Porto - the perfect 3 day itinerary

How to maximise 3 days in Porto. The second largest city in Portugal is beautiful and has so much to offer, and there’s some great easy day trips that can be done from here too. We actually had 4 days when we visited, but realistically, 3 is enough so I’ve summarised the best bits below. 

Porto is an extremely walkable city but be prepared for hills! It’s essentially on a hill with the Douro River at the base and both sides of the city rising from each bank. There is a cable car on the south of the river which will take you from the riverside to Jardin do Morro, and there’s an elevator which will take you from the riverbank to the top of the Dom Luis bridge on the north side. But other than that, get some comfy shoes on and be prepared for stairs or hills! Also - don’t do what I did and miss the train station completely and unnecessarily walk to the top of a hill to realise São Bento was actually at the bottom.

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Skip to: 

• Where to Stay 

• The itinerary 

• Food recommendations 

Where to stay

I probably wouldn’t recommend where we stayed - the location was good, but that’s about it. However, having visited the city, I can now give some alternative recommendations based on location. 

Day 1 - Porto Old Town 

This route minimises the amount of walking up and down hills (minimises but does not eradicate entirely!) for the main sights in the city. We just walked around ourselves, but you could opt to a walking tour if you want a bit more history and background for the various landmarks. We always book walking tours through guru walks. 

Start at Livaria Lello bookshop (this supposedly inspired or looks like the Hogwarts library, for Harry Potter fans) - online you will see lots of recommendations to either go at the beginning or end of the day to avoid the crowds. While I understand that there may be tour groups that come in the middle of the day, it was pretty packed when we were there first thing, so I just think crowds are unavoidable, unless you visit off season. Yes it’s busy, but it is beautiful. You need to book in advance, and your ticket includes a voucher to spend on Livaria Lello branded books (which is quite a lot of them). Many people seem to crowd around the first table that has these books but there are lots spread throughout the shop. If you love books, it’s worth a visit. 

Inside Porto Cathedral

Old Town city walk: 

This self guided walk features a lot of churches/buildings which have the beautiful blue and white azulejo tiles associated with the city. It’s optional to go in to the buildings, and some have an entry fee. 

• Igreja do Carmo (online info was unclear but you do have to pay to go inside) 

• Torre dos Clérigos (10€ daytime, 5€ evening)

• Chapel of Souls (free)

• Mercado do Bolhão - pick up some lunch/snack here (worth a visit, but I actually didn’t find the food here that great). 

• Perola do Bolhão - cute traditional shop right outside the market. 

• Porto Cathedral - 4€ entry fee, which was well worth it. With the azulejos, it’s unlike any other cathedral I’ve been in. It was a bit unclear online on whether there is a dress code, but I wore a vest/tank top and shorts (it was 36℃ when we visited!) and there was no issue. Many other tourists were dressed similarly. 

• Stroll through the little streets down to riverside to the Ribeira area for a view of the huge Dom Luis bridge. Here, you can take a cruise along the river (although I’ve heard they’re cheaper on the opposite side of the river). 

  
  

In the evening, head over to Jardim do Morro on the south side of the river for sunset - it’s at the top of the hill, so either walk across the Dom Luis bridge or take the metro across. It is very crowded but it’s worth it for the views. There’s some buskers/live music, drinks vendors and an outdoor bar. If you follow the path around the park, you’ll come to a main road, Avenue de Republica - there are restaurants here (including a nice looking Italian) that lots of people were getting takeaway food from to eat up on the hill for sunset. 

Day 2 - Douro Valley 

Vineyards in the Douro Valley

Take a tour to the Douro wine valley - the oldest wine region in the world! The area is famous for port wine, which we sampled, as well as “regular wine”.  We took a full day tour, which included transport, visits to 2 wineries, lunch with unlimited wine and a 1 hour boat cruise. The area is stunning so it’s definitely worth getting out of the city for. 

Find the exact tour we did here (check out our instagram bio for our exclusive Get Your Guide discount code) 

When we arrived back in the city, we went for a drink at Bosco, for sunset. The vibes and views were great, but it was bit on the expensive side for a cocktail. If you’re on a budget, stick to local wine! 

Day 3 - Aveiro and Costa Nova

Another day trip out of the city, but this time self-guided, and included some beach time. Get the train from São Bento station (leave some time to admire the station itself as it is beautifully ornate). Take the train to Aveiro - you can purchase tickets online but it was a bit confusing so we bought them at the desk - open return (online it seemed like you had to pick a specific time to return). The return train cost about 8€. 

Walk down to the canals (Aveiro is known as the “Venice of Portugal”), take a boat ride and wander around the historic centre before getting an Uber or Bolt to Costa Nova. There’s a lovely beach here and cute coloured houses along the main road. We had very strange weather though - there were wildfires further up the coast (north of Porto) during our visit, which made the sky a very strange colour. 

Costa Nova Beach

Choose your own adventure

There’s lots of other things to do in/around Porto if you have time:

• Visit the Port caves on the Gaia (south) side of the river (we skipped this as we had already sampled lots of port wine on the Duoro valley tour). 

• The Portuguese centre of Photography - a museum inside a prison. 

• The cable car on the Gaia side 

• Jardins do Palacio de Cristal - lovely gardens/park with free roaming peacocks and other birds (we did spend a few hours here) 

• For a beach a bit closer to the city, head to Praia de Luz

Food Recommendations 

Coffee / breakfast / brunch 

• SO coffee - specialty coffee and amazing cinnamon buns

• At Street. Coffee - great coffee and pastel de nata! 

• Oporto bakery - very local vibes, decent simple coffee and freshly baked pastries - ideal if you’re on the go (we picked these up on our tour day) and insanely good value (5€ for 2 coffees and 2 pastries!) 

• Do Norte Cafe by Hungry Biker - sensational fruit loaded French toast with a port sauce (sounds like it shouldn’t work but it does!) 

• Ceilo Brunch Garden - this was pretty decent but I preferred Do Norte (and was a similar price) 

Dinner / evening food 

• Casa Guedes - try the infamous Francesina, a kind of sandwich absolutely rammed with different meats, wrapped in cheese, topped with egg (in some variations) and drowned in tomatoey-beery sauce. I really didn’t know if I’d like it but it was so tasty and very filling! 

• La Perpétua - small plates and fantastic wine/sangria.  A really local vibe and excellent food. 

• Museu d'Avó - small plates (tapas), cute candlelit setting, cash only (but there is a cash machine down the street). Get the flaming chorizo! This was a recommendation from a local and was our favourite restaurant of the trip! 

• Pedros dos Frangos - original portuense peri peri chicken. Huge portions and great value. 

You MUST eat a pastel de nata (or 10) when you’re here - my favourite was from Manteigaria (multiple locations throughout the city). They are so fresh and are made right there in front of you. 

I had so many other food recommendations that we didn’t even get a chance to try - the food in Porto is unreal - check out our free Google Map below for lots of pinned recommendations for food and landmarks (it includes all of the locations from the day 1 city walk). Save the map for your trip to Porto!

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