Bonfim

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Travellers who want to stay close to Porto's centre without paying centre prices often look east, and the first quarter they reach is Bonfim. It starts beyond the Baixa, around the Campo 24 de Agosto, roughly 1.3 km from the Avenida dos Aliados, and runs down towards the river and the Fontainhas viewpoint.

Bonfim is a residential parish of about 23,000 people, once industrial, with few famous monuments and a great many restaurants. Within about 750 m of the Campo 24 de Agosto there are 97 restaurants, the Military Museum of Porto, the city's first public cemetery and one of its best-reviewed viewpoints. The cheapest rooms listed in the area have a median price below the city's. The sections below cover what Bonfim is, its landmarks, eating, staying, getting around, and who it suits compared with the busier centre.

A working quarter, not a showpiece

The common mistake is to come to Bonfim looking for the monuments of the old town. It has few of them, and that is its character rather than its weakness.

Bonfim was an industrial parish. Most of its old factories have closed, and today its economy is commerce, banking and services. Before the reorganisation of 2013 it was Porto's newest parish, carved out of Santo Ildefonso, Campanhã and Sé, with its present limits fixed in 1956. It covers 3.05 km² and had 22,978 residents in the 2021 census.

Its centre, for a visitor, is the Campo 24 de Agosto. In the Middle Ages the ground was called Mijavelhas, later it held the cattle fair, and in 1860 it took its present name in honour of the Liberal Revolution of 24 August 1820. The triangular garden in the middle, laid out between 1912 and 1914, has a pond, cedars and plane trees, a viewpoint to the north, and jacarandas that are rare in the north of Portugal.

The arrival of the metro opened up the parish, and the Campo 24 de Agosto station is today the nearest stop for most of its places to stay.

South of the square, the streets run down towards the Douro and the Fontainhas viewpoint above the river.

Landmarks worth the walk

The mistake is to assume a residential quarter has nothing to see. Bonfim has three places that repay a visit.

The Military Museum of Porto, on the Rua do Heroísmo 144 m from the Campo 24 de Agosto, is rated 4.4 out of 5 from 893 reviews. It opened in 1980 in a late-19th-century house that, from the 1940s until 1974, held the political police of the dictatorship. Its best-known collection is about 16,000 miniature soldiers tracing the soldier from prehistory to today, and it also shows artillery from the 15th to the 20th centuries. It was listed as closed on Mondays.

The Prado do Repouso became Porto's first public cemetery on 1 December 1839, on a former bishop's estate. Its 10 hectares hold neo-Gothic monuments in granite and marble, the graves of notable Portuguese figures and a monument to the victims of the revolt of 31 January 1891.

The Miradouro das Fontainhas, 661 m away, is rated 4.7 from 2,653 reviews and open at all hours. In June it is also the site of one of the São João fairgrounds, open in 2026 from 29 May to 29 June.

The Parque das Águas, 537 m away, is rated 4.4 from 650 reviews, and the Jardim Paulo Vallada, 710 m away, 4.4 from 849.

Eating in Bonfim

The mistake is to walk back to the centre for dinner. The 750 m around the Campo 24 de Agosto hold 97 restaurants, more than in most of the areas on these pages, and many of them are among the best reviewed in the city.

Oficina dos Rissóis is rated 4.9 out of 5 from 2,096 reviews and opens from noon to 10 PM. Shahi Dawat, an Indian restaurant, is rated 4.8 from 2,029, Grill it 4.8 from 1,886, and ondo korean kitchen 4.8 from 1,471.

O Porto dos Gatos is rated 4.5 from 2,969 reviews, Restaurante Madureira 4.2 from 2,697, A Cozinha do Manel 4.5 from 1,525 and Tasquinha Rebelo 4.7 from 1,372.

Maynard's Burgers is rated 4.7 from 1,341, and Terraplana Café, 4.6 from 1,829, opens in the evening from 6 PM to midnight.

Mondays need planning here too. O Porto dos Gatos, A Cozinha do Manel, Tasquinha Rebelo and Restaurante Nova Era were listed as closed that day, and several others close between lunch and dinner.

The east side also features in the city-wide restaurant rankings.

A short history of the east side

The mistake is to read Bonfim as a suburb. It was annexed to Porto in 1834, together with Cedofeita, and it has been part of the city's story since.

The site of the Prado do Repouso shows how. In the 16th century it was a bishop's estate above the river. A diocesan seminary was founded there in 1804, and its buildings were burned during the Siege of Porto in 1832 to 1834. After a law of 1835 ended burials inside churches, the estate became the city's first public cemetery, opened in 1839.

The Campo 24 de Agosto carries another layer. Its name commemorates the Liberal Revolution that began in Porto on 24 August 1820, and the Military Museum nearby holds a room on a later uprising in the city, the republican revolt of 31 January 1891.

Bonfim grew as an industrial parish, and as its factories closed it turned to shops and services.

For a visitor, the history is mostly on the surface in names, squares and a few buildings, rather than in museums, and a walk from the Campo 24 de Agosto down to the Fontainhas covers the heart of it.

Bonfim was annexed to Porto in 1834, along with Cedofeita.

Staying in Bonfim

The mistake is to think a lower price means a long way out. Bonfim is about 1.3 km from the Aliados, and its rooms cost less than in the centre.

At least 170 places to stay are listed within 750 m of the Campo 24 de Agosto, and more than four in five of them are apartments, with at least 10 hotels among the rest.

On the test dates, 10 to 12 October 2026, Bonfim's median lowest rate came to about 127 euros a night. The same measure gave about 137 for Porto as a whole, 144 for the Baixa and 182 for the Ribeira, and the lowest single rate here was about 17 euros a night.

Location scores have a median of 9.1; overall ratings centre on 8.5, and 39 of 164 rated places score 9.0 or better.

Names with the most guest reviews include the Vila Galé Porto Centro, rated 8.5 from 4,712 reviews, the BessaHotel Baixa, rated 9.2 from 3,194, and the Hotel Porto Downtown, 8.6 from 2,380.

How Bonfim compares with other bases is set out in where to stay in Porto.

Bonfim is 1.3 km from the Aliados and cheaper than the centre.

Getting around from Bonfim

The mistake is to plan every journey on foot. The centre is walkable, but the metro saves time on the longer trips.

For the listed places to stay within 750 m of the Campo 24 de Agosto, the nearest metro station is Campo 24 de Agosto for 109, Bolhão for 49, Heroísmo for 10 and São Bento for 2.

From Campo 24 de Agosto a trip into the Baixa stays within the central fare zone, while a ride to the airport needs the dearer Z4 ticket at 2.30 euros, as priced by Metro do Porto.

On foot, the Aliados is about 1.3 km away, about 20 minutes, and the Fontainhas viewpoint about 660 m.

In late June, the Fontainhas fairground is part of São João, and the whole city fills on the night of 23 June. São João covers the night.

Passes and single tickets are compared in getting around Porto.

Who Bonfim suits

Travellers on a budget who still want to walk to the centre get the most from Bonfim. The median price is below the city's, and the Aliados is a walk of about 20 minutes.

It suits food lovers who like local restaurants, with 97 in the area and many of them highly rated.

It suits longer stays in an apartment, since more than four in five listings are apartments.

It is a weaker choice for a quick first trip centred on the monuments, since the monuments of the old town are a walk away, and anyone who wants to dine out on a Monday at the neighbourhood's best-known places.

For the monuments on the doorstep, the Baixa and the Ribeira are closer; for galleries and a similar price, Cedofeita.

A good plan from Bonfim is to take the metro into the centre in the morning and walk back in the evening by way of the Fontainhas viewpoint.

Common questions

Is Bonfim a good area to stay in Porto?

For travellers who want a lower price within walking distance of the centre, yes. The median nightly price was about 127 euros in mid-October 2026, and the Aliados is about 1.3 km away.

What is there to see in Bonfim?

The Fontainhas viewpoint above the Douro, the Military Museum with about 16,000 miniature soldiers, the Prado do Repouso cemetery and the garden of the Campo 24 de Agosto.

Which metro station serves Bonfim?

Campo 24 de Agosto is the nearest station for most places to stay; Bolhão and Heroísmo serve the rest.

Is the Military Museum of Porto open on Mondays?

It was listed as closed on Mondays. It is on the Rua do Heroísmo, near the Campo 24 de Agosto.