Stroll In The Sunshine In The Palacio De Cristal Gardens, Porto

Find some peace and quiet

While this park is no longer home to the Crystal Palace which gave the gardens their name in 1860, it still boasts many beautiful features. The entrance to the park is a wide open space full of grassy spots and decorative flowerbeds bursting with colour. As you continue to walk, you come across ornate fountains, boulevards of trees, interesting sculptures, and much more. There is certainly plenty to see, and also a large number of benches to rest on, making the park the perfect place for both a relaxing walk and a chance to sit and soak up some sunshine (or shelter in the shade!).

One of the most appealing aspects to the park is that, in spite of its proximity to the centre, it remains undiscovered by the majority of tourists and never has a busy feel to it. The gardens always have a calm, peaceful atmosphere, and they are so full of hidden corners that it is easy to find a place to yourself.

Fancy a spot of bird watching?

Further on into the park a pond can be found, which forms the central part of the gardens. It has a bridge leading to an island in the middle with benches for anyone who wants to stop and relax. This area is where kiosks selling food and drink can be found, and also where the main wildlife of the park tends to be roaming. The gardens are home to a large number of adult peacocks plus some adorable chicks which follow their mothers everywhere. These beautiful birds will grab your attention as they wander around you and it may be hard to tear your eyes away! However, they are not the only birds to be found in the gardens: others tend to gather around the pond, ranging from ducks to geese and even the occasional chicken!

View Porto from above

Continuing on, the southern side of the park is where the two main viewpoints can be found. These areas provide stunning panoramas of the river Douro, from a slightly different angle than the standard view found on postcards. Both are decorated with mosaics depicting the scenes below, and from these spots you can gaze out across the river and the beautiful coloured buildings Porto is known for as they slope down to the Douro and lay themselves out for you.

The viewpoint found first when approaching from the pond is on the western side of the park, and this direction gives views of the mouth of the Douro, the sea that lies beyond it and if you look carefully, the lighthouse at the coastal area of Foz can be seen behind the bridge opposite you. From the eastern viewpoint on the other side, you can look out at Vila Nova de Gaia, the city across the river from Porto, featuring landmarks like the Serra do Pilar Monastery and the famous Port wine cellars.

Watch the sun go down

With its views of the sea to the west, these gardens are a perfect place to sit and watch the sunset. The park becomes bathed in beautiful orange light, and as the daylight begins to fade away bats can be seen flitting about above your head. The sight of the sun setting slowly over the hills at the edge of the city, transforming everything around it with its rainbow colours, will stay with you for a long time to come.