3 Best Day Trips to Guimaraes and Braga from Porto

Once you've explored the best things to see and do in Porto, it's the perfect time to extend your trip and discover nearby places. Braga and Guimarães, two of the most important cities in northern Portugal, stand out for their rich history, architecture and peaceful atmosphere, making them the perfect getaway from Porto.

To help you plan your visit, I've put together the best day trips to Guimarães and Braga from Porto. This way, you can compare options and choose the one that best suits your time and budget. Keep reading and find the most convenient way to discover these Portuguese gems in a single day.

The first excursion I can mention if you are looking to discover Braga and Guimarães from Porto are the full-day tours, which include pick-up from a central point in the city. They almost always start early in the morning and return to the same place in the late afternoon.

The trip is made in transport that meets the highest standards of comfort, with air conditioning to keep out the summer heat and the bearable cold of the Portuguese winter. The service also includes a professional guide who will provide you with all the historical information you need to know about these two cities in northern Portugal.

Please note that this is not a sightseeing tour that includes lunch in the price. However, there are short stops along the way where you can buy snacks at service stations or sit down to eat at one of the restaurants in the area selected by the tour guide.

Now, if I focus on what you would see in both cities, I can highlight the fact that this type of excursion includes admission to the main attractions in each town. Therefore, you would not have to pay any additional fees to enter the famous medieval castle of Guimarães or to enter the cathedral of Braga.

Details of interest:

• Price: these types of excursions are the most economical of those I will mention in this post, as they do not include lunch and involve shared transport. On average, they usually cost around £65 for adults and the price drops to £35 for children between 12 and 4 years old. Babies usually join the excursion for free.
• Duration: as I mentioned, they usually last around 9 or 10 hours on average. However, bear in mind that the route from Porto to Braga and Guimarães is usually very busy and this doubles during the summer season. So it is not unusual for traffic to increase the duration to 11 hours in total.
• Type of vehicles: the most common is a single-decker bus for around 30 to 40 people, but it is also possible that you may be assigned a coach that only carries a medium-sized group of up to 20 people.

The next option I can offer you if you want to enjoy a day trip to Guimarães and Braga is one that includes lunch in the price.

As I mentioned, this lunch break is usually in Braga, as it is almost always the second stop on the itinerary. However, it is also common for the roles to be reversed and for Guimarães to become the place where you can enjoy typical dishes from northern Portugal. These include fried cod, arroz de cabidela (rice with chicken and blood), posta à mirandesa (steak) and caldo verde (green broth).

As for the itinerary, you can rest assured that it also includes a guide who will accompany you with all the relevant information about each of the places visited on the trip. You will also have an extremely comfortable vehicle, which in this case is usually limited to groups of around 25 participants. This is for convenience and comfort when choosing the restaurant to visit in either city.

Keep in mind that this alternative is very attractive in that tours that do not include lunch usually require you to eat at the same restaurant. The return journey is usually under the same conditions, i.e. you will arrive at the same pick-up point and, due to the timing, you will also enjoy a completely free evening in the splendour of Porto at night. Plans such as a cruise on the River Douro on the Porto Riviera or an elegant dinner in one of the city's historic taverns are good ideas for spending the rest of your day.

Details of interest:

• Price: as these excursions include lunch, it is logical and predictable that they are a little more expensive. For example, they usually cost around £88 or £90, while the rate for children is £70 per person. The conditions for free admission for babies remain the same, but it is not usual for a special lunch for children under 4 years old to be included.
• Duration: the duration is usually the same as in the previous alternative because both include a break for lunch, only in this case this privilege is included in the price paid. So you can expect around 9 or 10 hours of pure fun in these two beautiful and impressive cities in northern Portugal.
• Type of vehicles: as these are smaller groups, a large coach is usually preferred to a much larger bus. However, it is also possible to choose buses with empty seats.

The third and final option available to you if you are interested in a day trip to Guimarães and Braga is an exclusive private transfer. In other words, these tours are designed for a very small group of people, no more than 3 or 4 depending on the number of seats in the private car.

This option differs from the other one in that the guide does not accompany you to the tourist attractions in the historic centres of Guimarães and Braga. In fact, there will be no guide accompanying you, and the driver of the vehicle, who is almost always also an expert on the most important aspects of the history of both cities, will be responsible for providing historical details of interest to you.

This is an ideal option for those who do not have financial constraints and for those who have no interest in sharing their sightseeing tour with people who are not part of their group. Keep in mind that an excursion like this usually lasts 9 to 10 hours, but it does not include lunch, although the driver will recommend the best places to enjoy a typical Portuguese meal.

In any case, this is a good alternative for those who want privacy on their tour and have the time and money to enjoy a trip like this during their 4-day visit to Porto. Or even for those who have a whole week but still prefer a trip planned by specialists in the field.

Details of interest:

• Price: a trip like this usually costs around £280 per passenger. This means that if three people are travelling in the vehicle, the fare can rise to almost £900 per transfer. Bear in mind that the season you choose also influences the prices, as in winter there are usually discounts for almost all tourist services that are in high demand in summer.
• Duration: this option usually takes the same amount of time as the other two alternatives mentioned above. That is, around 9 hours, which can be extended to around 10 hours depending on traffic on the motorways connecting the two cities with Porto.
• Type of vehicles: these are usually modern and elegant vehicles, but they do not necessarily have to be luxury cars. They can be medium-sized, exclusive four-door sports cars or even sports SUVs.

Some options offer direct pick-up from your hotel if it is located in certain designated areas in the centre of Porto or Vila Nova de Gaia. However, it is more common to be picked up at a central and accessible meeting point on the outskirts of the historic centre, from where the tour begins. The tour usually lasts around 9, 10 or even 11 hours.

Keep in mind that Guimarães will almost always be the first stop on this type of excursion, where you will marvel at the medieval architecture of a region credited with the formation of Portugal as a kingdom that eventually became an empire and is now a democratic republic. In fact, the historic centre of Guimarães has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The second stop in Braga is just as interesting, as it is considered the cradle of religion in Portugal and is a vibrant and significantly large city. In fact, it is the third largest city in terms of size and population after Lisbon and Porto. Keep in mind that this city is usually where people have lunch, which is convenient given its wide range of cod dishes.

The best option for booking any of the excursions to Guimarães and Braga from Porto that I have mentioned is online. Firstly, because they are fixed prices and you can see a detailed breakdown of what you are paying for.

Secondly, because they are purchases with immediate confirmation, which in most cases also offer free cancellation if you do so sufficiently in advance.

This applies to all types of tours from the city. The same goes for those trips to Aveiro from Porto, which are also a good option if you want to continue exploring the most beautiful communities around the most populous city in northern Portugal.

There are several recommendations I can make if you plan to take part in these excursions I've mentioned, and each and every one of these tips has to do with decisions that will make you more comfortable.

For example, something that can make this trip more bearable is to take snacks with you to calm your appetite on the road. After all, it's not pleasant to have to wait until you sit down for lunch halfway through the tour to satisfy your appetite.

Bringing along some entertainment for children is another good idea if you are participating in these excursions with young children. The city tours will keep them busy, but the car, bus or coach journeys can become boring for the little ones. At least if they're not used to them.

Choosing the right clothing for the season is also very important. The bus will be air-conditioned, but as soon as you get off, you'll have to deal with the extreme heat of summer or the cloudiness and rain of the northern Portuguese winter.

Both cities have historical and cultural attractions that are just as significant as those in Porto. So, if you have the time and money to visit them, it's an excellent idea to do so, as you'll get a more complete picture of northern Portugal. What's more, you can also take a break from Porto and discover the most important towns outside the Minho region.

What's more, the fact that these excursions are so affordable makes them a good investment, especially if you consider that at the end of the day you'll be returning to your hotel with two more cities to add to your list of places you've visited around the world.