GETAWAY I

T’S some years since I visited Lisbon, a trip prompted by the Portuguese capital’s reputation as the best value for a city break in Western Europe. Now comes news that Porto, the country’s second and much lesser-known city, is even cheaper.

According to Post Office Travel Money’s latest City Costs Barometer, Porto not only compares favourably with ‘cheap as chips’ Eastern European capitals but has stolen a march on Lisbon by being named cheapest in Western Europe.

The sun shines in Porto, too, so I was hooked. I booked a two-hour flight to the ‘capital of the north’ and found myself an historic hotel, Casa dos Lóios, in Porto’s quaint pedestrianised Rua das Flores.

Lined with traditional blue or green tiled houses on which hang delicate wrought iron balconies, Flores turned out to be a stone’s throw from the medieval Ribeira district that runs higgledy-piggledy down to the River Douro.

It’s the Douro that makes Porto so distinctive, with its magnificent location on a great gorge in the river. As a result of its geography, the old town is a tortuously steep labyrinth of narrow alleys with tile-hung, often dilapidated houses leading down to the restaurants and bars that spill out onto its colourful quayside.

This side of the river is for sightseeing, culture and partying – and there is plenty of that to fill a two-day city break.

Cross the river and you’re in for a very different experience. Although the south side of the Douro is called Vila Nova de Gaia, it is very much a part of Porto – the port-producing part! Famous names such as Taylor, Sandeman and Cockburn are among the port lodges to visit for a taste of Portugal’s most famous export, their names emblazoned across their roofs.

Some, like House of Sandeman, line the southern riverbank, others require a steep climb.

At €12 (£11) for a tour, I chose the riverside Sandeman and was treated to a fascinating trail through the cellars, culminating in a glass of tawny port in the lodge’s state-ofthe-art tasting room.

Being a tourist means catching a cable car wherever you can and, guess what, you can take a scenic ride on one of these from the Douro waterside up to the famous doubledecker Dom Luis I bridge, with picture-perfect views of Porto’s Ribeira along the way (€6). Attracted by its reputation as the cheapest city break destination in Western Europe, sets out to discover Porto, Portugal’s second city, and finds history, art and magical inspiration

Those with a head for heights can walk across to the Ribeira on the bridge’s 147 foot-high upper level for more panoramic views but if, like me, you suffer from vertigo there is a quicker, less energetic option.

Yeatman, another of the wine lodges, has started a hop-on, hop-off river taxi across the Douro costing €3 (£2.75).

It’s a good example of the low prices for transport into and around the city. A return airport transfer costs just over £5, less than half the charge in Lisbon, for example.

But there’s no need to hurry back from Gaia. Along with the port lodges, the waterside is lined with bustling restaurants and bars, where a glass of wine will cost around £3, a beer is less than £2 and the sunshine comes free. Better still, make the steep climb up to the luxury Yeatman Hotel for a sundowner on its rooftop terrace with peerless sunset views of Porto.

Luxurious it may be, but the price for a large glass of ice-cold white port, one of Portugal’s best-kept secrets, is a bargain at €6 (£5.50).

The serious business of sightseeing started on day two at Sao Bento railway station.

This is one of the grandest buildings in a city full of striking architecture, but I had come to look at its entrance hall and the famous azulejo tiles, which chart the city’s history in giant murals.

From the station it is a short stroll to the Praça da Liberdade – literally Freedom Square – which is considered the dead-centre of town, and the Rua Clérigos leading from it up to an attraction which draws more visitors than any of Porto’s baroque and gothic glories. I arrived early but was still met with crowds of people brandishing selfie-sticks. They were queuing for entry to the city’s celebrated Livraria Lello bookshop and were not, in the main, there to buy books but instead to get a glimpse of the real-life inspiration for Harry Potter’s Hogwarts. Twenty-five years ago, gowned students from the university opposite came here to buy their books and J.K. Rowling, a Porto resident from 1991-93 came too, the doorman, a dead-ringer for Salvador Dali, told us. Those students, plus a combination of