Hello Kartik and Sharon,
I have been living in Porto off and on for years and can offer you a little information. I really like the city and all of Portugal in fact. There is a lot of historical beauty and appealing new architecture in the city and many beaches too! The Northern part of Portugal has so much to offer including amazing food and culture. Alas, there are no Tim Horton's (or Starbucks, as a matter of fact) drive through lines to wake up with but the espressos here are amazing. (So there is no such thing as driving/commuting with a coffee! Very different for us)
A one bedroom apartment (possibly furnished) in the inner city will cost ~300 - 500 euros. You can find listings on some of the free classifieds websites like these: ,
I really recommend renting close to a good bus stop or moreover close to the Metro (it's great)
and your life will be easier. Driving in rush hour traffic here is not fun and the metro and train circuits are quick and relaxing. Even the city bus system is good..public transport here is impressive. (and there are terrible, rude, negligent and outright dangerous drivers here...the worst I've ever experienced!)
The cost of your transportation will depend on how many zones you will travel. Within the main part of the city of Porto it's only 90 cents to ride the Metro one way. If you need to go to further (into or out of other zones) like Maia, the Airport, Matosinhos or even Povoa de Varzim... it can cost up to 3-5 euros to travel to those extended zones. Here is the Porto Metro English website for more information:
Vegetarian food can be found in good restaurants but the majority 'mom and pop' cafes serve nothing of the sort: meat and cheese are staple foods here. On the plus side, you will be able to enjoy a lot of cheap fresh local produce especially during the spring and summer months.
As for internet and TV service you are fortunate to be coming to PT now as there has been a lot of competition over the past 3-4 years (internet services were brutal before...high priced and very regulated) and the service packages now offered are great. For example, we pay 20 euros for adsl internet and a home phone line. The adsl service is unlimited traffic and provides decent bandwidth and we have free calling after 9pm and on weekends on the phone (to other land line phones). I find 20 euros very reasonable for this package and there are other packages that include TV and fiber optic internet services. Our service provider is Sapo (of Portugal Telecom) but there are other companies offering great packages as well. Most service packages will include a 1yr contract. Other companies that offer internet and digital TV are Clix, Vodafone, Meo and Zon(also called TV-Cabo).
As well, there are many internet service providers (that are mainly also cellular providers) that offer portable broadband service (prepaid and post paid plans) if that is more suitable for your needs of you will be out of home often.
Cell phone plans here are more commonly prepaid. When you get here you can find a company that offers a monthly plan that suits your needs for calls and texting and either buy a 7 euro sim card (if you already own a quad-band cell phone and it is unlocked to be used with other providers) or a new phone from the provider that will work straight away. I find it very cheap for my service of 12.50 euros per month which gives me 1500 texts per week (to the same network) and calls at a rate of 16 cents for the first minute and 4 cents for each additional minute of a call (to the same network! - to other cellular networks or landline phones, it will cost more)
Make sure that your significant others are on the same cellular network as you if you want to benefit from cheap calling and cheap texting. Calling and texting to other networks is usually double. Unlimited calling plans are very rare and/or really expensive.
I have another phone (an iPhone) on an unlimited internet plan and good rates for only 20 euros a month. I find that very reasonable compared to the U.S. or Canada where people pay over $100 per month to have 3G internet access on their smart phones.
For more info on the different cellular providers, see the websites of Vodafone(my favorite), Optimus(great for iPhone/internet plans), Uzo(a new company and impressive cross network plans), and TMN (part of Portugal Telecom).
Well, I hope this information helps and feel free to continue asking more questions...I will answer them when I can.
Regards,
Patrick in Porto
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Thanks a tonne for the info! Hope you don't mind me adding you and shooting some more questions your way 
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