Porto is a beautiful coastal city, and definitely worth a trip to while visiting Portugal! I was blown away when I got my first true glance of Porto itself. When I came up from the metro tunnels and onto the street for the first time, I was mesmerized by all of the beautiful tile buildings. The tiles that embody the city are absolutely stunning, providing rich character to the quaint city. There are plenty of cafes and outdoor patio restaurants to line the cobble stone streets. The side walks are rather narrow, and PLEASE be careful as the vehicles move rather quickly down the streets, right next to these narrow paths.
Getting Around the City
Upon arrival at the airport you can easily take the metro into the city.
Metro Kiosk Tip: You can switch the language and obtain you ticket(s) in English. Please note that you are purchasing the number of “trips” and not the number of “people” using the card. This was a common issue among tourists at the kiosk (we also made the same mistake as well). Each person travelling needs to have their own ticket with the number of trips you think you’ll be using. (i.e. a roundtrip from the airport would be 2 trips).
Metro ticket cost: 1.25 Euro per “trip”
Once we were in the city itself, we did not need to use any local transit as everything was within walking distance!
Things to Do in Porto
1. Porto Free Walking Tour
This is a great option if you are looking to get more acquainted with the city and learn about its historical past. I personally am a big advocate of local tours. They offer an interesting perspective and provides its tourists with a relaxed atmosphere to explore the city. The guides have always been extremely knowledgeable and been a great addition to the overall experience of visiting the city. While we were in Porto we did the “PortoFreeWalkingTour”. This tour was really well done, and we visited many of the main highlights from the city. The tour itself is long. It ended up being 4 hours, however from my understanding it is not quite typically this long. On the walking tour you’ll visit a number of places, and some of my favourite highlights of the tour were visiting the Livraria Lello (outside only), Ponte Luís I (Dom Luís I Bridge), and the Sé Catedral!
Click HERE to go to the Porto Free Walking Tour Website
Notes about the walking tour:
- The tour itself is free, however at the end of the tour there is an opportunity to provide the guide with a tip for their efforts in showing you many interesting places and things about the city!
- About halfway through the tour there is a mini-stop to grab a small snack, drink, and have a washroom break.
- Tour length is usually around 3 1/2 hours.
2. Don Luis Bride and Cais da Ribeira
Although we went to see the Dom Luís I Bridge on the walking tour, we also went to see the bridge at sunset! This bridge holds an AMAZING view over the city as it overlooks the Douro River. The beautiful architecture of the buildings provides a rich landscape of Portuguese culture. The Cais da Ribeira (street adjacent to the bridge) is lined with patio restaurants. This is a popular hub for tourists as it holds a relaxed and pleasant vibe. The restaurants of course have outdoor seating to allow for you to enjoy the presence of the river flowing nearby. In the evenings it got chilly, however outdoor heaters were provided and restaurants even had blankets ready for customers (which we used!). Much of the restaurants in this area had similar menu options (with some exceptions of course), however we did find that the restaurants closest to the river had slightly higher prices.
3. Livraria Lello
This beautiful library was the busiest one that I had ever been to! On our walking tour we were taken to the outside of the building and given some background info to this magical place. Since there is an entrance fee, and time slot assignment, we did not go inside as a tour group. Instead, we had to purchase our own tickets afterwards. We easily purchased a ticket to go shortly after the walking tour finished, so you shouldn’t be worried about purchasing a ticket on the day of. If you are a fan of the Harry Potter series, then you’ll especially love visiting this place! You’ll have to visit to find out why! 🙂
Click HERE to go to the Livraria Lello website and book your time to visit!
Ticket cost: 5.50 Euro
4. Gardens of Crystal Palace
The Gardens of Crystal Palace are free to enter, and should not be missed while visiting the city of Porto. Although the gardens are not in the heart of the city, they are definitely worth the small trek to get there! Our Airbnb was located close to the Bolhao Market, and took us just approximately 20-25 minutes to walk there. When you initially reach the gardens they are not overwhelming, as the beauty is within! If you walk to the “back” of the gardens, then you’ll see a gorgeous view overlooking the river! There are also peacocks along the way to keep you company! In total, I would give yourself 1-2 hours to really take in the area of the gardens, walk around them, and enjoy the view!
5. Bolhão Market
Unfortunately I was not able to make it to the market, as I did not read the hours of operation close enough (gah)! I guess this means that I may have to come back! From my understanding, this market is a great place to visit to see (and taste) local foods! I’m not entirely sure what else is sold in the market area, but certainly check it out and let me know how you like visiting the market!
Hours of Operation
Tuesday – Saturday: 7:00am-5:00pm & Sunday: 7:00am-1:00pm
Try These Eats!
There were two places that really stood out on my visit to Porto! If you are open to suggestions, then have a visit to these places! I hope you enjoy their food as much as I did!
Padaria e Pastelaria D. joão IV
This was our “go to” breakfast place for morning coffees and pastries. The coffee is delicious and they have a HUGE selection of yummy treats to choose from! They also have a lunch/dinner menu and we even had a meal there as well! They even serve their local dish called Francesinha. This dish is quite large, but if determined, can be finished by one person! I did not try it myself, but from what I hear it tastes pretty good and is worth a try!
Hours of operation
Monday – Saturday: 7:00am – 8:00pm
Sabores do Sebouh
There is a Syrian restaurant that is about a 10 minute walk from the Crystal Gardens! We went here after our sunset visit to the Gardens of Crystal Palace, after reading all of the amazing views on Trip Advisor. We were certainly not disappointed and loved all of the dishes that we ordered! They served phenomenal food! Guaranteed good eats to be had!
Hours of operation
Sunday – Thursday: 11:00am-4:00pm, 8:00pm-11:00pm
Friday & Saturday: 11:00am-4:00pm, 8:00pm-12:00am
Hope you enjoy your stay in Porto just as much as we did! A unique gem of Portugal and one of our favourite cities to date!
