Porto Porto is a lovely city to explore with port houses, churches, historic waterfront area etc. But today, we decided to take a trip up the Duoro river to see where the grapes are grown . Porto itself was where Portugal took its name as an independent nation back in the 12th century. By the 15th century, Porto was playing a leading role in the maritime discoveries of the New World. It's centre is a world heritage site. After an hour or so of travelling by rail through the suburbs the river came into view and for the next couple of hours we followed it's course up to a place called Pochino. It provided a relaxing way to spend the day and to give the feet a rest too!