Ribeira

Lonely Planet review

Don't miss the alluring riverside Ribeira district - a window onto the past with shadowed lanes, grimy cobbled passages, tall sugary coloured houses and barcos rabelos (traditional boats used to ferry port wine) photogenically posed at the quayside. Here also are the clearest views of the port warehouses across the river and glowering Ponte de Dom Luís I.

Despite the flocks of tourists it remains easy-going and surprisingly ungentrified. This is also the traditional centre of the city's nightlife.

Henry the Navigator is said to have been born (in 1394) in the handsomely renovated Casa do Infante, which later served as Porto's first customs house and now houses its historical archives.