We came with metro from the airport to the station near the bridge and walked down because we came there rather early (we didn’t have much luggage either). On the way back to the airport we took Uber for 20 EUR or so, so could be an option for those who travel with a lot of things. Great communication with the hosting company. We also met a lady that cleans there – very nice person. We were allowed to drop off our luggage before the check in time. You practically don’t need to walk at all to get great views, lots of restaurants, port wine visitor centres and a few interesting activities. Glad that we chose to stay in Gaia rather than Porto because a lot of people staying in Porto come to Gaya for the shade and to get some nice views. And we were just there all the time. You can walk to the Porto side of the river by the lower deck of the bridge in 10 mins, so you don’t need to climb to the upper deck to pass the bridge every time.
I will not repeat the same reviews with regards to the interior and the wall inside the apartment – you can see everything in the pictures that don’t lie. It’s amazing. Very peculiar experience just to step out on the balcony and be overwhelmed by Porto views including the Luis I bridge that looks majestic both at daytime and after dusk. The position of the sun is very fortunate as you don’t get the sun straight into your windows and can comfortably observe everything. It somehow does not feel that you are wasting your time while being in such apartment itself.
Like some other reviewers mentioned, there is a spot for street performers outside the building but it's not like somebody is performing there all the time. They start mostly in the afternoon. We witnessed nice Portuguese sounds during some days. They are mostly not that loud and actually pleasant to listen to. With regards to the band that plays during the evenings - they are a rock cover band from Brazil and are playing famous oldies not only by Guns ‘n Roses but also Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin etc. It’s not some regular street band that people just pass by, they are quite charismatic, and many people stop by to watch them. We even went down to chat with them after their gig – some of them are former participants in Portuguese reality music shows. In general – it was a cool experience to watch them from the apartment, felt like you’re on the VIP balcony. If rock is not your thing, you can either close windows or go for a walk as while we were staying there, they were playing just from 8pm to 9:15pm and not every night.
All in all – good Portuguese experience! Would definitely stay there again.