5 min
30 min
30 min
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34.4 / km²
56
10
7,730
City average
Counted from OpenStreetMap and Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0)
Mixed after dark
The steps between the cathedral and the tourist office collect drinkers at night, and the shortcut down from there is the one stretch Wikivoyage tells travellers to avoid. Walk down Rua das Flores instead - it is lit and busy until late.
Staying in Baixa, Sé & Ribeira
This is one administrative parish with six old names in it, and it covers almost everything a first visit to Porto consists of. São Bento and its tiled hall, the cathedral on its rock, Livraria Lello, the Clérigos tower, Bolhão market, the Aliados boulevard and the Ribeira quay are all inside it, and none of them is more than 20 minutes on foot from any other. Six metro lines meet at Trindade, one stop north of Aliados, so the airport and the beaches are a single ride away.
The cost is the hill and the crowd. The Ribeira sits at river level and Aliados sits about 60 metres above it, on granite setts that turn slick in rain; the walk back from dinner is a climb every night. Restaurant prices on Cais da Estiva and Rua das Flores are set for people who will not return, and the Galerias de Paris bars run to 02:00 on Friday and Saturday with the drinking done standing in the street.
Book here for a first trip, for a short trip, and for any trip where you would rather not think about transport. Ask for a room on a courtyard, or one street back from Santa Catarina and Rua das Flores.
What works
- São Bento, the cathedral, Lello and the Ribeira are all within a 20-minute walk
- Six metro lines meet at Trindade, one stop from Aliados
- Tram 1 leaves the Ribeira quay for Foz along the river
- The one district where dinner at 22:30 needs no planning
What does not
- Ribeira quay restaurants are priced for people who will never come back
- About 60 vertical metres of granite setts between the river and Aliados
- Galerias de Paris drinking runs to 02:00 on Friday and Saturday
- Rooms on Santa Catarina and Rua das Flores get street noise most of the night
keep in mind that the tourist parts of the city (the Ribeira and Baixa) are a never ending maze of narrow streets, short tempered drivers and snakelike alleys. Better to walk (despite the fact that it's very hilly).One part of Porto, near the Tourist Information Office between the cathedral and the steps to the small church, often has drunk people that could cause you trouble.