Aliados & Bolhão
This street is absurdly stylish and romantic, with trim boutiques, striped stone footpaths and animated crowds. It's home to Porto's most ornate tearoom,…
Must-see attractions in The Douro & Trás-os-Montes
Vila Nova de Gaia
Don't miss a ride on this aerial gondola that provides fine views over the Douro and Porto on its short, five-minute jaunt. It runs between the southern…
Capela de São Pedro de Balsemão
The Douro
This mysterious little chapel was probably built by Visigoths as early as the 6th century. With Corinthian columns, round arches and intriguing symbols…
The Douro
Founded in 1543 by João III, the Mosteiro de São Gonçalo and Igreja de São Gonçalo weren’t completed until 1620. Above the church’s photogenic, Italian…
Mosteiro de São João de Tarouca
The Douro
The stunning, massive yet skeletal remains of Portugal’s first Cistercian monastery, founded in 1124, stand eerily in the wooded Barosa valley below the…
The Douro
With picturesque pink stone arches, the Cistercian Mosteiro de Salzedas is located 3km up the Barosa valley from Ucanha in Salzedas. This was one of the…
Trás-os-Montes
Set in a restored 18th-century bishop’s palace, this is one of Portugal’s best regional museums. Its diverse collections include local artefacts from the…
Trás-os-Montes
The 800-year-old village of Ermelo is famous for its schist cottages capped with fairy-tale slate roofs that seem to have been constructed from broken…
The Douro
Older than Portugal itself, Lamego’s striking sé has been declared a national monument. There is little left of the 12th-century original except the base…
Trás-os-Montes
The lovely Torre de Menagem (castle keep) stands alone on a grassy embankment behind Chaves' main square, the only major remnant of a 14th-century castle…
Peso da Régua
Bringing the Douro Valley's wine-producing history vividly to life, this wonderful museum has a wealth of artefacts and engaging displays, from a vast…
Trás-os-Montes
This modest but attractive museum sheds light on a unique culture that has preserved age-old traditions into the 21st century. The handsome 17th-century…
The Douro
Hidden in one of the Mosteiro de São Gonçalo’s cloisters is this delightfully eclectic collection of modernist and contemporary art, a pleasant surprise…
Trás-os-Montes
One of the prettiest, best-preserved villages in the western half of the park, Dine is home to a tiny archaeological museum, which documents the 1984 find…
Porto
Washing machines are installed in every house, but local donas (ladies) still swear by the daily ritual of stone washtubs and good old-fashioned elbow…
Trás-os-Montes
Hidden at the end of the road in a narrow valley wedged between forbidding granite heights, this tiny village is one of the park’s best-preserved, thanks…
Mosteiro de São Bento da Vitória
Miragaia
Note the sign in front of this former monastery apologising for the expulsion of the Jews in 1496 under the Portuguese Inquisition and the iron fist of…
Trás-os-Montes
Reached by a drawbridge and bordered by a park with floral designs, hedges and grand old oaks, the 17th-century Forte de São Francisco is the centrepiece…
Massarelos
Nestled on the southern slopes of Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, beneath cathedral oaks and sycamores, is the small but stately home where the exiled king…
Igreja Nossa Senhora da Vitória
Miragaia
In Porto's medieval Vitória quarter, this church stands on land that once belonged to the Jewish community. Completed in 1539, it was given a baroque…
Vila Nova de Gaia
Watching over Gaia is this 17th-century hilltop monastery, with its striking circular cloister, church with gilded altar, and stellar river views from its…
Boavista
Opened in 1855 to bury the victims of a cholera epidemic, the Agramonte Cemetery is today one of Porto's most beautiful. The city's wealthiest residents…
Massarelos
Arcing 270m in a single swoop over the Douro River and linking Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia, this mighty bridge is visible from afar. Designed by prominent…
Igreja do Corpo Santo de Massarelos
Massarelos
Rising above the riverfront with a facade adorned in blue-and-white azulejos (hand-painted tiles), this church was built in 1776 on the site of a chapel…
Foz do Douro
Some 5000 marine creatures splash in the tanks at Sealife, where kiddie highlights include a shark tunnel and a rock pool for handling crabs, starfish and…
Trás-os-Montes
Moimenta has a lovely core of granite houses roofed in terracotta, plus a small baroque church – a rare dose of luxury in this austere corner of Portugal…
Foz do Douro
Otherwise known as the Castelo do Queijo (Cheese Castle) because of the wedge of rock it stands upon, Forte de São Francisco Xavier looks every inch the…
Igreja de São Pedro de Miragaia
Miragaia
One of Porto's oldest churches, the medieval Igreja de São Pedro de Miragaia was completely rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, and pays homage to St…
Trás-os-Montes
Chaves’ handsome, 140m-long Roman-era bridge makes a lovely place for a car-free stroll. The span was completed in AD 104 by order of Emperor Trajan …
The Douro
The sleepy old quarter makes for a pleasant stroll in the early evening. Highlights include the Praça do Município, with its impressive granite pelourinho…
Porto
Nothing blows away the city cobwebs like a wander along this beach, fringed by the protected dunes of the Douro Estuary Nature Reserve. The stiff sea…
Museu Ibérico da Máscara e do Traje
Trás-os-Montes
This visually appealing little museum displays a colourful and fascinating collection of masks and costumes from the ancient pagan-based solstice and…
Boavista
Sidling up to the Cemitério de Agramonte, the Kadoorie Synagogue is the largest in the Iberian Peninsula and a visible reminder of the importance of the…
Porto
Architects Barbosa & Guimarães have left their imprint on this contemporary marina complex in Afurada. With forms that mirror the shape of boat masts and…
Boavista
Run by the Faculty of Sciences of Porto University, this jigsaw of botanical gardens is a cool escape on hot summer days. Dotted with lakes and…
Miragaia
Porto's marionette museum turns the spotlight on the remarkable puppet creations that have taken to the stage at the Teatro Marionetas do Porto over the…
Porto
Ponte Dom Luís I might hog the limelight, but it is this railway bridge, slightly further east, that bears the hallmark of Gustave Eiffel. Built when the…
The Douro
A symbol of the town’s heroic defence against the French (marked by a plaque at the southeastern end), the granite Ponte de São Gonçalo is Amarante’s…
Foz do Douro
A joy for the aimless ambler, this 19th-century garden is flanked by graceful old buildings and dotted with willowy palms, sculptures, fountains and a…
Foz do Douro
Arriving in Matosinhos, you can’t help but stop dead in your tracks as your gaze is drawn upward to this 50m-high sculpture by North American artist Janet…
