Shopping in Oporto

So, in the previous post I was talking about where and what to eat in Oporto, and now I will be talking about where to shop and what to buy there.

Oporto, Portugal

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By walking around on foot I have been discovering a number of places (some of which are more atypical) to go shopping. One of my favourite places is the shopping centre Nascente, situated 10 stops away from the centre of Oporto. It's a massive shopping centre, so you can find all sorts of shops there. They also have a cinema - Portugal does not dub films, so all the films are shown in their original version, with Portugese subtitles, which is a good way to learn the language.

I really like the Nascente shopping centre as it has a Primark! I don't know if you have ever been, but it's a super cheap shop selling clothing, accessories, homewares, it's great. On the same floor as Primark you have restaurants serving world food. There is a Brazilian restaurant in where you can try 'picanya' (a really tender meat) accompanied by beans, rice, toasted chickpeas... all for 4 euros. There are also Japanese restaurants, Mexican restaurants... everything you can imagine.

Primark is a very cheap shop

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Another, fairly big shopping centre is Norte Shopping, in which you have IKEA. A good thing about this shopping centre, is that they run a free bus service, so if you want a cheap Sunday day out, you can always take a trip to IKEA. It's a curiousity here that Sundays are for visiting the shopping centres.

Norte Shopping has an IKEA

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Moving on to more picturesque shops. There is an old shopfront in Reitoria, next to the Aliados metro stop, where you can find antiques, from handsoap which smells like your grandmother's house, to the foam and shaving brushes used by our grandfather's. There is everything, school notebooks from 60 years ago, toys...

A market in Reitoria

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On Saturdays, there is a mobile market with stalls selling artisan goods, pay attention to the Friday newspaper as they have these every weekend somewhere in the city.

A market in Oporto

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There are many markets in Oporto city

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And lastly, at the metro stop Bolhao, there is a street of excellent shops, plus a smaller shopping centre (Santa Catarina street) where you can find the same brands as in Spain.

Santa Catarina street

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