Porto Travel Guide
Three Days in Porto
The first-timer itinerary that books the few things that need booking — Livraria Lello, the Palácio da Bolsa, a port lodge and a Douro tour — and fills the rest with river walks, viewpoints, tiles and long lunches.
Porto is small enough to walk and steep enough to make you regret it. The old town climbs from the river to the cathedral and the Clérigos Tower, the port lodges are across the water in Vila Nova de Gaia, and the modern city and the sea lie to the west. Three days is the right amount of time for a first visit: two days in the city, grouped by area so you are not climbing the same hill twice, and one day upriver in the Douro Valley, where the wine comes from. Here is the plan that works for most first-timers.
Before you fly: the booking list. Four things are worth booking ahead. First, Livraria Lello: entry is by a timed ticket-voucher, deducted from the price of a book if you buy one, and the first slot of the morning is the one to get. Second, the Palácio da Bolsa: visits are by guided tour only, and same-day tickets cannot be bought online. Third, a port lodge tour and tasting in Gaia, which sell out at weekends and in summer. Fourth, your Douro Valley day trip, especially in the harvest season of September and October. Optionally, book the Clérigos Tower for a sunset slot and a Six Bridges cruise, though both can usually be arranged a day or two ahead.
Getting around. Walk as much as you can, but use the help available on the hills: the metro, whose line D crosses the upper deck of the Luís I Bridge; the Guindais funicular between the Ribeira and the Batalha area; the Gaia cable car on the other bank; and taxis and rideshares, which are inexpensive by western European standards. The rechargeable Andante card covers the metro, buses and suburban trains. The historic tram line 1 runs along the river to the sea at Foz, slowly and beautifully. From the airport, the metro runs straight into the centre.
Day one — the upper town and the river. Start at Livraria Lello for your opening slot, then walk a minute to the Clérigos Tower to climb for the view over the whole city. Walk downhill past the tiled Carmo church to São Bento station to see the azulejo hall, then up to the cathedral terrace for the view over the rooftops. Visit the cloister if you have time, then take the stairways of the Barredo quarter down to the Ribeira for lunch a street or two back from the quay. After lunch, take your guided tour of the Palácio da Bolsa and see the gilded São Francisco church next door. In the late afternoon, board a fifty-minute Six Bridges cruise from the quay to see the city from the water. Finish with a walk across the lower deck of the Luís I Bridge to Gaia, up to the Serra do Pilar terrace for sunset, and back across the upper deck as the lights come on.
Day two — Gaia, the port lodges and the west. Cross the bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia in the morning and walk up to your port lodge for a cellar tour and tasting; Taylor's self-guided tour, with its garden terrace and view of the city, is our first choice. Have lunch in Gaia, perhaps at the WOW cultural district next door, then ride the Gaia cable car along the riverbank. In the afternoon, head west: take a taxi or bus to Serralves for the museum, the Art Deco villa and the gardens, then walk down toward the sea at Foz do Douro for sunset by the Atlantic, with dinner in Foz or among the grilled-fish restaurants of Matosinhos. If you prefer, take historic tram line 1 back along the river.
Day three — the Douro Valley. Join a small-group tour from central Porto into the terraced vineyards of the Douro, with tastings at wine producers and a long lunch among the vines, returning in the evening. Alternatively, take the train from São Bento along the river to Régua or Pinhão and arrange quinta visits yourself. Either way, it is a long day, so plan a simple dinner near your hotel on your return.
If you have a fourth day. Spend it on the modern city and the markets: a morning at the Mercado do Bolhão and along Rua de Santa Catarina, a guided tour of Casa da Música, and an afternoon in the Miguel Bombarda gallery district and the Crystal Palace gardens. Or take the train to Guimarães, the birthplace of Portugal, or Braga, with its famous sanctuary staircase.
Where to base yourself for this plan. The historic centre around São Bento, Rua das Flores and the Ribeira puts most of day one on your doorstep and the bridge to Gaia within a short walk. Gaia itself, among the lodges, is ideal for wine lovers and has the best views of the old town, at the cost of an uphill walk home. Boavista and the west are calmer and closer to Serralves and the sea but need transport for the old town.
The honest adjustments. With small children, keep the Douro day shorter, perhaps by train with a short river cruise, and add the cable car, the Six Bridges cruise and the Serralves park. In the heat of July and August, start early, rest at midday and save the viewpoints for evening. In winter, expect rain: put the museums, the Bolsa and the lodges on the wettest days. And leave time for one long, unhurried lunch with a glass of wine: Porto rewards those who sit still.