If you’re not from Portugal you might not be aware how much it can rain in Porto. To be honest, we don’t think that even most Portuguese are aware of the amount of rain one can get when visiting Porto. With an average annual rainfall higher than London, Seattle or Munich, well, you get the point. When visiting a city where you can sometimes get rain in summer, you always need a Plan B. We have ours and we know where and how to get the best time on a rainy day in Porto. Before we share it with you, let’s just check some facts.
Because of its location people associate it with a warm sunny city, which is the type of weather northern Europeans, Americans and most people in general, make in their minds when thinking about Portugal. Don’t let yourself be fooled. Porto has an average annual precipitation of 1,248 mm, which is roughly 50 inches (48.7 inches). Think about London. What comes to your mind? A grey and cloudy weather with more rain than anyone wished, especially the Londoners themselves. Overcast is sometimes a good day. For you to have an idea how much rainy Porto can be, London’s average is “only” 615 mm (24.21 inches). That’s right: less than half. Munich? 939,7 mm (37 inches). Closer, but still far. What about Seattle? Most Americans think you can’t get more rain than in there. Seattle gets 999 mm (39.34 inches), almost even to Munich. The difference is that in Porto you have many more sunny days than in London or Munich. The sun shines 2,468 hours a year, compared with 1,674 in London, 2,169 hours in Seattle or 1,841 in Munich. So, relax because most of the times, when visiting Porto, you’ll get a nice and warm sun. But what if you don’t? There’s plenty to do still, of course. With a rich and long history, a delicious cuisine and home to one of the most famous wines in the world, you can also have fun protected from the rain. Find below our favourite activies for a rainy day in Porto.
1. Visit a Museum
With a rich history, a cultural legacy and being the crib for the Age of Discovery in Portugal, there’s a lot to learn and to explore. A museum is an obvious choice, as they keep the most authentic and deepest facts of any place one visits.
Let’s start with one of our favourites: Banco de Materiais. This tiny little place located within the Palácio dos Viscondes de Balsemão is home to a collection of old and precious tiles, door handles, road signs and stucco. You know all those abandoned and rundown buildings in Porto? This is where fortunately some of this heritage ends up after their interior is torn down. The admission is free and it closes Mondays and bank holidays.
Nearby you have Centro Português de Fotografia. You don’t need to know Portuguese to tell what it is about, right? Located at edge of the old historic centre, where the old defensive wall used to be, hosts temporary and permanent exhibitions. A funny thing about it is that it is located in an old prison. That’s exactly what you read: a prison. You’ll have the chance to combine Photography with History, as it is pretty much like it was hundreds of years ago. It’s a great place to visit with children. Honestly. The reason stays in your imagination.
The Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, or Serralves for short, the local museum of modern art, has beautiful gardens that you should visit but not likely on a rainy day. Its interior, though, hosts some of the most important exhibitions for modern art in town and it’s worth a visit.
If you’re into History and want to know more about Porto and its past, Casa do Infante would be the obvious place to visit. A permanent exhibition provides you with deep information and facts about Porto through time. The Museu do FC Porto is perfect for the ones into sports, Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis for art in general, the Museu Romântico for the romantic ones and the Museu de História Natural e de Ciência would be perfect for the ones into Science and Natural History and located downtown.
2. Sink into a Port Wine Cellar
The most famous wine produced in Portugal? Port wine, for sure. It’s named after the city and most people tried it at least once, for Christmas. Home to Port, the advantage is that in Porto you can try it whenever you want, whether at a local café, at a bar or at any cellar, as most of the port wine houses open the doors of their cellars to visitors. A rainy day is just perfect to sink yourself into the darkness of these cellars, where gigantic wooden barrels guard thousands of liters of Port, in a cozy misterious atmosphere.
From the most popular cellars, like Sandeman, Calem, Taylor’s or Burmester, to the small wine houses like Kopke or Sogevinus Wine Shop (where you can check some wooden barrels, also), you have a lot of offer at different prices. Our favourites are Fonseca, where you can visit their cellar museum for €10, including a port wine in the end, Churchill’s with its lovely cellar and Vasques de Carvalho, a small family owned producer with the best and most friendly staff you can find. Though there is no cellar here, the wines and the staff make it more than worth it, a truly memorable experience.
If you always wondered how port wine is made or if green wine is really green or if you would like to know about wine in general, the best thing you can do is learning while trying. Check our Culture, Port and Green Wine Tour for more.
3. Get Comfort in a Wine Bar
If you’re not much into Port, maybe a glass of wine is what you need to escape the rainy weather outside and to comfort your soul. If you think of that the Portuguese are the world champions of wine consumption, you can easily guess that it won’t be a problem to find a wine bar nearby. A lot of new places are popping up here and there, at different price ranges for different niches.
Back in the 80’s, most bars in town were reflecting the character of Porto: granite, varnished wood and iron. A warm and cozy atmosphere. That’s why one of our favourite bars, and probably the one we go more often, is Pipa Velha. It means old barrel, so you can tell what you’ll be up to. Established in 1981, it has that soul most bars had back then: dark, warm and homy, with old wooden furniture, a lot of granite and chandeliers. Great selection of wines, affordable prices, alternative music playing and also a nice place for a bite. It gets busier at late evening.
Other places we go often are Candelabro, the pioneer of this new wave of wine bars, and Aduela, with an excellent selection of wines and a busy terraza. E Agora? is more of a cocktail bar but has a great vibe and lovely decoration and Capela Incomum, as the name says, is an uncommon chapel which was converted into a wine bar. If you try all of these on a rainy day you might forget the rain at some point.
4. Take Shelter in a Market
Tired of the gray weather outside? Try a colourful place. The Bolhão market is perfect for a stroll on a rainy day. Built in 1914 but with roots dating back to at least 1837, you can find the true soul of Porto in its merchants. They carry in them the old Porto character: friendly, welcoming and with a lot of sarcasm. You don’t even need to know Portuguese to understand it, sometimes. Anthony Bourdain experienced that and you can attest it in its show Parts Unknown. Talk to the old ladies, feel the vibe, try the barnacles, get a glass of wine at Dona Rosa or explore the cheese or ham sections. Is it really raining outside?
If you’re not located downtown, in Boavista area you have Bom Sucesso, which was the same type of market as Bolhão and now converted into a more contemporary urban market. It has a great vibe and strolling around one can bump into wine bars, pastry shops, francesinhas, wine shops or sea food. Some of the most famous places located downtown are also here, like Leitaria Quinta do Paço with lovely eclairs, Lado B and their delicious francesinhas or Arcadia for some of the best chocolate you may find around. On Gaia side you have Mercado da Beira-Rio with the same concept as Bom Sucesso. Good for groups with different dietary preferences. You can buy your food at different places and sit all at the same table.
5. Warm Yourself up with Some Coffee
The Portuguese love coffee. It’s a fact. That’s why cafés are so popular in Portugal. Entire families join for coffee after meals, friends meet for a coffee and during work you always have a coffee break in the morning or in the aftenoon. There’s always an excuse to pop in a café. When people meet someone they haven’t met in long time they say: “temos que tomar um cafezinho, um dia destes! (we need to go for a little coffee one of these days)”. Journalists, politicians, writers, artists and the influencers of the old days gathered at cafés and some revolutions were even planned at the table of some of the most famous cafés in town. Most of these are long gone, some are now facilities for big fast food chains, but a few still resist.
The most iconic of them all, reflected also on its name, is the Majestic. A glamour café from the 1920’s, a true Belle Époque place, where tertúlias (social gatherings) to discuss ideas took place in between Flemish mirrors, stucco ceilings, marble, varnished wood and velvet seats, in a typical Art Noveau style. After a period in the 90’s when it shut down for a couple of years, it was renovated and now it is a must go place in Porto, so if you’re passing by and there’s no line, take advantage and walk in, as normally you don’t get a seat.
Though A Brasileira is now part of a famous hotel, it’s open to public and it has a very similar vibe as the one before. Marble, chandeliers, mirrors, wood and excellent light make it glamourish, quite much like Guarany, with its famous painted walls that actually display “tupis” and not “guaranis”. You might be lucky to go on a day with live music. Piolho (louse), the popular name for Café Âncora D’Ouro, is where all the university students used to meet and still with a strong bond to the academic world in Porto.
6. Pop up into some Highlights
From the combined visit to the Cathedral (Sé for locals) and the Bishop’s Palace (Paço dos Bispos), to the narrow stairway of the Clérigos Tower and to the stunning interior of S. Bento train station, you have plenty to choose. Most of these places are now museums and some are even free to visit, like the train station. S. Bento, a beautiful “Beaux-Arts” building from the beginning of the 20th century, has its interior walls interily plastered in tiles that will make drop your jaw. There are around 20.000 of these that took 11 years to be painted by hand. All panels have a meaning and show a bit of the rich History and Culture of Portugal, and trying to decipher them is tempting. As it is within a walking distance, you can combine it with a visit to the Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace together. Maybe, then, the rain it will be gone.
Or not. But don’t worry. You still can climb all the 225 steps of Clérigos tower. Or is it 240? 230? Well, you can always count them. From the top of its 75 meters you have a beautiful 360º panoramic view of Porto. Hopefully it’s only raining and not foggy. If you’re too lazy for all these steps, sneak in the neighbour Late Baroque church with pink marble. Try it at noon. There’s a daily organ concert of half an hour that is free of charge (same as the church). Bolsa Palace with its amazing Moorish saloon and many more and the neighbour S. Francisco church with its interior completely plastered with gilded wood carving are also a must see.
7. Have Tea by the Beach
Feeling adventurous and tired of the busy downtown and its crowded places on a rainy day? Maybe a day by the beach is just what you need. We love a walk by the beach and a rainy day is when we can feel the power of nature the most, with the wild temper of the Atlantic expressed on big waves that hit the shore. A bit of wind on your face is rejuvenating. Let yourself be drifted by all this. You can’t stop the rain, so why not just enjoy it? If you feel like you had enough, warm yourself up with a hot tea in the cozy Casa de Chá da Boanova, an incredible building designed by Porto’s most famous architect and located on top of rocks that are practically on top of the sea. Unforgettable.
What about a day out?
So, as you can see, there are many ways to enjoy Porto even in the rain. If you don’t feel convinced by all this, a day out to a different location is also a great option to escape the weather. The Douro Valley wine region has normally a drier weather when compared to Porto, so booking a tour with us for a day out with plenty of Douro table wines and Port wines and delicious food is also something worth to try. Even if it is raining, you spend most of the time indoors if needed and, as far as we checked recently, it doesn’t rain in the van. More info and more inclusions here.
Viva Douro Tours 