Attraction
Clérigos Church and Tower
Nicolau Nasoni's 18th-century Baroque church and 75.6-metre tower, with 240 steps to a 360-degree view over Porto's rooftops and the Douro.
Portugal packs a great deal into a small country on the western edge of Europe. Lisbon, the capital, combines historic neighbourhoods, monuments of the age of discoveries and a lively food scene, while Porto in the north is known for its riverside old town and port wine cellars. Sintra's palaces lie close to the capital, the Douro Valley has terraced vineyards, and the Algarve in the south draws visitors to its beaches and cliffs. Inland, the Alentejo offers walled towns such as Évora, and the Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores add volcanic landscapes and hiking. The climate is mild, distances are short and the country is easy to explore by train or car.
Attraction
Nicolau Nasoni's 18th-century Baroque church and 75.6-metre tower, with 240 steps to a 360-degree view over Porto's rooftops and the Douro.
Attraction
Begun in 1501 for King Manuel I, this Manueline monastery in Belém holds the tombs of Vasco da Gama and Luís de Camões and is a…
Attraction
Built between about 1514 and 1519 to guard the mouth of the Tagus, Belém Tower is a Manueline fortress that reopened in May 2026 after restoration.
Attraction
Porto's celebrated bookshop, opened on Rua das Carmelitas in 1906, known for its carved wooden interior, stained-glass skylight and sweeping red staircase.
Attraction
The double-deck iron arch bridge of 1886 linking Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, with metro trains and walkers on top and a riverside crossing below.
Attraction
The hilltop castle above Alfama, taken from the Moors in 1147 and later a royal palace, has wall walks, a camera obscura and wide views of…
Café
Porto's grandest historic café, opened on Rua de Santa Catarina in 1921, with carved wood, mirrors and plaster ceilings in Belle Époque and Art Nouveau style.
Café
Since 1837 this Belém bakery has made its custard tarts by hand to a closely guarded recipe linked to the nearby Jerónimos Monastery.
Café
Opened in 1905 on Rua Garrett, this listed Chiado café was a meeting place for Lisbon's modernists, and a statue of Fernando Pessoa sits on its…
Café
The Porto branch of Lisbon's celebrated custard tart bakery, beside the Bolhão market, where pastéis de nata are baked in view and served warm.
Café
A historic pastry shop and tea room opposite the Bolhão market, founded in the 1890s, known for regueifa bread, bolo-rei and traditional Porto sweets.
Café
Founded in 1829 on Praça da Figueira, Confeitaria Nacional introduced Bolo-Rei to Portugal in 1875 and still sells pastries from its original recipes.
Hotel
A five-star modernist landmark opened in 1959 above Eduardo VII Park, with a celebrated collection of mid-century Portuguese art and the Michelin-starred CURA.
Hotel
A luxury wine hotel on the hillside of Vila Nova de Gaia, with infinity pools, a wine spa and a two-Michelin-star restaurant facing Porto across the…
Hotel
A five-star boutique hotel on Praça Luís de Camões, between Chiado and Bairro Alto, with a river-view terrace and a fifth-floor restaurant.
Hotel
A luxury hotel in the Palácio das Cardosas, a 19th-century palace on the site of a 15th-century convent, overlooking Praça da Liberdade and Avenida dos Aliados.
Hotel
A five-star boutique hotel in a 1950s neo-baroque building in the Baixa, member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, with around 70 rooms and suites.
Hotel
A five-star hotel in a nineteenth-century palace in the embassy district of Lapa, with subtropical gardens and views over the Tagus.
Bar
Founded in 1995 by guitarist Mário Pacheco beside the cathedral, Clube de Fado serves a set Portuguese dinner with live fado every night.
Bar
An intimate Baixa cocktail bar with a marble-topped counter, inventive drinks and a downstairs lounge where a board game doubles as the menu.
Bar
A small wine bar inside a former 19th-century chapel near Cedofeita, pouring wines from across Portugal with cheeses, charcuterie and petiscos.
Bar
A bar opened in 1986 on Rua Dom Pedro V, its walls lined floor to ceiling with glass cabinets of toy soldiers, model planes, figurines and…
Bar
A tiny counter bar on Largo de São Domingos that has poured ginjinha, Lisbon's sour cherry liqueur, since it was opened by a Galician named Espinheira…
Bar
A rooftop-level cultural space on Rua Passos Manuel combining bar, restaurant, terrace, exhibitions, concerts and DJ nights in the heart of the Baixa.
Restaurant
José Avillez's two-Michelin-star restaurant in Chiado reinterprets Portuguese ingredients and traditions through a tasting menu or a structured à la carte.
Restaurant
A long-running Baixa café, officially founded in 1959, where queues form for its francesinha, Porto's layered meat sandwich under melted cheese and a secret sauce.
Restaurant
Chef Vítor Matos's two-Michelin-star restaurant beside the Crystal Palace Gardens, serving creative tasting menus with garden views over the Douro.
Restaurant
A Lisbon seafood institution on Avenida Almirante Reis since 1956, serving shellfish by weight, garlic prawns and a steak sandwich to finish.
Restaurant
A small, busy eatery on Praça dos Poveiros famous for its roast pork shank sandwich, often ordered with melting Serra da Estrela cheese.
Restaurant
A beer hall opened in 1836 in the former Trinity convent, with nineteenth-century tile panels, steaks, seafood and petiscos served late into the night.
Thing to do
A walk along Porto's medieval waterfront, from Praça da Ribeira past the old quay walls to the Dom Luís I Bridge, at the heart of the…
Thing to do
Lisbon's oldest quarter, a maze of steep lanes and stairways between the castle and the river that largely survived the 1755 earthquake.
Thing to do
Porto's restored 1914 market hall, reopened in 2022, where fishmongers, butchers, greengrocers and small restaurants trade around a two-level open courtyard.
Thing to do
Opened in 2014 inside the Mercado da Ribeira, this food hall gathers 26 restaurants and several bars chosen by Time Out's editors under one roof.
Thing to do
Lisbon's long-running flea market, with roots traced to the thirteenth century, fills Campo de Santa Clara behind São Vicente de Fora every Tuesday and Saturday.
Thing to do
Self-guided visits through Taylor's 300-year-old port lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia, with an audio guide in 13 languages and a tasting of three ports.
Tour operator
Running walking tours in Lisbon since 2005, Lisbon Walker offers daily English-language walks such as the Old Town and City of Spies, plus private tours.
Tour operator
Porto's longest-running food tour company, leading three-and-a-half-hour walking tours of the city's cafés, markets, tascas and port wine bars.
Tour operator
A Porto river cruise company founded in 1993, best known for its 50-minute Six Bridges cruise from the Cais da Ribeira and longer Douro valley trips.
Tour operator
A Lisbon food tour company offering market and neighbourhood food walks, cooking classes and dinners hosted in a local family's home.
Tour operator
A local walking tour company running daily free walking tours of Porto's old town, plus port wine tours, tapas experiences, sunset walks and a pub crawl.
Tour operator
A Lisbon tour company known for irreverent small-group tours capped at six people, from walking and van tours to day trips to Sintra and Cascais.
Trains link Lisbon with Porto, Coimbra and the Algarve, buses reach smaller towns, and a hire car is useful for rural areas such as the Alentejo and the Douro Valley.
Spring and early autumn bring warm weather and fewer crowds, while July and August are best for beaches but busiest and hottest inland.
Porto, Sintra, the Douro Valley, Évora, Coimbra, the Algarve coast, and the islands of Madeira and the Azores.