Experience in Matosinhos, Portugal by Fish Surf School

What is it like to live in Matosinhos? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

We live and work at our Surf School/Camp (Fish Surf School - Oporto Fish Surf Camp) and it's great to live near (40 minutes by bus, 30 minutes by metro, 15 minutes by car) to the Oporto town but stay at the beach all year long.

We recommend beach/seaside walkings, sports like surfing (mostly lol), stay at Edifício Transparente promenade, to drink and eat admiring the see an tanning at spring/summer.

Good beach for begginer for surfing, good for kitesurf (we have a lot of wind! ).

What is the student lifestyle like in Matosinhos?

Its different from Oporto, beacause there is much more universities there.

How much does it cost to live in Matosinhos?

It's expensive. More expensive at Matosinhos Sul (near the beach). Its better to live near from Hospital Pedro Hispano or Senhora-da-Hora.

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Matosinhos? Is there any advice you can give?

Its not difficult but its expensive for students. Look at hostels because they have prices for month (good for studants).

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What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

Best seafood an fresh and delicious fish.

Matosinhos’ gastronomy vastly benefits of its closeness to the sea.

The restaurants and seafood houses guarantee great meals to every tourist, whether he prefers fish or meat.

Matosinhos is renowned for its gastronomy. By lunch or dinner time, you start thinking about the old quarters in Matosinhos or Leça da Palmeira, caressed by the fine odours coming out, either from fine restaurant kitchens, or from simple charcoal grills on the street, where fish and seafood are cooked. It is an irresistible calling to our senses that you will satisfy in exquisite restaurants or in simple and informal taverns. In Matosinhos eating is, for everybody, a motto for quality and excellence.

Matosinhos’ gastronomy is based on the traditional food of Entre-Douro and Minho. Poultry, pig and oxen were a privilege, only to the rich husbandry houses, for this was eminently a rural municipality until half of the XXth century.

However, it was with the industrial outbreak and, consequently, the increase of the services sector, that the Matosinhos’ cuisine looked up to sea products, trying to integrate the fishing culture. Until that time, sea products were restricted to fishing communities, whose diet was almost exclusively made of fish (as fishermen used to say, “poor fish”, for the better one was sold to others): sardine, mackerel, sprat… Fish stew was the main dish, enriched with the best fish, at the time of the Festivity; it was then called “Caldeirada do Senhor de Matosinhos”.

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And yet, gone is the time when the Leça’s mouth was a bucolic setting, filled with energy from fishing people. Here rested their fishing and sailing boats, fish was salted and sold… This bustle was then moved to the beach and to the Porto de Leixões piers: progress was here driven by technology. Fishing parties saw their work eased by replacing oars and sails with motors. Fishermen stopped repairing their boats on the sand, stopped anchoring in the Leixões river; women no longer clean and sell fish at the beach. Nowadays, fish is unloaded at Pesca Harbour, a modern and operational infrastructure that unburdened fishermen of all sacrifices and dangers, women of nights of agony, suffering and mourning. All fish is now sold on lively auctions, at the market.

A sea port, a fishing port, a fish market and proper refrigeration for fish (instead of the traditional salting), allowed Matosinhos to turn its back to the rural and fishing traditions. On the second half of the XXth century, the town opened itself to industry, to services, to culture, to sport, opens new avenues, gets closer to neighbourhood cities, explodes in dynamic bursts and becomes a reference as a real business centre in the Oporto Metropolitan Area. The smell and flavour of fish and seafood brought to land by unselfish fishermen is now on the restaurants’ shop-windows and tables.

Having lunch or dinner in Matosinhos and Leça da Palmeira has become an habit, for everyone who lives, works or visits these cities, whether it is done with the family, or in business, politics, tourism or even to socialize with friends. This city has become a gastronomical icon, where fish and seafood are trade marks of its restaurants, regardless of time, budget and demand.

Even though meat isn’t forgotten (old recipes are still in use: stewed, roasted, boiled, with vegetables, potatoes, beans; or with new recipes), fish has become a special attraction, for its variety, freshness and quality, explained by the nearness of the sea and the fish market.

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You will find sole, sea-bream, cherne, sea bass, timbrel, whiting, tuna, swordfish, octopus, or the most traditional and honoured codfish on the menu of every restaurant, where they are the stars of creative and delicious dishes. However, grilled mackerel and sardine will always be the most popular, by locals and tourists.

Exquisitively prepared seafood (simple, grilled or prepared in the traditional cataplana), is an icon of Matosinhos’ restaurants, and a real maritime symphony. You will be able to enjoy all sorts of seafood: lobster, shrimp, cockles, mussels and many others.

There are, however and without a doubt, gastronomical ecstasies in this “Matosinhos – Land of Horizon and Sea”: seafood bread-soup and timbrel rice, a praise to simple fishing people that so well knows how to cook.

What places would you recommend visiting in Matosinhos?

The beach.

Matosinhos’ municipality offers beautiful beaches that shape the seashore in uneven drawings. Some are small and hidden; other have long strands of sand, that invite you for long walks by the sea.

In Winter, all surf, body board, sail and windsurf lovers find in the Northern sea the ideal settings to play these sports. Para-gliders and kiters also enjoy the typical North wind to perfect their stunts.

In Summer, the beaches fill with crowds looking for sunshine, sea, golden sand, heat, relaxation or fun at the Matosinhos’ beaches.

Many sports and leisure activities give the beaches a unique atmosphere: soccer and volleyball tournaments, surf championships…There is joy of living, a taste of holiday, you enjoy the beach until sunset and that is something you don’t want to miss!

The requalification of Matosinhos’ marginal gave a new life to this area: new urbanizations, modern terraces and parking lots, for the ones who like to drive here. If you choose to come by Tube, the Linha Azul (Blue Line) will provide you with a fast and easy way to travel.

Festa do Senhor de Matosinhos (Populat festivities)

The Festa do Senhor de Matosinhos is a remarkable event on the municipality and Northern festivities. With the new motor connections that Matosinhos currently has, it gained new dynamics. This festivity lasts throughout May and June. For almost three weeks, you will find religious festivities, alongside ludic, cultural and sporting activities. Thousands of light bulbs illuminate the Bom Jesus de Matosinhos Church and its square; the church’s altars are artistically decorated with gorgeous flowers. At the church (a work by Nasoni), there are sermons and masses (solemn and festivity’s); the grand Senhor do Padrão procession leaves from this church. Music bands will live up the streets and the traditional bandstands. There are handicraft exhibitions, legends and traditions are revived, Matosinhos’ architectonical and religious heritage is shown. As festivals, you will have access to fish and seafood gastronomical recipes. On Tuesday’s afternoon, you will see static fireworks, but on Saturday evening you will be dazzled by the splendorous fireworks. In between, you may have fun playing table-soccer, carrousels, bumping cars, eating farturas (a typical fried sweet), grilled sardines and caldo verde (typical soup). The supreme moment of the festivity is to by traditional handicraft on the small stalls at Feira da Louça.

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Saturdays are the busiest market day, at Matosinhos municipality. The Feira da Senhora da Hora, in the morning, and Feira de Custóias, in the afternoon, attract thousands of people, of all social classes. Visiting these markets is a way of buying all sorts of goods at fine prices, especially clothing. There is an unconscious frenzy on people at these markets. If you want to participate in a cultural act and get to know the people’s dynamics, you should attend both these markets, listen to the music and hear the banns claimed by all sellers…

For more ludic and mundane activities, visit the new leisure reference of the city: NorteShopping.

Is it good to eat out in Matosinhos? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

At Edifício Transparente we recommend "Pizaria Quatro Estações" for pasta and piza (ask for "tosta francesa" its like a pani di piza), "Cuffra" (francesinha, fresh fish, meat, everything is great! ), "Picaba" (sandwiches and sushi).

Is the nightlife good in Matosinhos? Where is good to go?

It's better at spring and summer but we have some places to enjoy nightlife like "Hudis"(Leça da Palmeira, surf bar), Black Coffee, Chill Out. And during summer cuban live music at the beach in "Vagas Bar" too.

What advice would you give future students headed to Matosinhos?

Its easy, it's nice and it's like vacations at beach, you can study and live in Oporto and came to enjoy beachlife to Matosinhos.

Come for surfing!