Day 1. Porto – the beginning of a big trip

I have long wanted to see Portugal not from the window of a tourist bus or along the route "Lisbon – two attractions – airport", but normally, as completely as possible in one trip. I wanted to drive along the roads, stop in small towns, turn off to the ocean, look for beautiful viewing platforms and at least sometimes pretend that I perfectly understand exactly where the next turn leads. In the end, I decided to drive through Portugal from north to south, and then take a little more ride along the coast, because after a few days in this country, I got a diagnosis: "One more turn and we'll definitely stop."

The route turned out to be quite busy: Porto, the Douro Valley, Coimbra, Nazare, Obidos, Lisbon, Sintra, the Alentejo coast and further south to the Algarve. I tried not to turn the trip into a marathon, because I knew myself: if you put seven cities on the plan in two days, on the third day I would be sitting somewhere in the parking lot with coffee and looking at the navigator with the expression of a person who no longer wants to make vital decisions. Therefore, she left time for random stops between big cities, and they eventually became one of the most memorable.

The port

I started with Porto, and it was the case when the city was absolutely not going to get to know me gradually. He immediately gave me hills, narrow streets, colored houses, a bridge over the Douro and so many beautiful views that for the first hours I just walked with my phone in my hand and photographed everything. Even the trash can against the old wall seemed to me to be part of some kind of European art project.

Ribeira District

I left my car at the Port on purpose and walked a lot, because trying to drive through some streets of this city is an activity for people with strong nerves and very good reactions. Once I took a wrong turn and found myself on such a narrow street that I had to spend several minutes explaining to myself why I even decided that renting a car was a good idea. However, that's why I love traveling by car: sometimes you get not only an attraction, but also a free quest.

In the evening, I went down to the river, sat on the embankment and realized that Porto was ideal for starting such a journey. There's a bit of chaos here, a bit of old Europe, a lot of ocean air, and the feeling that the city isn't trying too hard to please you, but it's doing it anyway.