Greetings from beautiful Portugal!

We are resting on sunny Madeira island after spending ten amazing days in Portugal’s second-largest city, Porto. This was our family’s first time on the Portuguese mainland, and it certainly won’t be our last! Here are some of our first impressions on this hilly, ancient city.

1. First Impressions – Strollerability
2. First Impressions – Eatability
3. First Impressions – Babyability
4. Total Score

First Impressions – Strollerability

Porto is one of the most walkable cities in Europe, and one of the most walkable cities we’ve been to in awhile! However, the many beautiful vistas in the city come at a steep price – stairs. There are entire pedestrian only parts of the city, where streets and streetcars are replaced by seemingly neverending flights of stairs.

To sum it up, I would tell families to leave the strollers at home and invest in a high-quality baby carrier. I love the Ergobaby, while my husband prefers the Minimeis Shoulder carrier. We have a Kelty Baby Carrier stored at my parent’s house for when Nici gets too heavy for either of these carriers.

We wouldn’t be us if we listened to our own advice! Our first two days in Porto, my husband and I stubbornly schlepped our B.O.B stroller with us. Despite it not fitting through the door in our AirBnB, we were sure that it’s immense storage space was worth the minor impracticality of the world’s largest stroller. One afternoon in an overly full Metro convinced us otherwise. People were crammed in the train, and I ended up sitting in our stroller to save space. We left the stroller behind on our next outing and were surprised at how much easier it was to get around – even though we now carried our baby full-time.

Strollerability score : 2/10

Walkability score: 10/10

First Impressions – Eatability

While the strollerability of Porto may have left us slightly disappointed, the food most definitely did not!

We stayed slightly outside the city and quickly found a bakery next to our house that served up freshly baked natas until 5 pm.

We loved the food in almost every place we ate and felt welcome, even with two babies. Every restaurant had highchairs, and almost every waiter(ess) was willing to work with us in creating something special for the littles to eat. Nici is just starting solids, so we’d order him some slices of cucumber, unbuttered bread, and plain cheese. Portugal had a smaller than normal selection of baby food, but I believe this is because they culturally lean towards baby led weaning and home made foods for babies.

I can highly recommend Canti, a small cafe looking restaurant tucked into a street corner near Trindade station. We ended up eating there twice, as the first time was too delicious to be our last!

The wine culture of Porto left nothing to the imagination. Travelers able to imbibe will find delicious wine, scrumptious sangria, and tempting Port wine in every restuarant and cafe. For a truly delectable and guilt-free treat, check out Zenith Brunch and Cocktails, home of delicious brunch and cocktails. They have a great nonalcoholic sangria, perfect on a warm summer day. Aduela’s has very limited seating and no table service, but the bartenders are more than willing to take their time with each customer – I saw one couple try three different glasses of wine before purchasing a bottle to share. Their cocktails are delicious, but for a truly Portuguese experience, test out their various wines before purchasing a bottle to share with a friend on a stoop nearby.

Eatability Score : 9/10

Drinkability Score: 10/10

First Impressions – Babyability

The Portuguese people are the most friendly and welcoming I have ever encountered. Not one person ever complained about a baby having a meltdown, even when my friend and I were wrestling two poopy kids into fresh diapers in the middle of a market. People would go well out of their way to play with our kids, one waitress even held our son while we ate.

Anytime we took public transportation, our fellow passengers and bus drivers went above and beyond the usual social expectations. We were offered help with strollers, seats for the babies and us, snacks, and drinks. The best part? Not one person came up to us with unwarranted “helpful” advice. If our kids were screaming, people would try and play with them or ignore us. If our kids were well-behaved, people would give us compliments on how cute and friendly they were. If we were schlepping our strollers up an ill-advised route filled with stairs, people would come out of their homes to help us carry the little ones up. I have never encountered such good will when traveling with a baby!

Yet another great part about traveling to Portugal with babies was the utter lack of lines. Not that there weren’t any lines. There were lines for everything! However, children under two, their parents, pregnant people, and the elderly get to skip all lines in Portugal. We skipped the overly long customs line at the Porto airport, skipped the taxi line while getting a cab to our hotel, and even skipped the line when buying groceries! Not one person begrudged us our skipping – people came up to us in line and told us to skip to the front.

Babyability Score: 11/10

Total Score

I can highly recommend Portugal for families traveling with young kids. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, and the country welcomes families with small children. While the towns, villages, and historic centers may not be very accessible for families reliant on strollers or wheelchairs, excellent public transportation and helpful natives make the whole country feel within reach. When in doubt, ask for help in Portugal and help you shall receive. For ideas on what to do in Portugal, where to go, and how to get around, see my blogs about travel in Portugal.

Total score of 9/10

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