Near the Stock Palace and the Douro River is another UNESCO World Heritage site that is well worth visit while in Porto, the Monument Church of St Francis, or Igreja Monumento de São Francisco. This church built around the 14th century has one of Europe's most sumptuous and extravagant interiors. Here, all that glitter is, in fact, gold! Its interior is covered in gilded woodwork, and rumour has it that it was used around 400 to 600 kg of gold to decorate it. Hence why the St Francis Church is also known as "The Golden Church". Another highlight of this church is its impressive Tree of Jesse, a wooden sculpture carved by Filipe da Silva and António Gomes in 1718 depicting the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree — considered to be one of the best in the world of its kind. Under the church, you will find the catacombs, where the Franciscan monks along with the members of Porto's noble families are buried.

Inaugurated in 2001, this contemporary Islamic mosque is, perhaps, the capital's greatest attraction and largest place of worship. It features five minarets and room for 20,000 worshippers. The handwoven prayer hall carpet alone is a site to behold—its 1,700,000,000 knots took 4 years and 600 craftswomen to weave, and the carpet's total weight exceeds a staggering 21 tons.

The busy market is one of Banjul's primary attractions, a vibrant kaleidoscope of multi-colored peppers, all manner of foodstuffs (from rather standard fruit and vegetables to salted fish and even dried sea snails), fabrics, jewellery, and beauty products such as wonder-working shea butter.