We took a Private Porto City walking tour with Oporto Shore Tours. Jennifer was a pleasure to communicate with, and she provided lots of nice suggestions for our visit. She made scheduling easy, and I was able to arrange a tour that included pick up from the airport, a walking tour of Porto city with a visit to the Lello bookstore as requested, and a Port wine tasting. Igor was our guide. He was waiting for us as we departed customs with our luggage. He was very entertaining and lighthearted. He had a comfortable Mercedes van, although the interior was a bit older and thus appeared a little worn. It was not quite the luxurious van that I expected…But Igor was quite was a fun and an enthusiastic guide. We walked all over the city of Porto and saw all the major sites. We saw the Clergios tower, we stopped at one of the cathedrals, we went to the famous train station with the colorful Portuguese tiles, and visited the Lello bookstore with pre-purchased skip the line tickets. The bookstore was crowded, but a highlight for me as a Harry Potter fan. The walking tour was a really nice overview of the city—although Igor took us down way way way too many steps climbing down from the cathedral area to the riverside. I had sore knees for the next few days! And that was unnecessary since Igor had the van at his disposal. I would suggest that he skip that part of the tour.
We had a planned to take the 7 bridges boat ride next, but Igor somewhat discouraged us from taking it due to touristy crowds, which we agreed to. In restrospect, however, I wish that I had taken it since I had already paid for it, and because I would have liked to see Porto from the water. Had I known that the regular boat tour was not advisable due to the touristy crowds, I would have alternately arranged for a private boat option instead with Jennifer (more expensive but possible and probably worth it).
However, Igor did take us for an excellent BBQ lunch in a small nearby fishing village called Afurada. We had the best codfish fritters that I tasted while in Portugal (light, fresh, crispy, well seasoned), and we also had an amazing grilled fresh fish that Igor himself deboned! Yummy! It was served with creamy roasted potatoes, fresh vegetables, and a pleasant green table wine. It was really enjoyable, not touristy or crowded, and a place that I would seek out again if in the area.
We next drove to Vila Nova de Gaia to visit Churchills for a boutique Port wine tasting. The facility was very nice and modern, the staff was very friendly, but I would say that the wine itself was just ok. We had better wine elsewhere on our trip.
We did enjoy a nice scenic drive back into Porto after Churchill’s, and we stopped for nice pictures by the Dom Luis bridge before we conveniently got dropped off at our hotel in Porto.
Overall this was a nice introduction to Porto, although just shy from excellent.
Great experience from beginning ( booking) to the End! Outstanding service started during the reservation process and ended with
dropping us off at the port!
Igor, our Tour guide was outstanding and made our day in Oporto special!
The 4 of us enjoyed every moment with him! Thanks again Igor snd thank you Jennifer for everything as well!
Horrible day. This may have been due to the fact that our original driver/guide was sick so they sent a substitute
What went wrong
*couldn’t hear a thing if you were in the back of the bus
*no organized plan for the day
*took us to Porto tasting (which took 2 hours!!!!). Guide said he didn’t realize the tour would be so long. (Wasn’t that his job???)
*never made it to LELLO Bookstore
*basically was a cluster all around
Spoiled my desire to ever go back and see Oporto.
Avoid