Port, Celts, dark clouds and bacalhau

A wonderful week in north Portugal: from Porto to Guimaraes; via Braga to Ponte de Lima; up to Lindoso; down to Viana do Castelo; back to Porto. We walked and ate and swam and took inordinate numbers of photos of balconies and shadows and peeling paint.

We got trains and buses everywhere, which meant we were met with a mix of pity and bemusement, but it also slowed the pace and reduced the stress.

A few recommendations and highlights:

Galeria de Paris, Porto. A no-frills canteen restaurant full of locals with good food that you choose by pointing and wall cabinets from floor to high ceiling full of antique toys and radios.

Duas Nações, Porto. Friendly and cheap, on a gorgeous square with balconies and a good cafe and restaurant, up the hill in the old town.

Guimarães. A beautiful town with an amazing ruined Celtic settlement (Citania de Briteiros) on a nearby hilltop. We stayed in Residencial Mestre d’Aviz and had a fantastic room with two huge windows opening onto a balcony. Cheers, in the main square, has an awful name but serves great Portuguese food – try the selection of Portuguese tapas.

Lindoso. In the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, we had a beautiful little house (Casa do Moinho) with a restored waterwheel in this old, cobbled, red-roofed town. Great walks between little fields and vineyards, up onto the hills and down into valleys, where I swam in pools in the streams.

Viana do Castelo. A surprisingly hip little seaside town, with a beautiful old centre and a little putt-putt boat that takes passengers across the river to the huge Atlantic beach. We stayed at the excellent, stylish Albergaria Margarida da Praca, who, after losing our reservation, looked after us very well.