Evening in Porto: Bolhão Market, a walk to Gaia for sunset over the Infante Dom Henrique Bridge, and the Clérigos light show

Bolhão Market and Rua de Santa Catarina

We had a light show booked for the evening, so on Thursday we took the morning easy and headed into town in the afternoon. We had a late lunch, then spent a while at Cordoaria Garden (Jardim da Cordoaria) watching a flock of gulls and pigeons while a small tram rolled past beside the park.

On the big avenue in front of city hall we stopped at McDonald’s Imperial, often called the most beautiful McDonald’s in the world. It was packed, but ordering and getting our food was surprisingly fast. Our kid was captivated by the Happy Meal toy, and we ended up at McDonald’s more than once that day.

At a souvenir shop, our kid spent the rest of the travel allowance. Once again it was a Pokémon toy, nothing to do with where we were. Our kid haggled with the shop owner and bought it for exactly the money left, then held on to it tightly for a long time afterward.

Bolhão Market and a glass of white wine

Bolhão Market (Mercado do Bolhão) is a market with stalls selling fruit, fish, cheese and wine. The current building opened in 1914 and was designed in the neoclassical style by the architect António Correia da Silva. Scaffolding went up around it in 2005 and it waited a long time for repairs. A renovation contract was signed in May 2018, and the market reopened on September 15, 2022. It now holds 81 stalls, 10 restaurants and 38 shops on the outside, and it was classified as a monument of public interest in 2013. It felt less like a place where locals do their shopping and more like a place for visitors to wander.

Several stalls sold wine, and at the one that caught our eye I bought a glass of white wine and carried it around as we looked over the market. The price board at the stall selling by the glass listed pours at €2.50 and €4.00. I don’t know much about wine, but my wife and I both liked it. Later we wanted to buy a bottle of the same wine, searched for it, and never found it, which was a pity.

Rua de Santa Catarina and Majestic Café

When the rain eased, the streets filled with people in no time, maybe because the weather had been rough for a few days. We stopped at a few shops along Rua de Santa Catarina, the main shopping street. One sold fig jam and chestnut jam, among other things. The street is more than 1.5 km (0.9 mi) long, and part of it is pedestrian-only. The street is home to the Capela das Almas, whose exterior was covered in azulejos in 1929. Our shopping ended with a few warm clothes bought because of the cold, and only after we got home did I think we should have bought more.

In the middle of the street is Majestic Café. It opened on December 17, 1921. The story is that it started out as Elite, and was renamed Majestic because the royal-sounding name didn’t suit the republic. Its interior, considered a leading example of Art Nouveau, is beautiful. J.K. Rowling wrote in a 2020 post that she sometimes stopped by this café to write while she lived in Porto. A long line stretched out front, so instead of going in we took in the atmosphere from outside.

At the end of the street, near Batalha Square (Praça da Batalha), stood a church covered in azulejos: Santo Ildefonso Church (Igreja de Santo Ildefonso). Construction began in 1709 and finished in 1739. Its walls are covered with about 11,000 tiles that Jorge Colaço added in 1932, showing scenes from the life of St. Ildephonsus, a bishop of Toledo, and from the Gospels. After São Bento Station, here were Colaço’s tiles again.

Walking across the Infante Dom Henrique Bridge to Gaia

Around 6 p.m. we walked across the Infante Dom Henrique Bridge (Ponte Infante Dom Henrique), the one we had promised ourselves two days earlier from the taxi. Construction began in 1999 and the bridge opened on March 30, 2003. Its single arch spans 280 m (919 ft), and the whole bridge is 371 m (1,217 ft) long. When it was built, it was the longest concrete arch in the world, put up to ease the traffic piling onto the Dom Luís I Bridge. It is named for Prince Henry the Navigator (Henrique), said to have been born in Porto. Cars and pedestrians share it, and from the top the Dom Luís I Bridge and Porto’s riverfront fit in one view. The sky was gray and the wind strong, but it was enough that the rain had stopped.

After the bridge, we followed a quiet path along the river toward the Dom Luís I Bridge. Our kid turned over stones along the way, looking for bugs. Every kind of bug was brought to show me, and I jumped more than once. The happiest moment was catching a lizard our kid had never seen before. After a long look, our kid let it go in the grass.

Sunset and rabelo boats on the Gaia waterfront

We passed under the Dom Luís I Bridge and reached the Gaia waterfront. Clouds covered the sky as the sun went down, but between them we caught a little of the red glow. Real sunset colors were rare during our stay in Porto, and this evening was nearly the only one. Across the river, Ribeira began to light up, and it looked like the photos of this neighborhood that I had browsed while searching for a place to stay.

Someone was playing an organ in a shop by the river, so we stepped in to listen. It was the Gaia branch of Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau, known for its codfish croquettes (pastéis de bacalhau), and inside was much bigger than it looked from the street. Salt cod (bacalhau) became the center of the Portuguese table after fishermen opened up the North Atlantic fisheries in the 15th century. Because it keeps so well, it stood in for meat on days when meat was forbidden, and it earned the nickname “faithful friend” (fiel amigo).

Along the Gaia waterfront were many shops where you can taste port wine, and some that sold simple food to go with it. The vineyards for port are upriver on the Douro, and the wine is aged and shipped from lodges here in Gaia. The cool, damp coastal climate is said to suit aging. Until 1986, port could only be exported from Gaia. English merchants had been buying the wine since the late 17th century, the Methuen Treaty of 1703 deepened trade with England, and in 1756 the Marquis of Pombal had boundary stones set around the vineyard region. That is why so many port houses have English names, like Croft and Graham’s. The wineries I had seen in South Africa combined a tasting room, lodging and the farm in one place. Gaia has lodges and shops but no vineyards, so it felt more like a row of shops than a winery.

Several rabelo boats floated on the river, the boats that once carried wine barrels. They are flat-bottomed, with a long wooden steering oar, and they hauled barrels from the upper Douro down to Gaia. Railways, roads and dams ended that work, and port wine companies now keep the boats for tourism. Every year on June 24, during the São João festival, rabelo boats race from Cabedelo to the Dom Luís I Bridge.

From Gaia, Porto across the river looked wonderful. The old colorful houses, the river, the boats and the bridges all came into view at once, and with the bridge joining the two banks it reminded me of looking at Manhattan from Brooklyn. Gaia has plenty of restaurants too, and next time I’d like to eat on this side.

Back over the lower deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge, and the Clérigos light show

We came back to the Porto side on the lower deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge. Night fell, and the ironwork lit up. The hill right after the bridge was so steep that it left us out of breath.

Around 8 p.m. we reached Clérigos Church (Igreja dos Clérigos). It is an 18th-century Baroque church by the architect Nicolau Nasoni. Construction began in 1732, the church was finished around 1750, and the tower, over 75 m (246 ft) tall, was completed in 1763. The oval floor plan gives the interior an unusual shape. In the evenings the church hosts Spiritus, a show of light and music, several times a night, and according to its official description it is the church’s first immersive show. We booked ahead on GetYourGuide. Watching the newest lighting fill a church built in the 1700s felt fresh.

Our kid was intrigued and came up with a reading of the show. This is what the diary said that day.

“It was so amazing I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or real.”

Our kid had listened closely to the music too, and added, “As far as I could tell, there were two songs.” As the light swept the corners of the church, then dimmed, and the music rose and fell, our kid gave each change a meaning and watched in a way all their own.

Booking and good to know

• The show runs in time slots in the evening. If you pick a date and time and book ahead, you can walk in without waiting in line. It lasts about half an hour, and the official ticket page lists a basic ticket at €12 with children up to age 10 free (checked October 14, 2026; the page has no update date, so check the times and prices again when you book).
• GetYourGuide sells the same Spiritus show, and prices differ by site. When we checked on October 14, 2026, GetYourGuide showed tickets from about $14 per adult, which can change with the date and currency. It lists a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start.
• The official sales page warns people with epilepsy to be careful, because the light and sound change quickly.
• The Clérigos Tower (Torre dos Clérigos) next door is a bell tower over 75 m (246 ft) tall, and you can climb its stairs for a view over the city. We didn’t climb it.

Pizza at Slice of Porto, to end the day

After the show we stopped at a small pizza place nearby, Slice of Porto. We ordered a few slices, and they were as good as the pizza we had always ranked as our best. The man behind the counter let our kid spread tomato sauce on the dough and joked that when our kid grows up, they could come work here. It was one more reminder of how kind the Portuguese are.

Before we headed back, our kid asked to stop at McDonald’s one more time. In an hour or two the Happy Meal toy had gone from a doll to Pokémon cards, so our kid was doubly happy. Back at the apartment, we took the cards out one by one and ended the day.

Before you go

Hours

Place	Day	Hours
Bolhão Market	Mon – Fri	8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
	Sat	8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Restaurants inside Bolhão Market	Mon – Sat	8:00 a.m. – midnight
Bolhão Market closed	Sundays and holidays
Clérigos light show (Spiritus)	Evening shows in time slots. Check the times on the official sales page

Checked October 2026, based on the Bolhão Market official website and the Spiritus official sales page

Costs for the day

Place	What	Amount (USD)
Clérigos light show (booked in advance)	March 28, two adults and one kid	21.68
Slice of Porto	March 28, pizza by the slice	10.19
Taxi (Bolt)	March 28, late, from near the pizza place to the apartment	2.72

Amounts charged to our card, tax included, March 2024 prices

Q&A at a glance

Do you need to book the Clérigos light show in advance?

The show runs in evening time slots, so we picked a date and time and booked ahead. We went on a Thursday evening in late March.

When should you go to Bolhão Market?

It is open Monday to Saturday and closed on Sundays and holidays. We went at about 4:30 p.m. on a Thursday and looked around for a bit over 30 minutes. The restaurants inside stay open until midnight, so you could also stop by in the evening.

Can you walk across the Infante Dom Henrique Bridge?

Yes. Cars and pedestrians share it. We walked from Porto to Gaia, then followed a quiet path along the river toward the Dom Luís I Bridge and reached the waterfront.

What is the weather like in Porto in late March?

On March 28, the day we went, the high was 15°C (59°F), with rain that stopped in the evening. The weather swung back and forth even within a day, so it is easier to carry an umbrella in your bag.

Wrap-up

The lights filling Clérigos Church on a rain-free evening, and the brief red of the sunset over Gaia, filled the day. From the lizard we let go on the riverside path to our kid’s hands spreading sauce on pizza dough, it was a day spent entirely on foot, from the market to the Gaia waterfront to Clérigos Church.

Planning your Porto trip

Sources checked 10

• Infante Dom Henrique Bridge Opening year, dimensions, why it was built (checked October 2026)
• Bolhão Market official website Opening hours (checked October 2026)
• Comércio com História (Portuguese government), Majestic Café Opened in 1921, original name (checked October 2026)
• Spiritus official sales page Warning about light and sound effects, the church’s first immersive show (checked October 2026; the times and prices there mix in older notices, so I did not use them)
• Bolhão Market opening year, reopening and number of stalls: Porto City Council and the market’s official introduction (checked October 2026)
• Santo Ildefonso Church and Clérigos Church construction dates: Porto tourism information and Wikipedia (checked October 2026)
• History of the port wine lodges in Gaia: Taylor’s official introduction and Wikipedia (checked October 2026)
• Chapel of Santa Catarina (Wikipedia) Exterior plastered and painted white until 1929, azulejos designed by Eduardo Leite (checked October 2026)
• Capela das Almas (Portuguese Wikipedia) Building from the late 18th century, azulejos dated 1929 (checked October 2026)
• OGIMET weather station daily summaries: Porto (08545), March 2024