Braga - Portugal

Braga – Portugal

Post published:12 March 2017
Post category:Europe Portugal Southern Europe

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Cidade dos Arcebispos: Archbishop’s Town

At only 60 kilometres from Porto, this makes the perfect day out if you have the time after visiting Porto, or if you planned this trip on purpose. The city lies only 20 kilometres west of Guimaraes, the city where the country Portugal as such was born in the 10th century, another of the most beautiful and historical cities in the country, UNESCO World Heritage Site listed. The three of them, Porto, Braga and Guimaraes are unique sights on their own, some of the must visit places in the country.

We planned this trip from our base Porto, and while we decided to have as our main highlight the city of Guimaraes, we left the open possibility, if time permitting, to then end our weekend tour here to Braga for the rest of the day before heading back to Porto’s airport. Our flight was thankfully quite late at night, so we had plenty of time; all we needed is good organisation and preparation and this worked great as you can imagine; otherwise I would not be writing a travel guide for this city right now.

The city is a wonder, like anywhere in Portugal you can never be wrong. There is a large amount of beautifully preserved old buildings covered in tiles all over the historic area, palaces, charming squares and dozens of churches all around the usual and so characteristic Portuguese way of paving the streets, in stone and granite mosaics. Another unique fact in Braga is the oldest water-counterbalancing funicular in the world still in operation, linking the upper city with the sanctuary at the top of the hill from where you get the views of the entire city. (more…)

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Guimaraes - Portugal

Guimaraes – Portugal

Post published:12 March 2017
Post category:Europe Portugal Southern Europe

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The birthplace of Portugal

At only 50 kilometres from Porto, this makes the perfect day out if you have the time after visiting Porto, or if you have planned this trip on purpose. The city lies only 20 kilometres east of Braga, another of the most beautiful and historical cities in the country. The three of them, Porto, Braga and Guimaraes are unique sights on their own, some of the must visit in Portugal. After all, this is from where the country as such was born in the 10th century, precisely right by the Guimaraes Castle. With so much history thriving on every street, every turn, it is no surprise UNESCO has recognised it and listed as a World Heritage Site.

The city is very small and extremely compact. The UNESCO area is reduced to the medieval core which is intact. Once, it was completely surrounded by fortification walls, but were mostly turned down in order to expand the city with elegant wider streets and avenues, notoriously to the east of the old town, centred around the Mumadona Square where the streets follow from here an orthogonal grid typical from the 19th/20th century extension of most of the European cities.

Visiting Guimaraes is straightforward and won’t take you much time. A day trip is well more than enough, with plenty of time to do everything and actually having the other half of the day to complete your day by going to the nearby city of Braga. Although double in size than Guimaraes, is a perfect combination that I strongly advice you to do. Going from Porto to either of them by commuter railway only takes approximately 1 hour, and in between them, one of the many public buses take around 30 minutes. (more…)

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Porto - Portugal

Porto – Portugal

Post published:11 March 2017
Post category:Europe Portugal Southern Europe

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A Cidade Invicta: The Unconquered City

Over 6 years have passed since our first and only time in this incredible city, and still not sure how so much time have passed to return only for the second time. There are certain cities in Europe where does not matter how many times you return, there is always a fun in coming back and always something new to see and enjoy. Porto is one of them for sure, and now that there are better and more frequent choices of airlines and timings, will be easier to find another good deal in the near future. However, as pretty much everywhere else in Europe, during high season it is generally cheaper to fly farther away to more exotic destinations to the rather “around the corner” Porto. Anyway, this was about time to revamp the guide for this city, since what I wrote years back was not so complete and already getting obsolete.

Have in mind that a weekend for this city can be short. There is simply too much to see and do, and our plan this weekend also included visiting the nearby cities of Braga and Guimaraes, or at least that was our initial intention, if not both, then just Guimaraes. On literally every corner there are sights and amazing buildings everywhere. The old town core is very large considering the overall size of the city, one of the most historic cities in Portugal, no wonder it is listed an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yet despite this fact, it is unfortunately in much need of restoration. Many buildings falling apart and many others totally ruined. Thankfully the city is slowly revitalising and regenerating bit by bit which surely in few years time will make a huge difference. It does already in these 6 years lapse, nothing to compare to the rather run down city we once knew. The current gentrification is perhaps too fast, with trendy and chic shops, cafes and bars popping everywhere but with an ideology I don’t quite share: skyrocket prices.

While distances in the city seems “small” on a map, they are not in truth. The city was built among steep hills, and the up and downs are considerably, not to mention the gorge the river Douro marks along its length, cutting the city in 2 and connected by high bridges. Among them, the iconic and symbol of Porto, the Ponte Dom Luis I, and the Maria Pia Bridge by Gustave Eiffel. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, and Porto this masterpiece of a bridge.
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