gocardsjoeh

We will be in Porto for two days and trying to prioritize our time. We are not particularly interested in cathedrals or old museums. Here is the list of attractions for consideration. Can you comment on these in your opinion and suggest others we are missing. We like historic places and districts, gardens, monasteries/convents of significance, contemporary museums of note, palaces, etc.

Crystal Palace Gardens
San Bento Railway Station
Stock Exchange Palace
Dom Luis Bridge
Six Bridge Cruise
Bolhao Market
Ribeira
Torre dos Clerigos belltower

Thanks for your help!

Joe

KarenWoo

memejs on this forum recently posted an excellent trip report on her trip to Portugal, which included Porto and I think Guimares. You can search for her report. She included some beautiful photos, too.

Diamantina

We were in Porto almost four years ago.

Take the #1 Tram electrico to Foz do Douro.
https://www.europeanbestdestinations...orto-old-tram/

If you plan on touring the port houses of Vila Nova da Gaia, I recommend Graham's for its beautiful views from its tasting room and Vinum Restaurant. We enjoyed the tour and tasting, too.

We took a day cruise up the Douro, boarding the boat on the riverbank/riverside ("ribeira") in front of our hotel located on Praça Da Ribeira, but returned by train, tranferring at Campanha Station, to the train that would leave us off at São Bento Railway Station so we could look at the tiles ("azulejos"). From there, we walked to Lello & Irmão Bookstore. The bookstore has attracted so many visitors, they now charge admission, which can be applied toward a purchase.

Michael

The Fondacion Serralves is a contemporary museum and an Art Deco mansion on the same estate.

Seamus

Have been in Porto twice in the last several months and am enamored!
You might think about one of the free walking tours as a way to check off a couple of items on your list (Clerigo tower, Sao Bento station, Dom Luis bridge, Ribeira) as well as pick up a few others. The same group does an afternoon Port wine tasting tour that is quite nice, well worth the price.
Ribeira is probably better enjoyed across the river in Gaia - more vendors and cafes.
If you like contemporary museums, do not miss the Serralves.
Bolhao market is undergoing restoration and closed, with vendors relocated to a temporary space in the basement of a department store for the next two years.

Nonconformist

The Serralves (modern art gallery rather than a museum) has a nice garden too. The Crystal Palace gardens were pretty but neglected imo, and the public loos there were pretty disgusting.

I loved the stock exchange palace - very ornate.

The bridge is a bridge - not a lot of time needed to see it, but we enjoyed the short cable car ride up from Gaia to the top of the bridge on that side, and there is a monastery up there as well (although we didn't visit it).

HelenaFatima

- Bolhão Market: closed. If you want to see the vendors (they keep their veins even in a fancy place) they are at "La Vie", a small mall near the market.

- Cristal Palace Gardens: the gardens are beautiful, 100 species of trees from around the world, but no Cristal Palace there, ok? it was demolished 70 years ago, and now you can find there the ugliest thing I've ever seen, cold sports place.

- You should visit the Portuguese Center of Photography. Now is with an ehxibition of Frida Kalo, but the main interest of the monument is that it was the old jail (prison) of Porto. And fo further through the street, you will find the best place to see the views. Just after that, you can walk through a street (rua da vitória) without tourists but with a lot of typical people from Porto. The street ends with stairs (more than 100 hundresd) so it is never crowded.

- Outside the city center is the biggest labyrinth of the Iberian Peninsula, at "Casa da Prelada". The gates to the place where designed by Nicolau Nasoni, an italian arquitecht that decides to live in Portugal (the same one that created Clérigos Tower). And nearby you can eat the 3rd best Francesinhas in town, at a smaller and not fancy at all café, named "Rio de Janeiro". And if you walk around, you can see a very "vibe" place without tourists, only locals.

- Besides this