Travel Guide To Porto

I may be late creating it, but I finally can share the travel guide to Porto with you all! I definitely have made it my goal this year to be better with my travel guides and share them in a more timely manner.

As a little recap, we went to Porto, Portugal as part of our Spain & Portugal trip last May. We went during the first couple weeks of May. Our trip started in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, and ended in Porto.

Our Trip To Porto, Portugal

We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Porto. Porto is a small city and we definitely saw a lot in 4 days! We even had time to have a full-day trip to Douro Valley. We booked a one-way ticket from Lisbon and the flight took about 30-40 minutes. The weather in Portugal compared to Spain during this time of year (early May) was slightly cooler. I can’t recall if I mentioned that in the Lisbon travel guide.

There is definitely a difference between Lisbon and Porto. Everything in Porto is walkable. So for sure wear comfortable shoes. There are trams, but it is not as prominent. This city is full of gorgeous iglesias (churches) and lots of azulejos (patterned blue tiles). The Douro River (area is known as the Ribeira) is highlighted and it splits the city into two. Both sides are worth checking out!

Things To Know

Mostly everyone can speak English. They don’t do siesta, but there are several restaurants that are closed after lunch time, and don’t re-open until dinner time which is about 8pm.

Foods To Try

Most of the cuisine is very similar to Lisbon. However, you can only find the Francesinha Sandwich in Porto.

• Francesinha Sandwich – This is a Portuguese version of the French sandwich Croque-Monsieur. It is a sandwich made with bread, ham, sausage, and steak. Definitely a meat lovers sandwich. And it is topped with egg and melted cheese. Then they drown the sandwich in a tomato-beer sauce. Every place has their own take on the sauce.
• Octopus (or pretty much any seafood or shellfish).
• Bacalhau A Bras – This is basically shredded cod sauted with potatoes and onions.
• Bolinhos de Bacalhau – They are codfish fritters.
• Sardines – if you are not into them at least get the cans as souvenirs. They are so cute!
• Pastel de Nata – They are egg tarts and they are AMAZINGLY delicious. It pretty much is a staple in Portugal (especially in Lisbon). They’re in every restaurant and cafe.

Travel Guide to Porto

In this travel guide to Porto, I will go over places to stay, where to eat, what to do, and a day-by-day itinerary.

Places to Stay

We stayed at The House Ribeira Porto Hotel and LOVED it! Definitely one of our top favorite hotels. It is up there with the Only You Hotel in Madrid. The size of the room was fairly large for a European hotel room. It has a modern style mixed with rustic Portugal accents. The location was perfect. It is so close to the Douro River, and getting to the main attraction sites was easy to walk to as well. There is a breakfast buffet option that you can purchase. I can’t recall the cost, but it was affordable and the food was good!

Below are other hotels we considered:

• Porto A.S. 1829 Hotel
• Eurostars Porto Douro
• Porto River Aparthotel

Places to See

• Cais da Ribeira

  This is what they call the river waterfront. There are lots of restaurants along the river waterfront and it is so scenic!

• Sao Bento Station

  This is Porto’s main train station. The entryway is gorgeous! The entire wall is covered in azulejos. Definitely the coolest and most beautiful train station I have ever been to.
  

• Dom Luis I Bridge

  This is the bridge over the Douro River. It has two levels: top and bottom, and both are accessible. I definitely recommend walking on both levels. You can get a different perspective.

• Cable Car

  Take the cable car to cross the river. Another great way to see Porto and get some amazing views! The cable car ticket also includes port wine tasting at Quinta Santa Eufemia and access to Igreja de Santa Marinha.

• Cais de Gaia

  Waterfront on the other side of the river.

• Livraria Lello

  This is the bookstore that inspired J.K. Rowling to write Harry Potter. It definitely has a Harry Potter feel to it! I highly recommend getting tickets in advance. There is a long line and wait. Even if you are first in line, they let ticket holders go in first.
  

• Douro Valley

  It is a region where Port wine originated from. That is where all the vineyards are located. It is the Napa Valley of Portugal. You can easily have a day trip there, do some wine tours, dine there, etc. All the details about Douro Valley are noted below in the Day Trip section of this post.

• Rua de Santa Catarina

  This street is known to be the shopping district. There are a lot of tourists on this street.   Gets more crowded throughout the day. On this street, you can also find the famous Majestic Cafe and the church, Capela das Almas.

• Churches

Seeing all the churches in Porto is for sure a must. The amount of detail in these churches is remarkable. And if you are craving to see the infamous Portuguese blue tiles (azulejos), they are all over the churches. Most of them are free to visit or may only require a couple euros. For sure Instagram worthy! Below is the list of churches we saw.

• • Igreja do Carmo – This church is Instagram famous. Whenever people post photos of Porto, it’s this church they feature. One side of the church, the entire facade is azulejos. It is gorgeous. It is right by Livraria Lello.
    
  • Igreja de Santo Ildefonso – The front facade is covered in azulejos. If you are heading to Rua de Santa Catarina, you might pass this church on the way. Not hard to spot.
  • Capela das Almas – This church is right along Rua de Santa Catarina. It is a tiny church again, but the dark blue azulejos stand out.
  • Igreja de Sao Francisco – This church is known for the gold details. Almost everything inside this church is covered in gold. Unfortunately, they request no photos to be taken. From the steps/balcony, you get a beautiful view of Porto and the Douro River.
  • Igreja S. Nicolau – This church is right across from Igreja de Sao Francisco. Also has a beautiful azulejos facade.
    
  • Catedral do Porto – Beautiful church and it is on top of the hill. You get an incredible view of the city. Definitely take a tour, because the rooftop is a must see! The entire rooftop courtyard has azulejos!

Places to Eat/Drink/Snack

• Cafe do Cais

  It is a cafe right by the water. We went here for a late lunch. This is where I tried the Francesinha Sandwich. You can have a cocktail/wine here as well. Their food is a mixture of traditional Portuguese / modern Portuguese food.

• Fish Fixe

  Everyone we talked to raved about this place. Our hotel highly recommended it. It is a popular spot and it is small. Therefore, you do need a reservation. The food was good. The grilled calamari was cooked perfectly. The only downside was that our waiter was kind of rude to us. Other than that, we definitely had our best meal there.
  

• Rocinha

  This is a bakery/cafe that serves traditional Portuguese pastries. They stay open late which was great for us when we wanted something sweet later in the evening. They also serve traditional Portuguese dishes as well. It is also very inexpensive.

• Costa Coffee

  This is a chain coffee, but we wanted to snack real quick. Something to tide us over in between meals. The food was good, but not out of this world. We went to the one right by Livraria Lello.

• Majestic Cafe

  This cafe is known to be the top 10 most beautiful cafes in the world, and it truly is. It is very crowded and there are long lines and a wait for this place. We were fortunate and went during an odd hour. This place has a main street Disney feel to it. However, it is beautiful and the food and drinks were good too! This is right along Rua de Santa Catarina.
  

• Porto Escondido

  Very traditional Portuguese cuisine and very affordable as well. This is right by the waterfront. We love the simplicity of the dishes!

• O Bar do Falcao

  This is located right on the Ribeira Square. This restaurant is small and not fancy so no frills at all, but it surprised us. It was so good! The portions are large and it was also very affordable. I got the prawns and it was the best I’ve ever had! So good!

• Boutique do Gelais

  This is a cute gelato/coffee shop. The decor is adorable and the gelatos are good!

• Taberna Dos Mercadores

  This place was highly recommended. It is a small restaurant and all the locals love it. Therefore, a reservation is required. We didn’t realize it so we unfortunately did not have the opportunity to dine there.

• Castas E Pratos

  This restaurant is in the Douro Valley. The decor and building is really cool because it used to be an old train car. The food was amazing!! We tried almost everything on the menu including desserts. Loved every single thing! It was part of our Douro Valley tour, which I will mention in the Day Trip section below.

Day Trip

The only day trip we took from Porto was to Douro Valley. Without a question, going to Douro Valley is a must if you are in Porto. It is about an hour and a half drive to Douro Valley. You can take the train, car, or I also heard there is a boat ride there as well.

We actually booked our day trip through Lab Portugal Tour. I highly recommend it! The price includes your transportation (they will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel), 2 wine/vineyard tours, lunch, and a boat ride. This is seriously a hassle free day trip. Francisco was our driver/tour guide and he was incredible!

When you book the day trip to Douro Valley with Lab Portugal Tour, you have an option to do a private tour or a group tour. The group tour has a max of 6 people. We were lucky and the 3 people that were supposed to be part of our group tour had to cancel last minute. So we pretty much got a private tour.

We visited 2 different vineyards (tasting included). We went to Quinta do Vallado and Quinta do Panascal. The vineyards change from tour to tour. And omg the lunch was incredible. We had lunch at Castas E Pratos (lunch location differs from tour to tour as well), and they provided us a large spread. It felt like we received more than what we paid for!

The boat ride was also beautiful. It is about an hour on the boat and it just takes you along the Douro River. You get a beautiful view of all the vineyards along the river.

Quick Recap Of Our Porto Itinerary

Here is a quick recap of what we did each day.

Day One

• Walked along Cais da Ribeira (waterfront)
• Late Lunch at Cafe do Cais
• Igreja S. Francisco
• Igreja S. Nicolau
• Sao Bento Station
• Catedral do Porto
• Walked on Dom Luis I Bridge (top part)
• Cable car to Av. Diogo Leite (other side of the river)
• Porto Wine Tasting at Santa Eufemia & visited Igreja de Santa Marinha
• Walked along Cais de Graia and walked on the lower half of the bridge
• Dinner at Fish Fixe
• Pastries at Rocinha

Day Two

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Livraria Lello
• Igreja das Carmelita
• Costa Coffee
• Igreja Sto Ildefonso
• Snack at Majestic Cafe
• Walked along Rua Santa Catarina
• Capela das Almas
• Via Catarina along Rua Santa Catarina
• Cocktails at the hotel
• Dinner at Porto Escondido

Day Three

• Day Trip to Douro Valley (took the entire day and booked through Lab Portugal Tours)
• Dinner at O Bar do Falcao

Day Four

• Walked around Porto one more time
• Coffee and gelato at Boutique do gelado
• Left to go to the airport.

As you can tell in this travel guide to Porto, you can see a lot in one day! If you want, you can dedicate a day just to see all the churches! This is where you see most of the Instagram photos of Porto. Hope you enjoyed this guide!

xo RD