On our Secret Food Tour: Porto, you'll start in the heart of Porto's city center at Coliseu, the largest theater in the city. From there you'll discover a traditional open-air market;
Porto is a city well known for its artistic heritage, amazing food, world-renowned wine, and fascinating culture. Found along the Douro River bank, with outstanding views from both the riverbank and the impressive bridges suspended above, the city maintains a welcoming and traditional nature while being an innovation and creative hub. You’ll find this atmosphere in its architecture, leisure spaces, its esplanades, and shopping areas.
We had a wonderful private tour with Marta. Our family of 5, adults and kids, enjoyed all of the stops and conversation. Marta went out of her way to shape the tour to appeal to the adults AND the kids. She is so well informed about Porto, the food and the history. We had just arrived in town and she had a lot of advice and was really great about answering all of our questions. She did a fantastic job at relating and speaking to our teens and timing everything comfortably. She never made us feel rushed and was very professional with all of the vendors and people that we visited. We have taken many food tours in many cities in Europe- this Porto tour was nice because we were able to visit each place- going inside and sitting and eating with Marta. Some other tours that we have taken, we were not allowed to enter shops and guides brought us out tastings at each stop. This felt much more intimate, comfortable and a better put together tour. Thank you Marta and the team at Secret Food Tours Porto.
Sara M
Review: Secret Food Tours porto
My husband and I joined the Secret Food Tour in Porto on a Wednesday in March - low season, so we were the only two people on the tour. Our guide, Carlos, was really friendly and informative, full of interesting insights into the food and culture of the beautiful city of Porto. We especially enjoyed visiting the temporary market (where stall-holders are being housed while the old Bolhao market building is refurbished) and sampling Porto's signature Francesinha sandwich. The tour lasted close to 3.5 hours, but the time whizzed by as we wandered at leisurely pace, listening to Carlos' stories. Our only criticism would be that we'd have preferred to have just one, rather than two, sandwich type dishes, so the tour could have included a greater variety of typical foods. For example, we were surprised not to try any dishes containing Bacalhau, which seems to be so central to Portuguese cuisine, or anything with tripe/offal, which Porto locals are known for eating. Overall, though, this was still a very enjoyable way to spend a morning and a good introduction to the city.
Evie L
Review: Secret Food Tours porto
Porto was amazing... In recent times the secret food tour has always been first on our agenda and having done them in several European destinations we were very excited at the prospect of another. Knowing a little about the history of the place we upgraded with the extra drinks package... Being the only two on the tour was fabulous - secret food tour always comes through on that front and Carlos was engaging,interesting, knowledgeable and thorough with the supportive information with the locations excelling in their Portugese nature. There was no quibble about the duration - it was wonderfully prolonged - however was this the reason we didn't have/eat 'the secret dish' as the tour description promises? However despite the upgrade in drinks we didn't seem to receive the extra glass of vinho verde nor the large beer with the francesinha… I think we had a large port but who knows? Overall it WILL NOT prevent us from booking further tours in other locations but it may make us more guarded in upgrading at what seems to be cost without benefit?
rockydogz1
Review: Secret Food Tours porto
What an incredible experience with Carlos who mixed in local food knowledge with an incredible history lesson. Every stop was focused on the history and actual recipes in making the local dishes.
Sue
Review: Secret Food Tours porto
My husband and I had a great time with Marta on our private food tour through Porto. Marta shared amazing food, drink, and history of the city. Being the only ones on the tour really allowed us to ask all the questions we wanted and really get to know the city and Marta. We learned about and tried the famous Bifanas sandwich and the Francesinha sandwich. We enjoyed sardines, cod, green wine, and Super Bock. Ending the day with some Port and chocolate down by the river. There was so much food and drink - don't eat before you go. It was a great tour to do upon arrival. Marta gave us great recommendations and helped us get acclimated to the city. We would highly recommend this tour.