The best bars in Porto

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An evening in Porto can go several ways, and the bar you choose sets the tone: a glass of Douro wine in a small cellar, a cocktail on a terrace above the river, a crowded street of bars that stays up late, or an hour of fado. The best bars in Porto are spread across a few distinct areas, and each suits a different kind of night.

Below they are grouped by what they do best. The Galerias de Paris streets near the Clérigos are the city's best-known nightlife quarter. The Ribeira has wine bars and terraces by the water. The Baixa holds most of the late-opening places. Three wine bars that travellers ask about by name, Prova, Dogma and the Wine Quay Bar, each have a section, with addresses and hours. Fado has its own section with the houses and concerts that run most evenings. Hours change, so check before setting out.

Prova, and where the night starts

The common mistake is to look for late bars in the Ribeira. The bars that stay open late are uphill in the Baixa, and the riverside suits the earlier part of the evening.

Prova, on Rua Ferreira Borges 86, near the Palácio da Bolsa, is one of the wine bars travellers ask about by name. At Prova wine bar Porto nights run late: it opens from 5 PM to 1 AM and closes on some weekdays, so check the day before going. It is a bar for wine and food.

Fado is the other classic start to a night. The choice between a fado concert and a fado dinner decides the evening: a concert lasts about an hour and leaves time for a bar afterwards, while a dinner with fado takes most of the evening. The best fado show in Porto for you depends on that choice more than on any single house.

After an early glass or a concert, the natural move is up the hill, towards the Clérigos and the streets around the Galeria de Paris, where the bars stay open later.

The late bars are uphill from the river, in the Baixa.

Fado, cocktails and views

The mistake is to book fado without deciding between a concert and a dinner.

For the best fado in Porto on your own terms, the choice is between the concert rooms in the old town, which run one-hour shows with a glass of Port, and the fado houses that serve dinner. Páteo da Mariquinhas on Rua de Alexandre Herculano is a fado house rated 4.3 from 225 reviews, in the 35 to 40 euro band, open from 8 PM to midnight and closed on Sundays and Mondays. SINA, the House of Fado, at the same address, is rated 5.0 from 28. Presidencial Fado, 140 m from the centre, is rated 4.9 from 215.

For the best cocktail bars Porto diners rate, Ocaso on Cais das Pedras stands out: rated 4.9 from 1,906 reviews, it is the place diners mention cocktails and sunset views of the Douro most, open until midnight and closed on Mondays. Rua Tapas on Travessa de Cedofeita, 4.5 from 2,827, is a live music bar that opens at 7 PM. TOA Porto on Rua de Miguel Bombarda, 4.7, is a cocktail bar with a terrace.

For a view with the drink, 17th Restaurant & Bar, rated 4.5 from 2,246, is the terrace diners mention most, and its view is often mentioned too.

Fado rooms in the old town run one-hour shows with a glass of Port.

The Wine Quay Bar and the Ribeira

The mistake is to think the Ribeira has only tourist cafés. A few places on the quay are worth an evening, especially for wine with a view.

The Wine Quay Bar Porto visitors look for is on the Muro dos Bacalhoeiros, at number 111, facing the Douro. It serves wine with food, facing the river. Its published hours are 4 PM to 11 PM, and it closes on Sundays, so it suits an early evening rather than a late night.

Nearby on the same wall, Vinhas d'Alho, rated 4.2 from 2,332 reviews, is where diners most often mention the river view, and fado is among the things they mention too; it opens from noon to 10:30 PM, Sundays and Mondays included. Terreiro, on the Largo do Terreiro, 4.4 from 2,154, also has river views and is closed on Mondays.

Across the Luís I bridge, the Cais de Gaia has its own riverside terraces and bars facing the Ribeira, with the lodges of the Port houses behind them.

When the Ribeira's terraces close, the late bars are uphill, around the Galeria de Paris.

The Galerias de Paris streets

The mistake is to arrive early and judge the area by how quiet it is at 9 PM. The Galerias de Paris come alive late.

The name covers the streets around Rua Galeria de Paris and Rua de Cândido dos Reis, near the Hospital de Santo António and a short walk from the Clérigos. When bars and cafés began opening there, they helped revive the Baixa, and the night scene that grew up became known as the Movida Portuense.

Many of the Porto Portugal wine bars that stay open late are in and around this quarter. Casa Guedes Progresso, 45 m from the Galeria de Paris, is rated 4.6 from 8,302 reviews, listed both as a wine bar and a cocktail bar, and serves from noon to midnight, Sundays and Mondays included. Casa Guedes Oliveiras, 256 m away, stays open until 12:30 AM on Fridays. Callejero on Rua das Oliveiras, rated 4.7 from 1,895, plays Latin music and serves until midnight on Fridays.

Further out, Terraplana Café on the Avenida de Rodrigues de Freitas, 4.6 from 1,829, keeps the latest hours of the well-rated bars, until 2 AM on Fridays, with a terrace, original cocktails and live music.

For the neighbourhood around it, see the Baixa.

Choosing a wine bar

The mistake is to choose a wine bar only by its name. The best wine bars Porto has differ in what they are for: a tasting flight, a glass with dinner, or a drink by the river.

For a guided tasting of Portuguese wine, a bar with flights is the choice, and Dogma, in the next section, is built around them.

For a glass with food, the wine bars that are also restaurants suit a whole evening. Lagostim, 230 m from the Galeria de Paris, is listed as a seafood restaurant and a wine bar, rated 4.3 from 3,129, and opens for lunch and dinner, Sundays and Mondays included. Borboleta on Rua de D. Manuel II, 4.7 from 965, and Éter, rated 4.9 from 541 and the place diners mention most for its wine list, belong to the same group.

For a view, the Ribeira and Cais das Pedras bars put the river in front of the glass.

Port itself is tasted in the lodges across the river, where visits include tastings; the Port wine guide explains the styles before you order.

Whatever the bar, ask for a wine from the Douro or the Vinho Verde region to taste what the north of Portugal makes.

Dogma and wine tastings

The mistake is to order a glass at random in a city with this much local wine. A tasting flight teaches more in an hour.

Dogma wine bar Porto visitors book for tastings is on Rua dos Caldeireiros 238, near the Clérigos. It is built around guided flights of Portuguese wine, one glass at a time.

Its flights include one devoted to the Vinho Verde region, with a sparkling wine, two whites and two reds; an introduction with a sparkling wine, a rosé, a white, a red and a Port; and higher tiers of two whites and two reds of medium-high, high and top quality from across Portugal. Wine samples are 75 ml and Port samples 60 ml.

Small plates are built around the wine: bread and olive oil, Padrón peppers, tomato salad, gilda skewers of anchovy and olive, sardine bruschettas and clams in white wine and garlic.

The flight format suits a traveller who wants to compare regions rather than drink one glass, and it pairs well with a lodge visit in Gaia later in the stay.

The bar publishes its menu and tastings on its own site, and Prova does the same on prova.com.pt.

Planning a night out

Start early by the river, finish late uphill. The Ribeira's wine bars and terraces suit the hours around sunset, and the Galerias de Paris and the Baixa suit the hours after 10 PM.

Check the day. Several bars close on Sundays or Mondays: Ocaso and Terreiro on Mondays, the Wine Quay Bar on Sundays, and Páteo da Mariquinhas on both.

Book fado. The concert rooms run one-hour shows, so reserve a seat ahead and plan the rest of the night around it.

Mind the hills. The walk from the Ribeira to the Galerias de Paris is uphill.

A wine bar Porto Portugal visitors remember is usually one with a view or a story; pick one of each.

For restaurants before or after, see where to eat in Porto. The metro runs until about 1 AM on weekdays; check the Metro do Porto timetable before counting on a late train.

Common questions

Where is the nightlife in Porto?

Mainly in the streets around Rua Galeria de Paris and Rua de Cândido dos Reis, near the Clérigos, known as the Galerias de Paris. The Ribeira suits earlier drinks by the river.

Where is Prova wine bar?

At Rua Ferreira Borges 86, between the Ribeira and the Palácio da Bolsa. It opens from 5 PM to 1 AM and closes on some weekdays, so check before going.

Where can I see fado in Porto?

In one-hour concerts in the old town, often with a glass of Port, or at fado houses with dinner such as Páteo da Mariquinhas on Rua de Alexandre Herculano, which is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Which bars in Porto stay open late?

Terraplana Café on the Avenida de Rodrigues de Freitas stays open until 2 AM on Fridays, and the Casa Guedes houses serve until midnight or later.