Porto to Ponte de Lima and Viana do Castelo: Day trip

Founded in 1125 and considered Portugal's oldest vila (chartered town), Ponte de Lima is the gateway to the Vinho Verde wine country, a place of medieval bridges, granite manor houses, and the unhurried green calm of the Lima valley.

What to see

• The Ponte Romana, a medieval and Roman bridge crossing the Rio Lima in 26 arches, one of the oldest surviving bridges in Portugal, used by pilgrims on the Camino Portugues since the Middle Ages
• The historic town center, with its arcaded main square, Manueline church of Santo Antonio, and the medieval tower houses of the old nobility
• The fortnightly Monday market on the riverbank, one of the oldest traditional markets in Portugal, held on the same spot since the 13th century

What to do

• Walk across the Roman bridge and back along the far bank of the Lima for the best view of the town's medieval riverfront
• Visit one of the surrounding quintas for a tasting of young Vinho Verde wine, best drunk ice-cold in the shade

What to eat

• Bacalhau a Lagareiro (salt cod roasted with olive oil) and lamprey in season (January to April) at one of the Lima riverfront restaurants

Viana do Castelo stands at the mouth of the Lima River, where the Minho coast begins, and the Atlantic opens out, a city of Manueline masterpieces, a hilltop basilica, and a long tradition of boat-building and embroidery that makes it the cultural capital of northern Portugal.

What to see

• The Praca da Republica and its Renaissance fountain, surrounded by the Casa da Misericordia (1589), one of the finest Manueline civic buildings in Portugal, and the town hall, both in the same extraordinary late-Gothic and Manueline blend
• The Basílica de Santa Luzia, a neo-Byzantine church crowning the Monte de Santa Luzia above the city, reached by funicular; the hilltop views across the Lima estuary, the Minho coast, and into Spain are exceptional
• The local costume and embroidery museum, Viana's gold-embroidered regional dress is among the most elaborate in Portugal, and still worn at festival time

What to do

• Take the funicular to Santa Luzia for the view, allow 30 minutes at the top
• Walk the medieval center between the Praca da Republica and the Eiffel-designed iron bridge over the Lima

What to eat

• Papas de sarrabulho, a thick pork and blood rice dish unique to the Minho, and fresh Lima river lamprey in season