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
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
Porto Cathedral (the Sé)The Sé is Porto's mother rock: a Romanesque cathedral-fortress (12th century) wi4 minutes walk4.5
The Clérigos Tower & ChurchClérigos is Porto's sky needle: a 75-metre bell tower that stood two centuries a4 minutes walk4.5
Church of Santo IldefonsoAn eighteenth-century church at the top of Rua de Santa Catarina, best known for4 minutes walk4.4
Misericórdia Museum of PortoA museum and church on Rua das Flores in central Porto, showing the holdings of 5 minutes walk4.1
Livraria LelloLello is, without much argument, the world's most famous bookshop: the 1906 neo-5 minutes walk3.8Richest 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.