Where the Douro meets the Atlantic, Porto has a long, breezy seafront: lighthouses, rock pools, a seaside fort, surf beaches and, at the end, the grilled-sardine smoke of Matosinhos and two masterpieces by Álvaro Siza set into the rocks.
Most visitors stay by the river. Take the old tram west instead, to Foz do Douro, where the city opens onto the ocean and locals come to walk, surf and eat fish.
The walk starts at the Felgueiras lighthouse on the breakwater at the mouth of the Douro, and follows the promenade north past rocky coves, the pergola of Foz and the squat Castelo do Queijo, a 17th-century fort on a rock. Beyond lie the long surf beaches of Matosinhos, the town of fishermen and fish restaurants.
Cross the harbour of Leixões to Leça da Palmeira, where the young Álvaro Siza built two of his first and finest works: the Piscina das Marés, saltwater pools set into the rocks of the beach, and the Casa de Chá da Boa Nova, a tea house tucked into the shore rocks, now a restaurant. Fishermen, surfers and the grilled-sardine smoke of Matosinhos' Rua Heróis de França on the way.
Keep the ocean on your left. Every stretch has a café or a beach bar.
From the tram terminus at Passeio Alegre, walk to the Felgueiras lighthouse on its breakwater, where Atlantic waves crash against the rocks in winter.
Follow the promenade past coves and the pergola of Foz to the stubby fort known as the "cheese castle", after the rounded rock it sits on.
The long sands of Matosinhos fill with surfers. A few blocks inland, Rua Heróis de França is lined with grills cooking sardines, sea bass and octopus outdoors.
Cross the Leixões harbour bridge to Leça, walk along the beach to the Piscina das Marés, and finish at the Casa de Chá da Boa Nova on the rocks, beside the little chapel of Boa Nova.
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Historic tram 1 runs along the river from near São Francisco church to Passeio Alegre in Foz. Buses also run along the coast.
Metro line A runs from Matosinhos back to the city centre. From Leça, walk or take a bus back across the harbour bridge.
Matosinhos is Porto's seafood capital. Choose fish from the ice outside, pay by weight, and expect a queue on summer Sundays.
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Under the Arrábida bridge to a fishing village.
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Wooden walkways in a gorge and a 516 m bridge.
Train up the river, walk the terraces at Pinhão.
Granite peaks, waterfalls and stone granaries.
Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their licences; Pexels photographs under the Pexels licence.
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