Porto

When planning our trip to Portugal, I was a little on the fence about whether or not to visit Porto.  You don't see much about it on social media and most people talk about the Algarve Coast or Lisbon.  Another thing to take into consideration is that Porto is a 3-hour drive from Lisbon north and from where we were driving was a 5-hour drive. After talking to various friends who had visited Portugal, they convinced me that Porto was worth the visit.  I am so happy we decided to visit Porto as it is such a lovely city.  While the city can certainly be seen in a day, I would recommend giving yourself two days in order to really enjoy all that the city has to offer.  Our one day there was really not enough and did not give us time to meander in and out of stores or in and out of churches or museums.  We began our day by visiting the Livraria Lello Bookstore which is one of the oldest bookstores in the world and most definitely one of the most beautiful bookstores.  This bookstore inspired J.K. Rawling when she lived in Portugal as a teacher and many believe it played a role in her writing the Harry Potter series.  One thing I didn't know is that you can purchase tickets online and by doing so you can cut off a good chunk of time standing in line. It's crazy, but the store sees up to 4,000 visitors a day.  Another thing to note is that if you purchase a book, then they will credit your entrance fee toward the book price.  The bookstore is stunning.  I followed my visit to the bookstore with delicious ice cream.