Exploring Porto’s Old Town

I spent my first full day in Porto exploring some of the neighbourhoods in the west of the city, starting from Miragaia and making my way down to Ribeira (aka Porto’s Old Town) by the river Douro. There are some very cool things to see and do, from taking a rabelo boat trip to visiting a gorgeous old bookstore!

Although it won’t be clear from my Porto google map, Porto is quite hilly so water supplies and sensible shoes are a must. Miragaia and Ribeira are very close to one another though so it doesn’t take long to walk from one area to the other. From Ribeira, you can also cross over the Dom Luis bridge to Gaia if you fancy some port tasting. You can read more about my visit to Vila Nova de Gaia and also the museums of WOW Porto here).

 

 

Explore Miragaia 

In the Miragaia neighbourhood there are lots of interesting shops to look at and pleasant places to walk. I started my day walking through Jardim da Cordoaria, a small but pretty park that offers plenty of shade. Nearby there are two baroque churches –  the Igreja do Carmo, with stunning white and blue tiles, and the Torre dos Clérigos, a UNESCO World Heritage site. You can’t really miss Torre dos Clérigos, which has a tower 76 metres high. If you fancy a great view you can pay to hike up to the top (you can find out more information here).

 

 

Browse the shelves at Livraria Lello

Close to both churches is Livraria Lello. This gorgeous bookshop was built in 1906 and as you step in you’re greeted by a beautiful wooden stairway with red steps that branch upwards, onto the mezzanine level above. As you look up you can see the intricately carved wooden ceilings and a stained glass ceiling too. On the mezzanine level there are special editions that you can purchase (more about this shortly) and some wavy walkways.

 

This place is quite the tourist trap but it is stunning, and worth a visit if you have the time. It can get very busy though – when I visited at about 10:30am it was packed. I did speak to people afterwards who said it was quieter at the end of the day though.

Inside the bookshop there are little exhibits dotted around, although I found it was too busy and cramped to enjoy these properly. There is also absolutely no way you’re going to get a photo without someone in it. (I did have to laugh at the French lady shouting ‘MONSIEUR’ repeatedly at a guy getting in the way of her photo. He was clearly definitely not French and definitely not listening!) 

Buying tickets for Livraria Lello

You can order your tickets online via the Livraria Lello website. You can do this beforehand, or alternatively you can scan a QR code outside the store which will take you to the website. When I visited they were having issues with the website so I would recommend buying beforehand.  

 

I purchased the Silver Ticket option, which is the standard option. It cost 8 Euros. It does seem a bit odd purchasing a ticket to enter a bookstore of all things but I’m not sure how they would do crowd control otherwise, and you do get the cost of the ticket price off the purchase of one of their special editions (if you decide to purchase one). Some of the tales on offer included Frankenstein, Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, and The Jungle Book amongst many others. I bought an edition of The Tales of Beatrix Potter for a friend, which cost 9 Euros with the discount. As well as Portuguese and English there were a number of other European language versions on offer. 

In the area around Livraria Lello there are lots of restaurants, shops, and places to buy ice cream. It’s also at the top of the hill from where you descend down towards the riverfront. Although I followed the route below, there are lots of other little streets to explore in the area and you can’t go too far wrong – as long as you head downwards you’ll reach Ribeira.

 

Take home some unique souvenirs!

I made my way to the riverfront down the Rua da Assunção to begin with (this is down one side of the Torre dos Clérigos and although it is quite a narrow street it has a tram line running down it). If you’re lucky, there will be at tram at the top of the hill which makes for a good photo.

This street has lots of interesting shops to look at. I was intrigued by Casa Oriental, for example. When I peered in the window it looked like something you might find at a fairground, and there were shelves shaped like candyfloss and popcorn stands. When I went in though I got quite a surprise – it turns out Porto is famous for sardines, and here you can buy tinned sardines to take home for your lucky(?) friends or family! There’s even a wall of sardine tins with the year of your birth on them.

After I had explored Porto a little more I found more sardine shops, however they definitely made it much clearer what they were selling from the outside!

 

Do some more shopping…

Slightly further down Rua dos Clérigos is Manteigaria, a fantastic pastéis de nata shop. If you’re not sure what one of those is, these custard-filled flaky pastry tarts are a delicacy in Portugal. They are served warm and are delicious.  

Another cool souvenir you can purchase are individual Portuguese tiles, which you can see adorning many of the buildings in Portugal. They’re not super super cheap but if you want say, one or two, they won’t break the bank. Tiles ranged from 15 to 30 Euros.

 

I continued walking down Rua dos Clérigos and then turned right down Largo dos Lóios, and then right again down Rua das Florges, where you can buy clothes, jewellery, perfume and port. I then zig-zagged a bit but kept heading downhill to reach the riverfront in the Ribeira district.

 

 

Take a boat trip in a traditional rabelo boat

When planning my trip to Porto I really wanted to go on a river cruise on a traditional rabelo boat. I went on a Six Bridges river cruise from the Ribeira side of the river, which as the name suggests, goes under six of the main bridges and gives you a little bit of history about each of them. However, for the particular boat trip I went on, in order to get the audio guide you had to download an app, which was a bit of a faff to do whilst on a boat and using mobile data. 

Providing you give the audio guide access to your location, the app will work out where you are on the river and give you the corresponding information, however I gave up halfway and just read the accompanying transcript. I would say skip the app and the audio guide, read the wikipedia article afterwards, and just enjoy the boat trip. 

Other boat trip companies might operate differently of course – either way, I think I would recommend getting one from the Gaia side if you can – it was 3 Euros cheaper than the Ribeira side.

 

After I got off the boat I explored some of the market stalls and treated myself to some earrings and a cork bracelet with Portugal-esque tile designs on it. Together they only cost me 4 Euros. There were also cork purses, tea towels, and other touristy items on sale. There is probably a greater selection across the river but it was still fun looking around and picking up a few souvenirs!

From there, I walked across the Dom Luis bridge to Gaia.