So you’re coming to Porto?
That’s a great idea!
Here is a wonderful view of what you'll see (skyline from Mindera's Porto office)
I’m not sure that you’re ready for the rest…let me give you a glimpse of what you can find (index):
Where to eat?
No food restrictions
Francesinha
Book in advance since several have high demand.
(If you still are able to: in Brasão ask Cookie cake for desert, nice variety of beers as well)
Do you like any and everything chicken related?
Welcome to “Peter of chicken!”
Ask for a “Canja” and Chicken for X people!
Rojões
Casa Presuntos “Xico”
or
Casa Expresso
Traditional Portuguese food
Pote Velho
or
Taberna Santo António
Halal
Vegan
High €nd
Have a drink/Tea
Old chapel turned into a wine bar.
Amazing place. They kept most of the structure and altars of the chapel, it’s very charming. Good variety of wines, you can ask the staff for advice.
Craft beers
They have a great variety of beers - tap and bottle - both portuguese and foreign. You can ask to have a sip of tap beers if you’re indecise.
Cool terrace in the backyard.
Beer in a garden
Nice and helpful staff also nice snacks and good quality craft beer.
Go down the stairs for extra seating and also to sit in the beer garden. Lovely and quiet place.
Cat Café
Purrfect place for cat lovers, this fairly recent space is the first cat café in Porto. The owners belong to an animal welfare association so all the cats in the café are cats taken from the streets that are there to socialise and to be adopted.
Challenges - Who is brave enough?
Desert or Snack
Éclairs
Leitaria da Quinta do Paço
Jesuíta!
Confeitaria Moura
What to visit?
Places to visit - Porto
Ex-libris of the city
Can be seen from many different points in the city.
Has a tower, church and a museum
Considered the city centre
This is a majestic avenue surrounded with buildings with beaux arts facades. On top of it it’s the city council.
Aliados
19th century Stock Exchange Palace
An a very beautiful historical building in Porto, with a special note to the Arab Room (not the one in the picture for no spoilers).
The bookshop that is famous for inspiring Harry Potter
Super iconic bookshop. It is considered one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. Has a clean/painted/beautiful facade and an amazing staircase inside. Recently, because of the amount of visitors, an entry fee has to be paid to visit the inside but you can trade with when buying a book there. Be ready for queues and a bit of waiting.
Beautiful train station
A true icon of the city.
Right in the city centre, a must-see!
Square situated in the heart of the nightlife in Porto.
Has an important academic tradition and it’s in the middle of amazing buildings like Reitoria do Porto (where the University of Porto was founded) and Igreja do Carmo (tiles church).
River-front pedonal street,
with coloured and narrow houses, loads of restaurants with traditional and a very good vibe.
Porto Botanical Garden
has several ponds, greenhouses and you can usually see each plants species in a little plaque. The entry is free.
One of the most beautiful coffee places in the world
Most likely expect a queue to enter the most famous coffee place in Porto. It dates back from 1921, with a Belle Epoque-era architectural style.
Nice gardens to visit
It's name Jardins do Palácio de Cristal (Crystal Palace Gardens) due to it's original building now gone. It's has now an event/sport venue maintaining the original gardens with an amazing river view.
Old customs building (UNESCO patrimony)
Now converted into convention centre. Usually has some interesting exhibitions.
Alfândega do Porto
Want to go for a concert on an amazing place?
Venue for shows and concerts. Known for its advanced architecture and quirky design, it’s a modern symbol of the city.
Named most beautiful McDonald's in the world
McDonald's Aliados
Places to visit - Gaia
Places to visit - Matosinhos
Fun / Team Building
Porto & Matosinhos
Bubble Football
Bubble Football Povoa Varzim
Paintball
Paintball Porto
Dinner with the Assassin
Jantar com o Assassino
Note:
This started as a simple Google Doc that I shared with people coming to visit Mindera's Porto office but kept growing and I started receiving request to share this.
I'll try to keep this page updated as well... if you want to check the original doc, open it here and an alternative one here.