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VINTAGE VIEW:<br />
RUPERT SYMINGTON<br />
The CEO of Symington<br />
Family Estates was born<br />
in Porto and belongs to<br />
an Anglo-Portuguese family<br />
based in the Douro for<br />
three centuries.<br />
Art Nouveau stylings in the Vila Foz Hotel & Spa<br />
IS PORTO A PLACE YOU’D<br />
RECOMMEND EVEN IF IT<br />
WEREN’T YOUR HOME?<br />
Oh yes—in fact, I've been<br />
recommending it to friends for<br />
years. We have great transport<br />
connections, a superb airport,<br />
good broadband and relatively<br />
inexpensive real estate. In the<br />
last few years it’s been brilliant<br />
to see how the crumbling ruins<br />
downtown have been restored.<br />
The work has been very<br />
well planned, respecting the<br />
area's 17th- and 18th-century<br />
architecture. Another advantage<br />
is that Porto is incredibly safe:<br />
You can wander around at night<br />
and have absolutely no trouble.<br />
covered building now contains a funky venue<br />
for grazing or raving. FLOW (flowrestaurant.<br />
pt), MUNDO (fullest.pt), CANTINA 32<br />
(cantina32.com) and TABERNA DOS<br />
MERCADORES (fb.com/tabernamercadores)<br />
are just a few of the downtown hangouts<br />
currently cutting the mustard.<br />
In a formerly conservative, introspective,<br />
provincial town, the pace of all this change<br />
can be a trifle dizzy-making. Witness<br />
COLONIAL (fb.com/colonial.bystudio66),<br />
open now at a seaside location in Foz. This<br />
forward-thinking enterprise combines<br />
elements of bar, restaurant and nightclub,<br />
with a funky interior by local firm Studio<br />
66, live music and—here’s the radical bit—<br />
an entertainment policy that, according to<br />
a spokesperson for the venue, is planned<br />
to include “classic pole-dancing shows, not<br />
in a burlesque style, but done rather in a<br />
sophisticated and classy way”. Postmodern<br />
pole-dancing in Porto? Proof, if it were<br />
needed, that Portugal’s slow-lane city is<br />
finally up to cruising speed.<br />
SHARE A COUPLE OF INSIDER<br />
TIPS WITH <strong>US</strong>. Happily! The<br />
Flor do Gás ferry crosses the<br />
river from Lordelo to the fishing<br />
village of Afurada, on the<br />
south side. It's a fun thing to<br />
do. You can take your bike on<br />
board. Then head for the port<br />
lodges in Gaia. We have just<br />
reopened the visitor center at<br />
Cockburn's—it's a fantastic old<br />
building, and there's a barrelmaking<br />
workshop where you<br />
can watch the coopers at work.<br />
VALLEY HIGH<br />
It might be argued, though it sounds like a paradox, that the soul of Porto lies not in the city itself but further inland in the Douro River valley. In this<br />
dramatically beautiful region, where the vineyards are racked up in terraces on either side of the winding waterway, discerning travelers take their ease<br />
at winery lodgings such as QUINTA DO VALLADO (quintadovallado.com) and QUINTA NOVA (quintanova.com), or wine and dine at Rui Paula’s<br />
restaurant DOC (docrestaurante.pt) in its sleek modernist pavilion on the water’s edge. The SIX SENSES DOURO VALLEY (sixsenses.com), with its<br />
superlative spa, has set the seal on the valley as a first-class destination worthy of comparison with Chianti, Burgundy and the Loire, blending top-end<br />
hospitality with fine wines and glorious landscapes. For an up-close experience of the river and its surroundings, take a trip on the FRIENDSHIP I<br />
(pipadouro.com), a 1957 British admiralty yacht moored in Pinhão. Exclusive cruises for up to eight people include lunch or dinner created by the chef<br />
who has conquered the region – Rui Paula.<br />
NICK BAYNTUN; ILL<strong>US</strong>TRATION: JULIAN RENTZSCH<br />
58 NetJets<br />
Porto Airport to city center: 9miles/15km
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