Blogs from Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 13

The Douro is the third-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula after the Tagus and Ebro. Its head waters are in Spain. Its total length is 897 kilometres (557 mi) "The Douro runs through one of Europe’s most beautiful stretches of countryside, flanked by vineyards under the warming Portuguese sun. Traditional wineries and charming villages break up the fields of green which typify the Douro region. Before reaching the Atlantic Ocean, the Douro dissects the ancient city of Porto on its final leg. The entire Portuguese nation owes its existence to the Douro, around which the country was founded." On Thursday, we took a seven hour cruise up the Douro River to Ragua, where we had a two hour stay, and then a ninety minute train ride back to Porto. The price included br... read more

"Located along the Douro river estuary in Northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centers, and its historical core was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The western part of its urban area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its combined Celtic-Latin name, Portus Cale, has been referred to a... read more

After a great day in Sintra, we hopped on a train and headed north up to Porto.... Porto is Portugal's second largest city, and in my opinion, the most beautiful... It is situated on the Douro river and known for it's picturesque bridges, Baroque churches and old school Port houses. Our first intro to Porto was unfortunately a bit dicey lol! It had been raining when we arrived by train, it was damp, grey and misty... We used trusty Google maps to find our way from the train station to our apartment that had some rave reviews on both trip advisor and Expedia.... apparently it was only 500m from the station... yay right?? Google maps sent us up this street - aka steep cliff-like-hill who's name LITERALLY translates into 'Body Guard" in Portuguese.... We started our ... read more

Liz wanted to go and see Porto. We were close a few years ago but never made it to see the place.. So this time it was on. for a hectic drive through small villages where you have to stop for all sort of things that move from one to the other side of the street. Truck take the whole road so it very hard to pass. anyway we arrived in Porto late afternoon and the GPS took us right to the front door. The car park was over the road and . they gave us a hand with the luggage, so all good. Having first a cup of coffee we went out to see what Porto had to offer. As first we noticed it is a city where all streets go up and down that ... read more

Leaving the sunshine of the Algarve,we headed north early for what I consider to be the heart and soul of this Iberian country. Evora This was our first stop after hours of driving on beautiful roads, away from the coast and into the interior hill country, bypassing numerous small towns and villages. Besides the sightseeing in the city itself, the most amazing discovery was the megalithic stones discovered nearby. The stones of Almendres Cromlech, have been in use since 6,000 BC and are two thousand years older than those of Stonehenge. It is worth Googling this for more in depth information. Tomar This small town of 40,000 was the perfect introduction to authentic Portugal. Later on, I will share an incident that we had with the police on the highway after we left this town on ... read more