Porto, Part 2 (15km)

I used a Komoot route as a basis for my sightseeing tour of Porto, but adapted it to suit my needs.

On the way to the Porto Cathedral, I popped into the pilgrims’ office to get the final stamp in my pilgrim’s passport – the same one as the first stamp – and to donate my walking poles. It was strange, but somehow giving away my poles made me feel really sad. 🥲

Then I visited the cathedral, where I saw another pilgrim and couldn’t help but exchange a few words with her. She was just setting off on her Camino.

Afterwards, I sat down on the forecourt of the cathedral and listened to a musician and strolled through the old town to the River Douro.

By chance, I arrived at the river right at a landing stage for sightseeing boats, and read ‘Six Bridges Cruise, 50 minutes’. So I spontaneously bought a ticket for the next trip, which was due to leave in five minutes.

After that beutiful ship trip, I had a bite to eat on the riverside promenade and listened to various street performers there.

Then I made the mistake of following the Komoot route for about 3 km through traffic, with nothing of interest to see. It took a while before I was finally able to relax in the pedestrian zone with a coffee and a pastel de nata.

I stopped the Komoot route and went back to the river before dusk fell.

Two weeks ago, I had already walked across the Ponte Dom Luís bridge on the upper deck; this time, I used the lower deck to cross it.

I had a beautiful view of the old town from the other side, and three boisterous lads in swimming trunks drew attention to themselves as they stood on the bridge railing before actually jumping off (a girl had been collecting money for the performance beforehand).

On my way back to the hotel, I picked up a slice of pizza for dinner and sat down for a short while in the pedestrian zone to watch a musical performance.

I really liked Porto – no doubt partly because the weather was brilliant on both occasions! 🇵🇹