Porto

May–June and September for warm days and the Douro harvest just beyond; São João on 23 June is the wildest night of the year. In short: Late April to June and September to mid-October are the sweet spot for Porto: warm days, manageable crowds and mid-season prices. July and August bring the heat, the peak prices and the queues — book everything ahead or start at 08:00. November to March is the cheapest and emptiest, with shorter opening hours and some seasonal closures.

Start with Livraria Lello, Torre dos Clérigos, Ribeira & Dom Luís I bridge, São Bento tile station and Serralves Museum. Porto is inland, so build the plan around heritage, food and landscape. Three days — the centre on foot, the flagship sight plus market, one booked excursion into Portugal. Five days — add a second excursion and a slow day for museums, food and a local festival if the dates line up. Seven days — add two longer trips further into Portugal and a rest day. Group each day by walking distance and never cross Porto twice in one day.

This is inside the Schengen area. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals travel with an ID card. UK, US, Canadian, Australian and most Latin American visitors enter visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180, need a passport valid for at least three months beyond departure and issued within the last ten years, and should expect the EU's ETIAS travel authorisation to be required once it starts (check the official EU page close to your trip). No vaccinations are required. Requirements change: confirm against your own government's travel advice and the official immigration site before you book.

Porto is safe for visitors by the standards of Portugal: violent crime is rare and the real risk is opportunistic — pickpocketing on crowded transport, at photo spots and in busy markets, plus unmetered taxis and card machines pre-set to a higher amount or your home currency. Avoid deserted station areas and unlit outskirts late at night, use the official taxi rank or a ride-hailing app after dark, keep your bag in front of you in queues, photograph your passport, and check your own foreign-office travel advice page before departure. Travel insurance with medical cover is worth it.

Metro from the airport into the centre in 30 minutes; the historic centre and Gaia are walkable via the Dom Luís I bridge. In Portugal, load a rechargeable Navegante/Andante card rather than buying paper singles from the driver For accommodation, stay inside or immediately beside the historic centre of Porto for a first visit: you walk to the sights and save two taxis a day. The edge of the old town is the value option — a few minutes further out, noticeably cheaper and quieter at night. Ask for a room over a courtyard rather than a bar street.

Prioritise Livraria Lello, Torre dos Clérigos, Ribeira & Dom Luís I bridge, São Bento tile station and Serralves Museum. What you can skip without regret: the restaurants with photo menus and touts on the main square, any hop-on bus if the centre is walkable, and paid "panoramic" viewpoints when a free one gives the same picture. Porto is inland, so plan around heritage, food and landscape rather than beaches.

Metro from the airport into the centre in 30 minutes; the historic centre and Gaia are walkable via the Dom Luís I bridge. As a rule: take the scheduled bus or train for the cheapest ride, an official taxi rank or a ride-hailing app when you land late or carry luggage, and never accept a lift from someone approaching you inside the terminal.

Day 1 — the historic core of Porto on foot, clockwise from the main square, with lunch where you end up rather than walking back. Day 2 — the single biggest sight first thing, then the market and the residential streets around it, and a viewpoint at sunset. Day 3 — one excursion into Portugal booked in advance, back for a late dinner. Group everything by walking distance and never cross Porto twice in a day.

The classics are the same everywhere: unmetered taxis quoting a flat fare, "free" bracelets or flowers, distraction pickpocketing on crowded transport and at photo spots, card machines handed over pre-set to a higher amount or to your home currency, and restaurants without printed prices. Check the meter, always pay in euros, and keep your bag in front of you in queues.

In Portugal, round up or leave 5%; couvert bread and olives are charged, so wave them away if you don't want them. Lunch 12:30–15:00, dinner 19:30–22:30; the menu do dia at lunch is the best value meal of the day. Cover shoulders and knees inside churches, greet staff before ordering, keep your voice down in residential streets at night, and expect shops in smaller towns around Porto to close in the early afternoon.

Most of what makes Porto memorable costs nothing: walking the historic centre and its squares, the market hall, the outside of Livraria Lello, the churches that ask only for a donation, the parks and gardens, and the viewpoint that looks back over the roofs. Add a stretch of the old walls, the riverside or greenway path, and the ridge road above town at sunset. Municipal museums in Portugal usually have one free afternoon or evening a week, and many cathedrals are free outside visiting hours if you go to pray rather than to tour — check the times at the door on your first morning.

Keep two indoor blocks in reserve: the main museum or cathedral of Porto, a market hall with food stalls, a long lunch, or a thermal bath or wine cellar in Portugal. In extreme heat, invert the day — sights before 11:00, indoors from 14:00 to 18:00, and the evening back outside. May–June and September for warm days and the Douro harvest just beyond; São João on 23 June is the wildest night of the year.

Locals go where there's no ticket desk: the residential lanes just outside the walls of Porto early in the morning, the neighbourhood bar with four tables and one dish, the cemetery or convent garden that nobody photographs, and the hill road out of town at dusk. Ask the person serving you coffee where they eat on Sunday — in Portugal that question opens more doors than any list.