Our tour guide Carlos and driver Joel were great
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Porto City Walking Tour (available from the day after your experience)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Professional guide
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Wine tasting
- Driver/guide
- Lunch (vegetarian and gluten-free preferences upon prior notice)
- Transport by air-conditioned minivan
Excludes
- Food and drinks, unless specified
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- Traveler pick up offered
Itinerary
Welcome to Porto! It was in the Porto and in the North regions that Portugal was founded in the 12th century and the Portuguese became a people and a nation. Porto, a World Heritage city, is the gateway and departure point for a journey across the natural and cultural diversity of the region. It is known for the Port wine which is shipped from here all over the world, but also for a heritage which combines ancient churches and monuments, such as the Cathedral and the Church of São Francisco, and modern buildings, such as Casa da Música and the Serralves Museum. And also for its School of Architecture which bred names like Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto de Moura, both winners of the Pritzker Prize.
Porto Cathedral, like the first band of city walls, was born in the 12th century by initiative of its first bishop, D. Hugo. The temple is also known as the church of Santa Maria do Porto, de Nossa Senhora do Porto da Eterna Salvação or Nossa Senhora da Vandoma – which attests to the importance the Marian cult has. Our guide will introduce you to Porto and Portugal history and will explain the archictecture of the building from the exterior and show you incredible views of the river and the wine cellars in Gaia.
The S. Bento Railway Station was built at the beginning of the twentieth century on the exact location of the former Convent of S. Bento de Avé-Maria. The glass and iron structure was designed by the architect Marques da Silva. The vestibule is adorned with twenty thousand tiles painted by Jorge Colaço that illustrate the transport evolution and events of Portuguese history and life. Our guide will explain you the Portuguese history ilustrated on those titles
The Historic Centre of Porto, the oldest area of the city and classified as World Heritage by UNESCO since 1996, is comprised of the civil parishes of Sé, Vitória, São Nicolau and Miragaia (including the Porto Wine Lodges). Dating back to Mediaeval times, and despite all the changes over the years, the Historic Centre of Porto maintains its unique urban characteristics, which are a world apart from other European cities. We will now take you on a panoramic tour through the typical streets in this part of the city, where you'll notice various monuments of incalculable cultural wealth and value, as though time had stood still in the Middle Ages!
The building where the library is now located was inaugurated in 1906. Special mention goes to its beautiful Art Nouveau façade with neo-Gothic details. On the inside, the library is decorated in painted plaster imitating wood and presents a magnificent staircase linking it to the upper floor - one of the first reinforced concrete works in Porto
Genuine baroque work by Nicolau Nasoni, an ex-libris monument of the city of Porto. The Church of Clérigos (Ecclesiastics) is a genuine baroque masterpiece dating from the mid-18th century. It was designed by Nicolau Nasoni, an architect of Italian origin. He stamped his mark on many monuments around Oporto and the north of Portugal. Nasoni, on his request, was buried here in a small chapel with its gateway at the same level as the top of the double bolster stairway.
Now its time to discover the Port Wine Lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia Port wine is born in the valley of the River Douro, but it is beside the city that gave it its name that it ages and gains the flavour that makes it quite unmistakable. The river has always been used to transport the wine barrels to the quays of Vila Nova de Gaia, where the lodges are clustered in which the wine ages before being marketed worldwide. You will get a Guided visit to a renown Port Wine Lodge in Gaia, getting to know the history and process of production of this unique wine. To end our morning part of the tour and to open your appetite for lunch, you will be able to taste and try different Port Wines samples. Please note that this part of the tour is shared with other participants.
Back to Porto, it's now time for lunch. If you chose the lunch option the guide will take you to a traditional restaurant for you to have a complete lunch with drinks included where you can choose one of the most traditional recipes for your lunch, the famous "francesinha". If you haven't choose the lunch option you will have spare time to have lunch on your own.
After lunch, Grab your camera, relax and enjoy the views of Porto and Gaia from the Douro river. On board of a traditional "Rebelo" boat, you will sail through the 6 bridges that cross the river into Porto.
To fully discover Porto and its history you must go to Foz do Douro. Facing the Atlantic you'll be struck by an incredible quality of life, the utmost romantic walks where every evening sun and sea merge into one spectacular climax. These beaches proudly display the blue flag eco-label, a sign of high quality unpolluted seawater. Take a stroll under the "Pergola da Foz" built in the 1930s. As the story goes, the Mayor of Porto’s wife at the time, had been so enchanted by the pergola of the "Promenade des Anglais » in the French town of Nice that she simply had to have the same in Porto. Here it is called the "Praia dos Ingleses" a reminder that the English (and other British citizens!) have always enjoyed a close relationship with Portugal.
One of Oporto’s leading cultural venues, designed by the architect, Rem Koolhaas. In the Rotunda da Boavista roundabout, half way between the historic centre centre and the Foz zone, we encounter a large-scale, daringly original building that is sure to catch anyone’s attention: the Casa da Música or “House of Music”. The building was designed by the distinguished Dutch architect and urbanist, Rem Koolhaas and was conceived in order to cater to an innovative cultural project of Porto 2001-European Capital of Culture.
We'll end our tour discovering the modern part of the city. Boavista area, with the impressive Casa da Musica building, the biggest avenue that has the name of the area and the city park. Your guide will give you the farewell taking you back to the meeting point or to your accommodation (when selected)
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Additional Info
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Reviews
This was a very personized tour. Our guide was very patient and explained everything. It was a very enjoyable tour and we never felt rushed.
Excellent experience! Was originally only doing a 1/2 day, meeting Daniela and the small group changed my mind to book the full day. So glad I did! Daniela was a wonderful guide - informative, professional with a sense of humor, easy to understand and a local. She made my one day in Porto worthwhile and making me want to return again.
Can’t find the 1/2-day Living Tours Porto walking tour / port tasting we did on the list, so am reviewing here. Good things: the guide (Diego), very knowledgeable, and the very friendly driver (Maykal) who drove us to the winery. The tour and port tastings at the Quinta das Carvalhas winery were great and very informative. Less good: not much walking. We went from the cathedral to the station, and back. That was it. The tiles in S. Bento station are amazing, but we expected to see more. As a mixed English / Spanish group, every piece of information took twice as long, so that didn’t help. Also because of latecomers, we didn’t leave on time, so perhaps there was less time to cover more before we had to get back to the cathedral and get on the bus for the trip across the river for the port tasting. Anyway, disappointing overall. Would not recommend.
We had a full day with Carlos Daniel. He was an a lovely guide - very entertaining - and even though we had a few bursts of rain it didn’t spoil an excellent experience as he kept the information coming and the enthusiasm going. Would 100% recommend!
I had an amazing experience! Carlos Daniel made this tour so memorable, he was absolutely amazing! Really would recommend!
Carlos Daniel was an outstanding tour guide and an Amazing Driver! He was extremely knowledgeable and get the tour very lively. Would highly recommend booking this tour.
Paulo C. was informative and a very clever driver on the winding roads. His knowledge was amazing and with many interesting stories. He took good care of us.
Jose and Mikael were great hosts. Jose spent time sharing what we were seeing and learning as well as adjusting visits when necessary so we could enjoy each stop. It was a wonderful day filled with joy and laughter. I would highly recommend it to anyone
This rating is not for the private city tour, but for the FREE walking tour clients can get after their paid tours. This took us greater than 1.5 hours in the morning to tour the west of the city. Here’s my take, Francisco did a good job! Telling us history and info about the places. Let us inside churches we thought you have to pay. Not rushed, but a very good tour, if your feet could handle More walking. In the afternoon was another tour for the east side of the historical city, which I didn’t do. All good! Again free for paying clients!
We had a fantastic tour today with our guide Luis Matos. Porto is a lovely city, and while today was cold with spurts of rain and sunshine and rain again, Luis was flexible. He was very knowledgeable about the history, locations and architecture and was a true symbol of hospitality. We highly recommend this tour and Luis!
Everything we wanted to see in the city of Porto was in this tour! From a bit of walking / driving to see the sites to Port tasting to a river tour - it was all there! …plus a delicious lunch and our tour guide Fred M. was super fabulous!! He was so knowledgeable about Porto and Portugal in general and recommended a wonderful place for dinner.
Andre V was a wonderful tour guide. I was impressed by how much we saw in a day, which included a boat cruise, winery trip, and a stop at a quaint beach town on the Atlantic! Definitely worth your time & money.
Paul was an engaging and knowledgeable guide who has the ability to bring history alive. We took the tour on a particularly rainy day and Paul adapted the program to the conditions making for a great experience
Luis Nevas was one of the best guides we've ever had. He was polite, friendly, fun, respectful and very knowledgeable of his beautiful home town. He went the extra mile to help get us reservations to the “Harry Potter” bookstore at the end of our tour. Would absolutely recommend him as he is fantastic! Thank you, Luis Nevas!
Bernando was the tour guide for our day tour and he was an excellent guide, patiently explaining the history of the paintings, architecture, way of life and even cuisine of the Portuguese in Porto. We were able to complete sightseeing the different places at a leisurely pace yet still learn so much from him. Bernando was attentive to the needs of the tourists as well making sure they had enough time to take photos of and explore scenic attractions and making sure they were comfortable throughout the journey. His expertise and attention to detail truly made a difference!
Wonderful day tour in Porto, guided by Pedro ( with an M), Pedro M. It was a pleasure to have this young guy as our guide. Relaxed scheduled, all paced at our own time and convenience. Pedro took care of all details one can imagine. Will book tours with livingtours.com for sure in the future.
Thanks Luis a great tour.fell we really got to know this wonderful city well in just a few hours Luis is passionate about his home town and loves being a guide Great tour of the city and the port wine visitor center. Included luncheon was of very good quality.We loved the Duoro river cruise we highly recommend it
Our guide, Valdemar, did wonderful job showing and explaining the sites. Porto is historic and fascinating. Like all of Europe, there is much to see and learn.
A perfect day to visit Porto . Our chofer/guide, Pedro M was very knowledgeable and professional and he was one of today,highlights o. Definitely, I recomend this itinerary and the services of this company !!
The tour was split between Spanish and English speaking. The winery showed special privilege to the Spanish speakers and wine tasting while the English were sent to wait and told to be quiet for the Spanish speakers while the English were rushed through only until the gift shop. What a coincidence. I will not buy their wine in the future. Getting to the tour was an event itself. When you google the directions it does not take you to the location. When we got to the tour company and explained I did not appreciate the way I was treated. We were told it wasn’t our fault it is what google maps tells you. It would have been nice to know that information in advance
We were very happy with the clear description of all the places that were in the tour. Lunch was reasonably good. Daniela, our Guide, was very caring and went of her way to make sure that we were safe and comfortable. We must mention Sheila who also was very helpful.
Miguel Schwas and Paulo (driver) were absolutely wonderful. Very knowledgeable and patient with the group. Loved the history, current commentary. Had a wonderful time.
Daniela and Sena were wonderful. Daniela was extremely knowledgeable about Portos history. Excellent. Sena was an amzing driver on narrow streets.
We had a great time with Bernardo, not only very knowledgeable but also patient and kind. We also had duoro valley tour butbthe other guide wasn’t as helpful as Bernardo, we feel we missed details and atories of the places that we visited. Bernardo and Sheila were really great, highly recommended
The tour was very nice and very well-put, you get to see all the important landmarks and it doesn’t get that tiring. Very suitable for families with teenagers or young adults. Our guides were Daniela and Nuno and they were very sweet and thoughful the whole trip. Definetely would reccomend.
Very interesting history. Miguel knew every historical site and knew lots of “fun facts”. He was funny, and courteous, and should be commended for his knowledge about Porto. Our driver, Esteves, was very cautious and got us through some narrow roadways!
Xavier and Ferro were such great tour guides. So funny and gave us the best time we have ever had on a tour. They answered questions really well and I would recommend this tour and them to anyone visiting Porto.
Had a great time on this tour - Bernardo was an amazing guide, very funny, and knowledgeable! João, our driver, got us through and up and down the narrow, hilly roads of Porto. Very grateful for both of them to have made our first day in Porto a smooth, enjoyable one!
This tour was an amazing experience and perfect start to our visit in Porto. Bernardo was an incredible guide who gave us plenty of historical context, valuable information, and humorous anecdotes - in both English and Español. I truly am in awe of how well he was able to switch between languages so seamlessly. Joao was a fantastic driver, navigating the busy streets and tight turns, making it easy for us to relax as we were chauffeured between many beautiful and memorable locations. Additionally, we had a wine tour, delicious lunch, and boat tour. Now we are excited to continue exploring on our own and enjoy the rest of our time in Porto. Thank you for making our introduction to your beautiful city so easy and enjoyable.
Was a great tour, and the guide was wonderful, VERY NICE EXPERIENCE. I invite you to enjoy my experience.
Great experience with Bernardo y Paulo as guide and driver. They deserved it due to its experience and making the experience very enjoyable
Our first time in Porto. My partner and I did the full day small group city tour with lunch, wine tasting and cruise. We had a fantastic day with fabulous host Bernardo and brilliant driver Jonas. We highly recommend this tour. Bernardo was very knowledgeable, respectful and had a great sense of humour. Thank Bernardo for a wonderful and educational experience. Also, thank you Jonas - your skills, experience and patience on the very busy streets of Porto were clealy evident. Five stars for these gentlemen from us. Pete and Leanne, Australia.
This was one of the most engaging and variable tour I've experienced. The tour guide, Bernardo was entertaining, extremely knowledgeable with history and other sugject matters. His bus driver Jonas was a safe and experienced driver, as we travelled through challenging streets. We felt reasured he he was a responsible driver. Fantastic tour!
We went on a tour with Alexandre. He was great, knew a lot about the history and architecture of Porto and his sense of humor and character made the tour very nice. Our bus driver was João, he was also very nice and always picked us up on time. I would recommend this tour!!
Very organised and headache-free tour! Our tour guide Mr Vidal was really great and patient. Our group was definitely satisfied with the price value as well. Definitely recommend!
Very amazing tour! Very amazing guide: Anabela. We discovered the town of Porto in a beautiful and relaxing way. Thanks a lot to Anabela!
Our tour guide was with Andre Viral, and we had an exceptional time!.. He is very knowledgeable of the entire city, history and best spots in town, restaurants, museums, stores,clubs, etc. He also spoke many languages and managed to explain everything in Spanish. French and English. We did the wine testing and the six bridges tour, which were very good and fun. He was also very friendly and kind. I highly recommend this tour with Andre. It worth every cent.
I can’t appreciate enough our guide Anna for her amazing description for every elements, kindness and patience. Her passion to the city was reflected in the way she tells stories about each sight. This was the best tour I had so far in Portugal in its richness and simplicity! I would say the success even was because of the guide Anna that she put everything in her capacity to make this unforgettable trip.
Rafaela and Jose did a marvelous job of getting us introduced to Porto. Rafaela made sure we saw all points of interest and what was worth a re-visit. Jose was a skilled driver.
This was the best way to see Porto. Some walking, some driving in a van then a 45 boat ride to see the city from the Douro. Port wine tasting and lunch included. Our excellent guide was Martin. 5 stars to Martin!
Sensational day touring around Porto with fantastic tour guide in Nuno Morning spent looking and walks it’s followed by great lunch and then river cruise Highly recommend Living tours and of course Nuno Must do if visiting Porto
We were so lucky to have Mr. Andre Vidal as our tour guide for our full-day guided city tour. He is a very knowledgeable, well-organized, and well-attentive tour guide. Our small group of 7 people from 3 hotels and 3 countries is amazed by his professionalism and excellent service. As a used to be a senior tour guide in my working history, I want to give him a rating of 10+ out of 10. He speaks excellent English, excellent French, excellent Spanish, and Excellent Portugal. I have visited more than 35 countries. He is the best tour guide I have ever experienced in my life.
Was this tour and several more with Livings tours. My husband and I visit Portugal and Spain and we take 10 tours with this Agency. Was our better decision! All tours was a successful, the guías very professionals, the travel wonderful and the places all very amazing ! Maríana from Livings Tours in Porto was our agent and she always help us coordinating all travels when we started made the plans before we arrive to Europe. Now we’re absolutely sure call Livings Tour in our next travel June /23 !
Carlos was my guide introduced us to the heart of the city, very helpful, full of experience and made us try both local wine, and the best restaurants in the city
Very nice trip! Definitely worth it if you are in Porto for a longer period!
The tour was very pleasant, very good organization with visit to beautiful places. Highlight for our guide, Pedro Costa, who in addition to being very attentive, made the walk lighter and more relaxed.
Excellent tour and very polite guide.
Helder is an exclusive guide, it was a very nice day.. we had a beautiful weather and everything was better than planned.. We visited the velha winery in Gaia, the sea, ate on the Riviera
The tour was exceptional, beyond expectations. Luís is very prepared and helpful, he followed us throughout with great patience. Thanks to him we know much more about the history of Portugal and Porto.
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