Porto Shopping Streets and Other Shopping

Shopping in Porto Shopping Streets

Porto’s charms are many: its rivers, architecture, amazing landscapes and magnificent bridges surprise and delight. So does its shopping streets, where you can buy wonderful goods, services, and food for the soul. Here are some recommendations:

Rua De Santa Caterina

Rua de Santa Catarina is Porto’s main shopping center, nearly a mile long. It bustles all day long with tourists and locals alike. Nearly everything can be found here: posh boutiques, shoe stores, book shops, housewares, stationery, jewelry and music. Santa Caterina caters for rich, poor, and everyone in between! Besides the shops on the main street are small side alleys with sellers hawking food, trinkets and traditional, handmade souvenirs.Try the local Portuguese bread: it’s an experience! Two goodies for you include A Perola do Bolhão grocery store at no 279 Rua Formosa and Arcadia bakery at no 63 Rua do Almada.

Shops open Monday-Friday 9am-6/7/8/pm and Saturday 9am-1pm. Some shops close for an hour at lunchtime, while some large shops are also open on Sundays.

Bolhão Market

A visit to Porto is incomplete without going to Bolhão Market. It is here that farmers come to sell their fresh fruit and vegetables, and butchers their juicy meat. Eat lunch at a cafe on the ground floor; you’ll thank me!

Lello Bookshop

You will adore this sumptuous bookshop with its astounding interior architecture. And did you know it inspired the Harry Potter Library in Hogwarts, with its awesome stairways and marvelous moldings? Yes: author J.K Rowling lived in Porto and taught English in the early 1990’s. Note that photography is forbidden, so don’t try to sneak a selfie!

Editor’s note: The information contained on this page was compiled using real traveler reviews about shopping streets in Porto.