Porto in April: What to Expect

April is an excellent month to visit Porto. The weather is warm enough to enjoy the Douro riverside and the Ribeira waterfront, the port wine lodge tours in Vila Nova de Gaia are running fully, and the city has not yet hit the summer crowds that have made some of its most instagrammed streets frustrating to navigate. It is one of the best value city breaks in Western Europe.

Weather

April in Porto sees daytime temperatures of 15C to 18C, with mild evenings around 9C. Rain is more frequent than in Lisbon: Porto is the wetter city by some margin. A waterproof jacket is worth having. The city is atmospheric in rain as well as sunshine, and the azulejo (blue tile) facades look excellent in both. Spring flowers appear across the Baixa and Boavista neighbourhoods.

Crowds and Prices

Porto has become significantly more popular in the past five years, but April is still shoulder season. The Ribeira and the Luis I Bridge area are busy at weekends, but the city is large enough to absorb visitors. Hotel prices are low by Western European standards. Easter weekend sees Portuguese domestic visitors, particularly from Lisbon, and prices tick up modestly.

What's On

Porto's restaurant and wine bar scene runs year-round. April is a good time for port wine lodge tours in Vila Nova de Gaia (across the Luis I Bridge from the city), before the summer tour queues build. The Mercado do Bolhao (the historic covered market, recently restored) is excellent for food shopping. The Porto half marathon typically runs in March, so the city is back to normal in April.

One Thing to Watch

The iconic Livraria Lello bookshop (one of the world's most beautiful bookshops) has timed entry tickets and queues even in shoulder season. Do not expect to wander in spontaneously. Book a ticket in advance and manage your expectations: it is a real and functioning bookshop, not a tourist attraction with a gift shop. It is genuinely worth seeing, but plan for it.

Our Porto guide covers the wine lodges, the churches, the viewpoints, and how to eat and drink your way around one of Europe's best cities.