Oporto Holidays
Oporto Holidays – Living the high life
When it was voted European City of Culture in 2001, Oporto expected to become a major tourist destination. It didn’t, until the last few years, and is now becoming one of the top tourist destinations in Portugal for the hip and the culture driven.
At the mouth of the Rio Duoro, Portugal’s second city is an intriguing mix of architectural styles, from the 12th century cathedral and Gustave Eiffel’s Dona Maria Bridge to the Casa da Música, Oporto’s striking new concert hall, designed by Rem Koolhaas.
Ribeira is the historic centre of Oporto, a Unesco World Heritage area. Twisting stairways, ancient churches, and venerable houses make as intriguing wander through history, but it’s also where locals and visitors alike take a drink in the evening at one of the many old neighbourhood bars. Clérigos (Clergymen) barrio is the party area, where everyone from college students to energetic oldies fill the bars for an all-night bash.
A holiday in Oporto (or Porto as it is sometimes called), is for those who love culture, food, high energy nightlife – and not to forget the local wine, Port.
When to go to Oporto
That depends on entirely what you are looking for. For a fast and furious weekend, any time of the year is good, so long as you don’t mind some cold and rain during the winter. If you intend to spend a lot of your time walking or sightseeing, it is advisable to go either late spring or autumn, when the heat of summer won’t wear you out (although you will still be able to show you tan off in a T-shirt.) If you are hoping to spend a couple of days on the beach, any time from June to September would be good.
For a really weird experience, during the Noite de Sao Joao (23 June) residents run through the city hitting strangers on the head with long stalks with purple flowers on the end, stopping to devour sardines and baby goat to keep them going. There is a fireworks display at the riverside at mid-night, and then everyone under twenty-five walks the eight miles to the beach for an enormous techno concert that goes on until dawn.
The weather in Oporto
Average summer temperatures in Oporto hover around 25º so they are comfortable but not excessively hot, although they can rise to 30º, but rarely. You can expect around ten hours of sunshine a day. Winter temperatures can drop to around 13º in January, which is also the month, along with February, when you can expect most rain. There are moderate levels of rain from October to May, with light rainfall on a couple of days a month during the rest of the year. June, September and October temperatures in the low 20s are pleasant, but you may need a light sweater at night.
Getting a good deal in Oporto
As well as being an important tourism city, Oporto is also a major commercial centre, which will have hotels whose main clients are businessmen. This type of establishment often offer good deals at weekends, so if it is a long weekend you are after it might be worth checking them out. You should also find that they aren’t so fixed to school holidays in their rates, as more tourist-oriented resorts are, although you are unlikely to find that airlines will give deals during these times.
Have a look at our deals below, and remember to keep checking our late offers.
Airport and transport need to know
Oporto (Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport) is the second busiest airport in Portugal after Algarve, and is well supplied with bars, cafes, restaurants and duty-free shops. There are specially fitted toilets, adapted lifts, ramps and easy-to-operate telephones, for disabled people.
Flights from the UK are limited; TAP and easyJet from London-Gatwick (LGW), and Ryanair from London-Stansted (STN) and Liverpool (LPN), although these are sometimes augmented during the holiday season of May to October.
The ten-kilometre taxi ride to the city will cost between 20-30€ (£16-24) depending where you are staying. There will be a 20% surcharge for hires from 9pm-6am and at weekends and national holidays. Some of the major car hire companies are represented at the airport as well as local providers. Around 200€ for a Ford Fiesta for a week during July and August if booked online.
There is a metro link from the airport to Oporto and both national and private busses offer routes into the city.
Best beaches in Oporto
Foz do Duouro (also known as Sao Joao da Foz) is an up-market suburb of Oporto, situated where the River Douro meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is a very popular bathing resort with impressive views of the coast from the breakwater. There are a number of impressive chill-out bars, but it is known as being one of the most expensive and prestigious beaches around the city.
Vila Nova de Gaia, the town just over the river from Oporto is the Portuguese municipality with the biggest number of Blue Flag beaches in 2010, seventeen of them along seventeen kilometres of coastline. An added bonus are the wine cellars, where you can pick up a bottle of port for your return to your hotel.
Eighteen kilometres south of Oporto (connected by metro and bus services) is Espinho, a lively Blue Flag beach resort that was once where the wealthy of Oporto escaped the summer heat of the city. (It still has a casino.) The beach is large but can get a bit cool out of high season when the winds from the Atlantic waft landward. For that reason it is a popular surfing beach, and equipment can be hired nearby. For calmer waters there is a swimming pool complex, Solar Atlantico, beside Praia Baia, which is open from May to September.
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