Praça da Liberdade & Avenida dos Aliados

Avenida dos Aliados is Porto's grandest street — a broad, sloping boulevard lined with early 20th-century buildings that was designed to give the city a Parisian-style civic centre. The City Hall anchors the top of the avenue with a clock tower that's become a Porto landmark, and the buildings flanking both sides compete for attention with ornate facades, domes, and statuary that reflect the confident wealth of Porto's commercial golden age.

The architecture is eclectic — Art Nouveau, Beaux-Arts, Art Deco, and a few buildings that seem to be all three simultaneously. The most striking is the former Banco de Portugal building, now a bank museum, whose granite exterior hides an interior of stained glass and polished wood that rivals any church. The McDonald's on the avenue — yes, McDonald's — occupies a space so ornate, with stained glass windows and crystal chandeliers, that it's become a tourist attraction in its own right. Only in Porto would a fast food restaurant feel like a cathedral.

Praça da Liberdade at the bottom of the avenue features an equestrian statue of King Pedro IV and connects to São Bento Station and the old town. The square and avenue together function as Porto's Times Square — this is where crowds gather for New Year's Eve, football celebrations, and the occasional political protest. On regular days, it's simply a grand urban space where Porto puts on its best suit.