Porto to São Pedro da Afurada

WALK

TRAVEL

PORTUGAL

Porto to São Pedro da Afurada

Tuesday 26 October 2021

There are numerous travel guides and blogs out there that will tell you, in more detail than I care to do here, about the history and traditions of the picturesque “undefeated” City of Porto. It is a beautiful city and well worth a visit if you ever get the chance. This blog post is simply a record of our walk from Porto to the small fishing village of São Pedro da Afurada located on the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the Douro River.

Porto has countless impressive and notable buildings. The beautifully tiled São Bento Station, the Church of St. Ildefonso, the Capela das Almas, the Sé do Porto Cathedral and even Livraria Lello, better known as ‘that’ bookshop from Harry Potter. Still, for me, Porto is about three things. Port Wine, the Douro River and the Camino!

When we initially arrived in Porto, Susan and I thought we might do the tourist thing and go on a River Cruise & Port Cellar Tour. We asked around, and there seemed to be two main options. A short cruise that takes in the five main bridges of the River Douro and a long cruise that goes much further up the River into the Douro Valley. The long cruise takes six or seven hours, and the short one follows a route that you can easily walk. So that is what we did.

We walked from our hotel down to the River Douro crossing the Ponte Infante Dom Henrique to see the fantastic Luís I Bridge from another angle. From this vantage point, you can also see the Ponte D. Maria Pia railway bridge, which Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame built.

Then we walked along the River, passing the historic wine cellars or “caves” and the old boatyard where they repair the traditional Rabelo boats, and on to São Pedro da Afurada. We had thought about trying to cross the Douro River via the Ponte da Arrábida, but it didn’t seem to be possible to do safely so; instead, we returned via the same route and stopped at the Wine Cellars for some lunch and some port.

Afterwards, we climbed up through the streets to cross the upper section of the Luís I Bridge and meandered through the streets back to our hotel.

View of the Luís I Bridge from Ponte Infante Dom Henrique

Rabelo port boats being built and repaired at a boatyard on the River Douro

Rabelo port boat at boatyard on River Douro

Lavadouro Público da Afurada - Public Laundry

The Route

Distance : 9 Miles

Porto is a City built on a number of hills that slopes steeply down to the Douro River. The walk along the River is flat, but that is the only part that is. There are plenty of places to stop and eat/drink along the way and in the village of São Pedro da Afurada where grilled fish is the main dish.

Click HERE for a GPX file of the route.

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