Whether you’re a shopaholic, adore retail therapy, want to buy souvenirs of your holiday or thoughtful gifts, even if you just love to browse there are loads of cool places to shop in Porto. In this article we delve into the best shopping areas in town, as well as the off-the-beaten track and the unusual.
An introduction to shopping in Porto
Porto offers a wonderful variety of places for shopping enthusiasts to do their thing, with everything from smart shopping malls, unique boutiques to high street stores like Zara and H&M, and of course vibrant markets.
For the biggest variety of shops, and to kick off your Porto shopping experience, head for Rua de Santa Catarina, the city’s main shopping street. At more than 1km long it’s a real treat for shoppers, offering everything from corner shops for your essentials to high end fashion and jewellery to cheap ‘n’ cheerful souvenir shops. The highlight is the splendid Majestic Cafe coffee house, serving tasty coffee since 1921 in a wonderfully stylish Art Nouveau setting.
Once you’ve digested the wonders of Rua de Santa Catarina, you’ll be ready to go off-piste into the more unusual places like the many fantastic local markets. You’ll want to visit the popular Bolhão Market, home of fruits, veg, food and a nice line in creative crafts, and the brilliant Flea Market at Alfândega do Porto, a thrilling shopping destination for the strange, the weird, the wonderful, plus gorgeous antiques and quirky vintage treasures.
So… here are the details. Happy shopping!
Explore on-trend Cedofeita Street
Cedofeita Street is the place where the young people and hipsters hang out, a stylish street lined with fabulous independent shops selling clothing, food, crafts and more. Stop off at a cafe and watch the world go by, purchase some unusual gifts, hunt down some luxury brands or home in on local treats, there’s something for every budget. Watch out for the brilliant vintage and second-hand stores.
Do BIG shopping at the enormous NorteShopping Mall
Head to the city’s north to find NorteShopping, one of the biggest in Porto containing more than 200 different shops. There’s also a cinema, places to eat, and a dedicated food court full of beautifully-displayed deliciousness. Expect some familiar brands including Primark, and do everyday shopping at the Continente supermarket. Children enjoy the KidZania interactive entertainment centre.
Another shopping mall to fall in love with – Via Catarina Shopping
If big malls make you feel a bit overwhelmed, there’s a smaller shopping mall in Porto to suit you better. You’ll find the Via Catarina Shopping mall in the centre of the city on the doorstep of many of the main attractions, making it a convenient place to shop. Like most shopping malls it offers a variety of shopping from fashion to beauty, phone stores, a big supermarket called Pingo Doce and a food court, plus a cinema.
Find bargains at the Vila do Conde Outlet mall in Porto
Outlet malls make a fun destination, just the same as they do here in the UK. The best-loved is probably the Vila do Conde Outlet, offering more than 140 stores, many designer brands, and generous discounts as high as 70%.
The best fun for bookworms – Livraria Lello
It isn’t just an old bookshop dating back to 1906. Livraria Lello offers extraordinarily pretty architecture so good it’s an attraction in itself. It also happens to house an impressive stash of books. Watch out for the lovely stained glass windows and grand staircase to the second floor.
Discover the delights of Mercado do Bolhão
Mercado do Bolhão is an old market dating back to the 1900s, your top destination when there’s a picnic to be had in one of the city’s gorgeous parks or alongside the river. It’s stuffed with flavourful fresh meats, cheeses, fish, breads, sweets and cakes, plus all sorts of local culinary treats, presented inside a stunning building with a dramatic wrought-iron frontage and the famous decorative tiles typical of Portugal. Amble around the market to soak up the local culture.
Have fun at Feira da Vandoma
The Feira da Vandoma flea market is rightfully famous, a popular destination on Sunday mornings for locals and visitors alike. Here’s where you can rummage to your heart’s content, dig up exciting vintage finds with an exotic Porto feel, buy lovely antique furniture and cool vintage clothes as well as beautiful local hand-made treats. Can you haggle? Yes, you can, and they expect you to – so go for it!
Buy local treats like Port, cork products, cheese, sausages and more
It’s nice to take home a typical Portuguese treat or two, and thanks to the excellent Port, cheeses, cork crafts and wonderful sausages, there’s something to suit everyone.
Port wine is a tasty and very strong fortified wine only made in the nearby Douro Valley, east of Porto. You can tour a stack of interesting wineries, each with their own unique produce, some of which also have a restaurant or cafe to relax in. They might sound like English names but the world-class Taylor’s, Sandeman, and Graham’s Port are all made in the region.
Cork trees have been grown here for centuries, the sustainable skin of which is harvested to make corks for wine bottles. But the soft, bendy, warm-feeling wood is also used to make stylish purses, wallets and bags, placemats and coasters, furniture, hats, floor tiles, coolbags for food and drinks, and even posh cork fashion accessories like belts and shoes. Yes, shoes. Wow!
Local cheeses and sausages make a great snack on-the-go while you’re shopping, teamed with some beautiful home-baked artisan bread and a bottle of chilled wine. Queijo da Serra is particularly popular, an excellent sheep milk cheese, and there’s a huge choice of sausages including chouriço and alheira, linguiça, morcela, farinheira, salpicão and paio.
A guide to find what you want
For luxury shopping make your way to high-end Avenida da Boavista as well as Rua de Santa Catarina, which we’ve already mentioned, and the Ribeira district. This is where luxurious brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada live, along with local designer outlets.
If you want to dive into Porto’s fashion scene, again we recommend Rua de Santa Catarina. It is stacked with high street brands and department stores, including El Corte Inglés. The same goes for clothes shopping in Baixa and Cedofeita, always a thrill. You’ll find Massimo Dutti and Bershka stores here as well as thrilling boutiques in Ribeira and on Avenida da Boavista.
When are the shops in Porto open?
The usual shopping hours in Porto are 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. You might find some shops close for a long lunch between 1pm and 3pm every day, and only the most touristy shops are open on Sundays. The opening hours can vary with the season and there’s a host of public holidays in Portugal when the shops are all shuttered for the day.
So, all that remains is to wish you happy shopping in this wonderful city, a place rich in desirable products of every kind, from food to fashion to art, crafts and jewellery. Keep your money safe and secure, prepare for a good, long walk, and stuff your baggage with goodies to remind you of your magical holiday.
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