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I would highlight 3 things, which are not specifically must haves for family traveling per se, however all of them contributed to a relaxed, cozy trip, which is kind of the aim when you are traveling with small child(ren) after all. 🙂

• We used public transport. Porto’s accessibility by public transport is super reliable and convenient. We could easily navigate through the city. However please consider having a carrier besides the stroller, as the historical center is full of steep hills, and cobblestones.
• The locals made us feel very warm and cozy. They are extremely friendly people, who love kids!
• And last but not least: money. Affordability is always subjective to your current base, but living in central Europe we didn’t find Portugal super expensive. Also, it’s a plus that most sights don’t charge you for babies until 3 years of age. For an entire week we didn’t have to pay anything – sightseeing-wise – for our daughter.

Also, on a side note: please consider, everything is a toy or playing opportunity for a toddler. Never underestimate the power of 20 min on playgrounds.

Nevertheless, let me guide you through the epic palette you can choose from and I bet you’ll be searching for Porto airplane tickets by the end of this article. 🙂

I have put together half day itineraries for a reason: if you have a small baby, you might need more breaks and nap time. However, you can easily stick together 2 half day itineraries with bigger child(ren).

After arriving to the airport, we purchased our Andante card and headed to our rental. We had direct metro line between the airport and Trindade (center of the city, where we stayed). We opted for this AirBNB because we wanted to be located in the center with easy access to everywhere, and also we loved the small kitchen to cook some meals. It was just way easier than searching for restaurants all the time with a toddler.

Disclaimer: many restaurants close in the afternoon for a few hours (at least the kitchen). Plan ahead if you want to incorporate nap time and kitchen opening time together..

Later that day we did some grocery shopping and were ready to discover Porto the next day.

6 locations / Length: 1,3 km

We started our morning in one of the nicest book store of all time: Livraria Lello! The epic staircase allegedly gave inspiration for JK Rowling when she wrote about Hogwarts. Although it’s famous for the Harry Potter relation, I think everybody can be amazed by the intricate interior. We recommend using a carrier, as the bookstore is relatively small and there is not much space to run around. We arrived for opening time, yet it became really crowdy, so be aware!

Just minutes from the bookstore there are Clérigos Tower and Casa Oriental. The first gives you amazing views over the city by climbing up tremendous number of stairs – carrier is also more than welcome for smaller discoverers. While the latter one gives your taste buds an instant hurricane. Casa Oriental specializes in canned fish – which is an amazing treat, and souvenir as well.

Here you can decide if you want to refresh yourself in Base Porto, which is located in the park between Lello bookstore and the Clérigos tower, or you rather continue to discover Miradouro da Vitória – the famous viewpoint. This location is spacious enough for never stopping children. You can also find here musicians and street performers for a nice vibe, and amazing photo spot of course.

After the viewpoint, we strolled back to Chruch Carmo, which is beautifully covered in azulejos – the famous blue and white tiles across Porto.

For lunch, we recommend Steak n Shake for 2 reasons. Well to be honest 3! First, it’s really close to the church so you don’t have to walk that much. Also, the food is super delicious and last but not least, it has a crazy good mural on the outside. Bonus: your child(ren) will love the milkshakes!

8 locations / Length: 2,1 km

Porto has rich architecture which is often flavored with modern street art murals. We stayed near Trindade, so we were super happy, to have a mural next door. It’s a giant one where an older man holds the small version of Clérigos Tower. With bigger child(ren) it would be so epic to play ‘treasure hunt’ for these murals. I bet it would be an adventurous sightseeing. We started one morning here. Although Trindade is one of the busiest places in the city, early in the morning it was quite empty.

We continued our short walk toward Rua Catarina. With a toddler you definitely need some practical routes and shortcuts if needed. We loved that on a single shopping street you can find so many things to keep you busy for half a day.

There are many things that are essential to see/do/eat when you visit Portugal but in our opinion one of the most important is to taste their world-famous Pastel de Nata. Our No1 choice was Nata Lisboa on Rua Catarina. Pamper the family with these delicious deserts. Believe me, after the treat everyone will be ready for the next adventure.

Just a bit down the road, we found the Chapel of Souls, which has - in my opinion - one of the most amazing exterior. Good thing we were there in the morning, and were able to take stunning photos with no one to disturb us.

Side note: shops open around 09-10.00 am. Anything before this time frame you’ll find rather empty streets, which is super convenient with small child(ren).

I need to include this here: when we visited Porto in March the Bolhao Market was under renovation. But if you’re heading to Porto, definitely research if it’s open You find the building literally 2 minutes from the chapel.

Still on Rua Catarina, there is another iconic nata pastry shop – Fabrica da Nata. Although flavor-wise we had a winner already, but the interior of the upper level in this shop is worth the visit!

By this time, we were full, but we needed to stop in front of one more place: Majestic Café. You can go back in history by even looking at the exterior. Also be prepared, that this place is crowdy, so we just ended up having a nice photo in front of it.

Our last stop before lunch was the Santo Ildefonso Church. It lies on a hill and it’s beautifully decorated by azulejos too. Even if you don’t go inside, we recommend the little craft market in front of it. Also, this is the place where kids can roam around a bit, before we’re heading back to lunch.

Along the shopping street there were many restaurants to choose from, but you can also go to Via Catarina. This is a discreetly hidden shopping mall with a façade perfectly blending in to the architecture of the street. Here you can find many different types of cuisine, satisfying all needs in the family. It was perfect for a quick lunch.

8 locations / Length: 3,2 km

We started this day slow, and only got to sightseeing in the afternoon. Good news, we were able to use our stroller the whole time after 2 days of hip seat! We decided to discover the river bank, so we headed straight to the Cais de Gaia.

This promenade is very charming with lots of street performers, craft market stalls and cafes. We enjoyed the sunshine and the overall ambiance a lot. For drink recommendation I would go with Espaco Porto Cruz, which is a super place to have some cocktails (parents deserve some pampering too, right?). Then head towards the Rabbit mural – another great modern art installation.

We went back with the cable car, sparing us some time to sit down for a bit. The Teleferico de Gaia was the biggest surprise. We were amazed how engaging our daughter was. Including us. In most cases cable cars were meant to help you get from point A to B. If the scenery is nice, it’s a plus. But can you imagine a cable car along the Douro riverside, looking at the most famous sights and have a bird eye view on downtown Porto? It was magic for everyone – including our toddler! She was clearly so excited she could sit down(!) and watch them for 10 minutes in perfect silence.

After the cable car experience, we crossed the Dom Luis Bridge on the upper level. You can either walk, or opt for metro. Remember when I said you don’t have to think extra when you want to entertain a toddler. Let me tell you, we have seen the metro crossing the bridge so many times that we literally have to stop and wave at every single tram at home since we came back! There are many street performers along the bridge as well and also if you can manage the schedule, arrive at sunset time. It’ll be magic!

From the bridge you can take the stairs or opt for the Funicular getting down to Cais da Ribeira. This option is much shorter in time compared to the cable car, but definitely save you from a lot of stairs. This is definitely a place which gives Porto an unforgettable look with the Dom Luis Bridge in the background. Have a walk, and let yourself indulge in the moment. Listen to the street performers, buy some gadgets from the local stalls, chase for seagulls, examine the boats, even take a tour on the river.

When you need refueling, sit in any restaurant of your liking. A great place for dinner is Muro do Bacalhau but we also tried Farol do Boa Nova. Both have stunning view, amazing dishes, kind stuff, but we found the first one a bit calmer and more family-friendly.

3 locations / Length: 3,2 km

On the next day we planned something really cool: to take the bus and head to the ocean. I know it doesn’t seem so tempting at first – taking a 40 min bus ride as part of the sightseeing. But we had direct bus connection from Trindade to SEA LIFE aquarium. We didn’t have to pay a lot for tourist buses and our daughter was entertained for a good amount of time. And on top of that with the Andante card it is really affordable!

The SEA LIFE aquarium is authentically situated by the ocean. We arrived in a cozy weekday afternoon and we had the place to ourselves! Diving in, you can witness thousands of species in a child oriented interactive exhibition. Our 1,5-year-old toddler was amazed by this unknown world. Good point for the place is that if you purchase a ticket, you can go in and out as many times as you wish, giving you option to visit everything yet do not stress you (or your child) to do it in one leap. It was a highlight of our trip for sure!

Who said the only thing you can do on the beach are bath, and surf? You can easily spend an entire afternoon by the beach – playing, building sand castles, have a nice walk with a toddler having a nap in stroller etc. Even in March we’ve seen many families enjoying the first warm rays of sun outside. Allegedly the best family beach is Praia de Matosinhos, but we walked from the Sea Life to the Farolim de Felgueiras light tower (app 50 min) and we’ve seen amazing beaches throughout.

We highly recommend to visit Pérgola da Foz, the neoclassical (and photogenic) promenade along the Foz shore. We captured here some of the best family photos in Porto. We haven’t eaten in Casa Vasco, but if we had been looking for a restaurant it would have been this one for sure!

We ended the day at the Farolim de Felgueiras lighthouse. Although it was forbidden to walk all the way to the lighthouse, it had still a nice ambiance and our toddler loved running around on the beach. If you can manage to come here for sunset time, you’ll be rewarded with some epic view for sure.

4 locations / Length: 2,6 km

For our last day we started in the morning again. Fueled up with some natas for breakfast, we started at the Sao Bento train station. The whole family can spend a few minutes here gazing the walls and ceiling all covered in azulejos tiles. This was a great site even though it was not built as a touristic one.

From here we climbed the hill, to pay a visit at Sé Cathedral. What we liked the most is that in front of this huge building there is actually a huge open place too. Here, you can let the kids be free, and run around. Meanwhile the adults can enjoy the beautiful view from the terrace. Also, I want to highlight, that even though the place (cathedral and cloister) isn’t claimed to be stroller friendly, we did not have any issues with it, and there were minimal stairs on the ground level.

From the Cathedral we went on the upper level of the Dom Luís bridge again towards the Serra do Pilar Monastery. By this time, we opted for the outside view, instead of the interior. But I bet, both choices are great. Here we found yet another open air space with incredible views, where we could simply enjoy the freedom we had. Our daughter was dancing around, not bothering anyone near. I recommend this spot as well.

What we recommend from here is to descend a bit and walk to WOW Porto. Restaurants, cafés, port tasting, exhibitions, open places, museums.