Carly and I are fortunate enough to know people from different parts of the World. Since Portugal and specifically Porto became famous in the tourist circuit we keep getting asked for recommendations, so we joined together a bunch of things we had written to different friends and make it a blog post so that it's easily shareable. We hope it is useful for you. If you like it then (shameless plug), consider coming on one of our food tours in Porto to get to know the local culture through food and wine with amazing guides.
DISCLAIMER: This is Carly and Miguel's research and opinion, not Taste Porto's, nor any formal guidebooks. Different people think and prefer different things, so proceed as you will.
The sea/ocean off the western coast of Portugal is cold year round, the Atlantic has no warm currents here, and there is a frequent nortada (north wind) which makes swimming quite cold. The positive side of it is that