Porto in 4 Days: A Day-by-Day Itinerary

Portugal · 4 days

Four days on foot in a river city: tiled churches, port cellars across the water, and dinner in a granite alley.

Day by day

Day 1 · 4 placesLanding and the first evening by the river

airport → town: metro line E, about 30 min

Ribeira
The old waterfront under the bridge: painted houses stacked up the slope, boats at the quay, and every second door a restaurant. This is where the city sits in the evening.
Ponte Dom Luís I
Walk the upper deck: the metro runs beside you and the whole river opens up 60 metres below. Built in 1886 by a student of Eiffel.
Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO)
This is where you land. Metro line E goes straight into town in about half an hour.
Jardim do Morro
A grassy slope at the far end of the bridge where half the city watches the sun go down. Bring something to drink; everyone else does.

Day 2 · 8 placesThe old town on foot

everything within a 20-minute walk

Torre dos Clérigos
The baroque bell tower over the old town: 225 steps and the best full view of Porto, river and ocean in one turn.
Livraria Lello
A 1906 bookshop with a red staircase that photographs better than it walks. Entry is ticketed and the ticket comes off the price of a book.
Rua das Flores
The walking street of the old town: shops in 18th-century houses, coffee counters, buskers. It runs downhill from the station to the church of São Francisco.
Igreja de São Francisco
Plain Gothic outside, and inside 300 kilos of gold leaf over every surface. The catacombs under the floor come with the ticket.
Palácio da Bolsa
The old stock exchange, seen only with a guide. The Arab Room took 18 years of gilding and is worth the whole ticket.
Sé do Porto
The fortress cathedral on the hill, Romanesque and plain from outside. Pay for the cloister — that is where the tiles are.

Day 3 · 5 placesAcross the river: port cellars and the view back

over the bridge and back, cable car one way

Cálem
A port cellar on the Gaia bank: barrels, a short tour of how the wine is made, and a tasting at the end. Fado sessions some evenings.
WOW · World of Wine
A whole block of museums about wine, cork, chocolate and the city, built into the old cellars. One ticket covers as many as you want.
Teleférico de Gaia
A five-minute cable car from the cellars up to the bridge deck, over the roofs of Gaia. Buy one way — you will walk the bridge anyway.
Jardins do Palácio de Cristal
Terraced gardens above the river with peacocks wandering the paths. The bench line along the edge is one of the best views in town.
Casa da Música
Rem Koolhaas dropped a white concrete crystal into a 19th-century square. Tours run daily; a concert is better, and cheap seats are cheap.

Day 4 · 4 placesMarket morning and the flight home

town → airport, 30 min by metro

Mercado do Bolhão
The city market, back in its restored hall since 2022: fish, cheese, salt cod, tinned sardines to take home. Stalls run by the same families for decades.
Rua de Santa Catarina
The pedestrian shopping street of the city, a kilometre of it. Shops, buskers and the tiled chapel at the top end.
Capela das Almas
A small chapel wrapped in 16,000 blue tiles telling the lives of two saints. Five minutes, and it is the picture everyone brings home.
Café Majestic
A 1921 café in full art nouveau: mirrors, carved wood, waiters in waistcoats. Overpriced coffee and worth it once.