Full Day Tour in Oporto

We will start our Full Day Tour in Oporto by visiting the the House of Music “Casa da Musica” inaugurated in 2005, the House of Music a building of angular and disconcerting construction an authentic extraterrestrial ship that seems to have landed in Boavista, Oporto, very little consensual among the natives, although international recognition and admiration did not delay.

Indifinitively an icon of the city of Porto a building with a unique acoustic that brought the Music and the culture of the residents of the city.From there we reach Matosinhos, along the coast until we reach the “Foz”, the mouth of the Douro River.

Clerigos Tower is the tallest campanile in Portugal, with about 76 meters tall and more then 200 steps with a massive view over the city and the river, different 49 bells which form a large carillon that can give you quite a fright if you’re in the bell tower when they start to ring, but it will been worthwhile to clim it, once you reach the top and look out from the tower’s observation deck over the city.

The doors opened on January 13, 1906 and never closed 112 years later Lello Bookstore continues to satisfy everyone from literature lovers to architecture students to “Harry Potter” fans.

Its staircase is a major attraction, the cause… JK Rowling who, despite never having spoken openly about the period she was in Portugal, was married to a Portuguese and lived in Oporto at the time she started writing “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. “, this is one of the highlights of our Full Day Tour in Oporto.

People from all over the world visit the bookstore not looking for a book, but to know the universe that inspired the creator of the story of the world’s best known wizard.

The Porto Baixa (Downtown) is laid out around the Avenida dos Aliados (Avenue of the Allies), the city´s focal point, where everything happens, on this thoroughfare, there is the imposing Oporto Municipal Council building.

At the other end, it opens onto the Praça da Liberdade (Liberty Square) where there is a statue of a mounted Pedro IV, emperor of Brazil and king of Portugal , a huge supporter of the Liberalism movement.

In Sao Bento’s train station, its designation dues to the fact that it was built on the exact spot where formerly the Convent of St. Benedict, 20 thousand tiles from Portuguese artist Jorge Colaco will take you a virtual trip through Portugal in the North in general, with a special emphasis on the different civilizations that have passed here and the different occupations.

The Cathedral of Oporto or Porto Cathedral, a church with a Roman-Gothic structure began to be built in the 12th century, however with several renovations in the XVII and XVIII centuries), inside it stands the medieval rosacea of the 12th century, and from outside the highlight goes to the lateral galilee, work of Nicolau Nasoni in 1736, decorated with tiles.

Cafes are packet allover the city but, the most impressive one is the magnificent Majestic a luxurious café located on Rua Santa Catarina, more than a regular cafe, Majestic tells the history of Oporto.

The Oporto of the twenties, the political intrigues and the debate of ideas, the Oporto of “Bélle Époque”, of writers and artists.

At the Palácio da Bolsa, built in the 19th century in a neoclassical style and classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, we will found the ” Pátio das Nações” or the Arabian Hall, a characteristic feature of this period and decorative stucco in the marquetted floors and inlaid coats of arms and heraldic representations with the sculptures and screens of oils and frescoes of the great Portuguese masters.

The Church of San Francisco built in the 12th century, initially of Romanesque architecture was transformed into Gothic style and later Baroque, three naves covered with gilded carvings, in which it is thought that were used more than 300 kilos of gold, another one of the curiosities of the Church the Tree of Jessé, a sculpture of polychrome wood considered one of the best in the world of its kind.

Full Day Tour in Oporto, your best option…

Crossing the D. Luis bridge, will arrive in Gaia ( the city on the other river bank ), where Port wine is being aged in hundreds of different cellars, visit one of those cellars, enjoy its atmosphere and taste this unique wine it is obligatory to know the whole process, from the vintage to the final product.

It will also be possible to take a boat trip on a boat ” Rabelo” the name given to the boats that carried the wine barrels from the vineyards of the Douro valley to the wine cellars in Gaia in the ancient times, 50 minute tour riding along the Douro River to see the six bridges that cross it as well as enjoy the amazing panoramic views of the city.

Your Full Day Tour in Oporto can end at your hotel or other place within the city limits