While I would strongly recommend you spent more than just 24-hours in Porto, I realize that not everybody has the time to visit this city as its own separate trip. That being said, it is possible to get a good feel for the city during a quick overnight trip. This is exactly what I did when my mom and sister visited Lisbon in May 2025.
During my family’s visit, the list of things they wanted to do was endless, so we decided to squeeze in a 24-hour trip to Porto. A quick trip would allow them to experience the city even if just briefly, so we went for it!
We left Lisbon on the fast train around 9am, and were back the next day at around 5pm. With only 24 hours in Porto, we managed to pack a ton of sights and activities. It definitely helped that this was my third time in Porto, which is why I’m sharing our itinerary here. The goal of this trip was seeing the biggest landmarks and we definitely accomplished that!
Just for reference, my sister and mom are in good walking shape (despite my mom being close to 80!). We were able to cover a lot of terrain on foot, which I always say is the best way to see a place. If you are planning a quick trip to Porto to get a feel for the city, read on for my 24-hour itinerary/walking tour. If you are visiting Porto for longer, check out this post to see what we did on our last visit.
Getting There
Getting to Porto from Lisbon is super easy! High speed trains leave Lisbon’s Santa Apolonia station every hour or so between 6:00am and 10:00pm. Trains arrive at Porto Campanha station. The trip lasts around 3 hours and it’s very comfortable. We usually catch the train at Oriente Station because that’s closer to us.
If you can, book your train tickets in advance to get the best deal. We booked a month in advance and got ours for half off! You can purchase your tickets online here.
Once you arrive to Porto’s Campanha station, you’ll most likely have to purchase metro tickets to reach your accommodation. We always look up how the metro works when we travel to a new city because some metro systems can be tricky to figure out on the spot. Porto’s metro is super modern and, once you know how tickets work, it’s super easy to use! If you are staying in the city center, you’ll need to purchase an Andante Azul card (regular card), and load it with 2 trips (if you only want to get to and from the train station) on Zone 2. The cost for the two trips when we visited in May 2025 was €2.80. You can always use Google Maps to see which train you should take.
Where To Stay
We stayed a couple of blocks from the Bolhão Metro station. Our hotel was just a block away from where we stayed last time we visited Porto. Clearly, I really like this location! I used booking.com to find a good hotel to accommodate the 3 of us. We wanted a hotel that offered free breakfast and luggage storage. We found a great triple room with a nice balcony at the Spot Family Suites that met all of our needs. I definitely recommend this hotel if you are visiting Porto!
Walking Route
Day 1: We arrived in Porto around noon, dropped off our bags at the hotel and set off to explore. This day was packed as we basically saw most of the main sights! Here’s map with what we did. Here’s a map of our Day 1 exploration. I have numbered the stops to show the order in which we did them.
My mom and sister are shoppers, so we spent Day 2 (which was actually just a morning) walking around Rua de Santa Catarina. We started our walk at the Capela das Almas de Santa Catarina, where we lit up candles for the loved ones who are no longer with us. From there we walked down the Rua, stopping at different stores and shopping centers. When we reached Majestic Café, we popped in for a cup of tea to show my mom and sister the beautiful interior of this gorgeous Art Nouveau-style cafe. After tea we continued walking up to Igreja Paroquial de Santo Ildefonso. After checking out the church, we walked back to Mercado do Bolhão to buy some treats to bring with us on the train. From the market we walked back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and made our way to the train station to start the journey back to Lisbon!
We are a family of four who relocated to Portugal in July 2024. If you want to learn more about our travels, click here. If you want to read more about places to visit in Portugal, click here.
