Happy Day Surf Camp (Porto, Portugal) ★★★

The nearest beach is 10 min. from the city centre where the hotel or hostel are. Beaches are chosen according with the sea conditions and the surfers level. We are happy to transport all the guests to the surf lessons.

Spring and summer have temperatures of 25-30ºC, with the water at about 18ºC

Local people are nice to tourists. Surfers are guided by experienced surfers to beaches with no crowd

REGION

Located 300 km north from Lisbon, the Portuguese city of Porto is the second largest city in the country and was elected the “Best European Destination 2012” winning the title over 19 major European cities. Sponsored by the Tourism Offices across Europe the voting was carried online involving multiple social networks and a total of 212.688 voters.

Porto offers a variety of resources and historic authenticity to its visitors. At the mouth of the Rio Douro, the hilly city presents a diversity of styles from narrow medieval alleyways to extravagant baroque churches, romantic little squares and wide modern boulevards. Discovering Porto means discovering what makes it different: the famous Port Wine, an Historical Center designated World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, museums and enchanting parks and gardens. A millenary city, Porto is also internationally known for exporting the famous Port wine.

Porto citizens are very characteristic and regionalist. It is a city with the biggest university in Portugal with about 32000 students and everybody is very open and receptive to tourists so is easy to find someone that speaks English.

The Porto city holyday is 24 June and the biggest party of the city is 23 June at night. During the summer months the city breathes parties, concerts and music festivals in the city several parks or city historical center streets.

The currency is EURO and the cost of living is low for Europe. You can easily find a meal for 8 € if you look for it.

No special vaccinations are required. Hospitals are public and Porto has several in the city center. Nevertheless, tourists are encouraged to make a basic travel insurance.

At Porto, besides surf you can practice all kind of sports such as yoga, canoeing, paintball, cycling or running near the river or beach, group sports, swimming, etc.

Also, Oporto guided tours (by walk, bus, segway or helicopter) are very usefull to get a general idea of the city by day and a nightlife guided tour to get to know hottest city spots. Porto has a strong center night activity, with bars and discotheques opening almost every day and in the majority of them there is no entrance fee so people can go from one to the other in the same night.

A visit to the Oporto wine cellars is very interesting to know the process of production and taste the several kinds of Porto wines. Can be also arranged a visit the city museums, monuments, expositions, music concerts or theaters.

JOURNEY

Plane

Porto is served by Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport which is located about15 km to the north-west of the city centre.The major lowcost companies (Ryanair, Easyjet, Transavia, etc.) have flights to Porto. The national flight company is TAP.

Train

Porto's main railway station is situated in Campanhã, located in the eastern part of the city (connecting to the lines of Douro (Peso da Régua/Tua/Pocinho), Minho (Barcelos/Viana do Castelo/Valença) and Norte (on the main line to Aveiro, Coimbra and Lisbon). From here, both light rail and suburban rail services connect to the city centre. The main central station is São Bento Station, which is itself a notable landmark located in the heart of Porto.

Buses

The city has an extensive bus network run by the STCP (Sociedade dos Transportes Colectivos do Porto, or Porto Public Transport Society) which also operates lines in the neighboring cities. Several bus companies make the connection with all the major cities in Portugal.

Trams

A tram network, of which only four lines remain one of them being a tourist line on the shores of the Douro. The lines in operation today all use vintage tramcars, so the service has become a heritage tramway.

Subway/Light rail

Porto has a modern and useful subway net, with access to all the city, to the airport and to the surrounding metropolitan area.

Shuttle service from airport/train station to camp

Happy Day Surf Camp is glad to provide a shuttle service.

Distance camp-airport

The distance from the airport to the camp is 15 km. The taxi costs about 20 € each way and the subway about 2,5 € per person each way.