We enjoyed two incredible weeks in Portugal with kids aged 9, 7, 4, and 4 months in May 2025, visiting Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon, Sintra, Nazare, Fatima, Obidos and Torres Novas.
May 21 arrived in Lisbon at 2:35 pm and took the 6:00 bus to Porto (the train was sold out). This was a little overwhelming for the kids - in hindsight, I would book a night of rest in Lisbon prior to the bus/train travel. In Lisbon, we took an Uber from the airport to the train station and ate at Jeronymo Coffee&Friends (5/5), arrived in Porto at 9:20 pm, took Uber to airbnb in Vila Nova de Gaia, (sleep Porto)
May 22 We went to the world of discoveries museum (all of us loved it, definitely a highlight of the trip, especially the boat ride through the countries Portugal explored 5/5!!!), ate lunch at Alfandega Duoro (5/5), visited Saint Francis church (5/5), uber to Capela das Almas, walked to Garcia & Marquez coffee stories (5/5), walked to Mercado balhao (8 am - 8 pm, bought port, sheep cheese, meat, bread, mango, cherries), went to Rabello hotel rooftop for dinner 5/5!! (chicken, shrimp and crepe were amazing, gorgeous views of sunset), Uber back to airbnb, (sleep Porto)
May 23 Day trip to Coimbra (arrived at noon by fast train 1 hr first class very nice, uber to Ze Manel dos Ossos (line too long), ate at Restaurante Petisqueira Portuguesa instead (5/5), walked 12 min to Joanina library (so many stairs!), Joanina library tour, walked to Gelataria Cosi (5/5), took Uber to Portugal dos Pequinitos (5/5 especially for ages 3-6), Uber to Ixtepo Pizzeria (5/5), walked to Fado ao Centro (5/5 fabulous but wouldn’t do it with typical american kids since the kids have to be extremely quiet), Uber to train, train to Vila Nova de Gaia, Uber to airbnb
May 24 Uber to Matisinhos, kids played at Parque Infantil da Praia do Homem (5/5), got port tonic from Praia Homem do Leme Restaurante, walked to Praia do Molhe (5/5), beach and sandcastle time, lunch at Molhe (4.5/5) (salmon was amazing, sardines not as much), took pictures at Pergola do Foz, Uber to Igreja San Ildefonso, walked across top of Luis I bridge, played in the park at Jardin do Morro (got lemonade), walked to Cais de Ribeira, dinner at Bacalhoeiro (nice views of water, food 4/5 veal was good), took pictures at Casa Portugeusa do Pastel de Bacalhau, sunset pictures of the rabello by the waterfront, Uber to Danko gelato (one of our best gelato experiences ever 5/5!!), Uber back to airbnb, (sleep Porto)
May 25 Porto Cathedral service at 11 am with cloister afterwards, Pregar Baixa lunch (5/5!), Santa Clara church, A Perola de Bolhao, Mantegeira pastel de nata with orange juice and coffee next door, relax and journal at Airbnb, mama brings honest greens (4/5) and danko gelato for dinner and dessert, mama goes out for sunset stroll (jardin do morro, pilar do serra, kitties rock (loved the photos from here, but wouldn't recommend if you're afraid of heights)), (sleep Porto)
May 26 Palacio da Bolsa 10 am (reservation required 5/5), walk to Sao Bento train station, walk to Turmeric (incredible indian food 5/5!), walk to Danko gelato, walk to Igreja Carmo and tiny house, Bolt to airbnb, dinner at Porto Antigo Comida Caseira (5/5 incredible octopus, need reservations), (sleep Porto)
This ends the Porto section of our travel. We would have like to do the Douro River Valley tour, but with jetlag, we were waking up late and most of the tours left very early. We'll have to do it on a future visit. World of Discoveries, Danko Gelato and sunsets over the Douro were highlights. We absolutely loved the restaurants and the churches. I'm glad we chose to do Matosinhos instead of the Algarve because we enjoy exploring historical sights more than beach time.