Porto’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a well deserved accolade. Ancient magic is in the air all year long in this beautiful place but it’s about much more than ravishing architecture and wobbly cobbled streets.
Wider Porto is a party town with excellent restaurants, top class clubbing and bars, supreme cuisine, independent retail treats, a lively street-life, bustling cruise terminal and fabulous international shopping. Oh, and let’s not forget the beaches!
In this post we explore the vibrant city and outline some Porto tour destinations and ideas you won’t want to miss.
Tours in Porto – Ancient Porto
Porto is a mongrel in the best possible way. The influences of the Celts, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Christians are clear to see in the buildings, archaeology, museums and monuments. If you want to track the history through time, a local guide will unfold it for you to thrilling effect. For someone who’s fascinated by history, it’s a wonderful destination.
As a port, industrial hub, cosmopolitan place and cultural centre, Porto has always welcomed society’s rebels. Many a writer and poet has made it their home and this is where the infamous 1820 revolution kicked off the fight to get rid of Portugal’s monarchs. Besieged by the king’s army for a year and a half in the 1830s, Porto won the battle and the royals were ousted. 1891 saw another revolt in Porto and in 1910 Portugal finally became a Republic. If you’re a bit of a rebel yourself, you’ll enjoy the vibe.
Touring Porto – Modern Porto
As a city and tourist haven, Porto has gone from strength to strength. In 2020 and 2014 it was voted Best European Destination and it’s just as popular in the 2020s. One of the country’s best-loved cities for tourists, it’s clearly a really cool place to live as well as visit.
Porto isn’t madly expensive considering the place’s city status and popularity, with affordable attractions on tap and a huge variety of things to do. From traditional adult activities like taking a tour of a Port wine vineyard to loads of things for the kids, there’s something for everyone.
Plenty of stunning sandy beaches, gorgeous weather, an eye-popping dramatic coastline and cool things to discover inland. This is a great city holiday choice that also comes with the chance to lie on the sand for days. It’s a combination you don’t often get, and it’s compelling. You can party ‘til dawn or get a run of lovely early nights, travel far beyond the city or spend your time in the centre. Head for the Douro valley if you like, it’s within easy reach.
Sample the wines in Porto
The region’s wines are a legend, making wine and port tasting sessions a must here. Port wine is basically a fortified wine made in the Douro Valley, sweet and heavy and great with cheeses and desserts. Beautiful reds and whites are also in the mix, and you can sample them for yourself in many a winery.
The Vila Nova de Gaia, over the Dom Luis Bridge from Porto, comes highly recommended for wines and Caves Ferreira, a winery dating back to the 1750s,offers particularly good Port. The equally good Ramos Pinto vineyard goes back almost 150 years, with four Quintas under the brand. There’s also a museum dedicated to the business, the Adriano Ramos Pinto Museum. And here’s another treat for the senses – take a cable car ride from Vila Nova de Gaia at sunset for a super-romantic ending to your day.
Wild, windy Foz lighthouse
You’ll find the Foz lighthouse where the Douro River meets the Atlantic, an iconic spot loved by Instagrammers. It stands at the end of an elegant esplanade where in rough weather the seas crash and the waves burst into flying foam. It’s bracing when the seas are calm, thrilling when they’re violent. And all you can see is the endless ocean, a spiritual antidote to the bustling centre of Porto. For more lighthouse drama try Farolim de Felgueiras, Farol-Capela de S. Miguel-O-Anjo, and Farolim da Cantareira.
Porto’s perfect Fado houses
Prepare for fado, traditional music full of the sweet happy-sadness of life. There are official fado houses in Lisbon if you like but in Porto you’ll find it is traditional pubs, with less expensive dining and drinking than Lisbon. Take a glass of Port with your meal and you’ll soon feel the city’s hot magic at work.
Plenty of people rate the Casa das Mariquinhas particularly highly for fado music, more than 55 years old and a venue graced by generations of fado greats. Eating here is such good value, which matters because these places are about the full experience: food, drink, music, talk, tears and laughter. Bring a hearty appetite and prepare for a memorable experience.
Criss-cross the river by river taxi
It’s great fun to grab a riverboat taxi across the Douro River. They run every quarter of an hour from Foz Velha, which is a lovely place to wander while you wait, with old streets filled with charm. On your way over the water you’ll see the magnificent Arrábida bridge and the place where this vast body of water flows out into the Atlantic. The riverbanks are perfect places to eat, many with seating inside and out. Here’s where to sample wonderful local dishes, many inspired by the excellent local seafood and fish.
A city centre cafe with a difference
Dating back to 1921, the majestic cafe used to serve Porto’s best-known society belles, rich folk and great intellectuals. The name itself represents a small but powerful rebellion, changed from the monarch-friendly ‘Elite’ in line with the cultural revolution that saw the country’s monarchy gone forever.
Go green in a calm, cool garden
The Jardim das Virtudes and the Passeio das Virtudes are heavenly. Chill out in the glorious old gardens themselves or see the sun go down from the elevated street terrace with views of the river, the Ponte da Arrabida bridge and Gaia over on the south bank.
Mind… blown! Clérigos Tower
Porto is spread below you like a beautiful carpet 75m up, from the top of the Clérigos Tower, AKA the Tower of the Clerics. Right in the city centre and built in 1763, it has 225 steps to climb and every step is worth it. A 360 degree vista awaits you, open until 11pm so you also get sparkly views of the city after dark. The tower sits on top of a beautiful 1600s Baroque church, eye candy on its own, and there’s a museum as well.
Chill out at Guindalense Futebol Clube terrace
Football? Sort of! Head for the 1300s Fernandina Wall that used to enclose the city to find the Guindalense Football Club, a spot loved by the locals. Well off the beaten tourist track, it’s basically the HQ of the sports club, with its own snack bar-cafe. But the terrace setting is quite something, with amazing views and sunsets to die for, and it’s a popular place to chill out.
It’s a bookstore, but not as we know it – Livraria Lello
Livraria Lello is right in the city centre. This is the world’s most gorgeous book shop, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a films set. A literary star in Porto’s creative circles, it really is an extraordinarily pretty place to have a poke about in.
Marvel at Porto Cathedral
The cathedral is a treat for anyone who appreciates fabulous old buildings. This one took hundreds of years to build, from the 1100s to the 1700s, and it shows, with influences from the Gothic, Baroque and other ages clear to see. Built without any of the modern machinery we have today, people made it using ropes and pulleys, ladders and platforms, and enormous amounts of human and horse-power. The result is quite something inside and out, all gilded interiors and intense decoration.
Lose yourself in lovely Peneda-Gerês National Park
Refresh your spirit at Geres, Portugal’s oldest protected area and the country’s only national park. Countless splendid hiking trails and viewpoints await you and you can swim, in summer, in the cool, fresh lagoons and rivers. Stop off at one of many sleepy medieval villages, some of which are empty ghost towns and marvellously spooky. Take it easy…
Discover the fishing town of Matosinhos
Fancy a beach day with a difference? Travel to Matosinhos, a short 20 minute drive or interesting 40 minute bus journey from the city centre. The popular Praia de Matosinhos is a unique beach offering waterports, surfing and surfing lessons, cafes, beach bars and more, a family-friendly place. Alternatively we recommend Praia de Leca da Palmeira, which comes with brilliant salt water swimming pools whose temperature is balmier than the nearby sea.
Porto tours to thrill you
Take a tour of any or all of these places to enrich your holiday experience. There’s so much to choose from!
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