The vast majority of visitors to Portugal head straight to Lisbon, but a clear second place for cultural travelers is Porto. Famously the birthplace of port wine, Porto is mainly an industrial city, but it’s becoming increasingly popular with tourists as well, partly because of the excellent value combined with pleasant weather.
Hotels and hostels are very affordable in Porto by European standards. In fact, most things here are value priced for the continent, mainly because so much of it is priced for locals and wages here aren’t particularly strong. Restaurants with great views will charge much more than those without, as is typical. This is a city for food lovers and many of the best places are the non-view places with reasonable prices.
The attractions here are also relative bargains, and there are a few different free walking tours to choose from as well, which are great to get oriented.
