It’s no secret that I have a love affair with Portugal, specifically the northern city of Porto. It’s one of my favourite European cities, which I loved it so much, I returned to visit the Alto Minho region. If you only have a short time, and are wondering what to see in Porto in 1 day, keep reading.
Cobbled streets and hints of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neoclassical and modern designs are everywhere. To put it simply, Porto is beautiful.
What to see in Porto in 1 day
Visit the Ribeira
As a first stop, the Ribeira in Porto tops my list. The sun glaring over the colourful hillsides overlooking the mouth of the River Douro makes a picture perfect postcard.
From the centre of town, hop on board one of the iconic brown and beige trams and take in the sights as you edge towards the bottom of the hill. Don’t miss on seeing the awe-inspiring Torre Dos Clerigos; it’s an important Porto landmark.
As you can imagine, there are many restaurants, bars and cafes in the area to taste the best Porto food. Sitting outside during the summer months is a must, all made better of course with a glass of port wine.
Try the local port wine
Porto is wine country, and they have the breathtaking Douro Valley to thank for its rich and plentiful harvest. While my short stay didn’t allow enough time, I’d urge you to book a cruise of the Alto Douro region.
If your time’s really stretched and you can’t do the cruise, opt for a wine tasting instead. Porto’s known for their excellent port wines, and if you’re an avid wine drinker like me, you’ll really enjoy visiting. Whether you taste wine via a cruise, train or cellar, these tours are guaranteed to be a lot of fun.
Porto shopping scene
With every city comes a treasure cove of shopping delights, and in Porto, it’s all about the leather bags and shoes. Shoes and bags are everywhere – so if these are your weaknesses, Porto’s your Mecca. To give you idea of the cost and quality, I came home with not 1, but 3 leather handbags!
Because of this, you may want to consider paying for hold luggage; it’s not easy stuffing shoes and bags into a cabin luggage!
A pair of well-made shoes will come in handy for the amount of walking you’ll do in Porto. Whether it’s a walk through the main shopping street of Santa Catarina, or walking to Praça Liberdade, your legs will get a good workout.
Eat, eat, and eat some more local food
I can’t write about Porto without mentioning the excellent gastronomic experience. To sum up in one word, the food in Porto is phenomenal.
Give the traditional Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa a go. It’s a casserole of smoked cod, potatoes, eggs, olive oil and onions, and very delicious.
Also make room for the sumptuous fish stew and my personal favourite, roasted octopus. The rich Portuguese version of the Big Mac, the Francesinha, may not suit everyone’s taste, but try one for yourself. Porto eclairs and the iconic Pasteles de Nata will satisfy the sweetest of tooths.
What to see in Porto in 1 day – the verdict
Whether you have 1 day or longer to spare, Porto’s really worth seeing. The people are extremely friendly, the food and drink is superb; I’d return tomorrow if I could.
Signs of the financial crisis are still noticeable, but takes nothing away from the city’s rich and vibrant culture. My memories of Porto – like the delicious bottle of Meio Quejo I sampled – only left me wanting more, and that’s never a bad thing.
If you want to spend longer in the city, I can recommend some wonderful boutique hotels. I particularly love the drop-dead gorgeous The Yeatman and Torel Avantgarde. The former offers luxury accommodation with views overlooking the River Douro and a 25,000 bottle wine cellar!
Boutique hotel Torel Avantgarde opened in September 2017 and has already been given a 5-star rating. Its 47 rooms are colourful, unique and offer the highest quality in comfort and design.
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Oh, Porto has long been on my list of places I want to visit and it looks like for good reason!
Portugal is one of the very few countries that’s fairly accessible (and cheap!) to travel to directly from Wales – I should definitely take advantage and pop over for a few days, if only to eat my body weight in pasteles de nata.
You must! It’s one of my favourite cities in Europe actually, and the food is incredible!
Your post brought back so many memories! I spent my 21st birthday in Porto! But, I was a broke college student. Now, I’m realizing I need to go back to eat the yummy food and go wine tasting!
Aw I’m happy to read that! I love Porto too, it’s my favourite city in Portugal.
I’ve never actually been to Porto but have been hearing quite a lot about it lately. Now you mention it I could really do with a new leather handbag (any excuse). I would love the shopping there. The fish stew and the octopus also sound amazing. I’m going to have to add this to my list of places to go soon.
You must, it’s incredible. Plus, the food’s so good and wholesome too.
I absolutely love Porto too, it’s such a beautiful city, so much to see and do, fantastic vibe, fantastic food and very photogenic! Like you, I particularly loved visiting the Port wine producers, we did Grahams and Taylors but not Sandeman so that’s one for next time!
Oh yes, you can’t beat a glass or 2 of their port wine, it’s so good!
Ah Porto. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything bad said about this place! Beautiful streets, beautiful food and beautiful wine – what more could you want! I’d love to go and visit the wine producers. I also love the sound of the architecture, it must be so romantic to stroll around and see so much history around you.
I love Porto, and never say no to a chance to return! And you’re totally right about the architecture, it’s almost like stepping into a dream.
I was in Porto about two years ago and had an amazing time! It’s such a beautiful city, though I regret not shopping like you did. I definitely enjoyed the Port wine tasting at Taylor’s. And I loved the Francesinha and the Pasteles de Nata, as well as the eclairs.
Everything’s delicious there! I love Porto, and really can’t wait to return for the 3rd time 🙂
I just love Porto and my only regret is not being there longer. The food, scenery are all great and I could easily wander around there for days. You have some good tips here and the look of the Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa is making my mouth water. I didn’t do Taylor’s wine tasting but I did do a port tasting which was a lot of fun
Port tasting is a must in Porto. And I totally agree about the food; it’s really good!
This place is very new for me and reading your story makes me excited. I guess it would be nice to sail in Porto and learn the local cultures. OMG I will bring extra bag for shoes!
You will need a huge bag; I was tempted to buy so much!
These are great suggestions! For me, I’d love just to wander around Porto and see all the architecture. It’s so beautiful and quaint. Definitely could spend many days doing that.
It’s my favourite city in Portugal for these reasons, plus the food and wine 😀
I believe the Porto wine must be amazing, not to mention the delicious food! I’ve only been to Lisbon, but I really enjoyed it and I will definitely go to Porto someday! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You must visit! I love Porto, actually more than Lisbon 😀
I must admit that you have caught my attention with that Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa. I am reading this great blog post while drinking my morning coffee and after smelling with my eyes those great dishes, I am very very hungry. Porto is a great destination and I would really love to go there as soon as possible, and it that Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa.
The bacalhau is a Porto must! I hope you visit one day, it’s really a lovely city 🙂
I haven’t heard about Porto, but ambling around for 4 days was seemed to be really amazing and a great adventure. I would really love to try their tempting Porto wine and of course their luscious food. Sometimes, I also love shopping, and definitely this sounds like a great shopping district.
Porto is one city that really has it all. And the port wine together with the Portuguese food is truly a match made in heaven!
Porto is very interesting and to wander around the quaint and colorful streets it definitely takes around 3 to 4 days. I would love to go Riberia a hillside town as I love mountains and take that beige tram.
I love Porto, and there’s plenty of reasons why I’ve been 3 times already 😀
Love this! I’ll definitely be going to Porto this July so I’m excited to do some of these things!
Amazing! I hope you love it as much as I do 😀