In this guide
💡 The Short Version: For a tasting that is not a single lodge, there are four options. The cheese pairingad at a family lodge is from €26 for an hour and up to 8 people. The walking tour with nine tastingsad is from €49 for 3 hours and three wine houses. The river cruise with four portsad is from €45 for 2 hours. The fado evenings at Cálem and Fonseca are from €25 and €28. A single lodge visit is €16 to €25 and has the cellar: see port wine cellars in Porto. Or book a tour: the walking tour with nine tastingsad is from €49 (GetYourGuide).
The options compared
Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult, except where a lodge’s own price is named.
| Option | From | Time | Tastings | The deciding fact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese pairing at a family lodge | €26 | 1 hour | 3 ports | Up to 8 people |
| Walking tour with three wine houses | €49 | 3 hours | 9 | Not for children under 18 |
| Walking tour from Porto across to Gaia | €51 | 4 hours | 7 | A cellar, then two more venues |
| River cruise | €45 | 2 hours | 4 | Afternoon or sunset boat |
| Fado and a tasting at a lodge | €25 or €28 | 75 minutes to 4 hours | 2 or 3 | Evening |
| IVDP Porto Shop | 8 to choose | Weekdays only |
The tours
Cheese pairing at a family lodge
From €26 · 4.8 stars from 1,318 reviews · 1 hour · up to 8 people
Vila Nova de Gaia: Port Wine Tasting with Cheese Pairingad is run by a family house that has made port for five generations and bottled under its own name since 1993. You taste three ports, each matched with a local cheese, in its lodge in Gaia. The host speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian.
Walking tour: three wine houses, nine tastings
From €49 · 4.6 stars from 1,020 reviews · 3 hours
Porto: Port and Douro Wine Walking Tour with 9 Tastingsad visits three wine houses in Vila Nova de Gaia, an hour at each, including the Fonseca cellars, with port and Douro wines. It starts at the tourist office on Avenida Diogo Leite, in English or Portuguese, and it is not suitable for children under 18. Lunch and hotel pick-up are not included.
Walking tour from Porto to Gaia: seven ports
From €51 · 4.9 stars from 519 reviews · 4 hours
Porto: Port Wine Tour with 7 Port Tastingsad is run by Porto Walkers, in English. It starts on the Porto side of the river and walks across to the cellars of Gaia, for a guided museum and cellar visit with two ports, a second venue with two more and a last producer with three, and some food tastings. Entry to the three venues is included.
River cruise with four ports
From €45, list price €55 · 4.8 stars from 801 reviews · 2 hours
Porto: 7 Bridges Port Wine River Cruise with 4 Tastingsad is a shared boat leaving from Rua da Praia in Vila Nova de Gaia, in English, Portuguese or Spanish, with an afternoon and a sunset timetable. Its stops include Afurada, the Arrábida bridge, the gardens of the Palácio de Cristal, the Alfândega quay and the Dom Luís I bridge, with four ports poured on board. The plain six bridges cruise, with no tasting, is in the six bridges cruise guide.
Fado and a tasting
Cálem from €28 · Fonseca from €25
Two lodges pair a tasting with fado. Cálem Cellar Tour, Fado Show & Wine Tastingad is from €28 for 75 minutes (4.5 stars from 4,037 reviews). Fonseca Cellar Tour & Fado Show with Optional Dinnerad is from €25: a guided tour of the cellars at 18:00, then Bin 27 and Siroco with live fado, in a group of up to 10, with an optional three-course dinner at WOW Porto (4.6 stars from 588 reviews).
The tasting table in front of the casks at the Cálem lodge in Gaia. Photo: Michael Gaylard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
The IVDP port and Douro learning centre
Rua Ferreira Borges 27, Porto · 10:00 to 19:30 · closed Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays
The Port and Douro Wines Institute (IVDP) runs an interactive exhibition and the Porto Shop in central Porto, on the Porto side of the river. The visit includes a tour of its certification laboratories and tasting chamber, then a self-service Port Wine Bar where a magnetic card pours a choice of eight ports from whites to premium tawnies and rubies (ivdp.pt). It is the tasting that needs no bridge.
The Port Wine Institute building on Rua Ferreira Borges. Photo: 69joehawkins, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Dearer tastings at the lodges
For older wines, the lodges sell their own: Burmester’s Tawny Experience is €35 with 10, 20 and 30 year olds, Churchill’s Vintage tasting €50 and its Aged Ports €65, Cockburn’s Cask to Kitchen €75 with a lunch, and Graham’s Vintage Room from €70ad (4.8 stars from 332 reviews). Lodge by lodge, with closed days and booking rules, they are in the port wine cellars guide.
Which to pick
- One cellar, with the cellar tour: a lodge visit at €16 to €25.
- Several tastings and a guide on foot: the €49 walking tour, which is about €5 a tasting.
- Cheese with the port: the €26 pairing.
- The river: the €45 cruise, with four ports and the bridges.
- An evening: fado at Cálem or Fonseca.
- The estate where the grapes grow: the quintas of the Douro, from €10 to €60 for a tour and tasting, in the Douro Valley day trip.
Before you go
The riverside lodges sit beside the Dom Luís I bridge, and World of Wine has its own wine museum and tastings in the same part of Gaia. For food with the wine, see Porto food tours. What to book before you go to Porto lists the city tickets, and where to stay in Porto says which area suits an evening out.
Common questions
What is the best way to taste port in Porto without visiting one lodge?
A walking tour or the cheese pairing. The 3-hour Port and Douro wine walking tour is from €49 and visits three wine houses in Vila Nova de Gaia for nine tastings, and the one-hour cheese pairing at a family lodge is from €26 for up to 8 people.
Can you taste port on a boat in Porto?
Yes. The 7 Bridges port wine cruise with four tastings is from €45 for 2 hours, in an afternoon or a sunset timetable, and leaves from Vila Nova de Gaia.
Is there a port tasting in Porto itself, not Gaia?
Yes. The Port and Douro Wines Institute (IVDP) has an interactive learning centre and Porto Shop at Rua Ferreira Borges 27, open 10:00 to 19:30 and closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, with a self-service bar where a magnetic card pours a choice of eight ports.
Can you combine a port tasting with fado?
Yes. The Cálem cellar tour with a fado show and tasting is from €28 for 75 minutes, and the Fonseca cellar tour with a fado show, from €25, starts at 18:00 with an optional three-course dinner at WOW Porto.
Are port tasting tours cheaper than a lodge visit?
About the same per tasting. A lodge visit is €16 to €25 for three or four ports, which is about €5 to €8 each, and a walking tour at €49 gives nine tastings across three houses, about €5 each, with a guide on foot.
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