Six Bridges cruise in Porto

Prices, times and where the boats leave

A standard Six Bridges cruise lasts about 50 minutes and costs around 15 to 20 € for an adult; children of 4 to 12 pay about half and the smallest travel free on a lap. The boats leave from two quays facing each other across the river: the Cais da Ribeira and Cais da Estiva on the Porto side, below the Dom Luís I bridge, and the Cais de Gaia on the Vila Nova de Gaia side, in front of the port-wine lodges. In summer there is a departure every half hour from about 10:00 to 18:00, in winter every hour until mid-afternoon; the last boat of the day, from about 17:00 in winter and 19:00 in summer, is the sunset sailing and sells out first.

The cruise runs in rain, which hardly matters under the covered deck, and stops only when the river is in flood after winter storms, when the operators refund or rebook. Audio commentary is played in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, German and Italian on most boats. Tickets bought online through GetYourGuide can be cancelled free until 24 hours before, and are shown on the phone at the quay.

The six bridges in order

Porto and Gaia are joined by six bridges within five kilometres of river, and the cruise passes under all of them, first upstream, then back downstream to the river mouth side. From the Ribeira the boat sails east under the Dom Luís I, the double-deck iron bridge of 1886 by Théophile Seyrig that every photograph of Porto shows; then under the Infante Dom Henrique, a concrete arch of 2003; then past the Maria Pia, the disused 1877 railway bridge by Gustave Eiffel's company, which stands beside the São João railway bridge of 1991 that replaced it; and on to the Freixo motorway bridge of 1995, where the boat turns. Back downstream it passes the Ribeira again and continues west to the Arrábida bridge of 1963, which was the longest concrete arch in the world when it opened, before returning to the quay.

The order matters less than the light. Mid-morning the sun is behind the Gaia bank and the Ribeira façades are lit; from mid-afternoon the light turns to the Porto side and the Dom Luís I is in silhouette on the way back, which is the photograph most people want. The bookshop and the Clérigos tower can be picked out on the hill above the Ribeira on the return leg.

• Dom Luís I (1886): two decks, the upper one carries the metro and walkers
• Infante Dom Henrique (2003): the newest road bridge
• Maria Pia (1877): Eiffel's company, closed to trains since 1991
• São João (1991): the railway bridge that replaced it
• Freixo (1995): the motorway bridge where the boat turns
• Arrábida (1963): the concrete arch towards the sea

From Livraria Lello to the quay

The bookshop sits on the hill above the river, and the walk down to the boats is the pleasant part of the afternoon: from Rua das Carmelitas past the Clérigos tower, down Rua das Flores with its shops and cafés, past São Bento station and through the lanes of the Ribeira to the quay in about fifteen minutes. Downhill all the way; the return is a climb, or the Guindais funicular from the foot of the Dom Luís I bridge, or the metro from Jardim do Morro on the Gaia side after a walk across the upper deck of the bridge, which is itself the best viewpoint in the city.

The sensible order of a Lello day is the bookshop in the first slot of the morning, lunch in the Ribeira, the cruise early in the afternoon and the port-wine lodges in Gaia afterwards, when the boat lands on that bank. Visitors with a late Lello slot do it the other way round and finish the day on the upper gallery of the bookshop when the queue outside has gone.

Six Bridges or the Douro Valley?

The Six Bridges cruise is the city seen from the river; it is not the Douro Valley, the vineyard landscape 100 kilometres upstream that is a separate full-day trip. Day tours to the valley leave Porto at about 08:00, combine a short boat trip on the river near Pinhão with two wine estates and lunch, and cost about 90 to 150 € per person; the river boats from Porto to Régua take the whole day on the water, from about 70 €, and come back by train. For a first visit to Porto the Six Bridges cruise is the one to take, and the valley is the reason to stay a day longer. Both leave from the same Gaia and Ribeira quays, and both are on the booking page linked from this guide, under the Porto listing.

Frequently asked questions

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