Which city has the most beautiful views?

Let’s face it, they both have fantastic views over their respective riverfronts, squares and ancient quarters.

Set on seven hills, Lisbon has several miradouros – open viewing areas where locals gather at sunset to chat and admire the panoramas below – including the beautiful tile-clad Miradouro de Santa Luzia which looks down over the maze of tumble-down buildings in the Alfama quarter to the river and beyond, and the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, looking over the city’s central grid of streets to the Castelo de São Jorge opposite.

Porto has plenty of impressive viewpoints too – one of the best is from the top tier of the Ponte Dom Luís I. From here you can enjoy the fantastic vistas over the UNESCO World Heritage Ribeira district and across to the port suburb of Vila Nova de Gaia.

Ponte Dom Luís I © Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Where can I find the best local food?

Porto’s cuisine is perhaps the more hearty, as befits a northern city, with its local specialities of tripe and the francesinha, a gut-busting cooked sandwich containing steak, sausage and ham, and covered in melted cheese and a tomato and beer sauce.

In Lisbon, the capital has a rather more refined delicacy – the delicious flaky pastel de natacustard tart. It’s best eaten warm, and sprinkled with cinnamon, at the beautifully tiled Pastéis de Belem, in the suburb of Belém, where the tasty treat was invented and is still handmade today.

Pastel de nata © Altan Can/Shutterstock