Despite all the changes over the years, the historic center of Porto maintains its unique urban character. Located on the south hillside of Porto, the neighborhood of Ribeira makes up this UNESCO site with its winding streets and tiny alleyways leading down to the river.

As the name may suggest Porto is where port wine originated from. This area of Portugal is the industry epicenter and the city embraces this culture as such. Do not miss visiting a port wine cellar as part of your experience. A must see port wine cellar to visit is Grahams. This place was a full on factory and storehouse of the finest port wines in the world. You can get on a tour highlighting the origins and history of port wine, showing how they make it, and a special tasting after the tour. The tasting room is placed on a hill in a large patio garden overlooking the city, which is just gorgeous.

If you’re up for it, I would highly recommend getting a scooter to explore the area. It’s a great way to get around and it’s a fun experience in itself. Renting a moped in any European city is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to experience a new place. You can see more in less time, and you can experience the city from an entirely different perspective.

There is nothing quite like zipping past cars on a scooter while being surrounded by thousand year old buildings and historic monuments. Some cities are better for this than others, but Porto was one of my favorites to date; second only to Rome. I rode it everywhere, parked it anywhere, and traffic wasn’t bad at all. I was able to jump around from point to point without needing a cab or walking several miles.

Porto is also near the coast so you’re only a short ride to the ocean from the city center. Portugal’s coast see the largest waves of any place in the world which makes a trip to the ocean doubly worth a visit. I took a half day with the moped and zipped around the gorgeous coastline.

Definitely add Porto to your travel bucket list for when we can all travel again!