Tipografia do Conto is a 15-minute walk from the hustle and bustle of central Porto, in the cultured Cedofeita ’hood, also home to the city’s famous Casa da Música.
Planes
Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (aka Porto Airport) is a 20-minute drive away, served byl airlines including EasyJet, Ryanair and TAP Air Portugal.
Trains
Campanhã station is a 15-minute drive from the hotel, with services connecting to Lisbon, Coimbra and Faro.
Automobiles
The centre of Porto is a five-minute drive away. There’s public parking (€15 a day) on Rua de Cedofeita, a two-minute walk from the hotel; drop your bags off at reception first.
Worth getting out of bed for
Tipografia do Conto is your perfect city launch pad for Porto adventures of the cultural, culinary and port-flavoured kind. The hotel enjoys a prime location in Porto's arty, on-trend Cedofeita neighbourhood, which has a young, student-favoured feel. Casa da Música and the Port Wine Museum are local cultural highlights; other notable landmarks within reach include Porto Cathedral and Ribeira Square. See the city from a bird’s-eye perspective by hopping on the Gaia Cable Car, which swoops above the Douro River, Gaia's rustic red roofs, Jardim do Morro and Avenida da República. If you fancy a mini day trip, head north of Porto to the coastline of Matosinhos, a small town, for the tidal Leça Swimming Pools, designed by Portuguese star-chitect Álvaro Siza. The complex spans changing rooms, a café and two swimming pools: one for adults and one for children. There’s also a Siza-designed tea house close by. Serralves Museum is one of Porto’s cultural heavyweights. Reasons to swing by include the impressive collection of Portuguese and international contemporary art, the Álvaro Siza-designed architecture and the winsome emerald grounds.
Local restaurants
Enjoy a leisurely brunch in bright and airy Época, decorated with pale-wood furniture and pearl-white walls. This snug and friendly vegetarian café on Rua do Rosario will fuel you for the day ahead with strong coffee, kale-toting poached eggs, buttery toast and other treats. Mistu on Rua do Comércio do Porto woos eyes and taste buds with its elegant, classical decor and delicious, creative cuisine; popular dishes include sea-bass, steak tartare, tuna ceviche and picanha (a delicious type of steak). Two words: mozzarella bar – chewy-cheese lovers will go weak at the knees for Puro 4050, a dark and dapper temple to balls of buffalo milk on Largo São Domingos. Try the main event fresh, in bocconcini form or affumicata (smoked), paired with optional extras such as lettuce, chicory or prosciutto. Housed in a former drugstore on the same street as Puro 4050, Traça serves traditional Portuguese cuisine with Iberian influences. Try deer-loin carpaccio, salted codfish and other intriguing numbers; sweet-tooths are well catered to, with desserts such as chocolate-ice-cream soufflé or caramelised pineapple with goat’s-cheese ice-cream.
Local bars
Arty, sociable Base is an open-air garden bar in Porto's storied downtown, near Clérigos Tower. It’s a lovely place to while away an hour or two under the ivory umbrellas, with an ice-cold cocktail to hand.
