CHRISTINABUTORINA

Porto

The northen part of Portugal is an incredible place for travelling with nice and cozy small towns, lots of interesting places to visit, amazing nature, Atlantic ocean's coast, beautiful architecture, great welcoming people, awesome terrace vineyards in Douro valley, tasty food and, of course, great wine!

Porto from Lisbon ​by train

Aveiro from Porto by car

Guimaraes from Porto by car

Douro valley from Porto by car

Sintra from Lisbon by train

Porto

Aveiro

Guimaraes and Braga 

Douro valley

Sintra 

Porto

Sao Bento railway station

Cathedrals of the city

Cais do Ribeira

Ponte Dom Luis I

Clerigos

Lello bookshop

Vila Nova de Gaia

Port cellars

​Tapicso 

portuguese cuisine - perfect seafood and fish, extensive menu, sufficient wine card, excellent service, great atmosphere, suits well for lunch

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Cantinho do Avillez 

Michelin guide - chef's Jose Avillez expression and soul, personal involvement is in every elegant dish, large wine card is being served in tablet with special wine app (my fave way of serving menus), great for dinner or lunch

Vinhas d'Alho

portuguese cuisine - ideal codfish, huge winecard, nice service, perfect location on the narrowest part of Cais do Ribeira, suits well for lunch chill with a couple glasses of an amazing portuguese wine

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Fish Fixe

seafood restaurant - located almost under bridge Dom Luis, in one of the old bulidings, small place dedicated to fish, short menu but all fresh and good served

Cafe do Cais

bar & restaurant - spacious lounge on Cais do Ribeira, soft music, cozy chairs and warm blankets when it's cold outside, perfect especially for evening chilling out in front of water, sauteed shrimps with herbs and garlic are just fantastic, good choice of Port, nice space inside if you became cold outside, very good service

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Esquires Coffee 

coffee bar - small modern place dedicated to coffee, nice atmosphere, you can get a full breakfast there and drink a glass of something, easily for takeaway, organic coffee is great, friendly service

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Douro Velho (Vila Nova de Gaia)

grill restaurant - spacious inside and outside, big area of open grill so you can watch how guys cook, perfect grilled dishes especially seafood & fish, tasty fish soup, good choice of wines, welcoming service

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Mercado Beira Rio (Vila Nova di Gaia)

modern food market with a lot of small restaurants and shops located right on the riverside (concept same as Timeout Market in Lisbon) - you can find everything there like meat points, special soups, fish spots, bacalhau place, handmade chocolates, fruit shops and of course wines and Port, opens till late evening, great place to eat and spend good time with friends

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Aveiro

Costa Nova beach

Barra beach

Costa Nova village

Bronze seafood & Lounge bar

right on the sand of Costa Nova beach on Atlantic ocean side - relaxing atmosphere with perfect ocean views, bar menu with coffee and sandwiches, restaurant menu with plenty of fish and seafood for lunch, good place to spend a couple of hours chilling on the beach  

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Canastra do Fidalgo

seafood restaurant on the lagoon side - very small place with excellent portuguese cuisine, fish is super fresh, ideal sauteed clams, giant grilled shrimps are mouthwatering, fine winecard, good choice of digestives, perfect service

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O Cais

next door to Canastra do Fidlago - one more small place dedicated to fish and seafood, food is simplier and not that much sophisticated than at their neighboors, but still good and fresh, grilled squid and fish soup are very good, nice service as well

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Guimaraes 

Aqui Nascheu Portugal sign

Church Nossa Senhora

Oliveira square

Duke of Braganza's palace

Castle of Guimaraes

Braga

Santuario Bom Jesus do Monte​

Douro valley 

N222 road from Porto to Pinhao

wineries

Quinta do Noval

Quinta do Bomfim

Quinta do Tedo

LBV79 (Pinhao)

located in the center of the village right on the bund with amazing views to Douro river and the slopes around - the restaurant belongs to modern LBV hotel located up on the hills (the one I stayed and I highly recommend it too), the food is good especially grilled codfish, winecard is enourmous and all the wines are available only by bottles (if you want a glass, they can offer a housewine, which is not bad though), welcoming and very nice service

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Veladouro (Pinhao)

the next door to LBV79 - same great location and views, a bit more expensive but I would not say much higher class in terms of food, good fish, big wine card as well, nice atmosphere, great for dinner

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Sintra 

Palacio da Pena

Quinta da Regaleira