You will be entering Portugal via air at Porto`s Francisco de Sa Carneiro Airport (IATA code OPO). Porto`s airport is 42 miles south-southeast of Viana do Castelo.

Some of you will be self-driving to Viana do Castelo. Consult your reservation information and keep in mind the name of the company from which you have rented. The rental car companies are located just outside of the security checkpoints for departures and arrivals.

Driving directions to Viana do Castelo: Get on the A41 and follow signs to the A28 after 1.2 miles. Proceed on the A28 for 36 miles until exit 23 for Viana do Castelo. Once exited, proceed to the second roundabout and head left onto Avenida Capitan Gaspar de Castro.

For those who are not reserving a car: Take Line E on the Porto Metro from Aeroporto station to Campanha station (€2, not including fee for Andante Card which is mandatory for use on the Porto Metro). Exit the Porto Metro station at Campanha and head over to the adjacent Comboios de Portugal (CP) station of the same name. Five InterRegional CP trains leave Porto`s Campanha station daily for Viana do Castelo (1 hour and 25 minutes), in addition to slower Urbano trains (2 hours and 15 minutes). InterRegional tickets cost approximately €10 after taxes and fees per person, expect to pay €1 less for Urbano train tickets. There is a taxi rank outside Viana do Castelo train station which is populated while the station is open.

It is acceptable to flag a vacant taxi down if you see one on the street. There is also a taxi rank in front of Viana do Castelo train station which is populated with idling taxis while the train station is open. Initial taxi fare begins at €3.50 and a fare increase of roughly €1.25 happens every 0.6 miles. Note that there is a 20% increase in fares between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. and on weekends and holidays. If you book via telephone, a fee of €1 is charged. Here are some telephone numbers and addresses for taxi companies that serve Viana do Castelo:

-Taxivianense (+351 258 333 971, Praca da Galiza 14)
-Taxis Filipe - Viana do Castelo (+351 258 323 946, Urbanizacao Capitaes Abril, Loja 14)
-Viana Taxis (+351 969 933 355, Avenida dos Combatentes da Grande Guerra 192)
-Taxi Viana (+351 969 933 355, Rua do Trigo 11)
-Taxis Esponsende (+351 910 800 080)

Driving is one of the many feasible ways to get around Viana do Castelo. Roads are wide and traffic is usually light. There is a large underground parking garage located on Avenida Campo do Castelo near Rua General Barbosa, before the roundabout, and another one located on the N13 near Rua Pedro Homem de Melo. If you reserve a car through the TripMasters booking process, note that you will be picking up your car at the Francisco de Sa Carneiro Airport in Porto and not in Viana do Castelo. For those deciding to rent a car on their own while already in Viana do Castelo, Europcar is located at Praca General Barbosa 124 and Hertz is located at Estrada da Papanata 256.

Viana do Castelo is a walkable city for nearly every person regardless of physical fitness. Most of the sights in Viana do Castelo are situated in a compact area that`s roughly two-fifths of a mile wide and four-fifths of a mile long. The sights around the Santuario de Santa Luzia are all in a radius of approximately a quarter-mile. It is particularly easy to reach all the sights in and around the Praca da Republica: there are about ten points of interest within a (figurative) stone`s throw of the square. If you would like to walk for exercise, consider the areas around the Largo 5 de Outubro, such as the Jardim da Marina and the Jardim da Marginal.

Viana do Castelo is a safe city and there are no areas that tourists are known to frequent that should be avoided. The complaints we have studied involve restaurants that may function as price-gouging tourist traps, in particular one on Largo Vasco da Gama that received an 89% one-star rating out of a possible five. Restaurants near Forte de Santiago da Barra, Praca da Republica and the Museu do Traje have come highly-recommended.

Viana do Castelo is not particularly well-known for its great shopping, at least not in the sense that you can grab unique souvenirs unavailable in other parts of the country. The shopping scene revolves around the three-level American-style shopping mall Estacao Viana Shopping, located on Rua General Humberto Delgado 101. It is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. If there are any souvenirs that may be of interest for you to grab, you will notice them around the Praca da Republica in the shops there.

The currency of Portugal is the Euro and US dollars are not accepted for payment. Please be sure to have the correct currency on hand or be prepared to exchange your dollars for euros upon arrival. Currency exchange desks and ATMs can be found at your arrival airport and at many hotels and banks throughout the city.

It is more common to find English speakers in Portugal than it is in other southern European countries, such as Spain. A recent European Union language survey found that 32% of Portuguese people over the age of 18 can speak English on a conversational level or better.

With that said, you may encounter some difficulty finding an English speaker away from tourist areas. It is recommended to brush up on basic Portuguese phrases before arriving, like basic pleasantries and numbers from 1 to 10. To ask someone if they speak English, say `Fala ingles?`

Note: Do not speak in Spanish to a Portuguese person, thinking they will understand you when you do so. Responses will range from stunned silence to outright hostility; the Portuguese people are proud of their culture and heritage, and such an act will cause nearly everyone to take personal offense. On another note, the vocabulary and pronunciation in Portuguese differs from Spanish more than you may realize.

The legal drinking age in Portugal is 18, whether you find yourself in a pub or a nightclub. Asking for proof of age upon ordering an alcoholic beverage or entering a nightclub is becoming more commonplace, especially if you appear younger. Keep your passport with you as it doubles as proof of age and identification.

If you are renting a car, do not drive after consuming alcohol. A blood alcohol content level of 0.05 is considered the legal limit; penalties can range from fines to a jail sentence of up to one year. Save yourself the potential trouble and heartache.