Enjoyed starting our trip to Porto with a glass of port wine and listening to live fado music in a…read morerustic tavern. We enjoyed the brief education about fado in English by the hosts. The guitarists were mind-blowing. Highly recommend for the laid-back experience!

When I travel, it's important for me to experience the local culture. While visiting a fado house…read morecan feel touristy, the deep history of fado made it a meaningful experience. The performance was simple, yet the passion was felt. The musicians were incredibly talented, and the singer had a deep, soulful voice that captivated the room. My favorite part was hearing the stories they shared about the history of fado. The performance lasted about an hour, the perfect length, though we could have listened all night.

Pretty sure you need to put it on your list of places to see a show. From the outside you would…read morethink the concert hall is huge. Guess again, what an excellent place to see a concert. Not convinced you can get a bad seat. I sat around row J, center and the view was unobstructed and clear. I enjoy analyzing where the best spot in the house would be to not have a head in front of you but I think the seats are perfectly arranged where this isn't an issue for most. I will say, though, I am going to try for row H next time, it looks like it is the best row (haha) likely the same as all the others though. I am going to weirdly focus on the seating. Not sure why I love this so much but they are like sliding seats. So when someone is trying to get through, you don't have to stand up, fold your seat, sit back down. No! You just push back slightly, the seat slides backwards into the back rest and once the person is past, magic, full seat again. To me this says this concert hall was very intentionally built and I can fully support a wise concert hall. Lovely cafe to relax in before the show with some simple but great options (more basic menu in the evenings during concerts) but worth a little snacky and beer to make your wait go faster. I would hangout in this cafe no matter what. Excellent energy and tons of outdoor sitting. Yes please, go.

Unique architecture which in stark contrast to the old European buildings throughout Porto. The…read moretile room brings in the traditional Portuguese tile work into this modern building.

Fantastic view and worth the climb of stairs. Very nice waitstaff, too. I did not catch the live…read moremusic but the music on the speakers was wonderful.

Awesome spot for sunset cocktails…read more Highlights: - Small rooftop with a few tables outside with a great view of the river and sunset - Selection of cocktails and wine--even have a port tasting flight if you'd like - I got a spritz and some sparkling green wine. - Homemade boozy popsicles: sounded so good, wish I would've gotten one on a warm day. - Menu of some snacks if you're hungry - Jazz music playing on the speakers--some nights (believe it's Thursday) it's live music - When you're ready for your bill, you pay inside so you don't have to wait for the waitress. Lowlights: - Very hard to find. From the main street it's up a small alleyway halfway up the stairs by a building under construction. Apple maps did not have it right and we came from the top of the hill down and could not find it. Switched to Google maps and saw it was up the stairs. - Only 1 waitress so hard to get a hold of her. - Make a reservation--we did just in case but didn't think we really needed them. All tables outside were booked the day we went. Enjoyed the sunset here--once we got there.

A definite hidden gem . I think its open thursday , Friday and saturday evenings. The basement is…read moreatmospheric and has something live on the night we went. Great soul trio was there . Definitely go back again .

Prova is a fantastic place to go and have some wine. We were so glad we stumbled across this place…read moreand it was near our hotel. We had eaten dinner, so we're mainly here to drink. They have a great selection of wines and ports. We started with a ruby port and a Madeira. The service was great and both were very good. They brought out some popcorn as well which was nice. We then had a 20 year tawny port that was excellent. It is a very comfortable place and great for couples or groups. Then we did not eat, but saw them preparing a meat and cheese plate. They put so much care into and it looked fabulous. Definitely worth a visit.

Fabulous wine. Fabulous service…read more Found this small, hidden wine shop while strolling the streets of Porto on a Sunday late afternoon. Highly recommend visiting and trying the various wines.

This is a pretty cool Blues Bar with regular live music. There are regular open jams as well so…read morecheck the schedule. The drinks are good and the tapas are also tasty. The ambiance reflects the bars blues roots. There is outdoor seating in a small terrace. Food is decent. It is a little slow on busy nights but that's to be expected. There are periotic tapa specials. Dancing, blues, lots of fun, cheers!

OMG. Found this club and took half of my trip companions from the US to a performance here when we…read morewere in Porto. Five of us bought t-shirts and showed up as our own "hot five." Oddly, the performer looked a lot like Kamala Harris who was running for president at the time (but lost). Next time, this will definitely be on my list of places to visit in Porto. We will be back!

Great ambiance! While on vacation in Portugal, Porto wanted to venture out for evening nightlife…read more Great vibe & drinks. Band players are phenomenal, so much great classic music.

It would take forever to describe what goes on in Santiago de Compostela in July, especially during…read morewhat they call the festas do apóstolo or celebration of the Apostle (St. James, of course). The festas get hard-core starting around July 18 (we'll forget even if we shouldn't that this was the day of the 1936 uprising of Franco against the republican government). There are a lot of activities, for young and old, many musical but others more theatrical. It helps to know Galician to get into the seams and deeper flavors of these days and spaces. However, most visitors don't pay attention to that and come for the revelry along with the solemnity of the religious meaning of the Patron saint of Spain, who is buried here. So mix and match and pick the schedule you like: morning people will find activities for their tastes and night owls will really be kept entertained with the series of concerts that happen every year. There is an annual context of Galician folk attire, and one finds bands in the streets, music seeping out of doorways, mimes, hwkers of wares (beware of quality, but do not fear buying if it strikes your fancy). A good part of all the hullabaloo is for purely commercial reasons, but it is still an adventure to make your way through the populated streets and see the stone walls come alive. One always wonders what santiago as a pilgrimage site was like in previous centuries. Some huge names in entertainment appear during these days, if you are one who likes to attend those events, but do not overlook the small, one-person bands that are in the area as well. They are really important in creating the atmosphere. A few artists may paint your portrait or sell you an image of the city and the quality may not be Picasso-like, but you will have a souvenir. Watch out for the hard-core pilgrims who have walked at least the minimum kms of the Camiño de Santiago to earn the stamp on their 'passport'. Maybe some day I'll do that, but am not anxious to put up with cars racing along the highway to get hat reward. Do your required reading on the cathedral and the surrounding sites of the city. Do not limit your visit to this area only, but go to nearby spots and if you can, to other parts of Galicia, which is also very lively in July and August and even in September. While the bustle is distracting, do look at things like the very artistic chimneys on rooftops, the carved conchas or shells on buildings throughout the casco vello or old part, and follow your way through the windy streets, perhaps to La Casa de la Troya. Look closely at the shops and pick the one that seems to be least bent on selling and more interested in offering you something authentically Galician. If it looks too Spanish (eg, tries to sell you sangría or gazpacho or some Spanish item rather than local culture), it is too touristy. Silver and jet (azabache) are typical here, and have been since the middle ages. Fans are really Andalusian and Spanish flags are out of place as souvenirs (the Galician flag os while with a diagonal blue stripe; if you find one that is black with the blue stripe, it is the one developed when the Prestige spilled oil all over the coast a few years back - perfect gift for an ecologically-minded person.) I could go on forever, but think every visitor should just go - plan place of lodging in advance, though - and experience the city for all that s/he can. Many who go end up returning. Or just remain in Santiago permanently. There is that

Friendly service, fingerfood and good cocktails on the beach until early morning…read more The cocktails are well made and decent sized. They don't have a very large selection but over the past 3 evenings, we've been able to try quite a few and they very probably the best so far around Espinho. Fingerfood was local meats and cheeses, Portuguese black olives, with warm bread.