Porto is the second largest city in Lisbon and it is a popular stop on any Portugal itinerary. Porto has stunning churches, tons of blue tiles, lots of beautiful bridges, plenty of port wine and the most beautiful bookstore in the world. We are here to help you plan the best possible Porto itinerary so you can spend the perfect two days in Porto on your first visit to Portugal. Keep reading for suggestions on what to do, what to see, what to eat and what to drink.
Best Things To Do In Porto
Our 5 favorite things to do in Porto were:
- Touring the Bolsa Palace
- Eating Pastéis de Nata
- Touring port wine lodges
- Climbing Clerigos Tower
- Boating under the 6 bridges of Porto
All of these things are included in our two day Porto itinerary. For even more things to do in Porto, check out our article on the Best Things to do in Porto.
How Long Should You Spend In Porto?
Two days in the perfect amount of time to spend in Porto. You’ll be able to see all of the top sights. Porto is not a great place for a relaxing vacation, so we’d recommend jamming your days in Porto full of activities and then relaxing in the nearby Douro Valley or on the southern Algarve coast.
We spent 3 days in Porto. We spent two in the city and one on a day trip to the Douro Valley. Below is our Porto itinerary. However, we’d highly recommend spending a day in the Douro Valley too. It was one of our favorite days in Portugal.
Porto Itinerary
For these days in Porto, you’ll want to stay somewhere in the center of Porto so you can make the most of your short time in the city. For more information on the best neighborhoods to stay in and recommendations for hotels, check out our full article on Where to Stay in Porto here.
How to use this map: The map above has all of the attractions mentioned in this post. Click on each attraction to learn more about it. If you’d like to save this map, click on the square “View Larger Map” icon. This will open the map in your Google account (make sure you’re signed in). You can reference it in your account or you can create a copy to make your own edits.
Porto Day 1 – Riverfront and River
- 9:00 AM: Sé Cathedral
- 10:00 AM: Ribeira
- 11:00 AM: Luís I Bridge
- 11:15 AM: Gaia riverbank
- 12:00 PM: Lunch
- 1:30 PM: 6 Bridges Boar Tour
- 2:30PM: First port tasting
- 4:00 PM: Second port tasting
- Sunset: Jardim do Morro
9:00 AM: Sé do Porto
First, visit the Sé do Porto bright and early. The Porto Cathedral is the largest church is Porto. It sits upon a hill and is a landmark of the city. There is a small fee to enter and usually a line. However, if you visit first thing in the morning, you shouldn’t have much of a wait to enter. The Cathedral is the first of many ornately decorate churches that this Porto itinerary will take you to. A visit here includes the church, cloister and the tower with nice views of the city.
10:00 AM: Ribeira
Next, head to the waterfront and spend an hour or so walking along the river. This section of Porto is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The buildings are beautiful and worth a look. However, keep in mind that this area is crawling with tourists and from what we could discern, this was the most “touristy” part of Porto. While that makes the food here subpar, it does mean there are lots of fun street vendors and street performers that make a stroll here very fun.
11:00 AM: Luís I Bridge
Next, take the scenic walk across the Douro River on the bottom portion of the Luís I Bridge.
11:15 AM: Gaia riverbank
Next, stroll along the Douro River on the Gaia side of the riverbank and enjoy looking at all the symbolic port boats.
12:00 PM: Lunch
Have lunch in the Gaia area. There are lots of top notch restaurants here. And if you can’t find a top notch one, you can at least find one with a great riverside view.
1:30 PM: 6 Bridges Boar Tour
Afterwards, try to hop on the 1:30 6 Bridges Cruise. We chose the cruise leaving from the Gaia side of the river because it was one Euro cheaper. This cruise takes you under all six bridges of Porto and gives you glimpses of the ocean. Many people choose to do this as a sunset activity, however, we chose to do this midday as a way to relax and cool off on the water amid hot midday sun.
2:30PM: First port tasting & 4:00 PM: Second port tasting
Lastly, you should have time for two port tasting and tours in the afternoon. If you plan to visit some of the most popular port cellars and the ones along the riverfront, you’ll want to book your tours ahead of time as they are often fully booked.
However, if you don’t want to book ahead of time, just pop back to the port cellars a block or two back from the riverfront. You’ll often be able to get into tours and tastings at short notice. And these cellars are much cheaper than the ones along the river.
We cannot recommend Augustos highly enough. This was the best tour we did, the port was good and the price was right. the only downside is they don’t sell in the states so now they got us hooked and we have to order.
Sunset: Jardim do Morro
Whenever sunset is, make your way to the Jardim do Morro before the big show. There is a massive crowd that gathers here most nights, including music, street food and alcohol sold here by street vendors. It is amazing to see the sun set from here. If you want even more views for sunset, wander along the top of the Luis I bridge as well for more sunset views of Porto.
Porto Day 2 – Old Town Porto
Visiting Porto’s old town was one of the most entertaining days we spent in Portugal. Old town Porto probably has the greatest number of things to do packed into the smallest area in all of Portugal. It was a great day filled with tons of things to do.
Here is a quick look at today’s schedule:
- 9:00 AM: Bolsa Palace
- 10:00 AM: São Francisco Church
- 11:00 AM: Miradoura da Vitoria
- 11:30 AM: São Bento Station
- 12:00 PM: Lunch at Gazella
- 1:30 PM: Clérigos Church and Tower
- 3:00 PM: Livraria Lello
- 4:00 PM: Igreja do Carmo & Igreja dos Carmelitas
- 4:30 PM: City Hall and Liberty Park
9:00 AM: Bolsa Palace
This was the most unlikely favorite activity in Porto. I mean our expectations were low when you hear that this building is the Stock Exchange Palace. However, it’s way more palace than stock exchange. You can visit during a 30 minute guided tour. The rooms are amazing, splendid, opulent! This is a good ticket to book ahead of time as the first person to book the tour gets to pick the language. So to ensure that the 9 AM tour is in your native language, book online a day or two in advance.
10:00 AM: São Francisco Church
This Church of Saint Francis has an “old” and “new” section and there is a small fee to enter both. The new church is okay but under it are catacombs that are neat to explore. However, the old church is the stunner with loads of gold leaf and multiple naves with amazingly intricate decorations.
11:00 AM: Miradoura da Vitoria
Next, make the exhausting walk up lots of stairs to the small park with a panoramic view of the city. If you plan on climbing Clérigos Tower, you can skip this. The park has a great lookout of the cities many tiled roofs.
11:30 AM: São Bento Station
On your way to lunch, make a quick stop at the São Bento train station. The tile work in here is pretty. And it makes a nice stop along the longer walk to our favorite lunch spot.
12:00 PM: Lunch at Gazela
Next, have lunch at Gazela. This was our favorite place to eat in Porto. The restaurant is a fast paced lunch counter with separate dining for locals on lunch break and tourists. Try their spicy sausages, cachorrinhos, and their francesinha, a smothered sandwich famous in Portugal. These are two of the must-try Portuguese foods and Gazela does them both wonderfully.
PS: The francesinha pictured above is one portion split between two plates. That isn’t on the menu, but the nice waiter did this for us and gave us an extra egg. Thank you sir!
1:30 PM: Clérigos Church and tower
Clérigos Church is free to visit but the tower does require a ticket to climb. If you’re following this timeline, purchase your tower ticket for 2:00 PM. This is one of the tickets you will want to book in advance. This will give you time to explore the Church prior to climbing the tower.
Next, climb the tower for 360 views of Porto. This tower had the best view of Porto and we were even able to spot our hotel from the tower which was fun.
3:00 PM: Livraria Lello
Next, visit the world’s most beautiful bookstore just a few minutes from Clérigos Church. (Fun fact, the world’s oldest bookstore is in Lisbon – we visited that store too on our Portugal vacation.)
Many will advise you to be the first person in the door of the Livraria Lello so that you can get that perfect picture of the empty bookstore. However, this ticket option involves a 45 price tag, and we just don’t think it’s worth it. However, a quick trip to the bookstore that is said to have inspired some Harry Potter scenes is worth it.
Purchase tickets for the 3:30 PM time slot. This is one of the tickets you will want to book in advance. You’ll want to do this ahead of time and print out the tickets or take a screen shot of the tickets. There were lots of people in line who had troubles with the online system, including us. Get in line at 3:00 PM so you are at the front of the line. You’ll enter at 3:30 PM, snap a few pictures, maybe buy a book or two and then be on your way.
If you are not a Harry Potter or bookstore fan, skip this. It is overpriced and takes far more time than it should.
4:00 PM: Igreja do Carmo & Igreja dos Carmelitas
Afterwards, head around the corner to the Igreja do Carmo and the Igreja dos Carmelitas. These two churches once housed monks and nuns, respectively. You can visit both churches for a small fee. Or you can just visit the Igreja das Carmelitas for free. This church is beautiful and covered in gold and we thought it was the better of the two.
4:30 PM: City Hall and Liberty Park
Next, head north to Praça da Liberdade to see the City Hall building with the insta-worthy Porto sign. This was a really pretty park and we enjoyed walking around it. A block away is the Mercado do Bolhão and the Majestic Café, both great spots to stop and grab a traditional Portuguese afternoon snack.
Finally, continue wandering the city until you get hungry enough for dinner. Try the octopus. Porto had the best octopus in Portugal.
Want to Adjust the Porto Itinerary?
If you have one extra day, you should 100% spend it on a day tour of the Douro Valley. This was one of our favorite things we did in all of Portugal and we highly recommend it to people who like wine AND people who don’t.
If you have even more time, you could visit a costal city to enjoy the small seaside communities and the even fresher seafood restaurants. Additionally, you could spend time in Porto in some of the less touristy neighborhoods. There are lots of more modern attractions, such as fine dining, art museums and theaters in Porto, in addition to all the historic charms the first two days of this Porto itinerary visited. If you have even more time in town, you could find things to entertain you like the locals do.
We hope this two day Porto itinerary has helped you to plan your own amazing trip to Portugal. For all of our amazing Portugal tips, check out our Portugal travel guide with links to all of our location specific articles. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in the comments section below and we’ll be happy to get back to you.
