![boats docked near seaside promenade]](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1555881400-74d7acaacd8b?w=1600&q=80&fit=crop&auto=format)
Porto
Portugal
Port wine, tiled facades, and a river worth staring at
Photo by Nick Karvounis on Unsplash
Photos by Nick Karvounis, Nick Karvounis, Nick Karvounis and K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Portugal
May to June, September to October
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 168mm in Dec
Where it is
41.15°N, 8.61°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Cross the Luís I Bridge on the upper deck
- Tour a port cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia
- Visit Livraria Lello early to beat queues
- Ride tram 1 to Foz beach
- Eat a francesinha
- Take a Douro valley boat trip
Porto travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Portugal
Good valueEuro. Porto is one of Western Europe’s better-value cities — a full meal with wine still runs €12-18 outside the tourist strip.
ATMs & cards
Look for Multibanco machines — the national network, usually fee-free and reliable. Avoid Euronet, which charges heavily and is common near São Bento.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- machines around São Bento station
Use these instead
- Multibanco (MB)
Same rule as Lisbon: Multibanco or nothing.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Portugal
SafeVery safe. Watch your footing on wet cobblestones on the steep streets, and be careful of the crowds on the Luís I bridge upper deck.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- São Bento station — and tram 1, for pickpockets
- Campanhã — the station area at night
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Portugal visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Portugal
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodFrancesinha is the local monster sandwich — heavy, cheesy, drowned in beer sauce. Pair it with a Super Bock. For seafood, head to Matosinhos.
Nightlife
Smaller and cheaper than Lisbon, concentrated in a few streets, and heavier on port and craft beer than on clubs.
- Galerias de Paris — the street that is a party by midnight
- Ribeira — the riverside, touristy and lovely
- Vila Nova de Gaia — port lodges across the bridge, before dinner
Closing: Bars until 04:00 at the weekend. Galerias is a street party by midnight.
A beer in a bar: €1.50–3
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than the meter, and the cheapest ride-hailing in western Europe.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Lisbon — 5 hours ahead of you
3 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–12:00 your time, 14:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 04:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 04:00–12:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Portugal
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.7× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fast. Enough to work from a cafe or a beach on a hotspot all day. Mobile runs at 2.6× the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Portugal, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Portuguese
- HelloOláo-LA
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youObrigado / Obrigadao-bree-GA-doo / -da
- Yes / NoSim / Nãoseeng / nowng
4 more phrases
- Excuse meDesculpedesh-KOOL-puh
- How much is it?Quanto custa?KWAN-too KOOSH-ta
- The bill, pleaseA conta, por favora KON-ta
- Cheers!Saúde!sa-OO-duh
Thank you changes with your own gender, not the listener’s: men say obrigado, women obrigada.
Religion
Catholic
Catholicism runs deep culturally, particularly outside Lisbon. Fátima is one of the largest pilgrimage sites in Europe.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Say bom dia and obrigado — the effort is noticed and warmly received
- Expect couvert: the bread and olives brought unasked are chargeable, and you may decline them
- Eat dinner around 20:00, earlier than Spain
- Try the coffee standing at the counter, the way locals take it
Don't
- Do not call Portuguese a dialect of Spanish, or speak Spanish expecting it to pass
- Do not be loud in restaurants; the register is quieter than in Spain
- Do not tip more than 5-10%, and only for good service
- Do not confuse fado with background music — audiences listen in silence
Where to stay in Porto
No Holistay rentals in Porto yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Porto on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Francisco Sá Carneiro OPO
30 minfrom the airport· 12 km as the crow flies
Metro line E to the centre, 30 min.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
