Rainy day activities in Porto?
 

Any recommendations for what to do in Porto if it’s rainy? We will be ending our trip in Porto and the weather forecast looks very damp and chilly - a big change from the 90 degree weather we’re having right now! But would like some suggestions for things to do that are relatively easy and can be managed if it’s rainy.

We are not interested in wine tastings or food tours, or any other organized kind of tours. Just rainy day ideas.

PS - I’m on my iPad and don’t see any way of tagging this for Portugal.

We toured the Palacio da Bolsa and were the only ones on the English speaking tour. Very casual tour. Beautiful interior.

Thanks, HappyTrvlr! I’ll keep that in mind.

Yes, take the guided tour (obligatory) of the Stock Exchange (Palacio da Bolsa) to see the extravagantly decorated Arabesque room,
attend the noon (free) organ concert at Clérigos, tour the lovely religious art museum inside the Igreja da Misericórdia right on your street, Rua das Flores, with its beautiful tile-lined chapel. It may have a temporary art museum in the cloister and now has a rooftop terrace-café.

A visit to the Igreja São Francisco is a "must" --the interior is amazing and in the basement there are catacombs. And the Sé (Cathedral).

Maybe a visit to the temporary Mercado de Bolhão to pick up some tinned items to take him, like patés, if that appeals. The gentleman downstairs at the tinned can counter has great prices.

While contemporary art may not appeal, there's the very well-regarded Serralves Foundation in Boavista, a design of Pritzker prize winner, the Porto architect Alvaro Siza-Vieira. It may have an interesting temporary exhibit, and its Art Deco Pink House in the lovely gardens is stunning (photographs!!).

Maybe check the program at the Rem Koolhaas-designed Casa da Música to see if there's an evening concert. We've attended several there, tickets are inexpensive and acoustics are fabulous.

Umbrellas are widely sold at Rua das Flores. 5 euros.

The rain is just common rain, not acid.

Usually the weather forecasters are wrong. But if you find some heavy rain, the best place to feel it is the oceans front. It's absolutely lovely to see the rain beating the ocean at Av. Montevideu. But maybe it's not your kind of thing.

There is an exhibition of Banksy just nearby, at Alfandega. He is a street art, I know, and the exhibition is indoors, but even so I loved it. There is also another one from Andy Warhol,at "Casa de São Roque" but that might not be very interesting to you.

Having a meal at "Mercado do Bom Sucesso" might be a very good experience, the food is good, and the arquithecture (from the 50's) is lovely. The floor is really beautiful.

Another interesting thing to do indoors, wheter it is raining or not, is visiting "casa dos materiais", house of materials, at Praça Carlos Alberto. It's free entrance, and it is quite different from other things: it's a place where old materials are stored, and you can see them. For instance, if you are rebuilding a house, and have some spare materials, like tiles, you can give them to this house. On the other side, if you are in lack of some materials, you can go there and see if they have it. Old things, you know, that are not made anylonger.

Many streets in Porto are so narrow, you cannot even feel the rain. But if you don't want to risk slippery streets, use a tuk-tuk. They go where others (like hop on - hop off) don't.

Last but not least, there is a magical (indoor) place in Porto, where you don't have a queue, where you don't have to book to go there, and that is our last "refuge" in the city centre. I don't want to make it public, so I'll send you a private message.

progol,
Tomorrow there's a 6 pm choir concert at th Casa da Musica but not another 6 pm concert until next Saturday.

If you two are Joan Miró fans, his works are now on extended loan to the Serralves Museum--80 works spans six decades of Miró's career, from 1924 until 1981.