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.
There are plenty of things to do in Porto, Portugal's second city, which rises in steep, tiled terraces above the River Douro near its mouth on the Atlantic. Its historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the essentials lie close together: the Clérigos Tower and Livraria Lello in the Baixa, the cathedral on its hilltop, the Ribeira waterfront and the iron Dom Luís I Bridge leading across to the port wine lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia. Further west are the Serralves museum and park, Casa da Música and the seaside district of Foz do Douro.
Porto's food scene is generous and good value. Locals queue for the francesinha and roast pork sandwiches, the restored Bolhão market is full of local produce, and the city now has several Michelin-starred restaurants, with grand historic cafés and port wine bars for slower moments. Two or three days cover the main sights at a comfortable pace, and a fourth day allows a trip up the Douro valley to the vineyards where port is made. The centre is compact but hilly, so comfortable shoes matter more than a transport pass.
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
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
Porto's hilltop cathedral, begun in the 12th century, combines a Romanesque nave, a Gothic cloister lined with Baroque tiles and works by Nicolau Nasoni.
Attraction
Porto's central station, opened in 1916, whose entrance hall is lined with about 20,000 azulejo tiles by Jorge Colaço depicting Portuguese history.
Attraction
The neoclassical Stock Exchange Palace, built from 1842 for Porto's Commercial Association, visited on short guided tours that end in the gilded Arab Room.
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
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
A dairy business founded in 1920 whose shop on Praça de Guilherme Gomes Fernandes is known for éclairs filled with fresh whipped cream.
Café
A 1933 café on Avenida dos Aliados known as the café of music, with marble reliefs by Henrique Moreira and murals of Amazonian peoples by Graça…
Café
An all-day brunch café on Praça de Carlos Alberto, serving pancakes, eggs Benedict and smoothie bowls, plus a francesinha pancake and brunch cocktails.
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 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 riverside hotel on Praça da Ribeira spread across six historic buildings within the UNESCO-listed centre, with 174 rooms, many overlooking the Douro and the Gaia…
Hotel
A four-star superior hotel in rehabilitated historic buildings just above the Ribeira, with the Forno Velho restaurant, a lounge bar and some rooms with river-view terraces.
Hotel
A historic hotel on Rua de Santa Catarina, open since 1880 and the longest-operating hotel in Porto, with 94 rooms in the heart of the shopping…
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 rooftop-level cultural space on Rua Passos Manuel combining bar, restaurant, terrace, exhibitions, concerts and DJ nights in the heart of the Baixa.
Bar
A small port wine bar on Rua de São João, just above the Ribeira, offering more than two hundred ports to taste and themed tastings.
Bar
A café and bar in a former 1950s second-hand bookshop, with shelves of art and cinema books, the original mosaic floor and a calm, cosy atmosphere.
Bar
A multipurpose club and cultural venue on Rua de Cândido dos Reis, hosting concerts, DJ nights, exhibitions and film events in the Galerias de Paris area.
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 small, busy eatery on Praça dos Poveiros famous for its roast pork shank sandwich, often ordered with melting Serra da Estrela cheese.
Restaurant
José Avillez's relaxed Porto restaurant on Rua Mouzinho da Silveira, serving Portuguese comfort food with international touches, open every day from lunch to late.
Restaurant
Chef Pedro Lemos's Michelin-starred restaurant, reborn in 2024 in a historic riverside building on Rua do Ouro, overlooking the mouth of the Douro.
Restaurant
A tiny counter bar near Batalha, open since 1962, famous for its cachorrinho: spicy sausage and melted cheese in crisp bread, cut into bites and served…
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
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
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.
Thing to do
Vintage trams run by STCP along the Douro from the historic centre to Foz on line 1, and from Massarelos up to Carmo and Clérigos on…
Thing to do
Intimate daily fado concerts in a Porto house founded in 2012 to promote the Portuguese guitar, with a singer accompanied by Portuguese and classical guitars.
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 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 Porto-founded tour company running since 2004, offering small-group Douro valley wine tours, Braga and Guimarães day trips, tuk-tuk tours and river cruises.
Tour operator
A Porto tour operator offering guided e-bike, bicycle and Segway tours of the city and riverside, plus walking tours focused on sights, food and wine.
Two to three days cover the Baixa, the Ribeira and the Gaia port lodges; add a day for a Douro valley trip.
The Baixa and Aliados give a central base close to the metro, the Ribeira puts you on the river, and Vila Nova de Gaia offers quieter hillside hotels near the port lodges.
Metro line E runs from the airport to Trindade in the city centre; taxis and ride-hailing cars are also available outside arrivals.
Porto is generally more affordable than many western European cities, especially for food, wine and public transport, though hotel prices rise in summer.
Porto is generally safe; watch for pickpockets in crowded areas and on public transport, and take care on steep cobbles, which can be slippery when wet.