Porto Guide by Locals

Porto & Douro Valley leads Lonely Planet's Top 10 European travel destinations for 2013.
The prizes keep coming, after Porto was considered Best European Destination 2012, and Douro elected best touristic river itinerary in Europe. The secret is out.
We'll personally lead you through the treasures, in our tours.

The travel section of online news website The Huffington Post has considered Douro River as the best touristic river itinerary in Europe.

And we say… duh! Obviously! Although we don't particularly like river cruises, since… well… you miss all the important stuff, we also realize that it’s an enjoyable experience, especially for those without rivers where they live. Take our tours or helpful tips, and come see for yourself.

Porto is one of the oldest cities in the world!

Has the 3rd most beautiful Bookstore in the world – Lello!

Has the 6th most beautiful Coffee shop in the world – Majestic!

Has one of the most perfect and intelligent buildings in the world – Burgo!

Has one of the best acoustic rooms in the world – Casa da Música!

Has the only city park in the world connected to the sea - Parque Ocidental da Cidade, with nearly 80 ha!

Has one of the biggest iron construction in the world – Ponte Luíz I

Has one of the biggest concrete arch in the world – Ponte da Arrábida!

Has one of the biggest towers in the world built on granite – Clérigos!

Has the 5th best airport in the world in its category – Francisco Sá Carneiro (OPO; LPPR)

Has one of the best and biggest artificial port in the world – Leixões!

Has received 3 Pulitzer Prizes in Architecture - Álvaro Siza e Souto Moura.

Has the sport club president with most titles won in the world - Pinto da Costa!

Has the male athlete with the most conquered titles in the world - Victor Baía!

Has the female athlete with the most conquered titles in the world - Rosa Mota!

Gave its name to the best wine in the world – Porto.

One of the best cello players in the world was a local - Guilhermina Suggia.

Has the 16th most beautiful railway station in the world! – Estação de S. Bento

Gave its name to the country – Portugal – the oldest State in Europe, since the 12th century, and with one of the oldest, stable national borders.

It’s the only city in the world with 4 unique culinary specialties created in its midst: Francesinhas, Bacalhau à Brás, Bacalhau à Zé do Pipo, and Tripas à Moda do Porto, created in the 15th century.

Has one of the most reputable and certainly the oldest filmmaker in the world - Manoel de Oliveira

One of the best Football Clubs in the world – F.C.Porto

One of the most highly regarded universities in the world – UP

Porto was considered the best travel destination in the world in 2012! And it keeps getting better! No doubt an unusual and unique city. We love our city! And we share our passion with you, guiding you to the best places, with full historical context, including the ones most visitors won’t see.

"After all, Porto, to truly honor its name, is, first of all, this wide bosom open to the river, but only seen from the river, or, through narrow mouths closed by low walls, the traveler can lean into the open air and have the illusion that the entire Porto is the riverside." - José Saramago, portuguese nobel prize for literature.

«Afinal, o Porto, para verdadeiramente honrar o nome que tem, é, primeiro que tudo, este largo regaço aberto para o rio, mas que só do rio se vê, ou então, por estreitas bocas fechadas por muretes, pode o viajante debruçar-se para o ar livre e ter a ilusão de que todo o Porto é a Ribeira.» - José Saramago, prémio nobel português da literatura