Street Photography in Porto
I recently took a long weekend to Porto with my partner and although it wasn’t exclusively a street photography trip I did manage to take a few images which I’m generally happy with. We booked the trip a few weeks before we went and as Portugal in general can have intermittent weather in Winter, it was always going to be a gamble. However, spoiler alert! We lucked out for four days with pretty much continuous sunshine and as I’ve previously spent four days in Lisbon when it continually rained, we were very grateful for what seemed like a massive stroke of luck!
So after a shortish flight from London Gatwick (with the usual EasyJet delays), we landed in Porto at around midday on a Friday. After navigating around the airport we eventually found the metro which took around 35 minutes to get to the city centre. We were staying in a Hilton Hotel just south of the Baixa area with the nearest Metro stop being Bolhao. As soon as we rose from the Metro exit we were straight into the bustling streets of Baixa and the sun was shining with hardly a cloud in the sky. Once we reached the hotel we checked in and as we were too early for our room to be ready (which rarely happens these days), we grabbed some lunch at the hotel. We both ordered a chicken sandwich, which turned out to be the biggest I’ve ever had, we could have easily shared one!
So after lunch we dumped our bags in the room and headed straight outside to explore. We knew one of main attractions of Porto was the area north of the River Douro known as Ribeira, so after a little help from Google maps we headed that way.
Day 1 - Ribeira
Ribeira is the area in Porto north of the River Douro, known for it’s historic charm and bustling cobbled streets
For this trip I’ve packed the Fujifilm X100VI due to wanting to travel light, those who’ve flown with EasyJet will know their somewhat ungenerous baggage allowance, unless you want to double the price of your ticket by adding extras! It will also be my first full trip abroad with this camera, I’ve only had it a few months after a long, long wait!
As we followed the route provided by Google we were getting closer to the river and it became apparent that to get to Ribeira we would need to make a quick descent due to the area being much lower than the Baixa area from where we set off. One of the main attractions in Porto is the Dom Luis Bridge which spans from Ribeira in the north to Vila Nova de Gaia in the south. The bridge has two levels, the upper level is used by pedestrians and the Porto Metro, whilst the lower level is used by buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians.
The Dom Luis Bridge looking south
Before heading down to Ribeira we took a walk along the bridge and admired the amazing views over porto whilst I took a few shots to warm up with the X100VI. We quickly became aware of the metro trains which ran both directions on the bridge and the pavement was clogged up with sightseers so you had to be careful when walking around them.
We walked back to the north side of the river and found a route which allowed us to take a gradual descent towards Ribeira. I was wearing a light jacket, but it became so warm that I had to remove it so I was just wearing a short sleeved shirt. We weren’t expecting weather like this bearing in mind it was February!
As we continued our walk towards the river, the route took us through some very charming cobbled streets with the odd cafe along the way. Unfortunately all the outside seating was taken up so we carried on to Ribeira. We realised we’d arrived once we reached the river front and came across large groups of tourists. The priority was to grab a beer so we walked along the front to find somewhere suitable. We wanted to avoid the touristy looking places (which was proving difficult), however we eventually came across a charming wine bar called Wine Quay Bar, slightly elevated from the river front, so we headed there and perched on some seats over looking the river.
Sat at the Wine Quay Bar looking east towards the Dom Luis Bridge
After enjoying the wine and sun for a couple of hours we decided to head back to the hotel. This time Google took us a more direct route which was good in one way, however we quickly had an appreciation of how much lower the river area is than the rest of the city as we looked at the very steep steps before we started our ascent. As we reached the top of the steps we were faced with new ones and this seemed to be never ending for at least twenty minutes. The walk back up definitely isn’t recommended for those who struggle with walking up steep hills. However, we did later learn that there is a Funicular, called the Funicular dos Guindais.
Day 2 - Baixa/Cedofeita
Map showing the Baixa area north of Ribeira
We started the second day with an enjoyable hotel breakfast and then headed out to explore the streets of Baixa and the surrounding areas. Again, the sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky and we didn’t have to walk too far when we came across the São Bento railway station. I’d heard about how the station was a great place to photograph so I couldn’t wait to get in there. Before we entered we came across a new market area called the Timeout Market (yes as in the magazine). It had only just opened for the day so it was still very quiet, we made a point of coming back later.
Timeout Market
From the market there were views into the railway station and with the strong light creating dark shadows I couldn’t resist taking a few shots. Once inside the entrance to the railway station I realised I wasn’t the only one appreciating the aesthetics as the area was flooded with people taking photographs. My eyes were drawn to the light coming through the windows and managed to catch the silhouette shot above right. I was happy that I timed it right to catch the guy with the sunglasses on his head!
São Bento railway station
After spending some time in and around the station we headed north east making our way to Cedofeita and on the way we noticed a grand building with fantastic historic architecture. We headed inside and unexpectedly came across a mini photo exhibition, it was more press photography rather than street, but I still find these kind of images great to look at, when done well.
We then headed towards Cedofeita. The reason I wanted to check out this area was because I’d heard it was the arty area of Porto so I was expecting a kind of trendy Shoreditch vibe. The main street is Rue de Cedofeita so we headed there and as it was time for a coffee we looked out for a cool cafe. We came across LM Art Kitchen and decided to give it a try due to it having a lovely garden with outside tables at the back. The sun was beating down and it was great to relax having walked for quite a long time, however the coffee itself wasn’t the best which was a shame.
We then headed north on Rue de Cedofeita in search for the arty area, but all we found were more cafes. The area was quieter than the busy touristy areas we’d come from around Sao Bento railway station, but we weren’t feeling the trendy arty vibe that we were looking for even after cutting into one of the side streets. The area was generally quiet which was surprising due to it being a Saturday, so we decided to head back towards the centre of Porto.
One of the attractions I wanted to visit was the Portuguese Centre of Photography, I’d read about it previously and as it happens we were only a ten minute walk away so we headed over there. The building itself used to be a prison from the 18th century, this wasn’t a surprise as we noticed the large barred windows on our approach. Once inside it was less intimidating, however it had still retained the stone walls and floors with big metal doors between the rooms. The exhibitions themselves weren’t really my cup of tea, some portrait stuff and a bit of documentary, certainly nothing you can describe as street photography. There was however a surprise on one of the upper floors though, which was a collection of cameras ranging from old film cameras all the way up to recent digital ones.
Looking out across Porto from the Portuguese Centre of Photography
Day 3 - Vila Nova de Gaia
Map showing Vila Nova de Gaia south of the River Douro
Day 3 would be our final full day. It’s always a shame when you get to this stage of a trip as it feels like it’s almost over. However, to mix things up we decided to book a tour of Taylor’s Port Cellars, we were in Porto after all (when in Rome etc.) I would never have said I was a fan of port, not to say I disliked it, just not something I’d tried very often, but there’s no way I wasn’t going to pay a visit to one of the most famous cellars that supplies port around the world! All the port cellars are located on the other side of the River Douro in Vila Nova De Gaia which technically is it’s own city and not actually in Porto.
To get there we would once again cross the Dom Luis Bridge, however we would walk to the other side for the first time to reach Vila Nova De Gaia. The sun was still out, but so were the winds which felt seriously chilly in the shade. We stayed on the high platform of the bridge and once we reached the other side we looked back over to Porto to admire the view.
View of Porto from Vila Nova De Gaia
Once we found our bearings we started to walk down towards the river front in search for a coffee. Once we reached the bottom we couldn’t help noticing that there were motorbikes everywhere, literally hundreds of them! It turns out there is a motorbike meet-up every Sunday which was kind of annoying as we couldn’t really see much of the river front and getting through the swarms of bikes was nigh on impossible, We therefore carried on walking to the end off the strip and then inland to skirt around them.
We made our way to the Taylor’s Port Cellars, grabbing a nice coffee on the way. The tour itself was very impressive and I never knew so much went into making Port! It came with an audio guide too which you could dip in and out of. The icing on the cake was at the end of the tour when we were offered 3 different types of ports to try, which were all very enjoyable.
On the way back I managed to grab a couple of street photos (above), nothing to write home about, but it’s all about enjoying the process of course! By the time we headed back to the river front the motorbikes had cleared off so we went for a relaxing lunch with great views looking out onto Porto.
The last day of the trip was spent exploring the area north of our hotel, although the weather had turned and we even felt a bit of rain! After stopping for lunch we headed to the airport for the journey back home. All in all it was a very enjoyable trip and I would highly recommend visiting Porto for street photography. We were however lucky with the weather so visiting closer to Summer would be recommended!
