Experience the best of Maia

Maia lies about ten kilometres north of Porto and is part of the city's urban area, with modern offices and housing blocks alongside older villages, schools, parks and a university institute. The Porto metro runs into its centre, so the region is easy to explore without a car. Francisco Sá Carneiro airport, the main gateway to northern Portugal, is within the municipality.

To the west, the Atlantic coast has long sand beaches at Matosinhos, Vila do Conde and Póvoa de Varzim, and the Leça river crosses the municipality on its way to the sea. Porto's historic centre, the Douro riverside and the port cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia are a short metro ride to the south. Braga, with the stairway sanctuary of Bom Jesus, and Guimarães lie to the north.

Tables in this part of Portugal serve caldo verde, a soup of kale and potato, grilled sardines in summer, roast veal and the sandwich of Porto known as the francesinha. Vinho verde, the young, lightly sparkling wine of the Minho, goes with most of it. Winters are damp, summers warm, and the Atlantic keeps the air fresh.