Porto itinerary

1. 1

   Ribeira District - Porto's UNESCO Riverside Heart

   The Ribeira is where most visitors fall for Porto. Cobbled lanes drop down from the cathedral to a riverfront of terracotta-roofed houses, baroque churches, and outdoor cafes piled against granite cliffs above the…

   Address

   Cais da Ribeira, 4050-509 Porto

   Nearest transit

   São Bento Metro/rail station (Line D), 8-min walk downhill

2. 2

   Dom Luís I Bridge - The Cast-Iron Icon Linking Porto and Gaia

   The Dom Luís I Bridge is the visual signature of Porto - a 172-metre wrought-iron double-deck arch designed by Théophile Seyrig, Gustave Eiffel's former business partner, and opened in 1886. The upper deck (~45 m above…

   Address

   Ponte Luís I, 4000-038 Porto

   Nearest transit

   Jardim do Morro Metro (Line D) at south end; São Bento 5-min walk to north end

3. 3

   Livraria Lello - The Art Nouveau Bookshop That Inspired a Generation

   Livraria Lello opened on Rua das Carmelitas in 1906 and has been operating ever since, making it the oldest bookshop in Portugal and one of the most beautiful in the world. Architect Xavier Esteves designed a neo-Gothic…

   Address

   Rua das Carmelitas 144, 4050-161 Porto

   Nearest transit

   Aliados Metro (Line D), 5-min walk west

4. 4

   Clérigos Tower - The Baroque Bell Tower Built by an Italian

   The Torre dos Clérigos rises 75 metres above the city's western ridge, the tallest structure in Porto for nearly two centuries after its completion in 1763. Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni - who emigrated to Porto in…

   Address

   Rua de São Filipe de Néry, 4050-546 Porto

   Nearest transit

   Aliados Metro (Line D), 4-min walk south; São Bento 5-min walk

5. 5

   São Bento Railway Station - 20,000 Azulejo Tiles in a Working Station

   São Bento Station looks like a normal Portuguese train station from the street, but step into the atrium and you walk into one of the great public-art interiors in Europe. Artist Jorge Colaço spent 11 years (1905-1916)…

   Address

   Praça de Almeida Garrett, 4000-069 Porto

   Nearest transit

   São Bento Metro (Line D) + national/regional rail terminus, on-site

6. 6

   Palácio da Bolsa - The 19th-Century Stock Exchange with a Moorish Showpiece

   The Palácio da Bolsa sits beside the Church of São Francisco in the Infante neighbourhood, built between 1842 and 1910 to house Porto's commercial association on the ruins of the Convent of São Francisco (the convent…

   Address

   Rua de Ferreira Borges, 4050-253 Porto

   Nearest transit

   São Bento Metro (Line D), 7-min walk downhill

7. 7

   Porto Cathedral - The Romanesque Fortress on the Hill

   The Sé do Porto crowns the highest point of the old city, a granite fortress-church begun in the early 12th century and the oldest surviving building in Porto. The Romanesque core has the rose window and twin towers of…

   Address

   Terreiro da Sé, 4050-573 Porto

   Nearest transit

   São Bento Metro (Line D), 5-min walk uphill

8. 8

   Port Wine Cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia - Where the World's Port Is Aged

   Cross the Dom Luís I Bridge and you reach the riverside ribbon of warehouses where every bottle of Port wine in the world is aged before shipping. By an 18th-century royal decree, Port can be grown only in the Douro…

   Address

   Avenida de Diogo Leite, 4400-111 Vila Nova de Gaia

   Nearest transit

   Jardim do Morro Metro (Line D), 8-min walk down; or cross Dom Luís I Bridge from Ribeira

9. 9

   Church of São Francisco - The Gothic Shell with a Golden Soul

   The Igreja de São Francisco looks unassuming from outside - a plain 14th-century Gothic facade with a single rose window - but step inside and you walk into one of the most spectacular gilded interiors in Iberia…

   Address

   Rua do Infante D. Henrique, 4050-297 Porto

   Nearest transit

   São Bento Metro (Line D), 8-min walk; next to Palácio da Bolsa

10. 10

    Foz do Douro - Where the Douro Meets the Atlantic

    Foz do Douro is the seaside neighbourhood where the Douro estuary opens into the Atlantic, 6 km west of the historic centre. It is where Porto residents go to walk, surf, eat fresh fish, and escape the cruise crowd. The…

    Address

    Avenida do Brasil, 4150-003 Porto

    Nearest transit

    Vintage Tram 1 from Infante (~30 min); STCP bus 500 from Aliados

11. 11

    Serralves Museum and Park - Porto's Contemporary Art Headquarters

    Serralves is two attractions in one. The Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by Pritzker laureate Álvaro Siza Vieira and opened in 1999, is a long white modernist sequence of galleries showing rotating exhibitions of…

    Address

    Rua Dom João de Castro 210, 4150-417 Porto

    Nearest transit

    STCP bus 502 from Cordoaria (~25 min); bus 203 from Aliados

12. 12

    Douro Valley Day Trip - Europe's First Demarcated Wine Region

    Porto is the gateway to the Douro Valley, the world's oldest demarcated wine region. The Marquis of Pombal drew the original boundaries in 1756, a full century before similar protections came to Bordeaux or Champagne…

    Address

    Largo da Estação, 5085-037 Pinhão (recommended day-trip endpoint)

    Nearest transit

    Comboios de Portugal train from São Bento Station to Pinhão, ~2 hr 15 min

From the trip1 travel guide “12 Top Places to Visit in Porto” · trip1.com