Explore Vila Nova de Gaia

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.

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.

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.

Cálem Port Cellars are the lodge of the Port house Cálem on the Gaia riverside, across the Douro from Porto's Ribeira. The firm was founded in 1859 by António Alves Cálem. The tour leads through an interactive museum on port wine and the Douro valley and through cellars of large vats and casks, and ends with a tasting; some sessions add a fado show.

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.

The Church of São Francisco is a Gothic church in Porto's historic centre, built by the Franciscans from 1383 to about 1425 beside today's Palácio da Bolsa. Its plain stone nave contrasts with the gilded Baroque woodwork covering walls, pillars and chapels, including a Tree of Jesse altarpiece; the visit continues to the Third Order church, a museum and catacombs.

Ribeira is the riverside quarter of Porto's old town, on the north bank of the Douro below the cathedral hill and part of the UNESCO-listed historic centre. Its arcaded Praça da Ribeira was rebuilt after a fire in 1491, and tall, narrow houses line the Cais da Ribeira quay facing the port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia.

The Palácio da Bolsa is the neoclassical seat of Porto's Commercial Association, built from 1842 on the site of the burnt cloisters of the São Francisco convent to plans by Joaquim da Costa Lima Júnior. Guided tours lead through the glass-domed Courtyard of Nations, the Noble Staircase, the Tribunal Room and the Arab Room; the interiors were completed in 1910.

Burmester Cellars stand on the Gaia riverbank next to the lower deck of the Luís I Bridge. The Port house traces its origins to Burmester, Nash & Co., founded in 1750 by Henry Burmester and John Nash. Guided or self-guided visits lead through an old warehouse of casks and a cellar of vintage port and end with a tasting.

The Dom Luís I Bridge is a double-deck iron arch bridge over the Douro between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, designed by Théophile Seyrig and built by the Belgian Société de Willebroek. Its 172-metre arch opened in 1886; the upper deck now carries Metro line D and pedestrians, and the lower deck links the Ribeira quay with the Gaia waterfront.

The Monastery of Serra do Pilar is a former Augustinian monastery on a hill in Vila Nova de Gaia, facing Porto across the Douro beside the Dom Luís I Bridge. Begun in 1538, it has a circular church inaugurated in 1672 and a round cloister of the same diameter; part of the site has been a military barracks since 1947.

Porto Cathedral, the Sé, stands on a hilltop in the historic centre and is one of the city's oldest buildings. Begun in the 12th century as a fortress-like Romanesque church with a rose window, it was remodelled in the Baroque period, when Nicolau Nasoni added the side loggia. The visit includes the Gothic cloister lined with 18th-century azulejo panels.

The Misericórdia of Porto Museum, opened in 2015, occupies the Rua das Flores building that was the seat of the city's Santa Casa da Misericórdia charity from the 16th century until 2013. Its collection includes the Flemish panel Fons Vitae, and the visit takes in the church, with a baroque façade by Nicolau Nasoni, and an iron-and-glass gallery of 1890.

World of Discoveries is an interactive exhibition on the Portuguese voyages of discovery between 1415 and 1543, set in former Real Companhia Velha warehouses in Miragaia near the Douro. Opened in 2014, it has life-size sets, navigation instruments and maps, and a boat ride along a water channel past scenes of Africa, India, Brazil, China and Japan.

The Igreja de Santa Clara is the church of a former convent of Poor Clares in Porto, begun in 1416 next to the Fernandine Walls and completed in 1457. Behind its Renaissance portal, the interior is covered in gilded and polychrome Baroque woodwork; the church has been a national monument since 1910.

The Clérigos Tower is the 75-metre baroque bell tower of the Clérigos Church in Porto, designed by the Italian-born architect Nicolau Nasoni and built between 1754 and 1763. Visitors climb about 240 steps to a gallery overlooking the old town and the Douro, and the ticket also covers the church and a museum on the Clérigos brotherhood and on Nasoni.

São Bento Station is a railway terminus in Porto's historic centre, built from 1904 to plans by architect José Marques da Silva on the site of a Benedictine convent. Its entrance hall is lined with about 20,000 azulejo tiles painted by Jorge Colaço between 1905 and 1916, showing episodes of Portuguese history and scenes of rural life.

Livraria Lello is a bookshop on Rua das Carmelitas in Porto, opened in 1906 in a neo-Gothic building designed by the engineer Francisco Xavier Esteves for the brothers José and António Lello. Inside, a forked red staircase rises to the upper floor beneath a stained-glass skylight; entry is by timed ticket, which doubles as a voucher for a book.

The Soares dos Reis National Museum was founded in 1833 as the Museu Portuense and is Portugal's first national art museum. Since 1942 it has occupied the neoclassical Carrancas Palace of the late 18th century, and its collection of Portuguese painting, sculpture, furniture, ceramics and metalwork includes works by the sculptor António Soares dos Reis, after whom it is named.

The Church of Saint Ildefonso stands above Praça da Batalha in Porto; built from 1709 on the site of a medieval chapel, it was blessed in 1739. Its twin-towered granite façade carries about 11,000 azulejo tiles by Jorge Colaço from 1932, and inside are a retable by Nicolau Nasoni and a small museum of sacred art.