Best Car Rental Porto

History of Porto

Porto is located in northern Portugal which is the largest city in the region .The city is considered as the economic and cultural heart of the region .the history of the city is very clear as the beginning of the city was very humble. The city was founded in roman times and the name derives from an ancient city portocale which was founded in the 5th century. At that time the city was the connection between Braca and ollisipona.

In 8th century the reknown town was destroyed during Moorish invasion. Later the town was recaptured by army under the control of the court of burgundy. At that time the town had small buildings surrounded by fortified walls. Queen Dona Teresa donated the town to Bishop Huga in the year 1120.during the 15th century the city became an important trading port and the leading ship building centers in the region. During the century an Italian architect designed a beautiful and lAvish tower that later became its icon. Afterwards the city started to become important industrialist centre and beautiful buildings started to build.

The stock exchange and a learning centre in nautical sciences were established in the city. In 14th century Porto contributed to the development in Portuguese fleet. Nowadays Porto is known as the city of honesty, work due to dynamism, honesty and courage of citizens.

History Porto

The city dates back to the Roman Occupation of the Iberian Peninsula in the 4th Century and was a commercial port city. Archaeological finds suggest that the city was occupied by the Celts around 275 BC. Porto changed hands frequently, as it was under Moorish rule in 711 AD and then Gallaecian rule in 868 when it was established as the First County of Portugal in the same year. The marriage of John I Portugal and Philippa Lancaster signified an alliance between England and Portugal, the oldest recoded military alliance in history.

The 14th and 15th Centuries continued to be strong in terms of shipping and sailing for Porto. The production of port wine was already established in the 13th Century but the 18th Century brought much wine trade as the city was established as an English shipping post. The Napoleonic invasion of the 19th Century brought war to Porto. The people fled the city by means of a pontoon bridge, which collapsed under the immense weight. This date in history (March 29, 1809) is commemorated by a plaque in the city. Arthur Wellesley flushed the French out of Porto. The city saw a Civil War in the 1820's, which was won by the liberal constitutionals and King Miguel of Portugal. In 1891, the Republicans revolted, causing the creation of the Republic in 1910. The city gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 1996, with two zones- the protected area and the classified area.

Weather

Like any other city the best time to visit Porto is during the months of May to September when there is moderate heat and summers are pleasant.

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Weather of Porto

Climate has a great influence on every one?s mode and life. It is very important for every one to keep in mind the climatic conditions of the city, while planning for a trip. During summer Porto has sunny days with unlikely rain and full of humidity. The winter months are wet, cools and mild. January is the coldest month in Porto with a temperature average high up to 13 degree centigrade.

The people who want to visit are suggests to keep an umbrella because the rain is frequent during the month. Porto is situated in the north of zone and weather is affected by its coastal position. The gentle ocean breezes give the refreshing breeze in hottest days of summer.

Tourist found it attractive during the mild season. In summers the average temperature is on 24 degree centigrade rising much higher in hottest days up to 35 degree centigrade. During these days the climate is oppressive and uncomfortable. In September Porto faces main rainy weather and continues up to the winter season.

Porto is the best summer resort in summer and in winter when the climate id cloudy and mild.

Arrival to Porto

Arrival to Porto is very convenient now days through bus, train and through airlines. In order to access and to arrive the city routes BR 290 and BR 116 must be followed that connects the city from rest of the places and also with the neighboring cities.

Porto has a well structured and huge network of buses which makes easy to reach the city. The nearest city station is Padres Rubras which is located 2 kilometers away from the airport. Anyone can get a train from downtown Porto which provides direct trains in cheap prices. to reach Porto taxi is the best option to get into the city from various areas.travel services are available in Porto 24/7.the city provides a wide range of bus services that links the areas of the city to each other.

City transport

Porto is known and defined as the city of bridges, engineers and architect. There are many ways to travel and get around the city through buses, taxi and car rentals. The most convenient way to travel around the city is comprehensive metro trains and funicular railway provides a scenic and travelling up to the steep hillside.

Porto is spreading its network in rechargeable travel according to zone. Andante card are used on bus transport, funicular railway and on tramlines. An extremely popular and relaxing way to move is through Douro river through boats which provide travel and a sightsee. The local train network is a way to getting to the neighboring towns. Sao bento station where all mainl8ine buses stop and people can the buses from there. Trams are used by tourist. It is mainly used for seeing the city and for travelling to the main attractions.

Trams cover only two routes along the river in 4 kilometer .buses are quicker then taxis and trams. These buses cover the entire city and surrounding areas. Taxis are easy to get around in an easy and inexpensive way. Taxi drivers are friendly and extremely helpful.

Best Porto

Porto is located in north-west Portugal on the river Douro. There is so much to do on holiday in Porto, one would be hard-pressed to do it all in a short space of time. From shopping to sightseeing, the city has something for everyone. Travellers should make sure they take advantage of the great dining in the city. Porto is well-known for being the best place to eat in all of Portugal. The Ribeira and the Foz are two popular sites. The Foz is the ocean front drive, while Ribeira is the riverside. On the latter, you can find the famed Port Wine Callers and the Casa da Musica concert hall. In the centre of the city, the down-town Mercado do Bolhao is not to be missed and just west of there is the Torro dos Clerigos (Clerics' Tower) and Soares dos Reis art house.

Also west of the city centre is the Museu Romantico, which housed the exiled King of Italy, and the Fundacao de Serralves modern art museum. Porto is known for great architecture due to the long life of the city. It is no surprise that a city full of such incredible architecture would also house a school- the Porto School of Architecture, which is one of the most prestigious architecture schools in all of Europe. The churches of Porto are notably the best indication of great architecture in the city, but the Ponte de D. Louis Bridge should not be overlooked. This iron bridge is a remarkable sight.

Top attractions of Porto

Porto has countless attractive places for arts, picnic spots, sports and shopping malls. Casa da music an architectural network place with full of art collections. Cais Da Ribeira is a colorful world heritage river of the city which captures a great attention of tourist. Five bridges Cruise is an excellent and a 50 minute cruise to relax and get a water way perspect, boats leave at different times.

Palacio De Cristal having lovely and attractive fountains, flowering trees and statues with a small pond is a great of pleasure and for relax. Torre Dos Clerigos is a beautiful city landmark is a worth of fabulous views in the middle of the city. Casa Da Musica having a wide variety of musical events held on different occasions on this concert hall. Matosinhos and Gaia are the best way to explore the attractions with sandy beaches.

Exploring Porto

While staying in Porto, there are many outlying areas that warrant a day trip. Amarante is considered one of the most romantic cities in Portugal, here the River Tamega runs through the region. Local sweets are popular in Amarante. Whether it is papos de anjo (angel pouches) or toucinho do ceu (lard from Heaven), they are not to be missed when visiting Amarante. South of Porto city, Santa Maria da Fiera is home to a 15th Century castle that looks like it is straight out of a fairytale book. The summer months are great for lying on the beaches across from Porto, in southern Gaia.

Blue flag beaches indicate high quality and Gaia is home to a handful of Blue Flag beaches. Across the river Douro, Vila Nova de Gaia is home to more great beaches, famed Port Wine Cellars, and the Ribiera de Gaia. From here, you find great views of Porto. There is a nature preserve at the base of the Dom Luis I Bridge, which is great to walk around or go biking through, ending at the Atlantic Coast. The Minho region is home to the Vinho Verde, a green wine that is known for being young and fresh in flavour. In Matosinhos, see the legendary site where the Greek Minotaur is said to have fallen from Avarine. Another great day trip is the Peneda-Geres National Park. This is Portugal's only National Park and is located north-east of Porto at the top of the country.

Eating in Porto

Eating out trend is rapidly increasing all over the world. Food is an important subject of every country and city. Porto is defined as the rugged city and famous for its wines and food. It has many restaurants famous for their delicious foods. Ginjal Do Porto has a great food and it is enhancing the food quality day by day.

Barbarico is the best meal deal in the town. It has many food variety including International, portugese food, snacks, wines and drinks. Bull and Bear is a modern approach to Portuguese cuisine with a pleasant and relaxing environment. Majestic Caf? fascinates the people with its old interior and setting. Anyone can sit, relax and feel the sensation of the restaurants with a great food and drink. O tripeiro is famous for its great salads and cheap meals. Adage Das Levadas is famous for its vegetable soup and a famous grilled chicken.

They are also famous for its home made breads. Forno is a reliable spot that serves the rice dishes and for meat grills. Hipi center is a cozy restaurant with sofas and an open heart fire with a good soups and light meals. These restaurants provide a relaxing and a comfortable environment and serves in user friendly way. Porto is a heartland of culture and serves the best quality food.

Eating drinking Porto

Porto is known for being the best place to eat in all of Portugal. If you like to eat, Porto is for you, with large meals that also are full of quality as well. The best places to eat in the city are located by the sea and beaches in Matosinhos. There is a fish festival in Matosinhos in July where freshly-caught fish is barbecued and served right along the streets. The best part of this festival is not only the freshness of the food, but the pleasure of eating side-by-side with the locals and enjoying their company. You will likely see cod at the fish festival; however, the most common style of cod in Porto is the Bacalhau. This salted codfish is served in many traditional dishes around the city.Also of note are Porto's bakeries and pastry shops.

These offer wonderful and fresh delicacies and many also have side-cafes with coffees and sandwiches at very good prices. Traditional Portuguese food is served all over the city. The tripas a moda do Porto is a local favourite. This is made of tripe (from beef stomach), so beware if you are uninitiated to this type of meat. Francesinha is native to Porto and the city is likely to be the only place in the world where you can get this dish. The dish is layers of meat atop toast, covered with spicy sauce and cheese and often finished off with a cap of French fries, hence the name, which means Little French Lady. To eat like a local, order a cold beer to go along with your francesinha.

Porto nightlife

Porto nightlife is one of the most entertaining nights in whole Portugal. Porto?s life is full of entertainment and safe so anyone can enjoy. These night lives have many entertaining things for all age groups whether kids or youngsters.

The most famous places are:

1. Maus habitos: a great pub with a live music and great sounds.

2. Aniki Bobo: is the biggest dance club in Porto having three dance floors with different types of music and caters a wide range of taste.

3. Bar Hiva Oa: caters the older crowd and a nice spot

4. Disco Swing: is the most popular dance club plays a wide range of music styles including the oldies one.

5. O Libirinto: is a great combination of bar and gallery. It has a gay friendly environment where the focus is on the art rather than drinking.

6. Fado Irish pub: is a hot spot and plays liveliest music.

7. Majestic caf?: has a variety of live performances such as jazz with a cocktail or a cup of coffee.

8. Meia-Cave: caters an attractive crowd offers a fashion style and a rocking music.

9. Rocks Bar: with magnificent views and entertaining live music.

10. Swing: plays a techno music of 70?s and 80?s .a great place to drink, enjoy and mingle.

The nightlife in Porto is fascinating. The most famous cafes, pubs and bars are located in downtown of Porto.

Nightlife Porto

The most popular drink in Porto is the port wine, naturally, as it is native to the region. One great excursion would be to visit the nearby wineries and take a tour and tasting. At night, the drinking scene is less sentimental and more about partying. Night clubs in Porto do not begin to get lively until late at night. As a general rule, do not expect to begin your night properly until around 1 am or later. That being said, the club scene tends to go strong until well into the morning hours, and it is not uncommon to be seen leaving a club at 7:30 am. There are many choices for dance clubs, with a style for all tastes. Younger crowds tend to migrate to clubs such as Via Rapida, Chic, Vogue, or Act, which are all located in the industrial area of town or River Caffe near the river.

For an artsy scene, check out the Passos Manuel, Bazaar design bar, and Plano B, which is an art gallery and bar in the historic centre. For alternative and high-energy evenings, go to Industria; a world class club, Estado Novo with its wide range of music, or Triplex- a unique three story house that was converted to a club. There are also a number of pubs, for those not interested in the club scene. Along the Ribiera, you can find many bars and pubs that have great views of the river. These bars along the Ribiera tend to close around 3AM, so many people start out their evening here before heading to the clubs.

Shopping in Porto

Porto provides interesting shopping malls and provides plenty of opportunities. There are endless shops for shoe selection and known as Sapatarias.Rua De Cedofieta is the popular shopping mall which specialize in particular goods. Porto nover is the mall where any one can find fashionable designer label and having Internationalbrands.

Porto plaza provides a wide opportunity of branded goods including shoes, fabrics, cosmetics and other interesting bags. Ana Salazar is one of the best?s fashion store located in the center of porto. Haity provide high quality leather and located at 212 Rue Santa Catharina. The Mercado De Bolao is the popular open air market and having many merchants selling goods, foods, spices and flowers. There is also a nice handy craft at Centro Regional De Artes Traditionalist provides an excellent handmade jewelry. The most popular thing for every buyer is Porto Wine the product symbol of country and the city. This is easily available in many wine lodges and provides an opportunity to see the manufacturing process of wines.

Shopping Porto

Shopping is great in Porto. Check out the Mercado do Bolhao, which features a food market and many local hand-made goods for sale. Of note at the Mercado are the lovely fresh flowers sold. Cedofieta Street and Baovista Street are both busy shopping roads, as well. The Rua de Santa Caterina (or St Catherine's Street) is full of local shoppers during the weekends, which makes is a great authentic shopping stop. This street is considered the heart of Porto and is not to be skipped. There are boutiques with designer clothes and accessories, book shops, jewellers, and more. Some more notable local-made goods to buy here include leather goods such as shoes and handbags, linens, clothing, and the famed pottery and tiles from Porto.Of course, while in Porto, you must buy the famed Porto wine. Consider doing winery tours if time permits, otherwise, you can buy this local good nearly everywhere around town and even in the airport. There are a good number of shopping centres around town from the Norte, Gaia, Parque Nascente, and Arrabida shopping to the Mar, which is home to the largest IKEA in Europe.

Disable visitors

Porto is a nice and attractive place and keeps many attractive things in it .the organizations of the city always care about its disable visitors by providing them facilities and opportunities. Authorities put in many facilities in improving opportunities for disabled visitors. In hotels lifts and ramps are available for disabled persons .many hotels are integrating rooms in improving the facilities for these people.

Transport association also works for disable persons; they reserve some seats in buses and trains for disable persons and provide facility of wheelchair. Dogs are provided to blind people for travelling in free of cost. Rent a car companies provide automatic and optimized vehicles for disable person to get around the city in a convenient and comfortable way. Mar rower aisle seats are provided for disable people at the door of air craft to easily reach to the plane.

Disabled visitors and useful contact details:

The British honorary consulates are an organizations works for disabled persons proving them parking facilities and wheelchairs situated at the close door seafront and town pier.

(+351) 291 212 860

Organizations such as Portimao consulate provide facilities and mobility of wheelchairs, glases for blind persons; provide lifts, guide dogs, Braille and professional signing interpreter.

Disabled visitors Porto

The city of Porto has taken great strides in accommodating people with reduced mobility. Most of the buildings in the city have ramps or lifts to their entrances to make their businesses accessible to all types of visitor. Additionally, there are many hotels making efforts to provide the maximum in comfort and ease for those with mobility issues. The public transport of Porto offers designated seats for disabled passengers, however there is no ramp or lift for wheelchair access yet. When on public transport, those with assistance animals are allowed to travel with their guide pet as long as the animal has on a leash and has a muzzle. Porto Airport offers personalized service for those with disabilities while on premises. When guests arrive at the airport, they are asked to check-in at a contact point to request their assistance. The service, called MyWay has a telephone provided for this. MyWay employees assist in all aspects of travel (check-in, baggage, security, customs, etc.) leading up to boarding, after which the airline will offer assistance. Guests needing assistance are urged to inform their airline at least 48-hours before their trip to ensure that the proper help is provided at the time of their departure.

Accommodation in Porto

Porto is full of interesting places and has many attractive places for tourists and for citizens as well. Every year many people want to visit different places but the fear of huge expense stops them to make a plans. To visit the places Porto is the best option, as it provides the luxurious hotels, quality food according to user preferences in low Budget .

UK hotel cares for their tourists and especially for disabled persons; it provides luxurious food and residence too. Porto hotel provide a huge selection of apartment accommodation, luxurious bed and breakfast for tourists. These hotels provide comfort, great value for the money and best quality which is ideal for leisure and business travelers. Every year thousands of people visit the city and accommodation varies for every person depending on user preferences and their Budget .

There are many options of accommodation when anyone plans to visit the city such as solar residential San Gabriel hotel, Beta Porto, Holiday Inn, Panama Porto and many other options are available for the comfort of people. The Aviz Hotel Porto is situated in the busy centre is a comfortable and modern hotel and the rooms are equipped with facilities to make the stay more convenient. Hotel Ibis Porto Sao Joao provides spacious and comfortable room with cozy bed and a functional bathroom. It also the meeting rooms for conferences and outdoor parking.

These hotels provide great food quality with complementary breakfast. The accommodations are mass customized in quality elite hotels with meeting banquet facilities for business travelers. These hotels are easy to reach for everyone.

The city of Porto

Porto is the second largest city of Portugal having lots of interesting things in it, which attracts the tourist and offers the visitors plenty to see all creatures. The area of the city is around 41.3km square and the city has population of 1.7 million.

Porto is considered as the heart of economics and culture. The city has many connections to link to and from the rest of Europe through airlines and railway systems. After the sacked of city in 8th century, the city started to rebuilt and in roman period the city developed a commercial port which increases the importance of the city. Porto is considered as the most livable city of Europe. Porto has many entertainment activities like the most popular event is St.John?s a traditional event celebrated on every 23 and 24th June.

There are many ways to arrive Porto, through roads and bridges and through airports that links the city around the Europe. The beaches of Espinosa, matosinhos, quaint charm of amarante are the best places to visit the city.

Porto is heavy industrialized city with large organizations and having the stable economy and the largest derivative of exchange is stock exchange that helps in the development of economy.

Emergency contact numbers

Porto is the busiest and the city of work and intelligence. Many people especially business travelers are always interested to visit the city. Emergency numbers are essential to know for everyone during travelling

Tourism info and contact details:

The information for tourist are easily available through tourist information office in Porto. It provides 24 hours access

222 057 514

Hospital

24 hours service and availability of doctors in emergency and 24/7 pharmaceutical service

222 078 400

Taxis

Taxis are available on taxis stands nearby airport for visitors to reach to the hotel anytime after arriving port

225 027 061

Airport

Customer service at airport is always open for online booking and for information of arrivals and departures of planes

229 432 400

Support to tourist

The city always care for their tourist and helpline available 24 hours to support the tourist

800 296 296

Transport system

Railways

Railway helpline number is given to people for online assistance for passengers regarding the timings of train and availability of seats.

808 208 208

A flexible bus service aero bus available for passengers between the stations .the bus drop the passengers at desired places, the ticket also serves as the free bus pass until midnight

808 200 166

Car parking in Porto

Below is the number of Porto car parking which provides comfortable car parking in an economical way.

0845 050 7080