Porto Day idea

 

Day 1 Porto

 For our first day in Porto, we put on our best walking shoes and get ready to explore! This itinerary is designed so that it covers all the essentials in the city center.

Porto is divided in two major areas:  Downtown and Bonfim.  

Bonfim is a residential neighborhood that also serves as Porto's main cultural center. It goes roughly from Bolhão Street to São Roque Park, which sits just a few minutes away from the stadium of F.C. Porto, the city's biggest football club.

First we visit downtown Porto.  This is the place where you'll find many of the city’s landmarks, as well as the majority of other tourists.  It extends from Avenida dos Aliados (one of the city's main streets) to around the Palácio de Cristal Gardens. 

 
9:00am Rua de Santa Catarina

We can start the day with a morning stroll by heading to Rua de Santa Catarina, one of Porto's busiest streets. The street is filled with shops and we’ll often find talented street performers on the sidewalk doing their acts, which can be quite fun. The atmosphere here is great, so we can just go for a walk and enjoy.

When here, we should check out Palladium Galleries Clock,  73 Rua de Santa Catarina, sitting atop a FNAC store.  It has a fun display at the top of the hour every hour. Right as the hour changes, you will see four marionette-like figurines reveal themselves, each of whom represents a historical personality from Porto: the city's symbolic saint São João, the maritime-expansion pioneer Infante D. Henrique, and the writers Almeida Garrett and Camilo Castelo Branco.

Capela das Almas

Also near Rua de Santa Catarina is the Capela das Almas (Chapel of Souls), famous for being covered in the traditional Portuguese blue and white tiles known locally as azulejos. 

This is a popular spot and it’s always filled with visitors, so I’d recommend just stopping by for a quick look. Later on you can head to the very nearby Church of Saint Ildefonso, which is also covered in azulejos but is much less busy. 

Mercado do Bolhão

Next, is to stop by the Mercado do Bolhão, Porto's main street market, and then A Favorita do Bolhão right next door, which is perhaps the city's best store for buying traditional products.

In the Mercado do Bolhão, which has been recently renovated, you'll find multiple little counters with everything from exotic spices and fresh oysters to delicious hams and organically-grown fruits and vegetables. There are also counters selling wine, and you can even explore the market while drinking (I know it will still be morning at this point, but a light glass of white wine can never hurt, especially when you're on vacation).

The shop “A Favorita do Bolhão” sits right outside the market, and also has lots of great traditional products. You can get all sorts of treats there, including salted codfish and nuts, but the standouts are the premium dated wines, some of which are more than 100 years old! Quality comes at a cost though, so don't expect these premium bottles to sell for less than €800 to €1,000.

Enjoy the view from Miradouro das Fontaínhas

If you still have some time to kill before lunch, I recommend visiting the Miradouro das Fontaínhas, which is about 15 minutes away form the market (on foot) and is one of those precious Porto locations that is yet to make it into the tourist brochures. 

Here, you can catch your very first stunning view of the Douro River, all while enjoying the company of locals. When I was younger, the Fontaínhas was considered dangerous and somewhere best avoided, but it’s now as safe as anywhere else in the city, and the views are great. 

If you’d like to explore the center with a guide, here are a few options:



Private city center walking tour - Porto native and local guide Leonor (who I think is fabulous) has been leading walking tours of the city center for over a decade. She has different tours with different themes, so you have lots of options.


Small group city center tour - If a private tour is out of budget or you just like being with a group, this half-day tour provides a very nice introduction to the city.

Afternoon

Lunch on Rua de Passos Manuel street (for a Francesinha)

For lunch, head over to the area around Rua de Passos Manuel to try Porto's most iconic food: the Francesinha! A Francesinha is a sandwich unlike any other, combining bread, cheese, and multiple meats with a unique sauce made of tomatos, beer, and whatever secret ingredients each restaurant decides to employ. 

Rua de Passos Manuel could well be called "Francesinha Street" because it holds three of the best Francesinha restaurants in town: Lado B, my personal favorite, Café Santiago, an all-time classic, and Brasão, a slightly fancier alternative.

If eating Francesinha sounds like too much for you (not many visitors can eat a whole one), go to Cervejaria Gazela instead, in one of the adjacent streets, and try another local delicacy: the Cachorrinho. Cachorrinho means "little hot dog" and is a typical fast food from Porto that's almost as locally beloved as the Francesinha, but is hardly mentioned in tourist guides.

Neither the Francesinha nor the Cachorrinho are exactly healthy (to put it lightly), so if you want something lighter and less indulgent, you can have traditional Portuguese food with a modern twist at Alecrim (in Passeio de São Lázaro Street), or amazing vegan food at the iconic Suribachi, Porto's first macrobiotic restaurant.

Walk across Dom Luís 1 Bridge

After lunch, it's time to check out the famous Dom Luís I Bridge. This pedestrian-only bridge boasts what's probably the best view in Porto, and it's the sort of tourist clichè that even I, a long-time Porto resident, love to enjoy from time to time. 

Jardim do Morro gardens and Miradouro da Serra do Pilar viewpoint

Walk across the bridge over to Gaia, on the other side, and then make a stop at Jardim do Morro and Miradouro da Serra do Pilar, both within five minutes of walking distance from the bridge.

Jardim do Morro is a garden that fills with tourists and locals alike every time the sun comes out, and it's perfect for sitting in the grass and enjoying a cold beer while listening to some talented (and not-so-talented) street musicians. 

The Miradouro da Serra do Pilar, on the other hand, is another perfect spot for enjoying the scenic view of the Douro River, which has made the city of Porto so famous internationally.

Explore downtown: Sao Bento train station, Clerigos Tower, Lello Library, Igreja do Carmo

After checking out the park and the viewpoint, cross back over the Dom Luís I Bridge into Porto and head to Avenida dos Aliados. On your way there, pass by the beautiful São Bento train station and the iconic McDonald's (yes, you've read that right!) in Praça da Liberdade.

Continuing up through downtown, you’ll reach the Clérigos church and tower, which is perhaps Porto's best-known historical monument. The church is mainly recognized for its tall tower, and for just €8 (adults) and €5 (children), you can visit both the tower and museum.

Near Clérigos, you will also find another iconic Porto hotspot: the Lello Bookshop, considered to be one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. It was made famous for its association with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, and it's one of the most popular places in Porto. The architecture inside is undeniably lovely, but if the wait to get in is really long (it can be up to an hour), I would suggest moving on - it’s not “unmissable”, in my opinion.

For me, more interesting is the nearby Igreja do Carmo (Carmo Church), which is actually comprised of two churches sitting side by side. Both were built by the Lay Carmelites order, which exhibited great power in Southern Europe around the 15th century. 

The two Carmo Churches are separated by a tiny house only a few meters wide, which is known as "The narrowest house in Porto," and only exists because the Lay Carmelites needed to avoid an old law establishing that two churches could not be built right next to one another.

Palácio de Cristal Gardens and National Museum Soares dos Reis

Next, stop by the beautiful Palácio de Cristal Gardens and then make your way to the National Museum Soares dos Reis, which boasts an impressive collection of more than 13,000 sculptures, paintings, and archaeological objects. 

If you're not a big fan of art or history, you can skip the museum and go for a beer at the nearby Passeio das Virtudes instead. This nice location is one of the best places to watch the sunset in Porto, and it’s always busy with an interesting crowd of hip locals, tourists, and the occasional group of hippies listening to trance music on massive JBL portable speakers. It has a vibe all its own, and I absolutely love it.

Relax like a local at São Roque Park

Afterwards, if you've still got the energy, I recommend going back to the Bonfim area and exploring the beautiful São Roque Park. To get there, catch the subway and get off at the Heroísmo stop. São Roque Park is criminally underrated and almost 100% tourist-free, and it has a nice playground for children, lots of eucalyptus trees, and a super-cool hedge maze.

Near the park, you’ll find one of the city's most traditional snack bars: Xico dos Presuntos. There, you can join a nice crowd of half-drunk locals and try some delicious Vinho Verde (a sparkly white wine traditional to Northern Portugal) along with the cheapest goat cheese and ham you’ll ever buy.

Just so you have an idea, Xico dos Presuntos sells ham sandwiches for under €3 that are so massive they may sometimes contain 19 slices of ham inside - trust me, I’ve counted them!
Evening

Go for drinks in Praça Carlos Alberto square or Bonfim neighborhood

Porto is a super lively city and we locals love to go out and enjoy an evening on the town, so you are truly spoiled for choice when it comes to how to spend your evening. Below are some of my favorite places, all over the city.

The area around Praça Carlos Alberto square is filled with busy bars and restaurants that are open throughout the night. While, tourist traps abound in this area, restaurants like Casa Expresso and Casa Viúva are great spots that serve traditional Portuguese food at an unbelievable price; Casa Expresso is known for its unique pork sandwich and speedy traditional meals, while Casa Viúva is known for their fresh fish.

Not too far away, Torto Bar is the place to go if you want to taste the most unique cocktails in the city. Their ever-changing menu is always pushing the envelope, with cocktail recipes that include lots of unusual ingredients.

Catraio is another cool bar in the area, especially for beer lovers. They have a nice garden in the back and the best rotating craft beer menu in the city.

Over in Bonfim, a very hip and local neighborhood, I recommend starting the night with a beer at Guindalense, a traditional café boasting an incredible view of the Douro River (yes, another great view - we have many of them!). 

For a trendier experience, you can go to Meridians & Parallels or Cinema Batalha. Meridians & Parallels is a secretive cocktail bar that, in addition to serving the best Palomas in town, has a gorgeous natural cave and fountain in the back. Cinema Batalha is a huge movie theater and cultural center, but it has a recently opened cocktail bar inside where you will most likely spot some of Porto's coolest artists, influencers, and nighttime bohemians.

Dinner at 17th Restaurant and Bar

For a romantic evening experience in Porto, I have a very cool suggestion that even most locals don't know of: the 17th Restaurant and Bar, on the 17th floor of Hotel Dom Henrique (yes, it’s open for everyone, not just hotel guests). The ambiance is classy and intimate, and the view of the city from the rooftop is breathtaking. 

Alternatively, you can explore the tourist-heavy Ribeira area, with countless restaurants and bars that, although ignored by most locals, are rightfully favored by international visitors, especially during warm spring and summer nights.