I f you walk along the south banks of the Douro River in Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite Porto city, towards the sea, the scene will be classic Portugal for a while: a lot of waterside restaurants, a lot of grilled chicken, some stalls selling unlikely items made of cork (aprons?). A little further back are the showcase port houses: Sandeman, Fonseca, Taylor’s – we’ll come back to those. The Guardian’s journalism is independent.
We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Keep on walking westwards along the river, away from the pretty Dom Luís I Bridge and towards the sea, and you reach Afurada, a fishing village.
It’s famous for people grilling fish in the street and because it’s apparently not possible to eat badly there, the fish being so fresh and all the restaurants so close together, they’re in a race to the top. Or do we just call that a race? A Margem restaurant has a funny, boxy front like an Amazon drop-point and serves incredible polvo à lagareiro (octopus, olive oil, potatoes and garlic). Anyway, carry on walking: you’ll pass an estuary and you might see a white flamingo, but that will depend on the migration patterns for the time of year.
You will reach Praia do Cabedelo do Douro, a sweet beach in a half-moon shape with water sports. You could probably find all this information on the worldwide wondernet, but I can’t really get excited about a white flamingo unless I can see the light in the eyes of the .
