Porto, the second largest Portuguese city, is a city on the rise tempting travelers with its pretty old town, delicious seafood, and excellent wine bars. Often overshadowed by popular capital Lisbon, Porto is a colorful, UNESCO-listed city that is much slower than touristy Lisbon – and in that sense, it offers a more authentic taste of Portuguese life and maintains the old-world feeling you expect from such a historic city. It’s traditional Portugal at its finest! This city is the ideal spot for slow strolls through sleepy winding alleyways, for an afternoon espresso by the riverfront, and for delicious seafood dinners with a white port and stunning view of sunset! Porto is also a budget traveler’s paradise. Eating and drinking, even in more upscale restaurants is substantially cheaper here than elsewhere in Europe!
Beautiful Porto is filled with surprises. It’s a city of hidden gems waiting to be discovered! Below, I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite things to explore in Porto!
Getting to and from OPO
Taking the metro is the most economical way to get to and from the airport. The journey should take around 25 to 30 minutes. Your first step to riding the metro is getting a blue Andante card and charging it with “titles”(trips). The card costs EUR 0.60 and you can charge it in every metro station. For a trip from the airport to the city centre, the cost would be EUR 1.85. Whatever Andante ticket you choose, make sure to validate it — the fines can be steep.
Getting around Porto
The city is great for walking (and even biking), and Porto is well-connected with a modern metro system, a few tram lines, a light rail, and buses.
Andante Ticket
The metro is quite easy to navigate and it will take you anywhere in the city and also the surrounding cities. If you plan on using transit to get around the city, go for an Andante Tour ticket. At €7 for a one-day pass or €15 for a three-day pass with unlimited trips on buses, metro, and train, you can hop on and off as much as you like without having to worry about the zone system or reloading your card.
Historic trams
The city’s historic tram lines are popular with visitors, but they are not included in the Andante ticket. You can buy tickets on board for €2.50. If you really love old-school trams, it’s about €8.
Walking/Biking
If you want to discover the main sights in the historical centre of Porto, walking is one the best ways. Using a bike to discover the riverside and the beach is also a good option. There are various companies where you can rent a bike in the city.
Must-see landmarks in Porto
RIBEIRA
The Ribeira district, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site, is located on the northern side of the river. The locals I met here told me that Ribeira is the most romantic district in Porto. The area is made up of cobbled streets set on hill slopes and a maze of narrow alleys. There are tall narrow ancient houses covered in tiles glazed in pastel shades of red, yellow, and blue situated along medieval streets with plenty of charming cafes, bars and restaurant options.
It’s easy to fall in love with this old town where you can indulge on local’s lifestyle. Housewives putting their laundry out to dry on the balconies, men hanging out in the local bars, and kids playing football outside. Have some lunch, try to get lost, grab a glass of port, and stay awhile.
SÃO BENTO TRAIN STATION
This is just Porto’s everyday station, but it has to be one of the most beautiful train stations on the planet. The railway station is located in the Almeida Garret Square, in the centre of the city. Sao Bento Railway Station was opened to the public in 1916 and is well known for its entrance hall covered in 20,000 tiles painted by the azulejo artist, Jorge Colaço. It took Jorge Colaço 11 years to complete this building. This was the first time that a train station took my breath away!
LIVERIA LELLO
Livraria Lello is considered as the most beautiful bookshop in the world. Upon entering you’ll be immediately struck by the gracious spiral staircase at the center, painted bright red, leads to the balconied second floor. The neogothic bookstore with stained glass ceiling and intricate wood carvings is a must-see in Porto (especially for Harry Porter fans). The library’s iconic spiral staircase is believed to have inspired the moving staircase at Hogwarts, as J.K. Rowling wrote much of the book series when living in Porto.
As Lello’s became one of Porto’s must-sees, you have to pay 3 euro to enter. Visitors need to buy tickets at a booth opposite the entrance and usually have to wait in a long long line. (During the busy tourist season, queues tend to be long throughout the day!!!). A 3€ per person admission fee is refunded with any purchase made during the visit. To avoid the line, you should buy your ticket online. You can book time tickets on the bookstore’s website and just need to show up 5 mins before your allotted time on the ticket. It’s a much better experience if you plan your bookstore trip wisely!
Is it worthwhile to visit this bookshop?
Everyone will say this is a must see spot. The bookstore appears to be just like from Harry Porter’s world from many images on Google and Instagram. In reality, the interior space is quite small and there will be lots of tourists bumping into you. When we visited in late September, the bookshop was filled with tourists taking photos and posing for photos. As much as we wanted to stay and take more photos, we couldn’t wait to leave and get a breath of fresh air. I admit that the staircase is stunning, but overall it was kind of a over-hyped tourist attraction!
Dom Luís Bridge
If I had to choose a picture to define as Porto’s most iconic postcard, this is it!
The bridge is an imposing sight, whether you’re looking at it or looking out from the top of its 45-metre-high arch. This gorgeous bridge was built by Gustave Eiffel, creator of the Eiffel Tower. It stretches over 170 metres between the river banks and was the longest arch bridge in the world when it opened in 1886. The entire landscape is dominated by this ironwork masterpiece. You can travel across the bridge on foot, by cars, by metros or take one of the Tourist buses!
WHERE TO FIND THE BEST VIEWS IN PORTO
Porto Cathedral (Sé) Square
Situated between the Dom Luis Bridge and the Clérigos Tower, the Porto Cathedral is another popular place for catching plenty of sights. Even if you don’t visit the cathedral, be sure to take a look over the walls that line its square. The square offers a beautiful panorama of the city and its river. This is one of the best views over the Ribeira district.
If you take the narrow streets you’ll find yourself immersed on ancient neighborhoods that will lead you all the way to the Douro river. It’s really worth going down to the viewpoint on the level below.
Jardim do Palácio de Cristal
Known in English as the Crystal Palace Gardens, this stunning maze of greenery lives up to its name. It is definitely one of the best views of Porto, and also the most romantic one as well. From the Jardim do Palácio de Cristal gardens you can enjoy one of the most stunning views over Porto, Gaia and the Douro river. You will also come across peacocks, beautiful gardens, different varieties of trees and gorgeous fountains.
River views from Dom Luís I Bridge
You can cross this famous bridge on two levels. The upper deck is used by trams and the lower deck for cars, but pedestrians can use either for getting across. The bridge is a prime location for capturing an amazing photo that will make all your Instagram friends jealous. From this central point, photographers and pedestrians can look over Porto, its neighboring city of Gaia, and gaze along the River Douro.
VILA NOVA DE GAIA
In Porto there is a saying, “The only good thing in Vila Nova de Gaia is the view towards Porto.” If you’re visiting Porto, no doubt you’ll cross the river at some point to the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the Douro. This is slightly less busy than the Porto side. When you walk through D. Luis bridge, just keep walking along the river and from there you have an amazing view over Porto.
The Yeatman Hotel
The Yeatman’s infinity pool with views over the River Douro was recently awarded with the most beautiful swimming pool in Europe by the European Best Destinations website.
The Yeatman is also Porto’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, offering diners with exquisite cuisine where the traditional flavors of Portugal are reinterpreted and presented immaculately and a stunning sunset view across the city.
My Top 4 Favorite Instagrammable Spots in Porto
CAPELA DAS ALMAS (CHAPEL OF SOULS)
Covered in blue painted tiles, this unique chapel located in the very heart of Old Porto should be on everyone’s must-see list. Built in the early eighteenth century, the Chapel of Souls is one of the most beautiful churches of Porto. Its exterior is beautiful. It was covered in 1929 with tiles depicting religious scenes. There are 15,947 tiles in total covering 360 square meters of walls.
IGREJA DO CARMO AND IGREJA DOS CARMELITAS
The Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelitas, at the corner of Praça de Carlos Alberto and Rua do Carmo, are two churches in Porto that stand almost side by side. The two churches are separated by a very narrow (1m wide) house that was built to make all contact between the nuns of Igreja dos Carmelitas and the monks of Igreja do Carmo impossible.
Carmo Church was built in the 18th century and is an amazing example of the baroque architecture. Outside, you will find a magnificent panel of blue and white tiles.
Cafe Bogani Desperta in Ribeira district
I passed by this lovely cafe and just can’t resist sitting down enjoying a hot cappuccino and a lovely view of beautiful houses!
Casa Oriental
Casa Oriental was one of Porto’s most famous grocery stories and now it becomes a historical sardines shop. Its old-school and colorful storefront makes a beautiful Instagrammable backdrop!
In this shop you can buy nice sardines’ box decorated in an old style way, particularly you can buy boxes dedicated to every single year. Boxes are really cute and perfect as a gift but a little bit expensive compared to the Porto standard prices.
My Favorite Places to Eat
Majestic Cafe
Majestic Cafe is one of the best historic cafes in Europe and one of the most beautiful ones in the world. In the biography of J. K. Rowling, written by Sean Smith, it states that when the writer was living in Porto, she spent much of her time at the Majestic working on the first book of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“J.K. Rowling scribbled down notes on napkins while enjoying a coffee break in Café Majestic. This gorgeous, belle époque space is one of Porto’s most exclusive cafés, complete with glittering chandeliers and smartly dressed waiters.”
– The Portugalisti
Although this cafe is pricey and crowded with tourists, you should at least sit down for a coffee and a Portuguese egg tart just so you can adore its stunning arts interior and well dressed waiters.
Raiz Restaurant
We reserved a table at Raiz for opening at 7 pm and when we arrived, we were allowed to choose any table that we wanted. We chose the window table on their 3rd floor with an excellent view of the street life outside.
We enjoyed everything about the restaurant, from the charming decor, the great wine selection to the friendly staff, and of course the food! For appetizer we tried the traditional octopus. The octopus is thinly sliced with a fresh, sour dressing and accompanied by small pieces of vegetables. This was my favorite dish of the night!
As main course we had the lamb rack and black pork skewer. The rack of lamb arrived with mozzarella and another brittle cheese with the chef’s potatoes. The lamb is juicy and very tasty. Our main dishes were so good that we ordered dessert – a tiramisu to share. It has a very fine taste, and is an excellent finish to the dinner. The bill came out quite reasonable!
We had a fantastic evening … and just sitting there watching the street life with the evening falling soft … and all the flavors made it to the most memorable dining experience.
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