Porto Travel Guide: How To Plan A Cheap Weekend City Break

This post will be sharing my Porto travel guide.

It’s been four days since my trip to Porto, Portugal, and I’m still basking in my experiences.

Is it the cheap flights, accommodation and food, memorable activities or the gorgeous sunshine?

Whatever you go with, Porto gave everything it needed to give.

I typically don’t plan to go in advance for those new to this blog.

I go on Skyscanner, Kiwi and Ryanair.com to pick the cheapest and most convenient flight and go there.

This wasn’t any different for Porto.

After struggling to find cheap weekend flights, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Thursday to Saturday return flight.

Since starting my new job, I’m happy I have a shift rota for the first time.

This way, I’m not stuck with expensive Friday night flights.

Also, my options are more open with a flexible time off.

I’ve already booked my flight and accommodation to my next destination.

Since I started prioritizing travel part-time in June 2021, my trip to Porto has been the cheapest so far.

I was so shocked when doing my budget to find out how little I spent because everything was so affordable.

If I hadn’t had to do extra shopping here and there, I would have paid under £100 for the trip.

Even with the shopping, it was still under £150.

I would have been tempted to get a few extra things, but I restricted myself because I wasn’t about to pay extra for luggage.

Plus, my backpack was already packed to the brim.

Enough of my rambling.

Let’s get straight to the details of my Porto Travel Guide.

Here’s How To Plan The Cheapest Trip to Porto, Portugal for 2 Days

As always, I’ll share all the details that made my trip incredibly affordable.

For those who don’t know, Porto is a coastal city northwest of Portugal.

In my experience, cities not capitals or in the centre tend to be cheaper except Milan.

Despite not being in the centre of Portugal or as popular as Lisbon, Porto manages to pack a punch, for which I’m honestly grateful.

This way, you don’t feel missing out by skipping Lisbon.

Flights

Cost: £29.98 return – €35.23

I was so lucky with this flight because I mistakenly booked it for the end of March.

Thankfully, I could change it to the first week of March without fees.

I was worried that I needed to buy a new ticket.

Thankfully, I didn’t.

These days, other budget airlines have become a lot pricier.

I think they’re all trying to make up for the pandemic loss.

So, I stick to Ryanair.

They have this nifty feature that works like Skyscanner or Kiwi, where you can search for all the flights for a particular day.

This helps me to narrow down my options.

As much as possible, I try to book 2-3 weeks in advance so it’s cheaper.

Airport Transfer to Porto City Centre

Cost: €2.60 one way to Zone 4 – £2.16

Despite being a relatively small city, the Porto airport is about 45mins to 1hr, depending on how you commute.

Thankfully, a metro station connected to the airport goes directly to the city centre in about 30 – 45 minutes.

I love train stations with metros and trains.

They are usually cheaper and faster than shuttle buses.

Plus, they give me the headache of my motion sickness.

You can buy your ticket via contactless or the ticket machines in the metro station.

Between the airport and the city centre is Zone 4, so make sure you’re buying the correct ticket.

I’ll share more details on transportation shortly.

Accommodation

Cost – £29.11 for two nights – €34.98

Honestly, my favourite thing about Porto is how cheap the hostels are.

I’ve started this nifty trick by booking directly with hostels instead of Booking.com.

I’ve saved so much money doing this. I

I use Booking.com as a search engine to find cheap hostels.

Then, once I’ve chosen the ones I want, I narrow down my choices and go with the one that gives me the best bang for my buck.

Then, book directly on my website.

So far, I’ve been saving between £10 – £15 doing this.

I’m honestly so satisfied with what £15 per night got me.

I got a hostel close to the metro station and all the attractions with decent amenities.

The room and bathroom were clean and warm enough, and the view was from a balcony.

It is also attached to a cafe where I could get a breakfast for £4.

What’s not to love?

Transportation

As a result of Porto being a compact city, I did not need to pay for transportation.

I walked everywhere.

I had initially planned to buy the Andante Tour 1 for €7, a 24-hour transportation pass for tourists.

It lets you use any metro, bus or tram for 24 hours.

But then, after walking around for a bit, I realized that I wouldn’t need it at all.

So I didn’t bother buying it.

This means the only transportation I paid for was an airport transfer with the metro.

This is another way you’ll be saving money.

Here’s more information about the Porto Andante passes and fares.

Meals

As a non-foodie, I prefer familiar meals during my trips.

This is why you’ll most likely find me at a McDonald’s having lunch.

Not only do I have something to compare to that of the U.K., but I also enjoy upgraded and sometimes cheaper regular meals.

It’s like having four chicken nuggets for 83p instead of the £3.50 in the U.K.

I best believe I stuffed my face with cheap chicken nuggets.

Besides that, Porto has many cafes that sell many tasty, cheap pastries.

So your breakfast and maybe brunch is more or less covered with €2 pastries and coffee.

I decided to try something different for dinner like I did in Milan and try a traditional meal from a nearby restaurant.

So, I went on Google Maps to read reviews. I got rice and a grilled sea bass meal for £11.

It would have been cheaper if I hadn’t opted for a starter mixed salad.

All in all, it wasn’t too bad at all.

Attractions

Will this Porto travel guide be complete without attractions? I think not!

There’s just so much to see and do in Porto.

Even if you want to avoid popular tourist attractions, you can still find things to do by yourself without the crowds.

That is how inclusive Porto is.

There is honestly something for everyone.

However, perhaps the most exciting feature is that the city is surrounded by water.

It honestly just adds so much character and brings the city to life.

Even if you want to sit by the banks of River Douro, chill in the sun and enjoy the vibes, you’ll have a great time.

There’s so much to do around the river.

While I’ll be creating a separate post for the attractions, here are some of the must-see ones:

• Porto Cathedral
• Luis I Bridge
• Mosteiro de Serra do Pilar
• Jardim do Morro
• Chapel of Souls
• Igreja dos Clerigos

Shopping & Souvernirs

I didn’t do that much shopping because I didn’t want the excess luggage.

I got a few things here and there that I could stuff into my backpack.

The Sephora was slightly disappointing, and I could only get two sample items.

As for the souvenirs, of course, I got nice ones that were portable enough.

To save money, buy souvenirs by the Luis I Bridge instead of the city centre as they’re cheaper there.

Finally,

I hope you found this Porto travel helpful guide.

I love the city.

It’s somewhere I see myself returning to and staying for a while because of how cheap the cost of living is.

It’s also somewhere that can act as a base while I explore the rest of Western Europe.

I’m looking forward to taking extensive trips in the future.