Porto - which houses to visit?

[Ben H.]

My wife and I are finally going to Porto! (The layover in OPO 2.5 years ago really doesn't count...) Our trip is less than a month away so I guess I really should stop procrastinating and start nailing down logistics. Would definitely appreciate some advice picking out a few port houses to visit over the 4 days we'll be there.

First off, my wife wrote a little missive about us in her intro post. As she mentioned, we're still defining our taste, but we've enjoyed rubies, vintage, LBV, Colheita... Tawnies haven't really resonated as strongly.

So with that in mind, I've heard great things about Graham's - really like that they have a fantastic restaurant - so I suspect that one is on the list. Graham's was also my first experience with port so it occupies a bit of a special place in my heart. Also thinking about either Fonseca or Taylor and then for a 3rd choice, I'd really like to consider a house that isn't a big name. It would be nice to have different experiences at each - not merely just X house's version of what amounts to the same tour with some slightly different scenery.

Also... one small detail... I have read that parking is a real pain so even though we are renting, we will probably return the car after driving down from Lisbon. We will have a car for 2 days and then we'll be car-less if that matters from a logistics POV.

And lastly.... are these houses accessible via mass transit? Taxi services? Do we need to hire a local driver? Since we have a car for at least one full day, is there a less accessible house that we might save for that day?

Appreciate any help you can provide!

[Eric Ifune]

Are you planning on going up river? or just staying in Gaia?

[Ben H.]

open to suggestions! since we would have a car at least one full day, farther destinations are fair game.

[Glenn E.]

One of the nice things about Porto is that most of what you want to see is pretty centralized. The two waterfronts (Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia) contain probably 80-90% of the tourist spots on most people's itineraries.

I would not recommend driving while in Porto unless it's to get to somewhere NOT in Porto. Taxis are cheap and only probably necessary to get you to/from your hotel to the river. Both cities are also typically old-world European in that they have lots of very small, very crowded streets. Driving is not for the faint of heart.

Once you're on the waterfront you can walk to most destinations. Even getting from Porto to Gaia is only ~10 minutes across the Dom Luis bridge (which was designed by a business partner of Eiffel... yes, THAT Eiffel). Most of the major Port lodges are within about a 6 block radius in Gaia, so you can visit them all on foot. Graham's lodge is one exception - it is farther down river, but still walkable if you don't mind a little extra exercise.

The lodges that'd I'd try to visit are Graham's and Ramos Pinto's. RP is right on the waterfront and includes a tour of their old HQ building which is now a museum. For me it's one of the absolute must-see stops for Port nerds.

Something fun to do in Porto (vs Vila Nova de Gaia) is to climb the Clerigos tower. The views from up top are pretty spectacular on a clear day, and it's not that tough of a climb.

One word of warning: don't expect to find any good deals on Port in either city. Prices on Port are high relative to just about anywhere else in the world, so the only Port you would probably want to pick up in Portugal is something that you cannot find anywhere else.

[Andy Velebil]

Glenn mentioned a number of things already, so I'll just add some others.

Don't even think about trying to drive around the waterfront of Gaia. Walk or take a taxi to it then walk around, enjoy the views, and check out a bunch of Port houses.

Unless Fonseca opened something recently, they don't have a Lodge you can visit. Taylor's does though and it's right next door to the Yeatman hotel which is a great place to walk around and have a drink from the bar, sit outside, and enjoy the awesome view. They usually have some pretty cool things you can order by the glass.

Ferreira is a good choice as they have a great museum.

Graham's and the restuarant there Vinum rocks and is worth making the visit.

Quevedo, if you've not tried there stuff yet, is a bit bare bones Lodge but they offer a wide range of their line up to try and most on here really love their Ports.

Offley also has some really nice old pictures and some other things too look at.

Cockburn's I though has done a pretty decent job on the "walk around the inside a Lodge" as the tour isn't so "touristy" like some others.

Avoid Vasconcellos along the water front! Just trust many of us who've been there, don't do it.

Have fun!

[Eric Ifune]

If game traveling up river the towns of Regua and Pinhao are nice, although it may be easier to travel by train. The car would be useful if visiting the Quintas.

[Ben H.]

Thanks all for the tips. Probably going to put Quevedo and Offley on the list just to try a few (many) glasses of their offerings.

Any thoughts on the Port Wine Institute? Just out of curiosity. Saw it mentioned on a couple of travel sites. Overrated/shallow?

Francesinhas are on the list too, at Bufete Fase unless the current top reco is for somewhere else? Looking forward to one of those! On the other end of the fanciness scale, also going to try to get into O Paparico, but may be a bit late on that one... we shall see!

[Eric Menchen]

+1 on avoiding a car in Porto proper. We were there for a week and rented an apartment about a block from the river in the Ribeira area. We walked just about everywhere, and took mass transit a few times when we needed to go futher, and a cab to and from the airport.

[Ben H.]

Thanks again for the tips. I changed our car res to just the one day that we're driving down from Lisbon (btw, any must do's there?) so none of the farther Quintas.

Looks like it's going to be Offley, Quevedo, Taylor (all a stone's throw from our hotel, so lots of options on how to handle, including getting completely sloshed all in one go) and then Graham's with a lunch tossed in.

So excited!

[Andy Velebil]

Very cool. Let us know how your trip was when you get back.


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