Portuguese Coastal Camino - Day 1. Getting to Porto

 

Wednesday 3 September 2025 – Home to Porto

A horrid wet morning – we were picked up by Bradders and George, and taken to Gatwick. What absolute legends they are!

Our flight was with Portuguese flag carrier TAP – we got an early intro to the Iberian way by taking off late.  The weather was absolutely foul. Thank heavens for going away


I called Mac’s Adventures from the airport as I had noticed that our hotel in Porto had been changed, as was 1.5 miles further away from City Centre.  In fairness, they were excellent and got it changed back to the original in the time that we were waiting for our plane. Allegedly they’d changed it months ago as they couldn’t get a twin room. However, Hotel’s.com were currently showing twins available!

We landed in Porto at 3pm, and thanks to their fine Tram system we were at the hotel by 4pm

We really wanted to go to Livrano Lello (a bookshop that inspired part of a Harry Potter book), so headed there almost immediately. We managed to book a slot whilst queuing to get in. It was very busy, but nevertheless superb. It was so easy to see where JK Rowling got her inspiration from.



From the Bookshop we went to nearby Igreja do Carmo to get my first stamp, and then onto Porto Sé (cathedral) for another.

   







On coming out from there, Cate suggested going over Ponte Luis I to Villagaia. This, of course, was code for “how about going to Sandeman’s?” Hitherto I assumed this was off limits with our early start the next day. However, being weak-willed I didn’t need a second invitation – it was a reasonably warm afternoon, and we had time to kill.

   

 

Oh dear. One cocktail materialised into several. Then it was onto Mercado Beiro Rio for beer flights and Pizza’s. By the end of the night, we were both more than a little merry.


 

As always, Porto had worked its magic on us. The bar next to Sandeman’s was playing Fisherman’s Blues and other such fine tunes. What a city, what a vibe.

 



Once back at the hotel, I couldn’t find my blood pressure med’s. Cate was very relaxed, and reckoned that we’d find them in the morning

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