Porto Holiday 2025

My first visit to Porto was for the marathon in 2018 which was a lovely, scenic route but poorly organised. The Expo was far away, the race started by a beautiful sandy beach but was poorly signposted, and after finishing the race, I waited for over an hour in the rain to get my bag back. I vowed to never return but, despite the unsatisfactory marathon experience, the city enchanted me and I returned with my family for a week this summer.

The flight from Gatwick to Porto takes just over two hours. Paying for business class was worth it, although I was not expecting the club lounge to be packed. Am I not as successful as I think I am? I was one of many passengers stuffing their faces with food before a fast-tracked check-in, comfier seats and food and drinks at the front of the British Airways plane.

We arrived at Porto Airport which I remember well after spending six hours sitting outside it to read my book the day after the marathon. The interior architecture is designed to emphasise light and space with nice touches like the international receipt tree decorated by passengers from around the globe stopping for coffee. The toilet facilities are equipped to deal with the footfall and are kept clean. It took a while to receive our luggage which makes me wonder if robots will help humans with loading luggage conveyor belts soon.

It costs around 30 Euros for a taxi to Hilton’s Cenica Porto Hotel which was once a theatre at the centre of the city’s arts and culture scene. It has retained that theatrical design and the rooms are spacious, quiet and cleaned daily.

The hotel’s Dramatics restaurant was busiest in the mornings for the buffet breakfast which offers cooked, continental, pastries, fruit, cereal, yoghurts and plenty of juices including a daily fruit or vegetable shot. You can even order your own omelette with a selection of fillings. Although a lovely selection of food, by day seven I could barely eat anything apart from cereal and fruit.

The hotel staff are fluent in English, knowledgeable and a credit to the Hilton group. My kids enjoyed the swimming pool and I used the exercise bike in the gym for a daily Peloton session. Sorry to the couple who we splashed as we raced up and down the pool. I loved the showers and scent of the shampoo and body soap.

The closest Metro stop was Trindade which I kept calling Trinidad and I managed to find my way around the port, high street and surrounding area without using Google maps.

It was nice to walk around without worrying about tired legs. I took my family back to the Matosinhos beach where the race started, unable to remember where the exact race line started. After 30 minutes of paddling in the sea I plucked up the courage to jump into the waves to get wet up to my neck. My family found the area a little bit dodgy but the beach felt safe and fun.

I read 220 pages of my holiday book Don Quixote, wondering what it is all about. I understand it now and will finish it. My son read four books in a week, loving the Jack Reacher stories. My daughter enjoyed shopping and my wife wished she found the Time Out Market at the start of the week.

I ate Octopus rice, my family liked Italian Republic Aliados although paying for breadsticks was a bit odd. The World of Wine was difficult to find but well worth it. I learned about cork, wildlife, wine, chocolate and played in a pink ball pit. I ate Porto’s Francesinha sandwich, made with layers of steak, ham, sausage, and cheese, covered in a tangy beer-and-tomato sauce, and topped with a fried egg and a cheese skirt. It was nice but one was enough.

The river cruise was a highlight and I walked to the top of the Clérigos Tower, which soars 75 meters above the city with a stunning 360° view. I witnessed a rude German couple insulting and barging past people to savour the experience. I’m amazed no one dangled them over the top until they renounced their sins.

Queued up for the Harry Potter library before remembering we have not watched the films or read the books, so we walked away. The Porto tram ride by the river was nice but antisocial people hanging on to the back of the cars like Marty McFly and banging on the side made me wonder if Back to the Future would have been successful if these dicks were in the film.

I recommend the cable car ride and walking across the bridges to soak up the city vibes.

If we go to Portugal again it will be Lisbon. Very sorry to read at least 15 dead after Lisbon tram derails and hits building.