Best Porto Sights to See 2023

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Greetings Internet Stranger, I’m Stella Jane, author of the travel guide Get Lost, and welcome to our best Porto sights to see itinerary. I bet you thought that we’d done everything there was to do in Portugal’s second city yesterday, right?!

Today we’re going to dine in a library, drink some terrifying alcohol named after a clown, climb the Clerigos Tower, which is the highest building in Porto (not saying much), and eat the world’s best sponge cake.

How was the voting for the world’s best sponge cake carried out, you ask? Come with me on this best Porto sights to see itinerary and all will be revealed.

Best Porto Sights to See

Morning: Porto Food Tour

As I have said before and will say again repeatedly, no matter how many times the authorities try to silence me, my three favorite things to do when traveling are: take food tours, visit museums, and wander around and randomly explore weirdness.

Museums and weirdness are omnipresent in any city, but not every place is lucky enough to have a food tour. Fortunately Porto has a great food tour, and you can take it when you enjoy your best Porto sights to see itinerary.

Check rates and availability if you click here.

I can’t guarantee you’ll get all the same foods we ate. But I can promise you’ll have as much fun as I did with…

Approximately top 5: porto snacks edition

1) pastel de nata

The absolute first dish almost anyone talks about when discussing Portuguese food is the notorious egg tart, pastel de nata. This is a warm egg custard tart topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar. 4 out of 5 Portuguese doctors say that you should eat two every morning for breakfast.

Enjoy your pastel de nata with a side of espresso at a cute little local shop. The pastry was flaky and the custard oozed out of the tart with every bite. Apparently the richness of the custard was due to the fact that it is made only using egg yolks.

So if I eat an egg-white omelet for breakfast, that should balance out eating a pastel de nata afterwards, fat-wise, right? That’s just science.

2) Meat, cheese, and wine

Another food you simply must try during your best Porto sights to see itinerary is the ubiquitous meat and cheese platter. Hmm. Now that I look at the photo above, it doesn’t seem quite right. Let me fix something.

There! I added some port wine. That looks better! This food platter is courtesy of a gourmet food shop whose name is Portuguese for “Eat and Cry For More”. I’d say that’s exactly what we did! I had no idea that Portugal was famous for its cheese before visiting here. My favorite was the Serpa cheese, which adds paprika to the rind to give it a little kick.

3) Bifana roll

Never think of leaving Portugal without eating a bifana, which is a marinated pork sandwich topped with onions and served on a roll. Get yours at a casual spot, and chase it with a light Portuguese beer, Super Bock. This sandwich is quite spicy because of the peri-peri sauce used to flavor the pork.

You can get extra peri-peri if you like things super spicy and also like having to chug Portuguese beer really quickly afterwards because your eyes are watering. Not that I know this from experience or anything, ahem!

I love the combination of rich spicy pork and the light and fluffy Portuguese rolls with the crunchy exteriors. This is definitely a real man’s sandwich.

4) Codfellows

Now it’s time for us to head to the Codfish Ball! 

This kind of codfish ball! If there’s one thing the Portuguese love, it’s salted codfish. I speak French fluently and Portuguese not really at all, but I still know the word for cod in Portuguese better than I know it in French. (It’s bacalhau in Portuguese and la morue in French, for the curious.)

I’m no codfish ball expert, but my sense is that the codfish balls are best served like Portuguese rolls: warm, soft on the inside, and super crispy on the outside.

These codfish balls were especially interesting because they were served with clown juice, aka Eduardino. This is an anise-flavored liquor named after a clown who performed in Lisbon and loved his booze. So every time you drink an Eduardino, just remember that you’re drinking the tears of a clown. (When there’s no one arooound!)

5) Even more preserved fish

The Portuguese are truly unparalleled wizards when it comes to cooking with cured fish. They are the Gandalfs of preserved pesce. They are the Dumbledores of salted seafood.

That’s all the fictional wizards I can think of except for the Wizard of Oz, and most people who aren’t demented fantasy nerds don’t know his real name. It’s Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs.

I learned the Portuguese prowess for curing fish because on the food tour we stopped at a store that specializes in curing our scaly friends of the deep and sampling some of their fish pairings. First we had sardines and honey. I liked this because the sweetness of the honey helps to cut the aggressive flavor of the sardines.

Next was cod with raspberry jelly. This was very tasty, but the raspberry jelly has a strong taste that sometimes overpowered the cod.

The last was smoked trout with cream cheese and pesto. This was my favorite because it tasted just like a perfect little appetizer to serve at a cocktail party. But it did lack the sweetness of the other two fish pairings.

6) Port wine

Of course, if you’re drinking in Porto, the first think you’re going to think of is not clown juice but Port wine, the fortified nectar of the gods. We stopped in for a wine tasting and got to sample the three kinds of port: white, red, and tawny.

The white was medium dry, but since this is Port we’re talking about, it was still a bit sweet. The red had a kind of peppery taste, and we were told that it was aged in steel. I always want to know how a drink aged in steel doesn’t end up tasting like metal. The tawny was sweet and aged in wood for 10 years.

This was my favorite because it tasted the most like a beverage I could imagine a fat 19th century Englishman drinking with his buddies right before Sherlock Holmes proved him guilty of murdering his groomsman.

24 Hour Tip

Those are the only tips I can share with you for now. You’ll have to book this amazing tour to find out the rest!

Check rates and availability by clicking here!

best Porto sights to see

Afternoon: Explore Porto and the Clerigos Tower

Now that we’ve gotten the food out of the way, it’s the time in our best Porto sights to see itinerary to take a walk on the wild side! And in Porto, the wild side usually involves gold leaf and tiles. It also involves climbing up the “giant” Clerigos Tower.

As usual, I encourage you to take the  afternoon and see the city on your own. Live a little and get off the beaten track! But sometimes exploring an unfamiliar city on your own can be overwhelming. That’s why I’d like to help you get started with…

Approximately top 5: clerigos tower edition

1) The Clerigos Tower

The Clerigos Tower is one of the most memorable landmarks in Portugal. It is the bell tower attached to the Clerigos Church, so if you visit the tower, you get to visit the church also. It’s two landmarks in one! Actually, there is a museum about the Clerigos Tower inside the Clerigos Tower, so it’s really three landmarks in one. If you only see one attraction in Porto, let it be this one.

The Clerigos tower is also the best place to go for amazing views of Porto’s famous red roofs. But if you want a little knowledge along with your scenery…

THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT THE CLERIGOS TOWER

A) Who built the clerigos tower?

The architect of this Portuguese landmark, the Clerigos Tower, was actually an Italian, Nicolau Nasoni, who constructed the church in the first half of the 18th century. Perhaps it is because the architect was Italian that the campanile (bell tower) has a rather Tuscan flavor to it. I mean, even the word campanile is Italian.

Nasoni ended up living most of his life in Porto, and he even joined the Brotherhood of the Clerigos, for whom this church is named, before his death. I wonder if he was one of those people who moves to a new city and then acts belligerently more like a local than the real locals. Like, was he always saying he missed the OLD Porto in the 17th century, when it was more authentic and gritty?

B) How tall is the tower?

It’s exactly 249 feet (76 meters) in height. This is tall for Porto, but not terribly tall for the rest of the world. That is why, when you climb to the top of the tower, you will see signs like the one above showing how teeny the Clerigos Tower is in comparison with the Eiffel Tower and various skyscrapers in NYC. Way to be self-deprecating, Portuguese Bell Tower!

C) how do you get to the top of the clerigos tower?

It takes 240 steps to get to the top of the Clerigos Tower. Sadly, no owl will be there to help you bite off some of the steps. There you will be presented with sweeping views of the city. You worked hard to get up here, so take as many photos as you want, and don’t let any mean tourists push you off!

3) Stop in the Clerigos Church!

You can enter the Baroque and golden church right from the exit of the Clerigos Tower without exiting the building or paying any extra money. There is a museum inside the church dedicated to religious art. You will be able to explore many of the rooms and treasures of the Brotherhood of the Clerigos who inhabit this church.

Be sure to climb to the second floor of the church in order to find all of its secrets. I personally enjoyed pretending that I was hiding inside the altar or behind the church organ. It made me feel like an adorable little church mouse.

4) Get an eclair at the Leiteira da Quinta do Paco

You may be thinking that the massive food tour ended just a short time ago and how can I still be hungry? But I say that food tour was two and a half whole hours ago, and I need dessert! The LDQDP is one of the most famous pastry shops in Porto. They specialize in eclairs, from double chocolate to wild tropical fruit flavors.

I just got a regular eclair with chocolate frosting to see if the basic quality was good. It was super sweet and rich, so one eclair was enough to satisfy me, which is pretty impressive as normally I can eat as many eclairs as Eclair Monster.

He’s just like Cookie Monster except he has a beret and a pencil mustache and says, “ECLAIR, HOH HOH HOH!” instead of “COOKIE, NOM NOM NOM!”

5) Igreja dos Carmelitas and igreja do carmo

Feeling a little churched out? Too bad! Churches are where it’s at in Porto. Our next stop on our best Porto sights to see itinerary is to see the blue and white tiles and gold-covered wooden statues in the Igreja dos Carmelitas and the neighboring Igreja do Carmo on R. do Carmo 1.

If you are curious where all the gold in the Portuguese churches comes from, it comes from Brazil and other Portuguese colonies. Remember, there was a time when the Portuguese empire was so powerful that Portugal and Spain decided to split the entire world between the two empires. Then England and France came along and that plan didn’t work so well.

But the gold in the Portuguese churches is part of what Portugal decided to do with all that colony money. There are definitely worse things they could have done with their loot.

After all, if the gold is in a church, anyone can come look at it, whereas if it is all hidden away in a nobleman’s house, no one can see it but the nobleman’s friends and relations. But it would have been better to not take it in the first place.

24 hour Treasure

Sometimes the gold in a Baroque church can be a little blinding. That’s why I grew fond of these slightly less gilded wooden statues with peaceful star-decorated backgrounds. They remind me of the heavens without blinding my eyes with shiny metal.

6) Find some street art!

Porto isn’t a city that is necessarily famous for its street art, but I promise you it’s there. Spend some time in your best Porto sights to see itinerary wandering about and find your favorite ephemeral cartoon cats, painted phone booths, and other unsolicited public art.

My favorite piece was this guy because it looks like a cross between a comic book and the ubiquitous Portuguese blue and white tiles. Way to use local inspiration to fuel your work, unnamed street artist!

7) The Praca do General Humberto Delgado

During your best Porto sights to see itinerary, it is important to find a relaxing place to sit and read for an hour before dinner. That’s why I like the Praca do General Humberto Delgado. Humbert Humbert, as no one calls him, was a Portuguese general and politician who was definitely murdered and…liked Hitler?

That is what Wikipedia tells me, but that shouldn’t be right. Don’t go named squares after people who liked Hitler is Square Naming Rule 101 in my book.

Anyway, even if the square was named after a Fascist sympathizer, it’s still a nice place to read on a warm evening. Sometimes they even have a sound and light show.

I was not expecting this and for a brief moment thought a Hellmouth had opened. But no, it’s just public entertainment.

Best Porto sights to see

Evening: Dinner at Escondidinho do Barredo

We already had such a big lunch, so for dinner, why stop by a family-run restaurant called Escondidinho do Barredo for some warm and homey potato croquetas. These delicious fried potato balls have a surprise inside.

Can you guess what it is? If you guessed “codfish”, you are 100 percent correct. When in Portugal, 93 percent of the time the answer to a trivia question is going to be codfish.

Wash down the croquetas with some mildly spicy Portuguese chicken gizzard stew and black eyed pea salad. I’m just glad for Fergie’s sake that they weren’t Black Eyed Pea gizzards. If you’re feeling squicked about eating gizzards, don’t be!

Don’t you care about using every part of the animal? Don’t you want to take care of the environment? Have a heart, Internet Stranger! Also, eat a heart if necessary.

Best Porto sights to see

Where to Stay?

Porto is not the biggest city in the world, but you still want to stay in a convenient neighborhood for your best Porto sights to see itinerary. I suggest the Jualis Guest House.

I chose this place in part because of its low price, but the quality is high enough that I don’t think I would want to book a more expensive place. After all, it has a lovely private room along with a private bathroom, so what more do you need?

But on top of that, the amenities were great at this guest house. There’s a good breakfast included, the rooms are pretty and charming, and it’s very affordable. The staff was very helpful and full of advice, which I appreciated, considering this was my first best Porto sights to see itinerary. I couldn’t recommend a better place to stay, especially if you’re on a budget.

For a great deal on this hotel, click here.

And if you’d rather explore tons of other hotels in Porto, click here. This search engine will help you find the perfect place to stay during your best Porto sights to see itinerary. With plenty of options to choose from, I’m sure you’ll find something for your schedule and budget.

That’s a best Porto sights to see

What would you do on a best Porto sights to see itinerary? Are you ready to start booking your hotel in Porto now? And do you think Clerigos Tower will get a complex with all the jokes about how short it is? Please email me at stellajane@aroundtheworldin24hours.com and let me know!

Note: If you want to know how I put my travel itineraries together, just click here. Keep in mind that while each article is about how to spend 24 hours in a place, that doesn’t mean you should ONLY follow one best Porto sights to see itinerary.

You can try 24 hours in Porto. You can also check out 24 hours in Lisbon. Experience a day of the best Portugal Lisbon attractions.