or their ship. However there are actually extra causes than ever to linger in Gaia, many centred round WOW, a brand new, wander-worthy cultural district spanning a sequence of transformed, centuries-old wine cellars and warehouses.
Head over on a water taxi from Porto’s riverside Ribeira space or on foot (or tram) throughout the Ponte de Dom Luis I, a double-deck steel arch bridge constructed within the Eighties by German engineer Theophile Seyrig, a enterprise associate of Gustave Eiffel. You’ll be able to stroll the bridge’s decrease degree, however the higher deck grants the perfect views, with Porto’s fabulously jumbled skyline, the winding Douro and the promoting hoardings of Gaia’s wine lodges (Sandeman, Taylor’s, Calem and extra) vying in your consideration.
Whenever you attain Gaia, you will see a cable automotive bobbing all the way down to its waterfront. However essentially the most atmospheric route is by way of a tangle of stairways and alleys, some enlivened with road artwork and azulejos (Portuguese tiles). Observe the indicators to WOW, which opened — because the World of Wine — mid-pandemic with an assortment of diversions: seven themed interactive museums, 12 bars, cafes and eating places, galleries and occasions areas.
Wine naturally performs a serious function right here. There is a wine college the place you possibly can study the ropes about oenology and an expertise pairing chocolate with Port and different wines reared from grapes grown within the close by Douro Valley. However different museums deal with totally different Portuguese traditions. One showcases the fashions and footwear crafted by designers right here down the years, one other on Portugal being the planet’s largest producer of cork. A museum tracing the fortunes of the Porto area by way of the ages contains a reproduction of a classic metropolis tram fitted with digital screens charting episodes from historical past. WOW phases non permanent exhibitions, with a present one (till October 31) displaying 100 snaps by American Neal Slavin, one of many few overseas photographers allowed to seize Portugal within the Sixties when the nation was below the Salazar dictatorship.
WOW’s eating attracts embrace a steakhouse serving beef from northern Portugal’s Minho area and a fish restaurant plying cod, octopus and different Atlantic catches. There are venues for tapas, wine and cheeseboards, and occasional and desserts, together with pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts). You can too seize a chew by Lemon Plaza, which resembles a typical Porto sq. with brightly-hued faux-building frontages.
Extra foods and drinks spots flank the thin lanes threading from WOW to Gaia’s vast, spacious waterfront, the place temptations teem in Mercado Beira-Rio, a standard coated market reborn as a hip meals corridor. In addition to fruit and vegetable distributors, a butchers and fishmongers, it has stalls specialising in native staples just like the francesinha — a gut-busting tacky, meaty sandwich draped in a beery tomato sauce — and tripe, a basic dish of northern Portugal (folks right here aren’t nicknamed tripeiros, tripe eaters, for nothing).
Different distributors conjure extra refined dishes, together with vegan fare and flavours from Brazil and Portugal. You’ll be able to sup craft beers and numerous Portuguese wines. What’s pretty concerning the market — and most institutions lining Gaia’s riverfront — is the abundance of alfresco seating, so you possibly can drink, dine and chill with heart-warming vistas of Porto.
THE DETAILS
CRUISE
Porto stars on chosen Silversea itineraries, together with an 11-day cruise departing Lisbon on April 30, 2023, and ending in London. Fares from $8000 a individual. See silversea.com
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Steve McKenna was a visitor of Silversea Cruises.
