Porto, Portugal is the perfect southern European city for a short weekend away or as part of a larger Portugal itinerary. It is small in size. But Porto is large in terms of things to do. Whether you’re interested in exploring historical buildings, sipping port wine or strolling along a quaint riverside, Porto has something for you. Keep reading to find something that fits your interests and see why Porto would make a great vacation destination for you.
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Best Things To Do In Porto
Take A Food Tour
We love a good food tour. It combines eating, one of our favorite things, with learning, which we find fun while on vacation. Porto has plenty of foods and drinks they are known for, making this a great place for a food tour. Check out the tour options below.
Best Things To Do In Porto – Riberia
Stroll Along the River
The riverfront here is one of the most touristy areas in Porto. This area is actually classified as a UNESCO historical world heritage site it’s so historic. Large restaurants with outdoor dining line the riverfront. It is a great place for a walk or a glass of wine with a view. It’s worth a stop but don’t waste too much time here as it is overly commercial and there are better spots awaiting down the narrow streets of Baxia.
Bolsa Palace
This was another of our favorite things we did in Porto. The guided tour of the Bolsa Palace was phenomenal. It is also one of the most expensive things to do in Porto at 12 euros each. It’s a beautiful and still functional building with some amazing rooms. The guided tour takes 30 minutes.
This is another ticket that it is wise to book in advance. We visited first thing in the morning when they opened and had no trouble getting in to the next tour. However, many of the mid-day tours were already sold out by opening due to online ticket sales. Additionally, tours are offered in many languages so you may have to wait extra to get the tour in your language as the first person to book a tour gets to choose the language of the tour.
The Church of São Francisco
The church of Saint Francis is worth a short visit. There is a small fee to enter the old church, new church and catacombs. The new church is a’ight. The old church is beautiful, intricate and sparkly. But photos aren’t allowed.
The catacombs are really interesting. The monks and rich families are buried here. There is also a bone pit that you can see into, presumably of the less rich families. You can take photos there but I think it’s disrespectful to photograph dead people’s remains so you’ll have to visit yourself to see the bones.
Best Things To Do In Porto – Baxia
Try A Francesinha
The ultimate hangover cure was invented here. A multi-meat sandwich, covered in melted cheese, smothered in a spicy tomato sauce and topped with a fried egg. Yum. Our favorite spot for getting one is Gazela’s. However, try to get her before 1 PM as it is a small restaurant and the wait for a table can get long, though once inside the service is fast and cheap. In addition to the francesinha, Gazela’s has another spicy sausage sandwich with cheese (sometimes called a hot dog) that they are famous for that makes a great appetizer.
Shop Bolhão Market
The Bolhão Market is a shared shop space for lots of different food vendors. It’s like an upscale indoors farmers market, similar to Pike Peak in Seattle. We walked through it and it would have been nice for a snack if we were hungry. But honestly, we’d skip this as it seemed like so many other modern markets common in Western cities.
Visit The Porto Cathedral
The Port Cathedral, or Sé do Porto, is a massive and massively impressive church overlooking the city of Porto. It’s so massive, we often used its towering towers to guide us home at night. It’s free to visit the church. However, the cloister and terrace have a small entrance fee. We visited in the middle of the day and there was a massive line. They only can allow so many people in at once – or so it seemed – so try to avoid mid-day visits.
Visit The Train Station
Whether you’re coming, going or just looking the São Bento station is pretty. It’s free to enter and covered with beautiful tile work. I wouldn’t go out of your way to visit it, as it smells like train station. But it’s worth a few minutes of your time if you’re walking by.
Miradouro da Vitoria
This is the best free viewpoint of the Baxia district of Porto. You climb lots of steps to a small park for a viewpoint over lots of red tile roofs and a good view of the Porto Cathedral.
Porto’s City Hall
At the top of Liberdade Square sits the impressive city hall building. In front of that building is a popular Porto sign that visitors love to snap a photo with. We enjoyed a walk around Liberdade Square, with the more modern shops, restaurants and beautiful landscaping. In the middle of the square is a massive monument to King Peter IV, which is worth a photo as well.
Climb the Clerigos Tower
This was one of our favorite places to visit, and also one of the most expensive. To visit, we recommend booking a ticket for the tower ahead of your visit. These tickets are timed and time slots do sell out. If you don’t have a ticket, go straight to the ticket counter and buy that first. Tickets are 8 euro.
Next, you’ll likely have to wait to climb the tower so a visit to the church is in order. This is free. The church is very pretty and large but only takes a few minutes to explore.
When it is time to climb the tower, leave the church and head up and down lots of stairs before arriving at the viewpoint of the city. This was our favorite viewpoint in the city for all the rooftop tile spotting. Also, from the 360 degree views we were able to spot our hotel balcony, which was pretty cool.
Igreja do Carmo & Igreja dos Carmelitas
These two churches appear as one. However, they are two churches connected by a 1 meter wide house. The outside of the Igreja do Carmo is covered in beautiful tiles, some of the best tiles we saw in Porto. However, this church has a small fee to enter and wasn’t really very pretty. But the Igreja das Carmelitas is smaller, shinier and freer so we think it’s worth a quick visit.
Livrario Lello
This was one of the most expensive and crowded things to do in Porto. It was a huge disappointment and that is coming from a massive Harry Potter fan. This beautiful bookstore is a very old one (though the oldest one is in Lisbon and looks much more modern). But what really made it famous is the beautiful wooden staircase in the middle of the store. This staircase is said to have inspired the moving staircases in Harry Potter as J.K. Rowling lived in Portugal when she was writing Harry Potter.
What’s it actually like?
We would have enjoyed this much more if it wasn’t so crowded and commercial. First, you must book a ticket to enter. The tickets must be purchased online with your phone. They cost 8 euro for the lowest level entry. There was a massive problem with US credit cards not being accepted (they also weren’t really rejected, you just ended up in a never ending internet loop), so there was a long line for one person to help you on an iPad. Then you had to get in line for your timed entry. Thankfully, we were first in our timed line, which we joined 30 minutes before entry. Once it’s time for you to enter, you get to enter one group at a time as others leave. They do not empty the store before a new group enters so a 3 PM timed entry ticket means the 3 PM line starts entering at 3 PM, you may not get in until 3:10. It took us about 30 minutes to wait to enter and we were in the store for about 15 minutes.
Would we recommend it?
Once in the store, it’s not like the pictures. Don’t get me wrong the store is beautiful. But it is shoulder to shoulder packed full of people. There were people waiting to try to get that great shot on the staircase and they never did. I somehow managed a pretty good one by being at the front of the line but even this one was done with some creative angles. Overall, I found this incredibly unpleasant to be in such a crowded space.
We went, we saw, we would not recommend.
Try Pastéis de Nata
The egg pastries are a Portugal specialty. We tried lots. We could tell you our favorite or we could challenge you to try them all like we did. Here are some of the best places to try pastéis de nada in Porto:
- Manteigaria – this place only sell pastéis de nata and they do it well
- La Fábrica da nata
- Castro
- Majestic Cafe – the wait for a table can be long but they sell carry out at the counter
- Confeitaria do Bolhão – they sell lots of different pastries
- Padaria e confeitaria – not the best but one of the oldest shops
- Natas D’Ouro – they sell different flavors
Best Things To Do In Porto – Gaia
Drink Port Wine
You cannot visit a place called Porto and not try port wine. It is everywhere; in restaurants, shops, sold by street vendors. However, the best immersive experience is to visit a port cellar in the Vila Nova de Gaia. There are dozens of port cellars in this town across the river. We highly recommend doing a tour and tasting combination so you can learn more about the differences in port wines.
One of the most recognizable names is Sandeman’s, located right on the waterfront. There are also fancy sellers of top notch small batch port. For both the high end sellers and the sellers located on the waterfront, you’ll want to make a reservation for tours. However, we’re not lovers of port and are always just looking for a good time. For the more casual taster, like us, we’d recommend some of the smaller tour and tasting combinations offered by the vendors a block or two back from the water. Our favorite spot was Augustos, a cellar we stumbled upon by accident. However it was the best value tour/tasting combination and had our favorite ports we tried.
Do you need a reservation?
Please note that while many posts on the internet say you do not need tour and tasting reservations outside of the busy summer season, we found this to be untrue. We could not get same day tastings at any of the major port cellars like Graham’s or Sandeman’s. It turned out to be a happy little accident as it led to us finding smaller casual cellars but if you have your heart set on the big houses book several days in advance.
Walk Across The Dom Luís Bridge
The Dom Luís I Bridge is a two story bridge that connects Gaia and Porto. It actually is a very convenient way of getting between neighborhoods as the lower deck connects to the Riberia and the upper deck connects to the Baxia. There is also an elevator between the two levels so you can use the bridge for vertical as well as horizontal transportation.
Besides being a great bit of transportation, the bridge also is a great viewing area for the city below. It is also one of the best places to watch the sunset over the city.
Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar
This monastery towers over Gaia. Built into the hillside in the 1500s, this building is a beautiful and the views are even better. You can take tours here during the day for a small fee. Or you can wander the gardens for free and enjoy the best views of Porto. This is especially a popular spot for sunset.
Jardim do Morro
At the Gaia end of the Dom Luís Bridge is the Jardim do Morro. This garden has great views of the city of Porto. It also has live music most nights and street vendors selling drinks and food. This is a great place to hang out and drink a bottle of wine at the end of the day. Plus the sunset views are so great, people literally camp out to see them.
Walk Along The Riverfront – In Gaia
The riverfront in Gaia is just as bustling as the riverfront in Porto – and with even better views. The pedestrian street has massive port lodges and shops on one side. On the river side, you’ll find rows of traditional boats representing each port cellar parked along the banks of the river.
Take A Cruise
The 6 Bridges Boat Tour is one of the most relaxing things to do in Porto. It’s also the most expensive. There are cruises leaving from the Riberia and one company that leaves from Gaia, the Gaia company is 1 euro cheaper, at 14 euro/person. All of the cruises follow a similar route but make sure they go to the end of the Douro River. Some just go upstream.
You can book your tickets day of, but you’ll need to book online for a discount. Get to the pier 10-15 minutes before boarding to ensure you get a good seat. I wish we would have sat on the outer edges of the boat for more unobstructed views. Most of the boats depart 100% full. You cruise for 50 minutes up and down the Douro River under 6 bridges. The boat gives you commentary on each bridge. It’s incredibly relaxing and refreshing on a hot day.
Our Top Five Things To Do In Porto
Our three favorite things we did were visit the Bolsa Palace, eat Pastéis de Nata, tour a port wine lodge, climb Clerigos Tower and take the 6 bridges boat tour.
We hope this has helped you to plan your own trip to Porto. For more information on Porto, check out our guide to Portugal travel here. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below and we’d be happy to get back to you.
