Porto on a Budget!

Words & Pictures by Shaun Troke

On Tuesday 27th February 2018, Storm Emma would arrive on the west coast of Portugal, where she was expected to stay for 5 days. On that same day, I also arrived in Porto for a 5-day visit…

 Miradouro da Vitoria porto travel view

Descending through the grey clouds onto Porto, looking down at the mountains shadowing winding rivers and orange-roofed communities, I could sense that the merging of these two forces of nature – Storm Emma & myself – weren’t going to bind well at all.

For months leading up to this date, I’d regularly bitch & moan about the wind and the rain in Liverpool, something I was hoping to escape for a week…karma, however, thought it’d teach me a lesson instead.

So, while the weather didn’t allow for days of pleasurable exploring as hoped, the other objective was to do Porto on a £15 a day budget, something which you CAN do, providing your hotel/hostel* provide a plentiful breakfast in the morning…

(*accommodation costs are not included in the £15 a day budget)

SEEING

 porto card travel shaun trokeFortunately, most of Porto’s attractions can be reached on foot. To save money on attractions, you can purchase a Porto Card, something that I had but didn’t use (so, this has only given me reason to go back to Porto again!)

 Viewpoints of Porto skylines are easy to find…

However, I (& the locals) recommend visiting here during the summer months, when skies are bluer, and, wind is less.

And, no word of a lie, daylight broke through only ONCE, for a matter of minutes, the moment I reached observation point Miradouro da Vitoria

Back in the city centre, there are museums & monuments galore!

While I intended to grab a photograph of the Livraria Lello Bookstore, the €4 entry fee went against my budget, and would’ve been an expensive photograph!

 Instead, I purchased a .50₵ coffee from the vending machine in the foyer, that kept me buzzing & warm for the next couple of hours…

EATING

 Daytime eating was never a problem – café’s & restaurants are everywhere.

You can pick-up a coffee for under a Euro at many places, and, there’s plenty of establishments that offer 3-4 course lunches for around €5-6.

Within an hour of arriving in Porto, I’d already found a cafe/restaurant a few doors up from where I was staying: Bicho Papão, who have €6.00 4-course lunches…and, even offer a loyalty card, should you venture back many times after!

I never went hungry in Porto, and was always full after every meal…yet, it was evening dining that posed a problem for this solo traveller…

One evening, I walked around for a good 45mins, trying to find a food location without dimly-lit romantic lighting, where only couples & groups would be dining, where you’d look like a tool sat on your own!

Yet, I would always return to one particular area that housed three cafe/restaurants on one street – Rua Sampaio Bruno – all within a 30-seconds of each other  all solo-traveller friendly, and, all with free WiFi, too…

Café Embaixador

This place was discovered on my first night in Porto. It’s relaxed & friendly, and, it has a very local feel to the place…

 Old men adorn the cafe area with their espressos and daily newspapers, and, while the staff don’t speak much English, their menus translate into half a dozen languages, where you can also select food by numbers.

  Café Embaixador was where I spent most of my dining time. From it’s .85₵ coffees to enjoying local cuisine Francesinha (that they serve cheaper than most other venues), to a truly large helping of Spaghetti Carbonara:

  

Bella Roma

A couple of doors up from Café Embaixador, Bella Roma has an American diner vibe to it, where you can either sit at the bar overlooking the kitchen or you can sit at tables…

First time around, I indulged in a coffee and a generous portion of chocolate cake (both were spectacular!), followed by a steak sandwich lunch the next day:

Estambul Doner Kebap

Because it sits opposite Café Embaixador, I’d been scoping out this place every day during my time in Porto: Kebab and pizza pictures drape the walls around the entrance, thus enticing me to try it at least once…

For under €7, you can get yourself a rather large doner wrap, accompanied by fries and a drink of your choice!

   

These three places are ones I’d highly recommend for a solo traveller looking to dine alone…there’s also McDonald’s – only a 30-second walk from these three places – which seemed to be where most tourists flocked to.

At lunchtime, the queues around McDonald’s self-service machines would always be long…

But, one evening, I was still able to carry out my usual ritual of trying something new from a McDonald’s menu in a different country (though, I can’t for the life of me remember what this burger was called!)

  

  FYI, the WiFi in this McDonald’s is terrible.

DRINKING

If you want to stick to your £15-a-day budget, and, you still want to enjoy the taste of alcohol, dive bar Adega Leonor seems to offer the cheapest drinks, particularly from Monday to Wednesday.

Super Bock Beer and Sangria’s range from .50₵ to €1.50.

And, bottled beers like Desperados have a set price of €1.50 daily.

For those who fancy somewhere a little more fancy, the 17° Bar at the top of Hotel Dom Henrique offer reasonably-priced cocktails (only €7-€8), as well as large windows (and a balcony) providing views over Porto.

   

Their Bar Menu looked reasonably-priced, too.

SLEEPING

I was ever so lucky to be welcomed to Porto by the In Porto Gallery Guesthouse (you can read the full review HERE)

EPILOGUE

 Sticking to a £15-a-day budget was doable in Porto.

 Porto is cheap for food & beverages!

Eateries are everywhere, meaning you’ll never fail to go without food or caffeine, regardless of your budget.

 And, because everything is within walking distance, you shouldn’t need to splash out on public transport costs either.

During those 5 days in Porto, I experienced no more than 30mins of no wind & no rain.

I later learned that Storm Emma had been their first storm in decades.

This did make taking good pictures tricky:

The phone camera in one hand, a protective umbrella in the other, with aggressive winds yanking at both…

I felt this was the universe’s way of saying ‘stop complaining about the weather in Liverpool’…

Because really, what are the odds of a storm starting on the day you arrive somewhere and then ending on the day you leave?!

While the weather wasn’t the best on this trip, I still made the most of Porto, to bring you as much information and pictures as possible, while battling against the rain and the wind…

My umbrella, however, never made it home.

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