Touristic information

The city of Porto is the central point of the northern Portugal. The Historic Centre of Porto, recently classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage, is nowadays one of the most attractive entertainment venues for foreigners, providing a rich variety of monuments and ordinary dwellings, from different periods stretching back as far as the 14th century.

The city of Porto and its river Douro cannot be dissociated. The Douro valley, with its lovely terraces of vineyards clinging to the hillsides and its ever-changing colours, is the territory of the famous Port Wine and offers the visitors a spectacular view.

From springtime to autumn many festivals and fairs follow in rapid succession in the whole Northern Portugal. The 24th June is the Porto large annual festival, celebrating the city saint S. João (St. John) day. During all night (June 23), visitors love to walk among the city inhabitants and feel the great social and community spirit. They jump the many S. João fires, eat the delicious local dishes, look at the many colourful balloons that rise into the air and give pleasure to the senses watching the millions of lights of fireworks diving slowly into the river.

A post-meeting visit to the city, to enjoy the S.João night and to explore the local lifestyle and cuisine will be promoted.

The next day, a liaison with the EXPO'98, the last World Exposition of this century which Lisbon will host from May 22 to September 30, will be arranged.