Day trips in Northern Portugal

There’s so much to do in Portugal – enjoy the delicious food, the kind people, the beautiful vistas, and the diverse geography! Northern Portugal in famous for the mountains, the more moderate and cool temps, and of course, Portugese wine country. If you’re looking for day trips in Portugal, you’ve come to the right place.

Most visitors to Northern Portugal start and base themselves in Porto. This is definitely a good idea since there is a plethora of accommodation options and easy public transit from the city. A hotel that I loved in Porto is the new and modern Yotel Porto. Clean, modern, with all the amenities you could ask for!

Alright so let’s get into the day trips in the North. This is what I recommend, in priority order:

A day along the Duoro – wine country!

Port wine is what Portugal is known for, and officially for wine to be called a port, it HAS to be grown in this Duoro Valley. Any other win you drink is not a real port! Non-port wines are also grown in this region if port is not for you, but I would say more important than tasting the delicious wines is enjoying the incredible scenery. A drive through the Duoro valley is one of the most scenic wine country drives you can do – and take it from me, who has spent a lot of time in California wine country! The Duoro is famous for tiered farming practices, cutting into the rock to build layers and layers of vines. These beautiful patterns, in combination with the beautiful flowing river below, create a backdrop that cannot be beat.

Duoro wine country is about 1.5 hours by car from Porto. You can take a train or bus (details) or rent your own car to explore, but I recommend booking with a small tour group. The advantages of this are: 1) you don’t have to be the designated driver and can drink as much wine as you want! 2) a lot of these tour operators have special relationships with the vineyards and can curate your experience and help you figure out where to go 3) the roads in the valley are pretty winding and steep so if you aren’t comfortable driving in this kind of environment, skip the hassle and hire someone else! I rarely go on organized tours when I travel, but this was a rare time when I thought it was 110% worth it. A tour operator that I loved was OPorto. It was a small group of travelers, the tour was in english by a very knowledgable guide, and we even became friends afterward!

Guimaraes

Another great day trip from Porto is the hour long train to Guimaraes. Guimaraes is thought to be the birthplace of Portugese culture and life, as it is the birthplace of X who was the first King of Portugal in XX. The best things to do in Guimaraes are to explore the Castle and the old downtown. The Castle is great because it is set up to resemble a real castle from the time, and is situated in a beautiful park above the town. The downtown area is an adorable cobblestoned, narrow alleyed area with winding streets  with adorable shops and restaurants scattered throughout. The main square in the town, Largo da Oliveira, looks like something straight out of Beauty and the Beast. I also think visiting Guimaraes is interesting if you want to just see what a normal town in Portugal is like, one that is not completely inundated with tourists. If you walk a few blocks out off the main drag, you can really feel embedded in the life of the town.

Aveiro

Aveiro can either be a day trip from Porto or a stop on your way between Porto and Lisbon (or Coimbra). Aveiro is a seaside town which is famous for it’s canals, similar to Venice. There is a very nice downtown area which is cobblestoned, with old homes and especially those in the X style of architecture which is interesting to see. You can take a cheap boat ride along the canal (about 10 euro) to get a quick overview of the town, and enjoy some fresh seafood at the many restaurants along the waterway. Something that I think is a bit of a hidden gem in Aveiro is a quick uber ride away, a little south down the coast, technicaly in the town of Costa Nova. There are many beautiful striped houses along the sea – unlike anything I’ve even encountered before!

Hopefully North Portugal makes it on your list of places to visit, and if you have time to spare outside of Porto, you check out these highlights!