How to Explore Porto in 2 Days: Best Sights, Foods, & Viewpoints
Traveled in October 2019
Lisbon might get all the glory on Instagram, but Porto stole my heart. Between the colorful facades, the walkable streets, and the river winding through the city, it just felt cozier, more inviting, and full of charm. I’ve always been a “second city” kind of girl when visiting a new country, and Portugal was no exception. 2 days in Porto isn’t nearly enough to experience it all, but if you’re looking for a quick taste of the highlights, here’s how we spent our time.
2 Days in Porto Itinerary
Just Give Me The Highlights! (aka the TL;DR)
Here are my top hotel picks and must-dos in Porto:
Hotels
- Editory House Ribeira Porto Hotel (Where we stayed) – amazing location in Porto Old Town, walkable to everything.
- Belomont52 Guest House – charming building in the center of Porto Old Town, more like staying in a studio apartment.
Things to Do
- Visit the port wine lodges in Gaia
- See all the Porto viewpoints for photo ops
- Douro Valley wine tour
- Eat pastel de nata
When to Go
I always prefer to travel in shoulder season to avoid the crowds and for cooler weather. Summer is definitely peak season in Portugal, but it gets HOT and crowded. We spent our 2 days in Porto in October, and the weather was pleasant for us, though with some rain. September or early June might be the perfect balance of warm weather and lighter crowds. Winter, on the other hand, can be trickier with more rain and unpredictable weather. The cobblestone streets get slippery, and since so much of Portugal’s charm is in wandering on foot, that can really affect the experience. Still, if you luck out with clear days in winter, you’ll have the fewest crowds and the best prices.
How to Get There
There is an airport in Porto (airport code OPO), but you may actually find cheaper international flights when flying into Lisbon (airport code LIS). Porto and Lisbon are connected by a direct train ride that takes about 3 hours.
Booking tip: certain flight searches like Kayak, Skyscanner, or Google flights allow you to set price trackers that will alert you when the price of your flight changes. I never book a flight without tracking prices first because there is no better feeling than snagging a good deal! And if you book your flights with a travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire card, the card usually includes some travel insurance protections (like lost luggage reimbursements, trip delay reimbursements, or trip cancellation insurance) to save you the cost of buying extra travel insurance. Use my contact form if you’re looking for a credit card referral with bonus sign up points!
Bonus Booking tip: sign your kiddo up for frequent flyer accounts with airlines to start earning airline miles for them! Most airline miles do not expire for minors so your kiddo will thank you later.
Where to Stay
Staying in the Old Town of Porto is my pick for the most convenient and atmospheric area to make your home base. The Old Town in Porto is compact and walkable, which makes it an ideal place to stay when you only have 2 days in Porto. The Old Town is oozing with charm and stunning views around every corner. The neighborhood is packed with atmospheric narrow streets, colorful buildings, and riverside views that really show off Porto’s charm.
Our top picks in the Old Town of Porto:
How to Get Around
Porto is a very compact city, so we did most of our exploring on foot. However, there are some trams that can help you get up the steeper hills if you get tired from all that hill climbing during your 2 days in Porto. For longer trips with luggage, like getting to and from the airport or train station, Ubers are a convenient and surprisingly affordable option in Portugal.
However, if you plan to explore the Douro wine region while in Porto then a car might be more efficient (or you can go with a guided tour).
Show Me the Money
Portugal is part of the European Union, so the currency used is the Euro. Credit cards were widely accepted, so we mostly relied on our no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card. We use the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Always choose to pay in the local currency rather than USD for a better exchange rate. We did withdraw a small amount of Euros after we arrived just in case, but we didn’t really need it during our 2 days in Porto. If withdrawing any cash, look for ATMS run by the local banks and always choose to withdraw the amount in Euros rather than USD for a better exchange rate.
Saving tip: to avoid ATM fees (from the foreign bank and your bank), look for a checking account that offers ATM fee reimbursements. I can personally recommend the Schwab investors checking account and the Betterment checking account for this purpose.
How to Stay Connected
Because we took this trip before e-sims were commonly used, we bought tourist prepaid sim cards for our cell phones during this trip. Orange and Vodaphone are two popular cell phone companies in Europe and sell prepaid tourist sim cards that can be used throughout Europe.
However, now we always use e-sims from Airalo.
If you have an unlocked phone, then you can either purchase a prepaid sim card or you can use an e-sim. The e-sim is the cheapest way to get international cell phone data. We had a great experience using Airalo to purchase an e-sim on our trip to Canada and it worked seamlessly again. The downside is that you only have data and no phone service when using Airalo e-sims, so it’s a good option if you don’t anticipate needing to make phone calls.
- The Airalo website has great tutorials and I also watched this Youtube video for more installation tips. We usually start the installation process at home to load the e-sim into our phones, and then once we land at our destination we turn off our US e-sim and turn on the international e-sim.
Airalo offers local e-sims for specific countries or regional e-sims for all of Europe. For this trip to Porto, you could either buy a Portugal e-sim, or get the regional Europe e-sim if traveling to other European countries.
2 Days in Porto Itinerary at a Glance
| Day | Activity | Sleep In |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explore Porto viewpoints Bonus: Douro wine valley tour | Porto |
| 2 | Explore Porto Old Town Gaia viewpoints and port wine lodges | Porto |
Day 1: Arrive in Porto, Explore Porto Viewpoints
To get from Porto airport to the city center, you can take the metro, or take an Uber. We usually take public transportation from the airport to the city center, but Uber was so affordable in Portugal that it made more sense to Uber from a cost and time perspective.
Miradouros
Porto is built on the hillside next to the Douro river. That same hillside that will give your legs a workout over the next couple days also gives you some amazing views. Porto has maximized these views with various “Miradouros” or viewpoints/lookouts scattered throughout the old town and across the river in Gaia. On the Porto side of the river, make sure to admire the views from the following viewpoints:
- The courtyard behind Porto Cathedral
- Miradouro da Rua Dos Aldas (a short walk from Porto Cathedral)
- Miradouro da Vitória (10 min walk from Porto Cathedral)
Douro Wine Valley Tour
If you love wine country, then you’ll love the Douro Wine Valley. As the birthplace of Port wine, it’s the perfect place to sample it right where the grapes are grown. And with terraced vineyards rolling down the hillsides and the river winding through the valley, the views are worth the visit as well.
We arrived too late in the afternoon for a trip out to the wine valley, but if you arrive in the morning then it’s a great bonus activity to see more of this region!
Some time during your stay in Porto you MUST have dinner at Taberna dos Mercadores. It is a tiny restaurant, so call for reservations if you don’t want to wait. They serve traditional and regional cuisine but with a modern twist. More importantly, it is insanely delicious. Everyone that we have recommended this restaurant to has said it was the favorite of their trip. (I hope I have not overhyped it now!).
Day 2: Explore Porto
Porto is very walkable, but it is also very hilly, so exploring it on foot is definitely a work out. I recommend starting at the top of Porto and working your way down, visiting the greatest hits of Porto’s architecture and viewpoints along the way. We usually like to wander on our own, but if you prefer to have a guide, go on a walking tour with a local guide to get more insider information about all the sights.
Clerigos Tower
Clerigos Tower is another fantastic viewpoint in Porto. Unlike the viewpoints visited yesterday, you do have to pay to go up the tower (although the connected church is free). We enjoy viewpoints so thought it was worth the fee to go up the tower. The tower can get congested at the top with everyone enjoying the views so there may be a wait before you can climb the upper stairs. There is a free organ concert at the church every day at noon.
Lello Bookstore
The Lello Bookstore up the street from the Clerigos Tower is famous for reportedly inspiring the setting of Harry Potter. Because of this, it is swarming with tourists wanting that iconic photo of the curving staircase inside. The line was too long for us, but if you want to take your own photo, be prepared to wait in line and buy a voucher to enter (although the cost of the voucher can be used towards a book purchase).
The Igreja do Carmo close by to the Lello Bookstore is a free photo op close by. The large tiled facade on the side of the building makes for a beautiful backdrop, without as many crowds.
Sao Bento Train Station
Down the hill from Clerigos Tower is the Sao Bento train station, which has some of the most beautiful azulejos (painted tiles) in Portugal. We didn’t take any train rides, but it was still worth stepping inside to admire the artfully painted tiles.
If you’re hungry by this point, consider the calorie and cholesterol bomb that is the francesinha sandwich. The francesinha sandwich is one of Porto’s specialties. It is like a croque monsieur sandwich on steroids. The sandwich is stuffed with 3 different types of meat, smothered with melted cheese and a tomato sauce, then topped with an egg. It’s not something you would eat every day if you value your health, but well worth trying (or sharing) once. We tried the Cafe Santiago F, which serves one of the best francesinhas in the city, and it is a 10 min walk from Sao Bento train station.
Or, for a lighter snack go for some (because it’s hard to have just one) pasteis de nata at Nata Lisboa across the street from Sao Bento train station. I made it a goal to have at least one pastel de nata stop a day while in Portugal.
Palacio da Bolsa
Further downhill is the Palacio da Bolsa (the Stock Exchange Palace), which is known for its sumptuously decorated interior. You have to visit the interior with a 45 minute guided tour. The tours are conducted in various languages and leave every 30 minutes. Best to buy tickets at the counter so you can reserve an English language tour. There was a private event happening the day we visited so we did not get a chance to tour, but if you like doing house tours then you will like this one.
Instead, we headed to the Fabrica do Azeite store nearby, which has a wide selection of locally produced olive oils. I’ve never done an olive oil tasting before, and it was interesting to learn about the different types of olive oil. The Meia Duzia store nearby sells uniquely flavored (in a good way) jams in tubes – these jams were BIG hits with our friends. They also offer tastings which was a smart business move because we definitely bought more than we intended to.
Ribeira District
Next we continued down to the riverfront Ribeira district to admire Gaia across the river. Gaia is where all of the port wine lodges are located. The bridge that reminds you of the Eiffel Tower is the Ponte Dom Luis I bridge, which is another one of Porto’s famous viewpoints. The Ponte Dom Luis I bridge has a lower level and a top level. Next to the top level of the bridge is the Jardim do Morro, a garden with an overlook with views of Porto. If you don’t want to hike up, you can take the cable car for an aerial view of the Douro river as it transports you up to the Jardim do Morro like we did. It is worth the extra hike further uphill to the Serra do Pilar Monastery which is another amazing viewpoint looking back towards Porto.
Port Wine Lodges in Gaia
The port wine lodges in Gaia all offer tastings. Graham’s has a good fancy restaurant (Vinum) with fancy views, and we found it worth the trip up the hill. My husband especially enjoyed drinking from the gigantic port wine bottle at the restaurant.
For drinks with a view, Porto Cruz has a rooftop bar overlooking Gaia and Porto on the other side of the river. If you’re new to port, then book a port wine tour with a local guide that will take you to a couple different port lodges and explain the differences in the port wines.
