Activities: Porto vs Lisbon
This one is hard to determine a clear winner.
First, there is Porto. Porto is filled with tons of things to do. You can visit numerous blue tiled churches, the world’s most beautiful bookstore, climb towers for the best views, and don’t forget a boat ride along the Douro River. Porto has plenty of things to do to fill multiple days.
Next, there’s Lisbon. While Porto has lots of unique things to do, Lisbon has some of our favorite things to do in Portugal. I mean Jerónimos Monastery – that alone merits a visit to Lisbon! And São Jorge Castle was one of the best tours we took in Portugal filled with the biggest/fastest Portuguese history lesson we got. Lisbon also has lots to do but some of it feels like it could be in any large city anywhere in the world. One of the most popular things to do in Lisbon is just to wander the streets, which is fun but less enriching that was like.
Lastly, they both have amazing day trips. You can visit Sintra from Lisbon or visit the Douro Valley from Porto. Both day trips made our list of favorite things to do in Portugal!
However, if we had to choose. We liked the amount of activities that were on offer in Porto. One point for Porto. We felt like we could spend more time in Porto and see things that were unique to Portugal – all with fewer crowds and a lower price tag. With the exception of a few of our favorite Portugal activities, Lisbon activities felt like they could be anywhere in Europe.
