[For anyone reading this journal you know that we met up with our British friends Richard and Pauline in Porto, 31 January to 6 February 2026. What you might not know is that while we had to leave on February 5 to return to Lisbon they remained in Porto for an extra day. And so, here are a few of their photos as well as Richard's detailed travel notes to finish out the trip. It's always fascinating to view your trip from the perspective of someone who was right there with you the entire time.]
Our friends Steve and Susan were keen to escape severe winter weather in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had not visited Portugal before. They flew to Lisbon on 24 January 2026 and enjoyed six days there, including one when they were entertained by [Richard and Pauline's friend] Graça. On 31 January they travelled to Porto, to join us there for five days. They had planned to make the journey by rail, but severe storms in central Portugal prevented all train services between Lisbon and Porto, so they had to come by bus, although in fact their journey time was little different.
Saturday 31 January
2. Meanwhile, in St Albans we awoke at 6am to find an email and text from TAP Air Portugal saying that our 1010 flight was postponed to 1150! so we went back to sleep until 7.15am. We left Ellis Fields in our Vauxhall Astra at 8am, and had a smooth drive on M25 and M23 to reach Gatwick airport long-stay car park by 9.15am. We had smooth passage through Security in the South Terminal although, inexplicably, both Pauline’s bags were side-lined for inspection. Our plane took off at 12.15pm, after much queuing. There was no word from the flight deck. Cabin crew announcements were garbled/unintelligible. We landed at 2pm. Porto airport is huge! A long walk to passport stamps, where we both had our finger-prints and photographs taken. We took a taxi to Hilton’s Cenica Hotel in central Porto: 35 euros, including tip.
3. While we were checking in, Steve and Susan appeared: they had recently arrived. We have adjoining rooms: 306 (us) and 307 (them). We unpacked, and then joined Steve and Susan in the bar for a welcome drink, courtesy of the hotel! At 5pm we (not Steve and Susan) went for a swim in the hotel’s very good indoor pool, with adjacent jacuzzi! At 6pm we all walked out and eventually found authentic Portuguese dinner (bacalau, francesinha) at Restaurant Salmao, where we were the only customers.
Sunday 1st February
4. Breakfast (8.45am) was excellent. A huge variety of food was constantly replenished by pleasant, friendly, efficient staff. The coffee machines were the sole weak spot, but one of the waitresses was happy to make hot chocolate for Richard! If the available bacon, sausages, scrambled egg, mushrooms and fried potato were not your fancy, a chef was on hand to cook you a boiled egg or an omelette to order! At 10.15am we walked 5 minutes (in rain) to Trindade, the hub of the Metro system, and bought tickets to Jardim de Mooro, just south of the mighty river Douro, which the train line crosses at a great height on the impressive Ponte Dom Luis. From there we made our way on foot (in rain) to the World of Wine complex where, after coffee, we toured the Cork Museum and the Pink Palace (all about rose wine): both were fascinating, and fun. Between these tours we had lunch in the WoW restaurant, with good view of Ponte Dom Luis, albeit often shrouded in cloud. For dinner we enjoyed well-cooked burgers in the hotel restaurant.
Monday 2 February
5. From Trindade we took the Metro north-west to Casa da Musica, an iconic concert hall opened in c2005. The concrete structure didn’t look its best in the rain. It turned out that unless we took a self-guided tour we couldn’t see the interior, and the restaurant wasn’t due to open for two hours. So we left the building and admired the roundabout outside, which featured an impressive monument celebrating the victory of the Portuguese and British over Spain in the Peninsular War. Next, we took an Uber to Se/the fortified Cathedral. First (because it was due to close for lunch) we toured the Bishop’s Palace, which is pleasant and spacious and has superb views across the Douro and of the bridge. The Cathedral itself is strange: mostly plain and austere, but the east end is full of bling/gold leaf. Outside we walked down 100+ steps and found lunch at an hotel near the river. We walked west to the church of Sao Francisco, where we toured the church (extraordinary, entirely decorated in fantastic carving covered in gold leaf) and then the museum and catacombs. Apparently, all burials were in churches until 1866, when the state decreed they should be in cemeteries. Back at the hotel we swam, and relaxed in the jacuzzi. We joined Steve and Susan for aperitifs, and then walked 5 minutes to O Antunes restaurant, established in the 1980s, where we had bacalau and dorade in a very pleasant ambience.
Tuesday 3 February
6. It was Richard’s 76th birthday. We celebrated at breakfast with Buck’s Fizz, whereupon the lovely staff brought a mini birthday cake with candle, and our waitress Catarina sang “Happy Birthday” in Portuguese!
What a start! We walked in rain to the Art Nouveau Majestic Cafe for coffee, then took an Uber across the Douro to Graham’s Wine Lodge, an extensive set-up, where we enjoyed a tasting of three different ports, paired with cheese, chocolate and pastel de nata. In the restaurant, Vinum, we had a tasty light lunch, with impressive view of Ponte Dom Luis and the roof-scape of Porto, in intermittent mist; and the waiter brought Richard a platter of truffles to share, inscribed with “Happy Birthday”! Returning to the hotel, we relaxed, went out for a short walk in incipient rain, and then joined Steve and Susan for aperitifs. We walked in rain to O Antunes where Richard had a sirloin steak, beautifully cooked, and the others had salmon, pork and beef. Richard’s cheesecake dessert came with a candle: a truly celebratory day.
Wednesday 4 February
7. An Uber took us to Sao Francisco, where the ancient No 1 Tram starts its 25-minute route westward. We took it to its terminus, in sight of where the Douro meets the Atlantic Ocean, and we walked and admired the sheer daunting power of the waves crashing over the sea wall. An Uber took us north to Serralves, where we had a good buffet lunch. We toured the grounds, including the impressive Tree Top walk, the parterres, and the powder-puff pink villa (closed for re-decoration). An Uber took us back to the tram terminus, and we took the tram to Sao Francisco. Another Uber returned us to the hotel for swim and jacuzzi. For dinner we repeated burgers in the hotel restaurant.
Thursday 5 February
8. Steve and Susan spent the morning packing. We walked to the restored Mercardo do Bolhau, off rua Fernandes Tomas, and admired a huge range of stalls selling, especially, high quality fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Back at Cenica hotel we chatted with Steve and Susan until 1.15pm when they took an Uber to the bus station to return to Lisbon for their flights to Grand Rapids the next day. We had lunch in the hotel restaurant. We took the Metro from Trindade to Sao Bento, where we looked inside the old railway station and admired the wall tiles there. We walked down rua dos Flores, intending to visit Palaccio de Bolsa. But this can only be done by conducted tour, and the next one in English was nearly an hour away. So Pauline took a photo of Prince Henry the Navigator, who was standing outside. We walked sown to the Douro, and along to the Ponte Dom Luis, and across it! in strong westerly wind competing with the full river swirling westward just below. On the far side we climbed up to Jardim de Mooro and took the Metro back to Trindade. Pauline’s pedometer showed that this day we had taken nearly 12,000 steps! We had a quick swim and jacuzzi, and went out to dinner at Luffa, a few doors down from O Antunes. A really tasty meal.
Friday 6 February
9. After breakfast we packed, and checked out, leaving our bags at Reception. We walked south down the length of Santa Catarina, then west to admire imposing buildings in Aliados, then north to near Trindade for coffee, and finally east to Mercardo Bolhau for lunch at Cafe de Gina’s: vegetable soup, sardines, codfish, vegetable rice, cheesecake, sangria. Back at Cenica we retrieved our bags and took the Metro from Trindade to the airport. Our tickets cost 5.8 euros! and the journey was barely 30 minutes, faster and far cheaper than the taxi. Security and passport inspection were quick and efficient. Our plane took off at 6.50pm, 30 minutes late, and landed at Gatwick a shade ahead of schedule at 8.35pm. We were back at Ellis Fields by 10.50pm. It was dry and clear, 8 degrees C.
Conclusion
10 Special words of appreciation for Steve. First, he found the Cenica hotel, and indeed we enjoyed a special rate there thanks to his Hilton Honours membership. It was a splendid hotel in every respect. Secondly, Steve was willing and adept at summoning Uber taxis for at least ten journeys in and around Porto.
11. Although the weather was often cool, cloudy and windy, and sometimes it rained, it was early February, so what d’you expect? And the only activity that we couldn’t undertake was a cruise along the river Douro - from which all craft were banned, because of its height and fast-flowing. If we return to Porto we will hope for a river cruise, and try harder to get inside Casa da Musica and Palaccio de Bolsa.
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