- Route:
- Gaia → Avenida da Boavista (Boavista Avenue) → Café Corcel → Parque da Cidade (Porto City Park) → Praia de Matosinhos (Matosinhos Beach) → back the same way (with treat stops);
- Steps:
- ~29,000;
- Distance:
- ~24.7km;
- Total ascent:
- ~318m;
- Time:
- ~2.5 hours one way (without stops)
We woke up and decided we just wanted to walk to the beach.
We left at around 10am from Gaia and the route was pretty straightforward. It took us along Avenida da Boavista, and we stopped at Café Corcel because it looked lovely. We had a double espresso, an American sandwich (yummy ham and cheese), a café com leite (latte), and then a shrimp rissol and a croquette.
Then there was a small moment of unexpected kindness. I went to the toilet and the lady in front of me nearly shut the door behind her, then saw me and reopened it straight away, signalling me to go in first. She said something in Portuguese that I did not understand, but I definitely understood the intention. It felt like when you are at the till with one item and someone with a big trolley lets you go first. Just small kindness. I appreciated it a lot.
After that, we carried on and cut through Parque da Cidade do Porto, which is gigantic and very green. There were roosters wandering around, which we were not expecting, and a few other birds that were less interesting. It also looked like they were setting up some kind of event or concert in one of the open areas. We could imagine the atmosphere being really good.
Then we finally reached Praia de Matosinhos. It felt so open, wide, and long. There were people relaxing on the beach, learning to surf, and a few already in the water swimming. The Atlantic wind was so refreshing. We walked along the wooden walkway by the beach for a while, took it all in, then turned around and started the long walk back.
On the way back, we tried to stay in the shade along Boavista so we did not get burnt. But we still got very thirsty after finishing our water supply, never ideal on a blisteringly hot day, and had to buy a big emergency bottle of water at Pingo Doce along the way.
As we headed back towards the centre, we rewarded ourselves with some sweet treats: a doce from Confeitaria Petúlia and two big cups of ice cream from Amorino.
We got back to the Airbnb and cooked dinner. Very tired, but content.