Day 6 ·
Lello, the Bolhão, the Sé and a port tasting in Gaia
Porto · Portugal · 3 min read
Our fullest day in Porto: Livraria Lello at opening, the Bolhão Market, Santa Clara and the Sé, a walk across the Luís I Bridge, a tasting with food pairings at Graham's and an hour of fado.
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Livraria Lello
We bought the 9:00 entry on the official website. No suitcases or large backpacks allowed. The full voucher value comes off the price if you buy a book.
Our guide Worth it at 9:00 and as a 20-minute monument, not as a bookstore to browse. By mid-morning it turns into a shoulder-to-shoulder line. Read the full guide - 2
Bolhão Market
A market from 1914, reopened in 2022. The good stuff is on the ground floor: salt cod, cheeses, cured meats and tinned fish to take home.
Our guide Yes, it's worth it on a weekday morning, for the building and the stalls downstairs. Upstairs feels more like a food court than a market. Read the full guide - 3
Capela das Almas
About 16,000 tiles from 1929 cover the entire facade. Cross to the opposite sidewalk for the full shot; between 10 and 11 the sun hits it head-on.
Our guide Worth it as a 10 to 15 minute stop for the facade. The interior is plain; what you come to see is outside. Read the full guide - 4
Conga
Bifanas, the house specialty since 1976, eaten standing at the counter. Fifteen minutes and we kept moving, because the Sé cloisters close early.
Our guide Worth it for one thing, the bifana. It's a 15-minute stop standing at the counter: fast, loud and cheap. Read the full guide - 5
Church of Santa Clara
Gilded woodwork from top to bottom, with far fewer visitors than São Francisco. It closes at 12:30 for lunch and on Mondays; that's why it came before the Sé.
Our guide Yes, it's worth it, especially if you've already seen São Francisco or don't have time for both. It's smaller, gets far fewer visitors and the gold covers every inch. Read the full guide - 6
Porto Cathedral (Sé)
The oldest building in Porto, a cathedral and a fortress at once. Last entry to the cloisters is around 12:00, so we went into them first and then into the church, which is free.
Our guide Yes, it's worth it, but with the cloister ticket. The nave alone is austere and takes ten minutes; the best parts are the cloister, the silver altar and the terrace. Read the full guide - 7
Luís I Bridge and Cais de Gaia
We crossed on the lower deck, level with the Ribeira facades. A light lunch on the Gaia waterfront, a stroll past the rabelo boats and the climb to Jardim do Morro on the upper deck.
Our guide Worth it for the view of the Ribeira and for how flat it is. It's a one-hour stroll, not a place to eat: many waterfront restaurants are pricey for what they serve. Read the full guide - 8
Graham's Port Lodge
A port lodge from 1890 on the Gaia hillside, about eight minutes uphill from the bridge. The Spanish-language tour started at 16:15 sharp and they don't let latecomers in.
Our guide If you're doing just one port tasting, make it here and with pairings. The basic tier is a lot like the cheap waterfront tastings; from €40 up it's a different thing. Read the full guide - 9
Taberna Santo António
A neighborhood tasca on the same street as Passeio das Virtudes, booked for us by our apartment host.
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O Fado Maior do Porto
An hour of fado in a small room in Miragaia, with no dinner and no microphones. Silence during each song; you applaud at the end.
This was our longest day in Porto and the one with the most bookings: Lello at 9:00, the Graham’s tasting at 16:15, dinner at 19:30 and fado at 21:15. All on foot, about 8 kilometers between the upper town, the Ribeira and Gaia.
Why we planned it this way
Livraria Lello goes first thing because by midday you can’t even move inside. Twenty minutes is enough, and from there we walked down to the Bolhão, which opens at 8:00 on weekdays.
We ordered the mid-morning around closing times. Santa Clara closes at 12:30 and the Sé cloisters stop letting people in around 12:00, so we ate our bifana fast at Conga and went to Santa Clara first, five minutes from the cathedral. At the Sé we did the cloisters before the church.
For the afternoon we booked the Spanish-language tour with tasting and pairings directly with Graham’s. The three pairings work as lunch, so on the Gaia waterfront we ate something light. We crossed the bridge twice: on the lower deck in the morning, at river level, and on the upper deck on the way back, with the whole Ribeira at our feet.
The evening stayed in our neighborhood. The tavern is on the same street as Passeio das Virtudes and the fado is two minutes from the apartment, so we never had to think about taxis.
If it rains
Almost everything is indoors: Lello, the Bolhão, Santa Clara, the Sé, the port lodge and the fado. The only thing that gets shorter is the walk along the Gaia waterfront. The Port Wine Museum (Museu do Vinho do Porto), in Miragaia, is free and works as a plan B.
What we booked and tasted
Graham's: guided tour and Premium tasting with food pairings
- Guided tour in Spanish of the 1890 cellars and the vintage room
- Three ports with pairings: LBV, Quinta dos Malvedos and 20-year Tawny
- Pay on arrival, cash or card
We wanted just one port tasting, and we wanted it to be good. Graham's belongs to the Symington family, the tour goes through cellars that are still working, and the level with food pairings is what sets it apart from the cheap tastings in Gaia.
See the tourWeb oficialPorto: intimate fado in a historic tavern
- Fado concert with two groups and their two traditions
- Small room, no microphones
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
- Wine was not included in the option we booked
An hour of nothing but music, instead of a dinner with fado in the background. And the venue is in Miragaia, two minutes from the apartment.
Padaria Ribeiro
Order A coffee, a pastel de nata and a pastel de Chaves, standing at the counter
A bakery from 1878 right on the way to Lello. The pastel de Chaves, filled with ground meat, is typical of the north and you don't see it in Lisbon.
Conga
Order Bifana and um fino
The same recipe since 1976, for about 3.50 € a bifana. If the line is very long, Casa Guedes, near the Bolhão, has the roast pork sandwich.
Graham's Port Lodge
Order LBV with chocolate, Quinta dos Malvedos with sheep's cheese and 20-year Tawny with pastel de nata
The three pairings work as a late lunch. That's why our lunch on the Gaia waterfront was light.
Taberna Santo António
Order Salt cod, octopus, grilled fish of the day or arroz de marisco, with the house vinho verde or Douro red
Tasca cooking for sharing, five minutes from the apartment and from the fado.
Ribeira Vila Nova de Gaia
On the lower deck of the Luís I Bridge. On the way back, at 18:25, we crossed on the upper deck, 45 meters above the river, with the afternoon light on the Ribeira.
What we learned
Tips
- Last entry to the Sé cloisters is around 12:00, and Santa Clara closes at 12:30. If you go mid-morning, start with whatever closes first.
- At the Bolhão, buy pastries for the next day's breakfast if you have a kitchen, and tinned fish to give as gifts.
- The Graham's cellars stay at 16 °C all year. Bring a light jacket even if it's hot outside.
Do
- Get to Lello ten minutes before 9:00 and walk straight to the staircase.
- Dress a little nicer for dinner and the fado: no flip-flops.
Don’t
- Don't buy the usual wines in the lodge shop: Six Grapes, LBV or basic Tawny are cheaper in Porto's wine shops.
- Don't swap this tasting for the conveyor-belt lodges on the Gaia waterfront or for the WOW complex, which eats up three hours.
- Don't take photos or talk during the fado songs.