Reflecting on my Porto Holiday!

Good morning everyone,

I hope you’re keeping well 🙂

Last week, I went on my first-ever solo holiday, spending six days in the lovely Porto, in Portugal. We’ll take a look at how the trip went and some of my thoughts about it in today’s blog.

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Well well well, after saying that I was going to do it at the very start of this year, my Porto trip arrived way quicker than I thought it would. After taking a couple of days to reflect on it all, I could not be happier with the adventure – it went so much better than I thought it would and has opened up a whole host of opportunities for what I can do in the future.

Here’s what I got up to during the trip:

🚤 Sunday – To start my Porto itinerary, I decided to visit the Soares dos Reis National Museum, which had loads of amazing artwork and sculptures on display. I next took time to explore the local area of Ribiera, before heading off on a boat tour around the Douro River, which was absolutely stunning.

⛪ Monday – Kickstarting Monday was my trip to Livraria Lello, one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. I next decided to do a bit of sightseeing, seeing the Clérigos Tower, the Porto Cathedral (which I went around and explored), Cordoaria and some more of the local landmarks.

🚠 Tuesday – I used the Teleférico de Gaia (cable cars) to travel from the coastline of the Druoro up to the area of Gaia. I spent some time admiring the brilliant views before heading off for food before coming back down. I next went to Taylor’s Port Factory for a Port Tour and Tasting session, before spending my evening watching the incredibly talented Portuguese singer Ana Pinhal perform in the Casa da Música.

👨‍🎨 Wednesday – I went to the Serralves Foundation, an enormous art exhibition, with breathtaking scenery in its gardens (I could have spent all day here easily). I next visited the Porto Marionette Museum, getting to practise running my very own puppet show, before having a guided tour of the Bolsa Palace, which is the hub of commerce for the entire Porto region. Later in the day, I went to the Museu Romântico to learn about the history of romance throughout Portugal!

🚂 Thursday – I tasted some awesome local foods in the Mercado do Bolhão, before seeing the lovely mosaics in the São Bento Railway Station and having one final walk around the Cristal Palace Gardens before taking my flight home.

As you can see from the above list, I don’t think it would have been possible to have fitted much else into my schedule 😂

The holiday went way better than I could ever have planned – I got to taste loads of Portuguese foods, visit so many incredible landmarks, speak to people from all over the world and so much more. The whole experience reminded me of how much I love exploring the world and has left me super excited for whatever future plans I decide to make.

I’m sure there will be loads more blogs inspired by this trip coming up in the next few months, don’t you worry. I’m still taking some time to process it all first before making any decisions and plans 🙂

Porto 2024, what a holiday you turned out to be 🍷

That’s all for today’s blog, what do you think? Have you ever visited Porto or Portugal before? Do you have any exciting plans coming up soon?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!

James