Favorite Corners - Porto

We were in Porto for two weeks, which is a long time for us to stay in one city. We wanted to try a slower paced travel, try to live in a place a little longer, and find a few more of those little favorite corners.

Cruise along the Douro River and see the 7 bridges in and around Porto as well as get a glimpse of the mouth to the ocean. Boats leave from both the Porto side and the Vila Nova de Gaia side, but the Gaia side may throw in an extra port wine tasting!

The Livraria Lello. Also known as the Harry Potter bookstore. Quick tip: Pre-buy the ticket online.

They say you can get tickets at the door if you get there early, but we tried and they wouldn’t let us (even though we were third in line) . And even if you’ve pre-bought your timed ticket, still expect to share a massive line up with other people who’ve also pre-bought the same time slot.

Bolsa Palace is a very fancy name for the old stock exchange building, but well-earned. The star of the building is the gold-inlaid Arabic Room.

But honestly, even the waiting room where we sat and waited for our guided tour to start was pretty impressive.

Perspéntico the big blue cat peeking out from one of the smallest streets in Porto.

While probably not by the same artist, I still adored this small kitten tucked near ground level.

The walls of the city offer a bit of a quieter space. Also you can watch the elevator come up. It’s not a cheap elevator, but it does get you up the hill. One of my favorite views of Porto is a little further away, situated in a parking lot of all places (if you’re really curious about the view from there, it’s the main picture for this post).

Porto’s riverfront is very compact and full of shops, restaurants. A great waterside walk day or night.

Victoria Park is known for being one of the viewpoints where you can get a good view of the Cathedral, but we also found these adorable cats with their little houses.

McDonald’s Imperial. Go inside to admire the art deco stained glass panels, vaulted ceilings, bas-relief walls. This is supposedly the fanciest McDonald’s in the world.

Train lines leading out from Campanhã station. Definitely not the most famous train station in Porto, but every time we came to this place, we knew a fresh and exciting destination awaited us.