visiting Guimaraes

I haven't been to Guimaraes in a long time, but I remember enjoying it on two short visits. I believe it used to have an interesting market. Google tells me it still has that market on Fridays.

Rick's county-level books are not comprehensive. He picks a limited number of destinations and provides extensive information about them to assist the traveler. Many worthwhile spots are not covered.

Guimarães is a lovely town and worth your time - depending on long you have in Porto. If you have less than 3-4 days, I would suggest staying in Porto or taking a Douro trip. But, if you have more time, Guimarães is a nice trip out of the city. It’s known as the birthplace of Portugal because the first king was born there. I only stayed one night and wished I had more time.
It should be an easy trip on your own by taking the train.

Trip Advisor does a pretty good job with restaurants. While in Porto, a trip out to Matosinhos is quite nice for grilled fish.
And, the Bolhao market in Porto is also worth a visit and is open every day - I think. But, it’s definitely open more than one day a week.

There is a castle ruin there that is fun to visit and has nice views from the top. There is also a mostly-reconstructed Medieval palace that is furnished with period furniture and tapestries. And the city center has some Medieval architecture and churches.

RS books tend to focus on areas and cities that RS thinks his base would like to visit. As another noted, the books are not comprehensive on a country. We stayed one night in Guimaraes and found the city very interesting. We had lunch at Cafe Oriental, historic c. 1925. Nice lunch. and for dinner we found a Burger joint that was overwhelmingly popular with the young crowd. Called Dan's. We had to wait 45 min for a table.
Aside: bought a postcard with the 7 Wonders of Portugal... We visited or at least saw from outside all.
Castle de Guimaraes, Castle de Obidos, Monastery da Batalha, Palace da Pena, Monastery de Alcobaca, Monastery dos Jeronimos, Torre de Belem.

Kathryn, Bolhão market is closed for renewal. It will be closed for two years. The shopeers are now at shoping center "La Vie", 200 steps from the old Bolhao market. Is that the same thing? No, it´s not. But people are the same. So still worth a visit.

Thanks, Helena, for the info on the Bolhao Mercado. When I was there in February, there were supports erected that our guide said had been there for years. She didn’t mention it was closing for renovation.

Thanks to everyone that responded to my inquiry about Guimaraes. They are all very helpful. Frankly, I am still surprised that the RS guidebook doesn't even mention this World Heritage site. Happened to just see the Frommer's (2017) which gave it 3 stars.