Porto Photo Gallery - Gaia from Above & Ponte Dom Luis I Upper Deck

Across the Douro river, Gaia's tourism attractions primarily revolve around port wineries. I walked (#6) across the imposing Dom Luis I Bridge under a disappointing and gloomy grey sky. Worried that I wouldn't be able to achieve all the photography I wanted on this last full day in the city, I looked for lunch to calm my nerves. Despite the language barrier, the friendly staff served me this delicious meal, and the bargain basement price revealed at the end brought a big smile back to my face. Heading back outside, I was very surprised to find the sky had turned blue and the sun shone brilliantly once again. I quickly went up to the Miradouro da Serra do Pilar. Surprisingly the observation area was deserted. A few odd tourists came up every now and then but it was nowhere as busy as the Ribeira. The friendly staff at the tourist information centre told me this is a must-see vantage point. The lookout is just a ramp up from the Jardim do Morro station. The light rail trains then cross the bridge into Porto, so getting here is quite easy. The view from this lower location is also quite wide. You can see the entire historic centre and the river bend. Do walk across the bridge as the top deck has a pedestrian pathway sharing with the metro line. I ended up going back and forth to see the different views from both sides of the bridge. I could still see the morning's clouds in the distance, luckily heading away from me. A cable car operates next to the metro station down to the waterfront, where the port winery museums are located. The station itself has a rooftop terrace that makes good use of its geographic location. There are so many vantage points in Porto.