After leaving Southampton on Spirit of Adventure we had two sea days before reaching our first port, Leixões. From there we planned to take a Saga organised trip to Porto.
Day 4: Tuesday 25th March 2025: Leixões, Portugal
The plug sockets in Adventure are the same as on Discovery.
Porto
The excursion that we had chosen from Leixões to Porto was simply a coach ride to the City and back. Once out of the port we passed the beaches and joined the stream of traffic into Porto.
This visit to Porto we were taken to the opposite bank of the Douro down narrow streets until we reached the river. The parts of Porto that we had explored on our earlier visit were on the hills opposite. Above we could see the Luís I Bridge.
The Gaia Cable Car, or Teleférico de Gaia
Rather than worry about lots of steps we took the cable car from the river bank to the side of the bridge.
The views of the river below us were splendid.
Crossing the bridge
To get to the bridge we had to walk up a street and again we had views of the river and of the bridge.
Once on the bridge we joined the3 crowds crossing only stopping for the view and for the trams!
After the bridge we walked past of row of artists displaying their paintings on the wall. AT the top of the street were statues.
We stopped in a corner café for a latte and a cake.
Rua des Flores
After our delicious cakes we walked down Rua Des Flores. I stopped for a long time to admire the black and white photographs of a local artist being sold outside one of the shops.
This street art was noty easy to to photograph!
More art on the street furniture.
Back over the bridge
We stopped an bought a picture from one of the artists before crossing back over the bridge.
The views riding the cable car back down to the Douro were just as splendid.
From the cable car we could see the famous rabbit on the side of a building.
The “Half Rabbit,” is a large-scale sculpture by artist Bordalo II and was only a short walk from the cable car.
Back along the bank we headed for the large covered market.
Lunch
Inside the market building we chose to have a pizza.
Back to Leixões
After our pizza we waited for our coach to take us back to the ship.
The coach took us back over the lower bridge and then onto Leixões. This trip no scenic drive alongside the Douro.
In Leixões this art was above Burger King.
The next day we were scheduled to be in Lisbon.