Taste Porto Food Tours

Taste Porto describes itself as Porto's longest-running food tour company, and its walking tours are one of the most enjoyable ways to understand how the city eats. The company, run by PleasantDiscovery Lda, takes small groups through the Baixa and the old town, stopping at family-run cafés, bakeries, market stalls, tascas and wine bars that many visitors would walk past.

The flagship is the Vintage and Port Wine Food Tour, which lasts about three and a half hours and includes 13 food tastings and seven drinks. Expect a run of Porto specialities, savoury and sweet, and, as the name suggests, port wine. The Downtown and Bolhão Market Food Tour, also around three and a half hours, focuses on the city centre and the renovated Mercado do Bolhão, one of the best places to see the region's produce. For beer lovers, the Craft Beer and Food Tour pairs seven local beers with three food tastings.

The company also runs three-hour cooking classes with a local chef, a self-guided Food Passport scavenger hunt with five tastings and four drinks, multi-day culinary holiday packages, and a Porto Jewish Heritage Tour. Private and custom tours can be arranged for families or groups, and corporate events and team-building sessions are available. Gift cards are also sold.

Booking is online through the website, where current prices, meeting points and start times are listed. Tours are substantial, so arrive hungry and skip a big breakfast or lunch beforehand. Wear comfortable shoes, as Porto's streets are steep and cobbled, and tell the company about dietary requirements when booking, since several stops are built around meat, fish or dairy. Phone and WhatsApp support is available on weekdays, with a break in the middle of the day.

Taste Porto suits first-time visitors, couples, solo travellers and families with older children who want a social introduction to the city's food culture. Doing a tour early in a trip is a good idea, as the guides share recommendations that are useful for the rest of your stay. The downtown tours combine well with sightseeing in the Baixa, from the Majestic Café to the Clérigos Tower and São Bento station.