Porto - Day 1

November 8^th, 2025

From her research prior to the trip, Naomi had found a few sites for us to visit on our first day in Porto. 

 

The first stop was a famous bookstore called Livraria Lello.  It was a short jaunt from our hotel but before we got there, we briefly checked out a Saturday morning market in a nearby square.

Walking into a Saturday market in a square.

This is Jazz, a regular customer at this stall that sells dog treats.  She was super cute.

Beautiful tiles.  Note the ones on the bottom are more blue.  That's because the higher up ones are actually covered by a thin fabric to protect them.  This is done if there is construction nearby to keep the dust off of them or for general preservation.

Arriving outside the bookstore, we were greeted by a long and wide lineup.  One line was for 12:15pm, the other was for our time spot at 12:30.  There seemed to be a bit of chaos in the queue as there were a few people budding in ahead of us, but we didn’t stress too much as we would all be going in roughly at the same time.

The omnipresent line-up at the Livraria Lello.

As we entered the century and a half year old building, the first thing that caught our eyes was the unique staircase situated in the middle of the floor.  It ascended halfway up to the upper floor, then split, and curved up to the left and right.  There were many tourists getting their photo taken by their partner/friend or snapping selfies (we were guilty of that too).

And we could see why, it was amazing inside.

A selfie.

Supposedly this isn't very busy according to one of the staff.

A beautiful stained glass ceiling.

The staircase was a highlight.

An old cash register.  It says "DINHEIRO".

For some reason Naomi likes photos of someone taking a photo.

On the congested staircase.

Part of the deal of the 10 Euro ticket to enter the store was that you could use that money towards the purchase of a book.  I couldn’t help but notice that there was not a single book in the place that had a price tag under 15 Euros…smart marketing on their part for sure.

The ornate ceiling.

Naomi was about to select a copy of the Wizard of Oz for her niece with some beautiful illustrations when a staff member suggested another kids’ book that was written about the bookstore and was not available anywhere else.  It was a pretty easy sell.

Some old books higher up on the bookshelf that were not for sale.

Exiting the bookstore, I suggested that we ascent the 75 meter tall tower of the nearby Clérigos Church.  We had a bit of time to kill before our 1 o’clock entry time so we walked down the street, checking out some stores and a bakery for one of the famous and ubiquitous “Pastel de Nata”, a nice little dessert or treat.

"He's got the whole World, in his hands..."

This is for my niece Emma, who loves to mimic statues.

Naomi spinning the moon on her finger.

A nice fountain in front of the University of Porto.

Across from the university, the Igreja do Carmo, a Catholic church.

A cute spaniel in the square.

The Clerigo Tower, which we decided to climb to check out the view of the city.

One of many lovely streets in Porto.

This is a sardine shop..and that is a wall lined with tins of sardines.

Cartoons on the packaging trying to tempt those who don't like the fishy food.

There was even a carousel of sardine tins.

We had to try the Portuguese dessert specialty, Pastel de Nata, which were freshly made in this bakery.  It literally means "creamy pastry"...and they were delicious!

Enjoying our pastel de natas in the park before going up the tower.

The tower was fantastic with spectacular views of the city, although I think they could have done with some traffic lights on the narrow staircases, especially near the top.  When there were people going up with others going down at the same time, it was pretty tight.  Also, at the top, there should have been an arrow so that everyone circumnavigated the tower in the same direction.  But as Naomi stated, I was looking for logic and you don’t always find that when you are travelling abroad, or even at home!

The church with the tower we were about to ascend.

Our first views, part way up the tower.

Looking towards the Douro river, and Vila Nova de Gaia, the city on the other side of the river.

The staircase got rather tight when people were trying to go up and down at the same time.

A great way to see the city.

Soaking in the views.

Unfortunately, not my first time behind bars!  ;)

It was a short walk to the Sao Bento train station, which was recommended by Naomi’s brother.  It wasn’t overly big but had some amazing tile work inside on the walls and I liked that all trains had to immediately pass through a tunnel as they left the station.

Inside the Sao Bento train station, the main station in Porto.

It's hard to see in this photo, but the trains disappear into one of three tunnels as they leave the station.

It was a beautiful train station.

Another one for my niece Emma.

At the top of the Luiz I Bridge which has this upper deck where pedestrians and the metro runs, and a lower one, for vehicles and also for pedestrians.

An interesting, old mural.

Our lunch..weird looking burgers, which tasty okay, but the pancake like patties didn't really fit in the bun.

A cobblestone street about to be redone.  It is hard to see in this photo, but what a jumble of stones that will have to be arranged properly...that looks like a lot of work.

Another lovely tiled building.

And a more colourful one.

After some lunch, we headed back to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out to catch sunset at a high point near the river.  Google took us to a spot that had a bit of a view of the sun setting (it would be better in the summer), but it was a bit of grotty area with some muddy ground, graffiti on a short wall, garbage and empty beer bottles strewn about.  There were also some young 20-year-old guys drinking some beer and smoking a joint, yet we still enjoyed the sunset views.

The Clerigo Tower,  which we ascended earlier in the day, looked lovely in the sunset glow.

The lighting got better and better closer to sunset.

I thought it was interesting graffiti...

After some sushi for dinner, we walked around a bit more and found this interesting jewellery store/museum.  This is called Filigree, a very instricate type of metalwork to make jewellery and other items.

This ship looked like a lot of painstaking work.

Not a job i would like...they are working with thin metal filaments.

The University of Porto at night.

It was a full day in Porto, and it was just day 1.  Tomorrow, we have more on the itinerary…it should be good.