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Holidays in Oporto and the Costa Verde
Situated in the north-west part of Portugal, the beautiful stretch of coastline known as Costa Verde offers visitors a peaceful and historically rich place to visit. With unspoilt sweeping bays, charming hillside towns and verdant landscapes of rolling green hills, rivers, waterfalls, and acres of thriving vineyards, the Costa Verde shows visitors a taste of the real Portugal.
Holidays in Oporto and the Costa Verde – Sample the areas’ famous port wine
Oporto, the capital of the north and Portugals’ second city, is a wonderful place to visit, situated on the cliffs high above the banks of the River Douro. Home to many medieval cathedrals and museums, the city is has an air of elegance, with its’ quaint narrow streets, excellent shopping and fantastic restaurants. The riverside district, the Ribeira, has undergone restoration and is now classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Visitors to Oporto mainly come to sample the famous port wine produced in the nearby lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia, accessed by one of the magnificent bridges crossing the river, the Dom Luis. Here, more that 50 companies, including Sandemans and Taylors, offer port tastings and tours, selling the local fortified wine to Oportos’ many visitors.
Holidays in Oporto and the Costa Verde – A beautiful stretch of coastline
The Costa Verde (Green Coast) offers some spectacular beaches and seaside resorts, popular with the Portuguese, offering a cheaper and less touristy option to the more commercial Algarve. Espinho, just 18km south of Oporto, an original fish-canning town, is now a beach resort with a long sandy beach, a bullfight ring and casino. Further north are the coastal resorts of Vila do Conde, famous for the local handicrafts such as lace and knitting, and sweets such as pastries and chocolate, and Povoa de Varzim, once the fishing centre of the region, and now a cosmopolitan resort with a vibrant nightlife. On one of the areas’ most beautiful stretches of the Costa Verde are the resorts of Esposende, an old fishing village backed by beautiful pine forests, which sits on the banks of the River Cavado, and neighbouring Ofir, with its’ sandy beach great for windsurfing.
Porto and The Costa Verde Holidays & Resorts
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