48 hours in Porto

In March 2024 we flew off to Porto for a quick 48 hour city break.

In fact, it wasn’t even quite 48 hours… we had an early start and arrived mid-morning on the Friday and we set off back home as the sun rose on the Sunday.

But despite only spending approximately 45 hours in Porto, we felt like we had pretty much two full days of exploring and we fell in love with it. I would highly recommend spending three or four days there if you can!

So, here’s a run-down of the things we got up to in our limited time in one of Europe’s most underrated cities…

Day one

Our first day in Porto (or I suppose, the afternoon we arrived in Porto) was spent exploring the south side of the River Douro. We got the train over the iconic Luís I Bridge (which we later walked back over, it’s amazing!) and headed straight for the cable car or the ‘miradouro do teleférico’. It’s only a 10 minute ride but it has brilliant views, well worth paying for the ticket!

We then grabbed lunch on the waterfront and tasted our first pastel de nata. I think throughout our two day trip I ate something like 7 or 8 pastel de nata, they were delicious!

After lunch, we hiked up the cobbled streets to the Taylor’s museum and wine cellar. From the opposite side of the river and the bridge, all you can see are huge signs advertising famous port brands such as Taylors, Cockburn’s, Graham’s and more.

We chose to visit Taylor’s and it was a fantastic experience. It cost €20 each for a full audio guided tour and tasting. We spent about two hours in the museum listening to the audio guide and touring the wine cellars.

Afterwards, we went out into the beautiful gardens for our port tasting. It was very casual, everyone just sitting in the lovely gardens surrounded by rose bushes and peacocks. We were given a ruby port and white port to try, plus a can of white port and tonic to take home. We later took the cans to Jardim do Morro to sip whilst watching the sunset!

If you were even more strapped for time than us and only had one day in Porto, you should absolutely use that time to go to Taylor’s, the experience was fantastic and really gave us insight into the culture and history of Porto.

We finished our first day by checking into our apartment—highly recommend staying at Downtown Porto Mouzinho Studio Apartments, only £50 ish per night!—followed by a wander past the cathedral on our way back down to the waterfront.

We enjoyed the atmosphere in the bars lining the river and could’ve stayed all night but we were shattered after a 4am start to catch our flight to Porto, so we had dinner in a little restaurant on the front (expensive, should’ve gone two streets back!) and called it a night.

Day two

On our second day in Porto we decided that rather than trying to cram in loads of tourist sites, we would hire bikes and cycle to the coast. This was a lovely way to see the outskirts of Porto and follow the River Douro to where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. We rented our bikes from Biclas & Triclas for a few hours which cost us €7 each if I remember correctly.

In the afternoon, we walked around the Church of Saint Francis. It cost €10 each to enter which we were a bit dubious about but we both found it really interesting. We got the guidebook to read as we walked around and learned a lot about the city’s history, some of the religious significance and we explored the catacombs. It’s not for everyone but if you like old buildings and history then I highly recommend it.

We also did a bit of shopping around the Rua das Flores/São Bento area. I was keen to get something ceramic as Portugal is famous for its ceramics—plus the buildings around the city are covered in colourful tiles—and I succeeded in finding a blue tile magnet and a lovely little spoon rest.

We finished the day with drinks overlooking the river and a gorgeous meal at O Solar do Patio. If there’s one place you have to eat in Porto, it’s here. The chilli king prawns and pistachio and white chocolate tart were incredible.

As I said, we absolutely loved Porto and would love to go back one day (probably for a big Portugal road trip, north to south!) but these are the things I wish we had been able to do had we spent longer…

A Douro Valley tour

To be honest, the one thing I wish we’d had time for was deeper exploration of the Douro Valley.

We had a wonderful time tasting port wines at Taylor’s and learned a lot in the museum about the origins of port wine, how it is made and how the valley was farmed to produce more wine. To have been able to see the dramatic tiered hillsides I’ve only seen in photographs would have been wonderful, so next time we visit Porto I will be prioritising at least one day in the valley.

There are boat trips along the Douro as well as day tours by bus and of course the option to rent a car and road trip through the valley yourself. Not to mention multi-day cruises which go as far as Salamanca in Spain.

More ‘touristy’ sites in the city

Porto has plenty of fantastic things to see and do and if we’d had an extra day to spend in the city itself I would have visited the Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar, a 16th century monastery overlooking the Jardim do Morro and the River Douro. It looked beautiful lit up at night so that’s all we really saw of it.

I also would’ve visited the Livraria Lello, a famous library nestled in the heart of the city. We walked past it but there was a monstrous queue (the only queue we saw the whole time we were in Porto!) so we didn’t bother going inside. Apparently it is beautiful though and costs around €8 to enter, which you can then get back if you buy a book inside.

These things were all highly recommended by others we know who have visited the city and the surrounding area so make sure to add a bit more time to your trip so that you can enjoy everything at a leisurely pace.

We found that March was a great time to visit as it wasn’t too crowded with tourists, everything was open (nothing seemed closed out of season or anything) and the weather was really mild. In the midday sunshine it was jeans and t shirt weather—or in Joe’s case, shorts, obviously.

I would highly recommend visiting Porto in the spring or autumn for these exact reasons; I’ve heard it gets significantly busier in the summer months not just with ‘regular tourists’ but with day trippers/cruisers sailing down the River Douro, too.

Top take aways from our 48 hours in Porto:

• Visit in shoulder season for fewer crowds and amiable temperatures
• Porto is surprisingly affordable compared to much of Western Europe such as Spain and France. You can easily find a meal and drink for €10 per person, activities and entrance fees are fairly priced and public transport costs and pittance. We even found port and beers for just €2 each in a number of small local bars.
• When you arrive, get the train from the airport to Jardim do Morro station; make sure to sit or stand by a window as you go over the bridge!
• Try pastel de nata (Fabrica de Nata opposite São Bento station was our favourite), fish cakes, and francesinha (traditional sandwich soaked in sauce)
• Avoid eating right on the riverfront as it is overpriced; go for a drink there instead as you’ll find port wine for €2 a glass and the atmosphere is great
• A port wine-tasting tour is a must!
• Don’t miss sunset at Jardim do Morro

What do you think?

Have I convinced you to visit Porto on your next European city break? Let me know if you’ve been to Porto in the comments below, or give me some suggestions for our next city break!