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Portugal’s third-largest city is an elegant town laced with ancient narrow lanes closed to vehicles, strewn with plazas and a splendid array of baroque churches. The constant chiming of bells is a reminder of Braga’s age-old devotion to the spiritual world. Its religious festivals – particularly the elaborately staged Semana Santa (Holy Week) – are famous throughout Portugal. But don’t come expecting piety alone: Braga’s upscale old centre is packed with lively cafes and trim boutiques, some excellent restaurants and low-key bars catering to students from the Universidade do Minho.
Just east of the city stands the magnificent, much-visited hillside church and sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte, one of Portugal's most iconic tourist attractions.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Braga.
Cathedral
Braga’s extraordinary cathedral, the oldest in Portugal, was begun when the archdiocese was restored in 1070 and completed in the following century. It’s a rambling complex made up of differing styles, and architecture buffs could spend half a day happily distinguishing the Romanesque bones from Manueline musculature and baroque frippery.
Christian Site
Climbing dramatically to the hilltop pilgrimage site of Bom Jesus do Monte, 5km east of Braga, is this extraordinary staircase, with allegorical fountains, chapels and a superb view. City bus 2 runs frequently from Braga to the site, where you can climb the 580 steps (pilgrims sometimes do this on their knees) or ascend by funicular (one-way/return €1.20/2).
Church
A guided tour grants access to the cathedral’s three most striking chapels: the showpiece Capela dos Reis, home to the tombs of Henri of Burgundy and Dona Teresa (parents of Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques); the azulejo (tile)-covered Capela de São Geraldo; and the 14th-century Capela da Glória, painted in unrepentantly Moorish geometric motifs in the 16th century. Afterwards, climb the grand stone staircase for up-close views of the cathedral’s upper choir, with its mesmerising organs and gilded choir stalls.
Museum
An 18th-century aristocrat’s palace is home to Braga's enthusiastic municipal museum, with a nice collection of Roman relics and 17th- to 19th-century pottery and furnishings. The palace itself – with its polychrome, chestnut-panelled ceilings and 18th-century azulejos (tiles) depicting hunting scenes – and the gorgeously landscaped gardens out back are reason enough to visit. The ground floor is paved with deeply ribbed flagstones on which carriages would have once rattled through to the stables.
Museum
Braga's newest museum is housed inside Palácio do Raio, whose exuberantly tiled rococo façade (by André Soares) is must-see material for any aficionado of the colour blue. The gorgeous interiors, also clad in azulejos, showcase works of sacred art, textiles, paintings, sculptures, jewellery, pottery and old medical instruments, all bearing witness to 500 years of the building's history.
Cultural Centre
This spiffy modern cultural centre lives inside an 18th-century building that once housed police headquarters. Enter through the sliding glass doors and you're inside an incubator of the city's creative industry, with galleries, concerts, film screenings, workshops and theatre performances. Free guided tours are available with advance notice (call or contact info@gnration.pt).
Ruins
Tucked away below street level and concealed by a modern lobby is this evocative ancient spring, one of Braga's unexpected treasures. An essential community water source in the city's early days, the spring and its surrounding rock face were carved into a fountain during pre-Roman times by Celicus Fronto, an immigrant from the city-state of Arcobriga. One carving is of a toga-clad pilgrim thought to be holding the Horn of Plenty. An introductory video provides historical background.
Museum
The archaeological museum houses a nicely displayed collection of fragments from Braga’s earliest days. The four rooms feature pieces from Palaeolithic times (arrowheads, funerary objects and ceramics) through Roman rule and on up to the period dominated by the Suevi-Visigoth kingdom (5th through 7th centuries). Especially fascinating are the huge miliários (milestones), carved with Latin inscriptions, that marked the Roman roads.
Square
The cafes and restaurants on this broad plaza are a pleasant place to start or finish your day. An especially mellow atmosphere descends in the evening, when coloured lights spring up and people of all ages congregate to enjoy the night air. The square-shaped, crenellated tower behind the cafes is the walled-up Torre de Menagem, which is all that survives of a fortified medieval palace.