Porto
Washing machines are installed in every house, but local donas (ladies) still swear by the daily ritual of stone washtubs and good old-fashioned elbow grease at the lavadouro público (communal laundry). A blast from a bygone age, this is where they come to wash their whites, natter and sing – a social gathering with abundant soaping and scrubbing.
Pop in for a quick nose around and to brush up on your Portuguese.
1.69 MILES
Igreja de São Francisco looks from the outside to be an austerely Gothic church, but inside it hides one of Portugal’s most dazzling displays of baroque…
1.28 MILES
This fabulous cultural institution combines a museum, a mansion and extensive gardens. Cutting-edge exhibitions, along with a fine permanent collection…
1.92 MILES
From Praça da Ribeira rises a tangle of medieval alleys and stairways that eventually reach the hulking, hilltop fortress of the cathedral. Founded in the…
Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis
1.43 MILES
Porto's best art museum presents a stellar collection ranging from Neolithic carvings to Portugal’s take on modernism, all housed in the formidable…
1.69 MILES
This splendid neoclassical monument (built from 1842 to 1910) honours Porto’s past and present money merchants. Just past the entrance is the glass-domed…
Jardins do Palácio de Cristal
1.23 MILES
Sitting atop a bluff, this gorgeous botanical garden is one of Porto's best-loved escapes, with lawns interwoven with sun-dappled paths and dotted with…
1.42 MILES
At once minimalist, iconic and daringly imaginative, the Casa da Música is the beating heart of Porto's cultural scene and the home of the Porto National…
1.97 MILES
One of the world's most beautiful train stations, beaux arts São Bento wings you back to a more graceful age of rail travel. Completed in 1903, it seems…
0.08 MILES
Architects Barbosa & Guimarães have left their imprint on this contemporary marina complex in Afurada. With forms that mirror the shape of boat masts and…
0.56 MILES
Arcing 270m in a single swoop over the Douro River and linking Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia, this mighty bridge is visible from afar. Designed by prominent…
0.82 MILES
Run by the Faculty of Sciences of Porto University, this jigsaw of botanical gardens is a cool escape on hot summer days. Dotted with lakes and…
0.87 MILES
Housed in an antiquated switching-house, this museum is a tram-spotter's delight. It displays dozens of beautifully restored old trams – from early 1870s…
5. Igreja do Corpo Santo de Massarelos
0.93 MILES
Rising above the riverfront with a facade adorned in blue-and-white azulejos (hand-painted tiles), this church was built in 1776 on the site of a chapel…
1.01 MILES
Nothing blows away the city cobwebs like a wander along this beach, fringed by the protected dunes of the Douro Estuary Nature Reserve. The stiff sea…
1.07 MILES
Nestled on the southern slopes of Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, beneath cathedral oaks and sycamores, is the small but stately home where the exiled king…
1.09 MILES
Sidling up to the Cemitério de Agramonte, the Kadoorie Synagogue is the largest in the Iberian Peninsula and a visible reminder of the importance of the…