Porto

Porto is steep, so every walk comes with a view. The Ribeira riverfront tumbles down to the Douro, and crossing the double-decker Dom Luís I Bridge brings you to the port wine lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia for an afternoon tasting. Start a morning at the Bolhão Market for fish, cheese and flowers, and leave the evening open: the riverside and the bar streets around Galerias de Paris fill up on their own. The city proper is small even though the wider metro area is not. Expect hills and stairs; comfortable shoes are not optional.