São Bento Railway Station

São Bento is the station that tourists visit without a ticket. Built in the early twentieth century on the site of a former Benedictine convent, from which it takes its name, it is a handsome Beaux-Arts building at the foot of the Avenida dos Aliados, and it still works as one of Porto's main railway stations, with suburban trains and the line that runs up the Douro Valley. The reason to come is the atrium. Its walls are covered with some twenty thousand azulejos, the painted tin-glazed tiles that are Portugal's great decorative art, in a vast cycle by the painter Jorge Colaço, completed in the years around the station's opening. The large blue-and-white panels show episodes from Portuguese history as the early twentieth century wanted to remember them: the entry of King João I and Philippa of Lancaster into Porto for their wedding, the conquest of Ceuta in 1415 led by their son Henry the Navigator, who was born in Porto, and medieval battles and encounters of the first kings. Between and above them, smaller scenes of rural life, pilgrimages, harvests and processions celebrate the traditions of the north, and a band of colour near the ceiling traces the history of transport, from ox carts to the railway itself. Entry to the hall is free and it is open throughout the station's operating hours. Go early in the morning, when commuters rush beneath the tiles and the light is soft, and take a moment to stand back in the middle of the floor and let the scale of the work sink in.

Reading the tiles: start with the two great panels on the main walls, the most photographed. One shows the arrival of João I and his English bride in Porto in 1387, a reminder that the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, the oldest in the world, was sealed with a royal wedding here; the other depicts the taking of Ceuta, the event often taken as the beginning of Portugal's overseas expansion. Smaller panels show Egas Moniz, the loyal knight of medieval legend, presenting himself and his family to the king of León, and the battle of Arcos de Valdevez. Higher up, the polychrome frieze of transport through the ages is easy to miss and charming once you spot it. The upper rural scenes, with wine harvests and village festivals, show the north of Portugal as an idyll, and they link nicely to the Douro trip that starts from the platforms behind you.

Practicalities: the station sits at the junction of the Baixa and the old town, a short walk downhill from the Clérigos Tower and uphill from the cathedral and the Ribeira, and it has its own metro stop on the line that crosses the Luís I Bridge. The hall can get crowded with tour groups from mid-morning; be respectful of travellers, who are using it as a station, and keep your bags close. Photography is fine, but tripods are best avoided at busy times. There is little to do once you have seen the tiles, so treat it as a stop of ten to twenty minutes on a walking route rather than a destination in itself.

Taking the train: the Douro line from São Bento follows the river upstream for the final, most beautiful stretch, toward Peso da Régua and Pinhão, among the vineyard terraces of the port wine region. It is a fine, independent alternative to an organised day trip, and starting from this hall adds to the romance. Check timetables in advance and sit on the right-hand side heading upstream for the river views. Suburban trains also run along the coast and to towns such as Guimarães and Braga, which make excellent day trips.