Peering down over the town centre and the Rio Ave, this imposing ex-monastery, founded in 1318, still has a severe-looking Gothic chapel, though the main building is an 18th-century affair. The entire complex is currently closed to visitors.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
15.94 MILES
Igreja de São Francisco looks from the outside to be an austerely Gothic church, but inside it hides one of Portugal’s most dazzling displays of baroque…
13.96 MILES
This fabulous cultural institution combines a museum, a mansion and extensive gardens. Cutting-edge exhibitions, along with a fine permanent collection…
15.92 MILES
From Praça da Ribeira rises a tangle of medieval alleys and stairways that eventually reach the hulking, hilltop fortress of the cathedral. Founded in the…
Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis
15.4 MILES
Porto's best art museum presents a stellar collection ranging from Neolithic carvings to Portugal’s take on modernism, all housed in the formidable…
15.92 MILES
This splendid neoclassical monument (built from 1842 to 1910) honours Porto’s past and present money merchants. Just past the entrance is the glass-domed…
15.28 MILES
Sitting atop a bluff, this gorgeous botanical garden is one of Porto's best-loved escapes, with lawns interwoven with sun-dappled paths and dotted with…
14.5 MILES
At once minimalist, iconic and daringly imaginative, the Casa da Música is the beating heart of Porto's cultural scene and the home of the Porto National…
15.76 MILES
One of the world's most beautiful train stations, beaux arts São Bento wings you back to a more graceful age of rail travel. Completed in 1903, it seems…
Nearby The Douro attractions
0.09 MILES
Religious art, antique furnishings, ceramics and early-20th-century contemporary art can be glimpsed at this museum, named after the distinguished local…
0.22 MILES
On the lower level of Vila do Conde's glass-box riverfront tourist office, this small museum offers up models, photo displays, old fishing gear and one…
0.24 MILES
It’s no accident that seafaring fingers, so deft at making nets, should also be good at lacemaking. Vila do Conde is one of the few places in Portugal…
4. Alfândega Regia Museu da Construção Naval
0.29 MILES
Shipbuilding has been in Vila do Conde’s bones since at least the 13th century. This museum on the Rio Ave's banks, just west of Praça da República, has…
12.64 MILES
Arriving in Matosinhos, you can’t help but stop dead in your tracks as your gaze is drawn upward to this 50m-high sculpture by North American artist Janet…
6. Forte de São Francisco Xavier
12.92 MILES
Otherwise known as the Castelo do Queijo (Cheese Castle) because of the wedge of rock it stands upon, Forte de São Francisco Xavier looks every inch the…
13 MILES
Some 5000 marine creatures splash in the tanks at Sealife, where kiddie highlights include a shark tunnel and a rock pool for handling crabs, starfish and…
13.13 MILES
The hum of traffic on the Avenida da Boavista soon fades as you enter the serene, green Parque da Cidade, Portugal's largest urban park. Laced with 10km…