We arrived in Porto to beautiful sunshine and a 2m height restriction in the hotel car park lift. Not a welcome we needed after 6 hours of driving! The hotel staff could not have been more helpful and we were soon parked in the basement (fully unpacked again).

This was a city that we both wanted to explore and decided not to wait 10 years for the kids to be self sufficient but to go now and return in 10 years!

It was quite a trek into the city but all downhill and after that we used taxis to navigate the city after learning lessons from the Paris city trip.

After getting ice cream, and a quick refreshment we climbed Torre des Clerigos. At the top of the winding stairs is a large child size gap in the masonry so it is best that kids don’t lead the way! From here we could see across the city and take in the landmarks.

We had a busier second day where we visited the World of discoveries. The kids enjoyed this interactive tour of Portuguese explorers and traders.

We walked the river duoro before crossing the Dom Luis bridge and walking up to Jardim do Morro to take a break from the basking sunshine and heat of the city. From up top there are beautiful views across the city from the southern banks of the river (and a play on the playground of course). We took the cable car down for the novelty and to keep our sanity from two tired kids.

Finally it was time to visit Fonseca Port house where we had booked a tour and some tasting. The kids did a fantastic job to listen whilst we were walked through the making of the port, classification of the vintages and how each type is made.

The port tasting was to a background of live traditional Fado music with the kids enjoying their grape juice tasting and dancing on their swivel chairs (embarrassing accidents were somehow avoided).

When we revisit, the one thing we will do is walk the duoro valley and maybe visit some more port houses…