PORTO: 20 Museums to visit

Porto is a small city, indeed, but that doesn't mean that there’s a lack of things to do or places to visit. If you like culture, history, science, photography, or just visiting museums, this post is for you!

Check our list of top 20 museums to visit in Porto:

1. Guerra Junqueiro House - Museum 

Guerra Junqueiro was an important Portuguese figure of the 19th century, a highly administrative employee, journalist, poet.
He lived in this house, where he gathered a beautiful collection of furniture, jewelry, and Portuguese cutlery.
The house-museum intends to reconstruct the original disposition and environment.
Here you can also find a gorgeous collection of ceramics, textiles, metals, and glasses from the 15th to the 19th century.
  • Address: 
    • Rua D. Hugo, 32 
  • Schedule: 
    • Tuesday to Saturday 
      • 10H a.m. - 5H30 p.m.
    • Sunday 
      • 10H a.m. - 12H30 p.m.
  • Pricing

2. São Lourenço Church - Sacred Art Museum

The construction started in the 16th century only to be finished in 1709.
The church belonged originally to the Jesuits, and it was also a functional private school. 
It was offered to the University of Coimbra, after Marquis of Pombal expelled the Jesuits from Portugal, in 1774.
Later it was sold to the Order of “Agostinhos Descalços”, known as “Grilos” - Crickets. 
It was a military headquarters during the siege of Porto (see HERE the Civil War 1831-1834)
And finally, it is now a Sacred Art Museum.
It’s worth it, without a doubt, because of the marvelous view of the city and also Vila Nova de Gaia.
  • Address:
    • Largo do Colégio
  • Schedule: 
    • Monday to Friday: 
      • 10H00 a.m. - 6h00 p.m.
    • Saturday:
      • 10H00 a.m. to 12H30 a.m. and 1H30 p.m. to 6H00 p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Adults: 3€
    • Students: 1,5€
    • Free: Children until 10yo

For more information click HERE

3. Futebol Clube do Porto Museum

For football lovers, the FC Porto Museum gathers 120 years of the club's history and an exhibition of their trophies.
The experience is sensitive and provided to those who visit a beautiful journey through time, with the club’s memories.
Opened in 2013, this museum has twenty-seven themed areas and, not only exhibits trophies but also some works of art like the Dragon Valkyrie by the famous Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos.
  • Address:
    • Estádio do Dragão, Via Futebol Clube do Porto
  • Schedule: 
    • Monday 
      • 2H30 p.m. to 7H p.m.
    • Tuesday to Sunday 
      • 10H a.m. to 7H p.m.
  • Pricing: 
    • Museum + Stadium:
      • Adults: 15€
      • Senior (+ 65) : 12€
      • Children (5-12): 10€
      • Children (0-4): Free
      • Museum only:
      • Adults: 12€
      • Senior (+ 65): 10€
      • Children (5-12): 8€
      • Children (0-4): Free
For more information click HERE

4. Museum of Misericórdia of Porto

Headquarters of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Porto since the 16th century until 2013, now is a museum to offer knowledge about the history of this institution and show its art collections.
Located in Rua das Flores - Flower Street, the museum also shows us the past and the present of this beautiful street.
The visit includes the Misericórdia Church and the Benefactors Gallery (an example of the glass and iron city’s architecture).
  • Address:
    • R. das Flores 15, Porto
  • Schedule: 
    • Monday to Sunday. 
      • 10H a.m. to 6H30 p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Adults: 6€
    • Students: 4€
    • Senior (+ 65yo): 4€
    • Family (4 elements): 20€
    • Ticket to this museum + Clérigos church + Stock Market Palace: 18€
    • Porto Card: 3€ - Learn about Porto Card Here
    • Free: Children until 6yo
For more information click HERE

5. Casa do Infante (Infant’s House)

Henry the Navigator was born in this building in the 15th century - check HERE to read about it.
The museum allows us to see Roman, Medieval and Modern traces, pointing out that, for several centuries, it was also, the Regal Customs House.
Here can be revisited the main Portuguese Discoveries, from Ceuta (Africa) to the Far East.
  • Address:
    • Rua da Alfândega, 10
  • Schedule - Museum: 
    • Tuesday to Sunday:
      • 10H a.m. to 5H30 p.m
  • Schedule - “Gabinete do Tempo”:
    • Tuesday to Sunday - 
      • 10h00am to 5h30pm
  • Pricing:
    • Adults: 2,2€
    • Free: Saturday and Sunday
For more information click HERE

6. World of Discoveries


A very interactive museum and theme park, it shows us the great adventure of the Portuguese sailors during the World Discoveries.
The museum has twenty big theme areas connected to our odyssey of the Discovery of the New Worlds.
  • Address:
    • Rua de Miragaia 106
  • Schedule: 
    • Monday to Friday: 
      • 10H a.m. to 6H p.m.
    • Weekends and Holidays: 
      • 10H a.m. to 7h p.m.
  • Pricing
    • Counter:
      • Adults: 15€
      • Students: 12€
      • Senior (+ 65): 12€
      • Children (until 12yo): 9€
      • Free: Children until 3yo
    • Online:
      • Adults: 12€
      • Students: 12€
      • Senior (+ 65): 12€
      • Children (until 12yo): 7,65€
      • Free: Children until 3yo
For more information click HERE

7. National Museum Soares dos Reis 

You can visit Soares dos Reis National Museum in the beautiful Carrancas Palace, a late 18th-century building, now adapted to the be the museum. This was the first public art museum in Portugal, founded under the aegis of Liberalism, in 1833.
The architecture and decoration are full of history.

  • Address: 
    • R. de Dom Manuel II 56, Porto
  • Schedule: 
    • Tuesday to Sunday 
      • 10h00am to 6h00pm
  • Pricing:
    • Adults: 3€
    • Senior (+ 65): 1,5€
    • Porto Card: 1,5€
    • Students: 1,5€
    • Free: Children under 12yo
    • Free: Sunday until 2H p.m.
For more information click HERE

8. Centro Português de Fotografia

The Portuguese Center of Photography, opened in 1997, is actually the old jail of Porto, a building from the 16th century that holds terrible memories of those who were prisoners there.  
While visiting the museum, you can see not only the exhibitions - dedicated to the photograph heritage but also all the areas of the prison, named with Portuguese saints.
Santo António and Sant’Ana for men, Santa Teresa for Women and Santa Rita for children.
The most famous prisoner of this jail was the romanticist writer - Camilo Castelo Branco, and his lover, having committed adultery.
  • Address:
    • Largo Amor de Perdição, 4050-008 Porto
  • Schedule: 
    • Everyday: 
      • 10H a.m. to 7H p.m.
  • Pricing: Free
For more information click HERE

9. Contemporary Art Museum of Serralves

It is the most important museum of contemporary art in Portugal and it’s located in Serralves Foundation. 
You can visit its collection, the temporary exhibitions, educational programs, dance, and music performances.
Highlights to the gorgeous Serralves gardens and its landscapes.
  • Address:
    • R. Dom João de Castro 210,
  • Schedule: 
    • Monday to Friday:
      • 10H a.m. to 6H p.m.
    • Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays:
      • 10H a.m. to 7H p.m.
  • Pricing: 
    • Ticket to access everything: 20€
    • Partial Tickets:
    • Just Museum: 12€
    • Park (Includes TREETOP WALK): 12€
    • Just the House and Theatre: 12€
    • Just Serralves House: 1€
For more information click HERE

10. Museum of Romântico (Romanticism)

Opened in 1972 in a gorgeous building from the 18th century, that belonged to a rich merchant from Porto. The house is known by Macieirinha House, and it’s located inside of the Crystal Palace Gardens - by the way, the garden’s views are breathtaking! 
In this museum, you’ll feel how it was to live in a bourgeois house from the 19th century. 
  • Address:
    • R. de Entre-Quintas 220, inside Crystal Palace Gardens
  • Schedule
    • Tuesday to Sunday
      • 10H a.m. to 5H30 p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Adults: 2,2€
    • Free: Porto Card 
    • Free: Saturday, Sunday and Holidays
For more information click HERE

11. Electric Car Museum

Throughout its collections, from the organization to the exhibitions and cultural programs, this museum allows the public to get to know the history and development of public urban rail transports of Porto.

  • Address:
    • Alameda de Basílio Teles 51
  • Schedule:
    • Monday:
      • 14h - 18H
    • Tuesday to Sunday:
      • 10H - 18H
  • Pricing:
    • Adults:: 8€
    • Young People (6 to 25 yo): 4€
    • Senior (+ 65 yo): 4€
    • Free: Children until 6 yo

For more information click HERE

12. Military Museum

The building is historic: it was the headquarters of the politician police during the dictatorship.
The museum was inaugurated in 1973 with a permanent exhibition but only the military and some politicians could visit it.
Now, in democracy, you can visit this museum and see the collection of miniature soldiers and the great military events that happened in Porto.
  • Address:
    • Rua do Heroísmo 329
  • Schedule: 
    • Tuesday to Friday: 
      • 10H a.m. to 12H30 p.m. and 2H p.m. to 5H p.m.
    • Saturday
      • 2H p.m. to 5H p.m.
    • Sunday
      • 10H a.m. to 12H30 p.m. and 2H p.m. to 5H p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Young People (7 yo to 17 yo): 1€
    • Adults: 3€
    • Senior (+ 65 yo): 1€
For more information click HERE

13. Puppets Museum

The Puppets Museum was opened, under the charge of the Artistic Director of Puppets of Porto, in 2013, in the very famous Rua das Flores - “Flower Street''. It was moved to a building next to the Belomonte’s Theatre in Belomonte Street.
Here are exposed posters, scenography pieces, photographs, accessories, puppets, and videos of pieces and documentaries.
  • Address:
    • R. de Belomonte, 61
  • Schedule:
    • Everyday: 
      • 11H a.m. to 1H p.m.and 2H p.m. to 6H p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Exhibition ticket: 2€
    • Exhibition+guided tour: 3,5€
For more information click HERE

14. San Francisco Church

The construction of San Francisco convent started in 1245, in a gothic style, being the more relevant constructions done during the 17th and 18th centuries, when the church was all covered in gold leaf. 
The church was used as a cemetery for some of the noble families from the city.
During the second French invasion in Porto, the French used the church as stables and it was by that time that the convent was destroyed.
It was the Third Order that restored the church and now you can visit it, as you can visit the catacombs that exist underneath it.
We considered it one of the most beautiful churches in Porto.
  • Address:
    • Rua do Infante D. Henrique
  • Schedule:
    • November to February:
      • 9H a.m. - 5H30 p.m.
    • March to June and October 
      • 9H a.m. - 7H p.m.
    • July to September
      • 9H a.m. - 8H p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Adults:: 7,5€
    • Students: 25% discount
    • Porto Card:  25% discount
For more information click HERE

15. Natural History and Science Museum of Porto

This museum is at the University of Porto Reitoria (dean’s office), which is a historical building, very close to the Lello bookstore. Its goal is from the study to the preservation and dissemination associated with the patrimony of the exact and human sciences, built through the educational activities and the research done by the University of Porto for more than two centuries.
It also contains geology, paleontology, zoology, archaeology and ethnographic, botanical, and science historical collections.
It also holds other exhibitions, such as “A New Age of Exploration - 130 Years of National Geographic” until June the 19th of 2020.
  • Address:
    • Campo dos Mártires da Pátria 81, Porto
  • Schedule: Exhibition
    • Tuesday to Sunday
      • 10H a.m. - 6H p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Normal: 9€
    • Student: 4€
    • From 5 - 17yo: 4€
    • Senior over 65 yo: 4€
For more information click HERE

16. Port Wine Museum

Opened in 2004, the Port Wine Museum has the goal of showing the history and the relevance of the Port Wine to the development of the city of Porto.
Here are portrayed several points, such as the commercial activity, the “Rabelo” boats, the railway line of Porto, and the winery region.
The new Port Wine Museum is now right in the center of Ribeira of Porto.
The place offers, in the bar and in the cellar, one wine experience. On the other side of Reboleira street, another area where it will be promoted to temporary exhibitions and workshops.
  • Address:
    • Rua da Reboleira 37
  • Schedule: 
    • Tuesday to Sunday:
      • 10H a.m. - 5H30 p.m.
  • Price: 2,2€

17. Pharmacy Museum

This museum is a historical journey that shows us the human struggle for the cure of diseases and the relief of pain, through the centuries. It also has valuable pieces brought from several civilizations, that date back four million years.
Here we can find two old pharmacies that were, literally, transported to this place: The State pharmacy, and an Islamic pharmacy brought from a palace in Damasco, from the 19th century. 
The Pharmacy Museum is, on a world scale, the most complete in the area of health, with information since the first traces of life on Earth to the discovery of DNA.
  • Address:
    • Rua Engenheiro Ferreira Dias, 728 
  • Schedule
    • Monday to Friday: 
      • 10H a.m. to 6H p.m.
    • Saturday: 
      • 2H p.m. to 6H p.m.
  • Pricing: 3,5€ - 5€
For more information click HERE

18. Episcopal Palace Museum

One of the most significant examples of the late-baroque architecture in Portugal, the Bishop’s palace was considered the first true palace of Porto. 
Located next to Sé - Cathedral, it is, to the day, the residency of Porto’s Bishop.
This building was also the City Hall in the early 20th century. 
The route inside will take you through the staircase to a succession of hearing rooms, but the highlight of the visit is, in fact, the views of the city.

  • Address:
    • Terreiro da Sé, Porto
  • Schedule:
    • Monday to Saturday: 
      • 9H a.m. to 1H p.m. and 2H p.m. to 6H p.m
  • Pricing:
    • Normal: 5€
    • All-access ticket: 11€ (includes the Palace, Cathedral’s Cloisters and Clérigos Tower).
For more information click HERE

19. Marta Ortigão Sampaio House-Museum

Marta Ortigão Sampaio House-Museum shows us different collections of paintings, furniture, and jewelry of the Portuguese painter, invoking the bourgeois environment of the first half of the 20th century.
The paintings collection is dominated by the naturalism of the last decades of the 19th century and stand out pieces of the Portuguese painter Aurélia de Souza.
  • Address:
    • Rua de Nossa Senhora de Fátima, 291
  • Schedule: 
    • Tuesday to Sunday 
      • 10H a.m. to 5H30 p.m.
  • Pricing:
    • Normal - 2,2€
    • Free - Students, Professors, and Seniors over 65 yo 
    • Free: Saturday and Sunday
For more information click HERE

20. Biodiversity Gallery

It’s part of the Natural History and Science Museum of Porto, but its site is at an old house of one of the most famous Portuguese female writers: Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen.
The museum is dedicated to the most varied aspects of cultural and biological diversity. 
The museum presents resources that go from mechanical models to the most sophisticated multimedia and audiovisual platforms.
Thus are told histories about life, in a journey through science, literature, and art.
  • Address:
    • Rua do Campo Alegre 1191, Porto
  • Schedule: 
    • Tuesday to Sunday: 
      • 10H a.m. to 6H p.m.
  • Pricing: 
    • Normal - 5€
    • Free: Children up to 4yo
    • Youngsters from 5 to 17yo (Youth/Student card) – 2,50 €
For more information click HERE

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