Porto, Portugal
- Mary Kate gKing
- Oct 17
- 7 min read
How long to visit, where to stay, and what to do in Porto.
Portugal is one of my favorite countries I have ever visited! I have been to Porto, Lisbon, the Algarve, the island of Madeira, and the Azores islands. My parents just finished their 17 day trip to Portugal that I planned for them, including destinations like Nazarre and Evora. For more information about Portugal travel, visit my website here.
I absolutely loved visiting Porto! It is one of my favorite cities in one of my favorite countries! While there are a lot of hills in Porto, I still find Porto to be such a walkable city.
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How long should I plan to visit Porto?
Minimum 2 full days and minimum 3 days if visiting the Douro Valley. Could easily enjoy a relaxing week in Porto.
Top Porto Activities:
Visit Vila Nova de Gaia Region of Porto (Region of the infamous Port Cellars/Houses): I’m not a huge port fan, but it seemed wrong visiting Porto and not trying the Port wines. We visited the Port houses along the water, and I’m not sure if it was the ambiance, but I actually enjoyed the ports I was trying. This area is also along the river, which can be great to walk off your wine. It is also close the the Jardim de Morro sunset spot. A great way to spend your afternoon would be visiting the port houses, walking along the river, and then making it to Jardim de Morro for sunset.
Experience a breathtaking sunset at Jardim de Morro: This is my #1 ‘Must Do’ activity in Porto. Watching the sun set over the city and the river is absolutely stunning. It was definitely a walk up to the spot from where we were but totally worth the view of the city and river. Locals gathered amongst tourists all to watch the beautiful sunset. Some people watch from sitting in the park and others stand lining the rail of the upper pedestrian bridge for a more uninterrupted view. In the garden, there are typically people playing live music and selling drinks for the sunset. Pro-tip is to bring a blanket to sit on and snacks for your own sunset picnic.
Jardim de Morro Sunset Visit an open-air market: Grab a glass of wine and walk around, peeking at the fresh seafood and other Portuguese food at the Mercado do Bolhã. I tried some raw sea urchin for the first time with a glass of wine in hand. It’s not a massive market in comparison to other markets I’ve been to, but it is definitely worth a stop. There are also two other popular food halls if any foodies want to try them all out. Check it out under Porto Restaurants & Bars:
Visit the infamous library, Livraria Lello: Any Harry Potter fans? Learn about how the black cloaks were inspired by Portuguese college students. Better yet, take a tour of the infamous library. Even if you are not a Harry Potter fan, if you have an appreciation for books or the architecture of libraries, this could still be worth a visit. We peaked in through the window because there was a 2 hr wait to get inside. If you are a big fan, you hopefully already know that you need to book tickets in advance and plan to spend a few hours there. Even the ticketed line was backed up.
View from top of Torre dos Clérigos Visit some of the most iconic churches in Porto: While there are many beautiful cathedrals to visit in Porto, here are the main churches to plan a visit to (I recommend visiting the top 2 listed):
Torre dos Clérigos: This is a 76.5 meter bell tower within a complex that connects the Clérigos church. It was a really cool stop to get a unique view of the city. It is also a quick walk to the Livraria Lello if you want to pair those activities in the same day. The biggest take aways from visiting the Torre dos Clérigos are that there are a lot of stairs, but great views from the top. Admission was 10 euros when we went. It was cool to see the views, but I would not recommend it if you don’t like tight stairwells.
Chapels of Souls: Most people don’t end up making it to the inside, but many popular Porto pictures are taken in front of the blue and white tile mural. It is also in a convenient location to street markets and could be worth a stroll by if time allows. (Free admission as of October 2025)
Igreja dos Carmelitas and Igreja do Carmo: Another beautiful cathedral with a beautiful interior and exterior, including a blue and white tile on the outside. (You will find that many buildings and churches in Porto have beautiful exterior decorrated in tile).
Porto Cathedral Tickets when we went were about 3 Euros. If you want more of a history lesson, consider booking a tour through viator or another tour company.
Blue & White Tile Exterior of Chapels of Souls Venture out to the Douro Valley: If you like wine, a day trip to the Douro Valley is a must when visiting Porto! It is such a beautiful region of Portugal. There are so many tours that you can do depending on your price range. You could do a private tour that includes a private boat ride or a small group tour. We did a small group tour that consisted of 6 people, but then got on a bigger boat of about 50+ people during the river tour that was included in our package. Riding down the Douro valley river by boat is so beautiful and worth including in your winery tour. If I were to do our tour again with our company, I would’ve purchased a bottle of wine at one of the first 2 wineries we visited to drink on the boat. On our big boat, there were other tour groups that were informed and were drinking wine, which was nice. Our tour was still really good, especially the small group tours of the wineries. Maybe I’m becoming more picky as I’m getting older, but if I could do it again, I’d do a different tour that involved a smaller, personalized boat tour down the Douro River. The good thing is that there are many different ways to explore the Douro Valley wine region that can accommodate various budget needs. There are also beautiful accommodations in the Douro Valley if you want to plan a longer visit to the wine region.
Douro Valley Boat ride along the Douro River: Enjoy the beautiful views of Porto from the Douro River. There are many private and group boat options, including sailboats and powerboats. Sunset is a beautiful time to plan the boat ride.
As always, get lost in the city: On our first day, we fought our jet lag by walking around all of Porto. Chapels of Souls has really pretty tiles to walk by and snag a picture. You can continue your walk from Chapels of Souls to the Mercado do Bolhã. As mentioned before, the Torre dos Clérigos is near the Livraria Lello. Finally, visit any of the port houses and end your day at sunset at Jardim de Morro. We were able to walk to all of those top attractions in just one day. If you have good walking shoes and don’t mind the hills, you can walk to most of the iconic attractions in one day of walking- hence me calling it a walkable city. There are Tuk Tuks everywhere, so if you don’t think you can do all that walking up and down hills, it would be easy to find a Tuk Tuk to show you around.
Shopping Spree: The souvenirs in Portugal can seem repetitive, but the tile stores in Porto were top-tier for souvenirs. If you walk around the city, you can stumble across so many local tile stores. For tile stores that offer various souvenir options, consider visiting Prometeu Artesanato or Prometeu Artesanato (Same name but different locations). While you can probably get some tile store suggestions nearby from your accommodation, another tile store option is Fleurdelis.
Accommodation:
We stayed at Charm Palace in Porto, which had a grand bathroom and bedroom but desk reception only during the day. It might be considered farther out of the city to some, but we were still able to walk to everything. I really liked it and thought it was nicely priced. If you aren’t sold, I have done the research for the top accommodation options in Porto. Click here to access my detailed spreadsheet on Portugal accommodations.
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Porto Restaurants & Bars:
Port Houses along the Douro River. There are many restaurants in this area, but take the time to stop at various port houses and try their Portuguese wines. You can’t go wrong with any of them.
Mercado Bom Sucesso: Popular food hall in Porto offering various styles of food and drinks.
Mercado Beira-Rio: A food hall that serves alcohol and offers many food and dessert options.
Mercado do Bolhão: Another food hall, but this is more of an open-air market where locals can go and purchase their produce for the week. There is a bar that serves wine and beer if you want to sip and stroll around the open air market. You can even have it wash down some sea urchins if you feel that adventurous.
Mercado do Bolha
Porto Key Travel Tips:
You’ll need at least 2 full days to explore Porto. The Douro Valley wine region is worth it as long as you like wine, but would need to be an additional day added into your itinerary.
Sunset @Jardim do Morro is a MUST DO.
While all key attractions are within walking distance from one another, there are a lot of hills. Wear comfortable shoes!
Plan to enjoy port wines at multiple port houses along the Douro River. Located near Jardim do Morro, where you can go for sunset before or after visiting the port houses.
If you are a Harry Potter fan, purchase tickets to the Livraria Lello well in advance.
Thank you for reading!
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I hope you enjoy visiting Porto as much as we did!
Cheers!
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