Experience in Porto, Portugal by Susana

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

Living in Porto means warm and nice people, means culture, great food, great friends, great traditions, amazing places to discover, means sea and river, means art and colours.

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The city center is old and there you can see all the old churches with the blue tiles, the majestic buildings, people in the streets, the old houses with colourful tiles, lots of new restaurants, hostels and bars, you have many events to watch, you have the modern part of the city with Casa da Música (House of Music). People are really nice and it's easy to make friends.

What is the student lifestyle like in Porto?

The bachelor is composed for 3 years (2 semesters per year) and then you have the master composed for 2 years.

Usually you have classes from Monday until Thursday, which allows you to go party on Thursday (usually students go out Thursdays because the young people aren't in the city and most of the university students that come from far go home in the weekend). But there's parties and places to go every day of the week, so don't worry!

You have activities in the university and during the year and you can see many traditions related to student's life like "Praxe" and activities such as "Cortejo" and "Serenata". The first week of May is the students week and during that week you have each day a Serenata, Benção das Pastas, imposição, Cortejo, and during the night you have each night concerts that you can go to with a cheap ticket and cheap drinks.

This week is very important for students and you really really should go to a Serenata and Cortejo during the day (beside the concerts). But first try to read a little something about it or ask to your Portuguese friends so you can understand why are the students so sad or so happy.

How much does it cost to live in Porto?

You have to buy the pass for the transports each month and deppending on your financial situation and how far you live you can spend more or less.

Everything else it's pretty cheap. At University you can eat in the cantine for around 2/3€ or less, in a city restaurant you can eat for around 5€. 1kg of apples costs around 60 cents, for example.

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

No, it's easy to find accommodation and cheap.

You have sites just for that and you have also agencies that can help you finding and accommodation. You also have the university dormitories.

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

The food is very rich and tasty and also healthy.

You have lots of dishes with fish and the fish is fresh, so it's really good. Our meat is also great.

Some typical dishes that you have to try are: Francesinha, Tripas à moda do Porto, Papas de Sarrabulho, Rojões, Bacalhau (there's lots of dishes with bacalhau), Sardinha assada and Arroz de cabidela.

Tripas à moda do Porto

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What places would you recommend visiting in Porto?

The thing I recommend is for you to kinda get lost in the city. Just walk in the streets and appreciate all the small details and things.

The most emblematic places are:

• Mercado do Bolhão
• Capela das Almas

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• Casa da Música
• Torre dos Clérigos
• Sé do Porto
• Ribeira

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• Cais de Gaia
• Jardim do Morro
• Avenida da Boavista
• Igreja de S. Francisco
• Palácio da Bolsa
• Mercado Ferreira Borges
• Mercado da Ribeira
• Santa Catarina
• Palácio de Cristal and his gardens

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• Rua Miguel Bombarda
• Foz

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

It's really good. You have different restaurants with different types of food. If you are looking for some good Portuguese food you can go to "Madureiras" at Campo Alegre and "Evaristo", near Santa Catarina, for example. You should also try wine houses, not only the ones who sell Porto wine, but also the wine clubs. There's also this kind of grilled meat in some "Churrascaria" and some traditional burgers houses like "Munchie".

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

It's not Ibiza obviously. If you like to go out and have some drinks and talk or dance you can go to "Galerias de Paris" where you can find many bars with different styles of music and people. Usually we "start" the night in "Piolho" drinking something and then we go to Galerias or to some other place.

Those bars close around 4am. So, if you are looking for a nightclub you have "Zona Industrial" and in the center you have also "We love Porto", "More", "Villa" or "Eskada", for example.

What advice would you give future students heading to Porto?

1. Really enjoy the city.
2. Be friends with Portuguese people and they will show you the city with pleasure.
3. Walk through the city to discover things that city guides don't tell.
4. Try as much Portuguese food as you can.
5. Go to the beach and to the river.
6. Try "Vinho do Porto". (Porto wine)
7. Get a ticket to visit "Casa da Música".
8. Enjoy and live Porto!