Things to do in Portothe Ribeira, port cellars, Livraria Lello and more

Short answer: with two days in Porto, do these first:

1. Walk the Ribeira and cross the Luís I bridge, on the top deck for the view and the lower deck to the port lodges. Free.
2. Visit a port wine cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia: at Taylor’s, €25 with three ports, €9 for ages 8 to 17, under 8 free.
3. Book a slot at Livraria Lello: €15.95, and the ticket counts towards a book from Lello’s own editions.
4. Climb Clérigos Tower: €10 with the museum, free for children up to 10.
5. Ride tram 1 along the river to Foz, then walk the seafront: €6 one way, €8 for two trips the same day.
6. Spend half a day at Serralves, a contemporary art museum in a large park with a treetop walk; under 12 free.
7. Eat at the Bolhão market, open Monday to Saturday.

Prices are adult prices from each official site in October 2026. Check before you go.

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The Ribeira and the bridges

The riverside Ribeira, the old centre above it, the Luís I bridge and the Serra do Pilar monastery on the Gaia side have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. [UNESCO World Heritage Centre] The Luís I bridge opened in 1886 and has two decks: metro line D and pedestrians on top, traffic and pedestrians below. [Wikipedia] A loop that works: walk down through the Ribeira, cross the lower deck to the port lodges in Gaia, ride the Gaia cable car up to Jardim do Morro (€7 one way, €3.50 for ages 5 to 12), and walk back over the top deck. [gaiacablecar.com]

Port wine cellars in Gaia

Most of the big port houses have lodges along the Gaia riverfront and sell tours with a tasting. One example with a published family price: Taylor’s has a self-guided audio tour on your phone (devices on site if you prefer), about an hour plus 30 minutes for the tasting. Adults pay €25 with three ports; ages 8 to 17 pay €9 with grape juice and cookies; a family ticket for two adults and two children is €62; under 8 free. No booking needed for the audio tour, subject to availability. Cellar open daily 10:00 to 18:15. [Taylor’s FAQ and website] Taylor’s own pages disagree on the juice age (8 to 17 in the FAQ, 5 to 17 on the tour page), so check when you book.

We have not compared the other lodges; their prices and what the tasting includes vary, so compare before you book.

Livraria Lello

The bookshop with the crimson staircase works by timed ticket. The standard ticket-voucher is €15.95 and can be spent on a book published by Livraria Lello (not other books or souvenirs); it is valid only for the date and slot you pick, and changes are allowed once, up to 24 hours before. [livrarialello.pt] What catches families out: no prams, suitcases or backpacks, and children under 12 stay with an adult. [livrarialello.pt] The shop names lunchtime and late afternoon as the quieter hours. Opening hours differ between Lello’s own pages (09:00 to 19:00 on the ticket page, 09:00 to 19:30 on the main site); closed 25 December, 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 24 June. [livrarialello.pt]

Clérigos Tower

Porto’s landmark tower, standing since 1763, with a museum and church: €10 for tower and museum, €7 for students aged 11 to 18, free for children up to 10. Daily 09:00 to 19:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing. The tower’s English ticket page gives 09:00 to 23:00 in the Easter, summer and Christmas seasons, with a ticket for the tower alone at €5, but its Portuguese page (read 11 October 2026) gives 09:00 to 19:00 for those seasons too, so check before planning an evening visit. [torredosclerigos.pt] Tickets on site or online; nearest metro São Bento or Aliados. [torredosclerigos.pt] The top of the tower is reached by stairs, so leave the pram below; the accessible route covers the church and museum and includes a room that simulates the view from the top. [torredosclerigos.pt]

Tram 1 to Foz

The heritage tram line 1 runs from Infante, near the Ribeira, along the river to Passeio Alegre in Foz. [Câmara do Porto] Buy from the conductor: €6 for one trip, €8 for two trips the same day, or €12 for two days (child €6). Andante passes are valid, but the Andante Tour tourist tickets are not. [STCP, prices from 1 January 2026] We cannot give you tram times: STCP took down its summer timetable for lines 1, 18 and 500, and its open timetable data has no tram routes in it at all, so check the board at the Infante stop on the day. [STCP, 26 Oct 2026] Lines 18 and 22 also run with old trams in the centre.

At the end of the line, walk along the seafront in Foz, or come back on STCP bus 500. For the beaches there, lifeguard dates and the cold Atlantic, see Porto’s best beaches; Praia do Homem do Leme is one of the accessible ones. Further north, Parque da Cidade runs down to the sea.

Serralves

Serralves combines a contemporary art museum, a park with a treetop walk and an Álvaro Siza building. Full ticket €24, park only €15, under 12 free, family ticket for two adults and two reduced tickets €58. Residents of Portugal pay less at the ticket office and get in free on the first Sunday of the month. Opening hours change between the April to September and October to March seasons: see the site. [serralves.pt]

Markets, food and the Baixa

• Mercado do Bolhão, the restored market hall in the Baixa: market Monday to Friday 8:00 to 20:00, Saturday to 18:00, restaurants until midnight; closed Sundays and public holidays. It has its own metro station. [mercadobolhao.pt]
• Francesinha: Porto’s own sandwich, with layers of meat, melted cheese and a hot tomato-and-beer sauce. [Wikipedia] Where to eat one is a matter of local argument; we have not tested any.

Free things to do

• The Ribeira, both decks of the Luís I bridge and the Gaia riverside.
• Jardins do Palácio de Cristal: free gardens with views over the river. [cm-porto.pt]
• Parque da Cidade: 83 hectares of lakes and paths down to the sea, free. [cm-porto.pt]
• The seafront and beaches in Foz.
• With children: city playgrounds such as Parque do Covelo and Parque da Pasteleira; more in Porto with kids.

Porto on a rainy day

Rain is common from October to April (10 to 13 rain days a month; see Porto weather by month). Indoors:

• The Tram Museum on the riverfront, free for young children. [museudocarroelectrico.pt]
• A port cellar in Gaia (about 1 h 30 at Taylor’s).
• Livraria Lello and Clérigos (book Lello ahead: rain fills the slots, our assumption).
• The Serralves museum (the park ticket alone makes less sense in the rain).
• Lunch at the Bolhão market.

With children, the aquarium, the planetarium and the biodiversity gallery are in the rainy-day plan in Porto with kids.

Porto at Christmas

In 2025/26 the city lights and the big tree on the Avenida dos Aliados were on from 29 November 2025 to 6 January 2026, with a Christmas market in the Cordoaria gardens, a free ice rink and carousel, and New Year fireworks launched from City Hall; the 2026 programme had not been published when we checked (October 2026). [Ágora Porto] Dates, closures on 25 December and 1 January, holiday transport and New Year’s Eve: Porto in December.

Events worth timing a trip around

São João, on the night of 23 to 24 June, is the city’s biggest festival. In 2025 the programme ran from 6 June to 6 July, and the fireworks filled the river between the Luís I and Arrábida bridges. [Ágora Porto] Livraria Lello is closed on 24 June. [livrarialello.pt]

A two-day plan

In short: day 1 Clérigos, a lunchtime Lello slot, the Bolhão, the Ribeira and a cellar in Gaia; day 2 tram 1 to Foz and Serralves. The full plan for 2, 3 and 4 days, with the Douro, Braga, children and rain: Porto itinerary.

With kids, and where to stay

• Children get in free or cheaply almost everywhere above: Clérigos up to 10, Serralves under 12, Taylor’s under 8. For the full family plan (parks, aquarium, playgrounds, cable car, surf lessons), see Porto with kids.
• Where to base yourself for a week or a month: where to stay in Porto. When to go: best time to visit Porto. On top of the room, Porto and Gaia (where the cellars are) each charge €3 per person per night: tourist tax in Portugal.