... this is the proud and modern city of Porto.
Along the coast, holiday resorts and cosmopolitan beaches, busy ports like Matosinhos, with splendid seafood grilled open air , or traditional fishing towns.
Right next to Porto you can visit, in Vila Nova de Gaia, the lodges where Port wine is blended and aged and where you can taste the different varieties, or you may choose to take a river cruise along the Douro.
Porto is Portugal´s second largest city and there is a certain feeling of rivalry towards Lisbon. But although its ancient roots have been preserved with pride, a modern and lively commerce makes it a thriving city and its traditional importance as an industrial center does not diminish the charm and character of its old quarters or even of the newer and busy avenues, shopping centers and quiet residential blocks.
The Cathedral area deserves to be explored, with its various monuments, such as the Renaissance church of Santa Clara, and the quarter of Barredo, which appears not to have changed since medieval times. The riverside quarter of Ribeira is also delightful, with narrow streets, typical houses and picturesque life-style: it has been recently restored and now includes fashionable restaurants and bars. 
Lello & Irmão Bookstore - in 2008 The Guardian newspaper classified it as the third most beautiful bookshop in the world. The current builing dates from 1903 which was the time when it was re-launched by this two brothers. At that time, onw writer defined this bookstore as a temple to the divine worship of Emotion and Idea.
Equally lively and colourful is the market of Bolhão, where you can buy almost anything, but more elegant shops can be seen nearby, especially the jewelleries and leather goods shops in the Baixa (down-town).
UNESCO for the classification of the Oporto Historic Centre as Heritage of international importance.
Porto affords many other attractions, monuments and museums, as well as a cultural agenda which has been steadily improving. With a well-known gastronomy and hospitable population, it is also the starting point to explore the river Douro in an unforgettable journey upstream.
Clerigos tower , is without a doubt, Porto's most famous monument but the set of six bridges that link the south is its modern equivalent.
Porto is also known of its romantic hideaways, walks and escapes. Caminhos do Romântico.
Porto's living room is the café unlikely any other portuguese city, keeping with two hundred years of tradition, here café's are preserved and restored. Café Majestic on Rua Santa Catarina, is the king of all of the city's café's with its 1920's elegance.
Foz do Douro quarter - the sands don't extend very far. Porto beaches are urban , sandwiched between the rocks but giving a spetacular dance of waves and colours.
Avenida Brasil a weekend favorite for families to jog, play, walk or just enjoy sun at one of the many beach pavement cafés.
Two of the main cultural attractions of Portugal are found in Porto. The Serralves Contemporary Art Museum and Casa da Música , born in 2001 for the European Capital of Culture, Casa da Música has changed the city's arquitecture but also the musical panorama.
The art quarter - Miguel Bombarda is part of COOL PORTO programme, this small street joins together dozens of art galeries that monthly and simultaneously launch new exihbition capativating the interest of clients, dealers or just people with alternative ways of living.
The street also offers a great choice of restaurants, bookstores ,retro-cool furniture, alternative interior design, desig, music, etc
Tascas old fashioned taberns in Porto are a major institution. There are still some 80 old style taberns and they were often called as places of freedom , as it was here that working men on the 19th century would meet friends.
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