Porto ambushed me. Here’s how.

I didn’t expect to love Porto as quickly as I did.

I arrived on a narrow street of 19th-century buildings pressed together like books on an overflowing shelf, stepped out of a taxi into warm air tainted with something mineral and ancient, and walked through a pair of cobalt blue doors into what would become one of my favourite weekends of recent years.

Porto doesn’t try to seduce you. It just waits - and then, mid-street, a building erupts in hand-painted azulejo tiles, blue and white from rooftop to pavement, and you understand that this city has been telling its story in ceramics for centuries. You just have to slow down long enough to read it.

Over that weekend I traced the tile trail through São Bento station, Saint Ildefonso and the Cathedral cloisters. I stood inside Livraria Lello - quite possibly the most beautiful bookshop in the world - and left carrying a copy of Blindness by José Saramago, which I read over savoury waffles at the café two minutes up the road.

I wandered a market where, by mid-morning, everyone appeared to be holding a glass of wine. I boarded a vintage yellow tram that rattled along the river, and followed a shaded path to a small beach where I found a four-poster bed with a private view of the Atlantic - and stayed there the entire day.

I also attempted the Ponte Luís I bridge. Got about 50 yards. Turned around. Ordered a mocktail. Found the train. No regrets.

The evening ended in Jardim do Morro as the city turned orange and gold across the water - a Jamaican group dancing to reggae, a Chinese family sharing a feast on wicker mats, and four different people offering to bring me a drink from their crates of wine. Porto’s best view, saved until last.

I’ve written the full piece over on Journey in Colour - the tiles, the tram, the bookshop, a day trip to Aveiro and the candy-striped houses of Costa Nova. If you’ve been to Porto, you’ll recognise every corner. If you haven’t, let this be your sign.

[Read the full Porto guide at journeyincolour.com → click below]

And if you enjoyed this, I’d love for you to explore the rest of the site - slow travel stories full of culture, colour and the moments you only find when you stop rushing.