The apartment is great. The view from the balcony is gorgeous, much better than the picture on web. Maria prepared everything we may or may not need, from rub alcohol to dessert wine. The bed is comfortable. The bathroom is large. The kitchen has everything for cooking. Basically all the good things mentioned in other reviews are true. We truly enjoyed our stay.
I want to emphasize three things, location, location and location. The location of the apartment cannot be better. When you step outside the building, Porto Cathedral is on the right hand side, and Sao Bento station is on the left side. Both are within 2-3 minute walk. At the end the left side slope, there is an tourist information center. You can get city info, buy boat ticket, hop on/off bus ticket and Fado ticket there. It takes 5-minute walk from the information center to the Ribeira plaza at the river side. The Jimao Tapas restaurant there is gorgeous, but you have to reserve once you get there. You can also get on the 6-bridge view boat at the plaza, or get on the lower level of Lius I bridge with another two minutes’ walk. Now let’s come back to the apartment. After visiting the Porto Cathedral on the left hand side. The upper level of Luis I bridge is just behind the cathedral. You definitely should walk on it at sun rise or sun set, take pictures, take a walk or kiss your loved ones there. You can return to apartment afterwards in 2 minutes. The Sao Bento station is beautiful. After taking pictures there, you can walk on the street on the north side of the station. The Liberal Plaza is on the right hand side within 2 minutes. The Majestic Mcdonald’s is also on the plaza. Keep on walking on the street, you will hit a cathedral. It is the San Francisco Cathedral with the Torre Dos Clerigos, the best place to get a full view of the old city. After getting off the tower, you can pass by a costa coffee, and visit the Lello book store. Next to the bookstore, there is a nice plaza behind University of Porto. If you feel hungry when visiting the Liberal plaza, walk north and east a bit, there is a place called majestic coffee. In that area, there are many good restaurants. In conclusion, more than 80% of the you-must-visit places in Porto are in 10-minute walking distance from Maria’s apartment.