Porto Itinerary

One day in Porto

One day is enough to see why Porto is worth coming back to, if the day runs downhill.

1. 9.30am — São Bento station: the entrance hall is lined with twenty thousand azulejos, and it is free because it is a working station.
2. 10.30am — Up to the cathedral terrace for the view back over the roofs.
3. 11.30am — The Clérigos Tower, the tallest thing in the old city.
4. 1pm — Lunch on the way down to the river.
5. 3pm — The Ribeira waterfront, then across the lower deck of the Dom Luís I bridge to Gaia.
6. 5pm — One port lodge tour, about an hour.
7. Sunset — Jardim do Morro, at the Gaia end of the upper deck, then back across the top of the bridge.

Two days in Porto

Two days lets each bank of the river have its own day, which is how Porto is meant to be seen.

1. Day 1 — the old city on the north bank: São Bento, the cathedral, the Clérigos Tower, the tiled façades of Capela das Almas and Igreja do Carmo, and the Ribeira at dusk.
2. Day 2 morning — cross the upper deck of the bridge on foot, with the view at the height of the cathedral.
3. Day 2 afternoon — two port lodges in Gaia. Two is plenty; three is a waste of the third.
4. Day 2 evening — sunset from Jardim do Morro, and back along the lower deck at water level.

Three days in Porto

Three days has its own guide, with two complete plans: three city days, with Foz do Douro on the third, or two city days and a day in the Douro valley. The short version: the old city, then Gaia, then Foz or the Douro.

Four and five days: the Douro, Guimarães and Braga

Past three days, the best additions to a Porto itinerary are the trains out of it.

On the Douro line, sit on the right leaving Porto — the railway runs beside the water for the last stretch. Guimarães and Braga are half days, so either can be paired with a slow afternoon back in the city.

Two themed routes through Porto

These two routes work as half-days inside any length of trip.

1. The tile route (a morning): São Bento station hall, the façade of Capela das Almas, and Igreja do Carmo. All three are free, and the façades take five minutes each.
2. The port route (an afternoon): the upper deck of the bridge, one large lodge with a scheduled tour and one smaller house that takes walk-ins, then the terrace bars along the Gaia waterfront.

How the season changes the itinerary

The same itinerary needs a different shape in different months. These are the 1991-2020 climate normals for Porto / Pedras Rubras from IPMA.

1. June to September — highs of 22.7-24.8°C and the driest months: the itinerary works at full length, Douro included.
2. October to March — every month averages more than 95 mm of rain: keep Gaia’s lodges and São Bento as the indoor switches.
3. November is the wettest month at 165.9 mm; drop the Douro day unless the forecast is clear.
4. Summer stays mild: August averages only 3.5 days above 30°C, so the walking itinerary works even in the peak months.