The epic walls
The wedding, Ceuta and Reconquest in blue.
Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Birte Fritsch — CC BY 2.0 · Birte Fritsch — CC BY 2.0
Richest is Guimarães (75 minutes): Portugal was born here, castle and palace — and Braga (an hour): Portugal's religious Rome with the solemn Bom Jesus stair — both World Heritage on a cheap suburban train. And the Douro valley wine line runs from neighbouring Campanhã: the country's loveliest railway, literally on the riverbank.
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São Bento is the world's most beautiful rail hall by standing nomination: a 1916 vestibule Jorge Colaço sheathed in twenty thousand blue azulejo tiles — eleven working years as epic walls: João and Philippa's wedding, Henry the Navigator taking Ceuta, the Reconquest's battles, and a coloured upper frieze chronicling transport from the Romans to the train itself. It is a free museum open by trade — suburban trains genuinely leave behind the murals (among them the Guimarães and Braga lines for northern day trips) — and twenty contemplative minutes hold its essence, provided you lift your eyes to the coloured frieze the hurried always miss. Built on a Benedictine monastery's remains (hence the name) — its site is the centre's hinge: between cathedral, Aliados and Clérigos, needing no pilgrimage: your path will cross it by law — walk in.
The wedding, Ceuta and Reconquest in blue.
Transport's history the hurried miss.
Praça de Almeida Garrett, 4000-069 Porto