9 Days in Porto? couple quick questions

There's no need to have a car while in Porto, except for the Douro trip.

You may consider Galicia as a side trip.

9 days is on the generous side for Porto and vicinity (Guimarães, Braga, Douro Valley), but is appropriate if you add in Coimbra, the schist villages, or other attractions in that area between Porto and Lisbon.
North of Porto, with a car you could consider Peneda-Geres national park - unsure about April weather though. The same "weather warning" applies to Galicia, but that is still a good suggestion if you are OK to travel a bit further afield.

The Alfama itself does not justify the trip back to Lisbon, but there's no rule against visiting the same city twice!

Definitely no car. Uber and public transport is good in Porto and driving is difficult if you’re not used to city driving — narrow roads, lots of traffic and parking is a pain. I wouldn’t say a driver would be necessary at all. Lisbon is great, but there will be plenty to do in Porto and environs; in fact you may find yourself wishing you had more time. Guimaraes, Aveiro, Braga and Viana do Castelo are all with the effort. For all the day trips, the trains are great, as is public transportation out to Matosinhos. I wouldn’t call Porto a rowdy town, but the Ribeira is as close as you’d get to it and noise. The House Ribeira Porto Hotel gets good reviews, as does In Porto Gallery Guesthouse. But for the length of your trip, I’d suggest an Airbnb. We had a great one in August and the washer and extra space is always welcome. The must-see sites are covered well in the RS guide. The Bolsa is glorious, and although you’ve seen plenty of churches, Carmo, Santa Clara and Capela das Almas are worth the time. Museu Serralves has an excellent, modern art, architecture and landscape and is very different from your churches and city views circuit. We liked the Portuguese Center for Photography, which is housed in a former prison. The building was as interesting as the art. Museu do Misercordia is award-winning and has a lovely collection of religious art. It’s located in the heart of the city and, bonus, has a bar and a view. I can’t think of any “tourist traps” except maybe the Lello bookstore of Harry Potter fame. The bridge isn’t that big of a deal to me. It’s certainly no Sydney harbor bridge climb. The weather is apt to be chilly and wet in April, too. I did a great photo walk with a pro who advertised on Airbnb as an experience. It was fun, educational and I saw things I probably would have not discovered on my own. You have plenty of options for a day trip or overnight on the Douro, but the weather won’t be great then. I’d look around to find the best combo of drive, train, and/or brief river cruise. I love Porto and hope you will too.

Hi!

Your wrote: "Main question is should we have a car in Porto? how is the driving? and since we hired a driver is Lison to Sintra and Belem, are there any recommendations for that in Porto?"

• no, you should not.

• The driving is an adventure, I give you that! (if you want to climb Arrábida - the bridge - you are probably and adventurous person). The city is under the construction of a new metro line, so traffic is even worst then it used to be. Parking costs you a kidney. Streets change directions everyday. Motorcycles from Uber eats and Blovo (they do take-away) are crazy and suicidal. Etc.

• A driver might be usefull for visiting Douro Valley. It allows you to drink.

Since you have plenty of time, you might consider 2-3 nights in the Douro Valley. As mentioned earlier, weather could be an issue but staying at a Quinta along the river is very nice. Quinta de la Rosa is outside of Pinhao and has glorious views, a restaurant and you can tour their winery. And, it’s a bit more reasonable in cost than many of the Quinta’s in the area. When we stayed there, the Quinta suggested a driver for us that worked out well. We took the train then let him drive us around the area. The price was much cheaper than renting a car and we didn’t need to avoid drinking the wine.

You could also consider Guimaraes and or Braga for either day trips or an overnight.

Thank you for all the insight! much appreciated! We have decided to stay in Porto (with some days trips to Guimaraes, Braga and maybe Coimbra etc) and then take 2-3 days in Douro Valley. We love Lisbon and will visit another time. My questions now get a little specific. Is a long river boat trip to Douro valley worth it and is there anything on the boat to do besides seeing the sights. (I read it could be 6 hours) If we train there, how hard is it to go from Quinta to Quinta to try different wines, as we would like to hire a driver but not sure how spread out everything is. And what are everyone's top three things to do in Douro Valley?

My spouse and I are doing the same trip at the end April with 9 nights (81/2 days) in Porto. Right now we are planning to do 1 or 2 small group tours (Douro Valley and the National Park) and the rest will be via trains/bus/boat. I haven't put together my exact itinerary yet but would love to share information as we get closer to travel time. We rented an apartment just outside of the Ribeira area. The two touristy things I am looking forward to is visiting the port cellars, and taking a learn to paint Portuguese tile class.

" The two touristy things I am looking forward to is visiting the port cellars, and taking a learn to paint Portuguese tile class."

-visiting the port cellars - one is enough. More than one is repeating the same stuff. To drink Porto you don't need to visit the cellars. To learn how to make Porto, you need more than the lessions from the cellars.

• Paint portuguese tile class: very interesting, not usefull. You need a special oven. You will never paint tiles again. In my opinion, you would be better taking a food class.

Helena