Explore Porto

The Crystal Palace Gardens are a public park on a hill in Porto's Massarelos district, laid out in the 1860s by the German landscape gardener Émile David around the city's former Crystal Palace. The palace was replaced in the 1950s by the domed Rosa Mota Pavilion; avenues, fountains and terraces look out over the Douro.

Fonseca Port Cellars are the Vila Nova de Gaia lodge of the Port house Fonseca Guimaraens, on Rua do Choupelo above the riverside, in cellars that are centuries old. A visit with an audio guide explains the Douro valley, the house's vineyards and how port is made, includes a test of port aromas, and ends with a tasting.

Graham's Port Lodge is the Vila Nova de Gaia cellar of W. & J. Graham's, a port house founded in 1820 and owned by the Symington family since 1970. The lodge keeps the wooden beams and iron pillars of its 1890 building and holds about 3,200 casks of ageing port; visits tour the cellars and end with a tasting.

Taylor's Port Cellars are the lodges of the port house Taylor's, founded in 1692, in the historic quarter of Vila Nova de Gaia. The cellars, about 300 years old, hold oak casks and large vats of ageing port, with Vintage Port kept in tunnels below; a self-guided audio tour with films and exhibits ends with a tasting.

Cockburn's Port Lodge is the cellar of the Port house Cockburn's on Rua Serpa Pinto in Vila Nova de Gaia, up the hill from the riverside. The firm was founded in 1815 by the Scotsman Robert Cockburn and has belonged to the Symington family since 2010. Guided tours pass long aisles of stacked casks and the lodge's cooperage and end with a tasting.

Casa da Música is Porto's concert hall on the Rotunda da Boavista, designed by Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and opened in April 2005. The angular white concrete building has a 1,300-seat main auditorium with glass end walls and is home to the Porto Symphony Orchestra; daily guided tours show the building.

The FC Porto Museum occupies almost 8,000 square metres beneath the east stand of the Estádio do Dragão. Opened in 2013 for the club's 120th anniversary, it has 27 themed areas on the history of FC Porto in football and other sports, with the club's trophies, among them its international cups. Guided tours of the stadium are also offered.

Serralves is a cultural foundation in western Porto, set up in 1989. Its grounds hold a contemporary art museum designed by Álvaro Siza and opened in 1999, the pink Art Deco Casa de Serralves completed in 1940 for the Count of Vizela, and an 18-hectare park with gardens, woodland, sculptures and a treetop walk.

The Water Pavilion is an interactive science centre about water at the north entrance of Porto's City Park. Designed by architect Alexandre Burmester for Expo '98 in Lisbon, it was moved to Porto and reopened in 2002; its exhibits follow a river from source to sea and cover the city's water cycle and the efficient use of energy.

Sea Life Porto is an aquarium on the seafront beside the Castelo do Queijo fort, opened in 2009 and run by Merlin Entertainments. Its themed zones lead from Douro river species and rock pools past a sunken ship to a main tank with rays, blacktip reef sharks and a sea turtle, seen from an underwater tunnel; outside there is a play area.