Porto and the Douro Valley

Porto introduces itself through the Ribeira first: those colorful houses stacked one on top of another, laundry hung from the windows, the old rabelo boats moored at the quay. It is the postcard, and the postcard is genuinely lovely. But the real Porto lives in the lanes climbing up behind the waterfront, where life keeps its old rhythm, paying no mind to the cameras.

Crossing the Dom Luís I Bridge on foot, the river below and the city's rooftops spread out before you, is worth the day on its own. On the far side sits Vila Nova de Gaia, and that is where much of the history you came to taste actually rests.

Here is the detail that catches almost everyone off guard: the famous cellars are not in Porto at all. They sit in Gaia, across the river. It was there, on the cool banks of the Douro, that the barrels rested for centuries, waiting for the right moment. You step into a historic cellar, breathe in the wood and the wine aging in the dark, and you understand why this city turns around a single glass.

A good tasting is not about drinking fast, it is about understanding what is in the glass. A twenty year tawny beside a slice of Serra cheese changes the way you taste sweet against savory. On our Flavors of Porto day, we bring you to a guided, food-paired tasting with time to ask everything, and through our wine experiences we can open the door to a quinta out in the Douro.

If there is one thing to do differently, get on a boat. The Six Bridges cruise, about fifty minutes, glides beneath the bridges that stitch the two banks together and shifts your sense of the city on the spot.

But the cruise that stays with you is another one. Heading upriver toward the Douro Valley, the landscape becomes hillsides carved into terraces, vineyards stepping down to the water in perfect ledges, the work of many generations. This is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Pinhão and Peso da Régua are the ideal starting points for a full day of boat, scenic train, and lunch at a quinta overlooking the river.

Eating in Porto might be the most honest chapter the city has. The cooking here is generous, unfussy, and deeply flavored. The best plates are rarely on the main square. They are in the hidden tascas only locals know, and that is exactly where we love to take you.

• Francesinha: the local queen, a hearty sandwich of layered meats smothered in melted cheese and a hot sauce of beer and tomato, almost always crowned with an egg. Light it is not. Unforgettable it is.
• Seafood and bacalhau: prawns, goose barnacles, fresh crab, and salt cod prepared a thousand ways, above all à Lagareiro, roasted in olive oil with smashed potatoes.
• Petiscos and dessert: tinned fish, mountain cheeses, and vinho verde to share, and at the end a pastel de nata still warm from the oven.