For the last of our five days spent in Porto, my husband Rich and I changed our minds several times regarding what we wanted to do. We considered taking a train for a day trip to visit various little towns in the Douro Valley but decided against this since we would spend most of our time traveling to and fro. In the end, we decided to visit the Foz do Douro beach area in west Porto where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Since we had not included the famous beaches of Portugal’s Algarve region on our trip itinerary, this seemed like a good local compromise.
We picked up the
number 500 bus from Sao Bento, since that route that would hug the Douro River for most of the ride, which gave us great views as we headed towards the beach. Once there, we planned to walk north along the coastline, passing by parks (jardim), forts (forte), beaches (praias), lighthouses (farolim/farol) on jetties. We also hoped to stop at a beachside café or bar/lounge for a drink and snack as part of our tour of this area.
Imagine our delight when our bus arrived and it turned out to be a
double-decker bus. We scrambled to the top level and claimed a window seat near the front, making sure to pick the side that would be closest to the Douro River. We passed by sites that we had visited on previous days including
Bolsa Palace and Praça do Infante D. Henrique but seeing the buildings and sculptures from our lofty perch gave us a whole different perspective. As we drove parallel to the Douro River, we had great views of the parklands, walking and cycling paths that sat between the water and our thoroughfare.
We got off the bus at the stop
Passeio Alegre, next to a small spit of land jutting out towards the Douro River. Here we found several historic sites that reflect Porto’s marine history. A tiny historic lighthouse named “
Farolim da Cantareira” consists of a 6-metre-tall red and white pole with a ladder leading to a platform and a lantern that shines a light with a range of 9 nautical miles. Originally built in the 18th Century, this lighthouse helped guide vessels arriving from the Atlantic until it was deactivated in 2007. It stands in front of the
São Miguel-o-Anjo Lighthouse, which was built inside a chapel in 1528 and considered the oldest lighthouse in Portugal. In the same area is an old
tidal gauge (Marégrafo da Foz do Douro) that measured and recorded the height and variation of tides over back in the 19th Century. The gauge consists of a small building that housed a float connected to a recording device and a cylinder that rotated at the pace set by a clock. The building isolated the float from wave actions, currents and winds. Finally, a
sculpture of an anchor and ship steering wheel acts as a monument to Porto’s marine history. As we were surveying this area, we spotted the historic
Line 1 Tram dating back to 1930s that runs from Ribeira to Foz Douro. We would be riding on a similar type tram in a few days when we arrived in Lisbon.
This area around Foz Douro is known as
Foz Velha and is considered one of the most the affluent parts of Porto. Rua do Passeio Alegre is lined with massive houses and buildings with interesting architectural features and stunning views of the river and nearby parks. We saw structures with turrets, gingerbread trims, ornate ocular and Bay windows, decorative wrought ironwork, Art Deco styled buildings and even one shaped like a castle or fort with crenulated towers that was turned into a private school which ran until 2017.
Jardim do Passeio Alegre is a beautiful public garden located at the western end of the Douro River where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The picturesque 19th century garden was designed by landscape architect Émile David in romantic style and spans 4.19 hectares. It features tree-lined paths including palm trees, exotic trees, shrubs and flowers, several ponds and fountains with sculptures in them including a granite fountain from the former Convent of Sao Francisco.
Marking the eastern entrance of Jardim do Passeio Alegre are two 12.6 metres tall,
18th century obelisks that were originally designed for the gardens of Quinta da Predela, a 17th century estate and winery in Porto. Also found in the park are
Art Nouveau styled public restrooms housed in a 1910 structure decorated with ornate tiles, with some of the original English toilets and sinks still in place. There is also a café, a bandstand used for events and performances and even a
mini-putt golf course.
Exiting the west end of the park, we followed the
Promenade Foz do Douro boardwalk along the river until we reached a pair of granite jetties, each with a lighthouse at the end of it. On the first, longer jetty is an orange and white striped lighthouse which Google Maps identifies as
Farolim da Barra do Douro. The second lighthouse on the shorter jetty is more famous.
Farolim de Felgueiras is a hexagonal-shaped, 32-feet tall lighthouse built in 1886. Its red lantern once emitted a signal every 5 seconds before it was decommissioned in 2009 although its foghorn is still active.
We walked up the first jetty, mesmerized by the huge waves crashing into its break wall with any overflow water spilling out slits on the sides. There were a few people who dared to walk right up to the lighthouse and although the waves rose many times above them, the break wall seemed to push the water straight up and then down again so the people were not getting drenched or swept away. We watched the waves crash for several minutes before I decided to try to approach the lighthouse. What I didn’t realize was that occasionally a rogue wave would miss the outer wall and roll along until it hit the side of the pier. If that happened, then a huge volume of water would drench the entire walkway and anyone standing in its path. I saw a large wave approach and jumped back, missing being soaked by mere seconds. After that, I sheepishly retreated further back to where Rich and a hoard of other tourists stood, safely taking photos and videos of the waves.
We soon turned our attention to the second jetty which attracted even larger, more dramatic waves. Once again, some fearless soul was standing right beside the
Farolim de Felgueiras lighthouse, which made for great photos since his tiny outline highlighted how massive the waves were in comparison. We had so much fun watching these waves that we ended up spending almost an hour here. As a result, we did not get as far north as we had planned before needing to return to central Porto for our dinner reservations, but it was worth it!
The water rushes in between the two jetties and starts to dissipate as it approaches the shore where there is a sandy beach. We watched as one hearty local braved the elements and went for a swim, getting closer to the swirling waters than would have been in our comfort zone. His female companion looked on from the beach, but did not look prepared to rescue him if required.
Finally tearing ourselves away from the hypnotic waves, we continued our way north along the coastline which was now adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. We passed by
Forte de São João Baptista, a 16th-century stone fortification that overlooks the massive seawall and the lighthouses. Constructed between 1570-1653, the fort was commissioned to defend Porto from pirates and enemy ships. We continued along the
Promenade Foz do Douro walkway which rose gently in elevation as it ran parallel to
Praia dos Ingleses (English Beach) below. This beach consists of 86 meters of fine-grained sand bounded by large rock formations on either end. From our path, we were able to look down at the beach and watch the rolling waves coming in from the Atlantic. The water was too rough for swimming but a few people did try to dip their toes in and avoid (often unsuccessfully) being splashed by one of the larger waves. One man stood bravely (foolishly?) on a large rocky mound taking a selfie while the waves crashed against it.
Sitting right on the edge of the beach with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean,
Restaurante Praia da Luz is a cool restaurant and beach bar that offers innovative interpretations of traditional Portuguese cuisine as curated by chef Luís Américo. The establishment includes an open-air terrace cafeteria bar and an indoor restaurant which is accessible either from Rua Coronel Raúl Peres or from the beach. The outdoor terrace and deck have chaise lounges, couches, dining tables and chairs and covered sections from which you can have a drink or snacks while enjoying the seascape.
This was the perfect location for us to rest our feet and get some refreshments. Luckily, we were able to snag a table on the terrace where we could enjoy watching the Atlantic Ocean while we dined. Since we already had dinner reservations, we settled for ordering a few snacks and cocktails. We shared fried cod fritters with dill mayonnaise, spicy tuna in olive oil and green olives while sipping a passionfruit pisco sour for me and white port with tonic for Rich.
After our snack break, we continued our northward trek and reached the next beach called
Praia do Molhe. Here, we found the
Pérgola da Foz, an iconic concrete pergola constructed around 1930 in neoclassical style and painted a light golden-yellow hue that appears to change colours with varying degrees of sunlight. This is known to be a great location to watch the sun set. but on this day, the weather had suddenly turned. The sunshine we experienced earlier in the day was replaced by a thick mist so dense that we could hardly see any structures ahead of us or out into the ocean. At the same time the winds picked up and the waves grew even stronger than before. We quickened our pace, concerned that we would be caught in a deluge as there had been no rain in the forecast, so we had not brought any umbrellas or raingear on this excursion.
Then just as quickly, the fog lifted, the winds died down and the sun came out again before we reached the end of our walk. This climate reminded me of the old joke told when in Banff, Alberta where the weather changes constantly and dramatically. "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes." Following the beach path, we passed by a few more beach-side bars at the beach
Praia do Homem do Leme as well as the sculpture “
Homem do Leme” (Man at Helm) depicting a mariner at the steering wheel of his ship. Finally, we reached a set of stairs that brought us back to street level at the north end of
Jardins da Avenida Montevideu, a lengthy park that spans about 6.8 acres. Here we would catch the bus back to the Ribeira district for our dinner plans. From our bus stop, we could see
Forte São João Baptista, another fort built in the 16th to 17th centuries to protect Porto from enemy attack. Defensive walls were built around existing structures including the Church of S São João Baptista, the chapel of São Miguel-o-Anjo and the residence of the Bishop of Viseu. Through the centuries, many modifications were made to the fort including the addition of four ramparts and a neoclassical portal with a drawbridge. It is too bad we did not have time to visit either this fort or the previous one that we saw at the start of our day.
Our dinner that night was at
Cozinha das Flores, an award-winning restaurant led by acclaimed chef Nuno Mendes that offers unique, new spins on northern Portuguese cuisine. The restaurant has a modern, cosmopolitan ambiance with an open kitchen that exposes a wood-fired hearth where large cuts of meats are grilled. We sat inside since it was getting chilly at night, but the outdoor patio seating would have allowed us to be entertained by the street performers in Largo de Sao Domingos where the eatery is located. We did come across a guitar playing singer after dinner as we headed back to our rental apartment.
Our meal lived up to the hype as it was not only delicious and beautifully plated but also innovative in terms of ingredients and dishes. We started off with a Jerusalem artichoke tart topped with grilled pumpkin seeds, grilled local spider crab “donuts” and flame-torched amberjack fish topped with herbal sauce and seasonal citrus. For mains, we had the grilled John Dory fish with charred summer cucumbers and fish roe sauce and the grilled fillet of beef with grilled onions, bone marrow and walnuts. For dessert, I selected a beautifully plated Glorinha which came as layers of phyllo pastry stuffed with with orange blossom ice cream and topped with colourful edible flowers. Rich chose a milk dessert made from fried, sweetened skimmed milk. This was a nice way to end our five days stay in Porto.
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