W do Wilson

 In Portuguese and Spanish below

Placed in Rua Cândido dos Reis, right by the restaurant with the exact same name, you find the W do Wilson Bar. Opened in 2012 and it's hosted by the former Bank Workers' Union. A modern, sophisticated and ideal place to relax, W do Wilson Bar is one of the most recent bars of Oporto but it's already a great reference in town. The luxurious and refined decorations based in the constant travelling of the owner, José Wilson.

The bar is divided in two floors and it also has an esplanade. In the lower floor you can find comfortable couches where the costumers can relax while enjoying the amazing cocktails the bar has to offer. In the upper floor is a huge mirror ball, the mix table, the beautiful paintings and welcoming modern decoration that delight the visitors.

The W do Wilson Bar is most certainly a place to visit.

Casa do Livro

 In Portuguese and Spanish below

Once a bookshop, today a café/bar named Casa do Livro, or Book House. The name was inherited from the old space and the decoration almost makes us believe we're in an actual book store.

The Casa do Livro is at Galerias de Paris, in downtown Oporto. Its décor is a mix between classic and modern, with well-crafted details such as the chairs lined with gold and green cloth. The books are a part of the set and they're about to occupy the walls in the various rooms.

During the afternoon, Casa do Livro works as a coffee shop, and by night as a bar. A place where you can relax at the sound of background music, drink a cocktail, a cup of tea, buy some gourmet products or even see theatre plays and live concerts.

Rendez Vous

In Portuguese and Spanish below

You can find Rendez Vous in Rua Cândido dos Reis near the Galerias de Paris and it’s a club/bar. This bar is admittedly a rock space, with variatons of indie, garage and alternative.

Despite being small at first sight, in the floor below there’s a dance floor and a concert zone. In the main floor you find a small area where customers can sit down and enjoy a nice drink while listening to music.

The décor is one of the characteristic aspects of Rendez Vous. The walls transmit the identity of the bar, with guitars and posters of bands such as the Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses, for example. The mirror ball helps create ambiance. The lower part has a counter and an ideal wide space for dance nights.

Rendez Vous openly wants to remain at the forefront of rock music, making the connection between the classics and the current songs and bands. If you like to spend nights to the sound of rock we recommend a visit to this space.

Casa de Ló

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Situated in the 20 of Travessa de Cedofeita since December of 2008, in a building used to house the famous Casa Margaridense, you can find Casa de Ló. The arrival of this place led to some structural changes in the building, preserving the magnificent rustic hall. The rest of the space is also rural but a modern rural, a bit more contemporary.

However, this place has a pretty modern and unique concept, given that it's multitasked: it's a store, where one can buy the kind of sweets that were once sold in the Casa Margaridense between 1880 and the beginning of the 20th Century, such as marmeladas and, of course, pão de ló; it's a coffee shop and offers excellent conditions to spend an afternoon among friends or studying; it's also a tea room and bar by night, counting on the presence of a DJ.

The Casa de Ló offers a schedule with a huge cultural diversity, making it a multitasked space with conditions to all kinds of tastes and adequate to all the times of the day. The highlight is the pão de ló, and there's nothing better than a nice pão de ló to eat along with a cup of tea or coffee.

Maus Hábitos

In Portuguese and Spanish below

In the fourth floor of an old building on Passos Manuel Street is Maus Hábitos, right in front of the Oporto's coliseum. Those who look at the building don't even think that inside there's a bar, gallery, a theatre and show room, a res and a café. All of this because Maus Hábitos is all about interdisciplinarity.

Maus Hábitos dedicates its space to the promotion of rising young artists. Is this space there ar exhibitions, concerts, theatres, trainings and workshops. The cultural education is one of the goals of this bar, which gave origin to the name, because the cultural intervention cannot be "well educated".

The bar is one of the most influent and known of the alternative circuit of the city, a place of obligatory passage in the night of Oporto. During the week it serves vegan lunches, and in the afternoons the cafeteria is open to the public.

The multifunctionality is one of the aspects that most characterize Maus Hábitos, which besides having a full agenda, offers its customers an amazing view over the city.

Sahara

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Sahara, a desert with a view over the Douro

It’s on the riverside, on Cais Estiva, to be more specific. A coffee shop that brings to Oporto a scent of Morocco, from the decoration to the teas and products, everything leads us to Sahara desert and the Moroccan haven.

The decoration makes us forget we’re in Oporto, the atmosphere takes us right to Morocco. The tables are low and colorful, there are colored carpets and cushions, and also forged iron dividers. Once you’re in you can smell incense. The décor is one of the highlights of the Sahara for the trip to Morocco it allows us to take.

This café/bar serves mint tea along with other aphrodisiac flavors, and you can smoke all kinds of chichi. On Fridays and Saturdays the belly dancing shows cheer the night for the ones who visit Sahara.

If you’re traveling through Oporto and you want to experiment new places stop by Sahara and get yourself lost in the Moroccan environment.

PItch Club

In Portuguese and Spanish below

The Pitch has two faces: day and night. During the day this bar works as a coffee shop and restaurant, while in the evening it opens the doors to incredibly fun nights.

Pitch is considered one of the top bars and clubs of the Invicta. The space is divided in two floors: in the ground-floor the atmosphere is similar to any pub you find in the streets of London, and in the floor above is the bar, with a 60's decoration and a DJ booth.

In this bar you can dance to the sound of alternative and contemporary styles that contrast with the retro decoration. The space was launched and decorated in a way to optimize the acoustic, a good aspect to cover in a place like this.

This is one of the places you should visit if the intention is to have a night out with your friends, or even just to enjoy a nice light meal in the restaurant, which is open during the day.

Contagiarte

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Contagiarte was born in an old frat house, a space that's not just a bar but also a cultural center. This bar is placed on Álvares Cabral, right in the middle of town.

Launched in December of 2003 by Acaro - a non-profit cultural association - Contagiarte soon asserted itself on Oporto's night. Contagiarte is also known for being a cultural space with dance, theatre and music workshops, along with exhibitions.

The space includes two studios, one of which has an auditory, a gallery and a garden. When it comes to the nights, the rhythms vary from night to night, from latin, funk, rock, pop, reggae, to fado even. It's also common to throw intimate concerts that bring the artist and the public closer together.

When in Oporto, Contagiarte is a mandatory stop, whether it's for the cultural or the pleasure side.

Breyner 85

In Portuguese and Spanish below

In 85 Breyner Street you can find Breyner 85, a space with a lot to offer to anyone who visits it. The four story building was a doctor's house once before and now works as bar, art gallery, record studio and music school.

Breyner 85 is an innovative space that highlights culture and music, but this bar also stands out for its decoration. As soon as we get in it surprises us with the details that make Breyner 85 a unique and welcoming space, the perfect place for a coffee among friends.

Breyner has a dynamic and varied schedule, where there are poetry sessions, tertulias, concerts, exhibits, and quiz nights, for instance. Besides all that, in this exact space there are daily rehearsals, recordings, one can learn music and even buy instruments.

But Breyner 85 goes even further, for there is an esplanade in the backyard that has the perfect atmosphere for outside summer nights. This is a bar you should definitely visit, whether it's a winter or a summer night, because it has a lot to offer, inside and out.

Bar Casa da Música

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Casa da Música is the main concert room in Oporto, Portugal. It was designed by the dutch architect Rem Koolhaas as part of the event Oporto European Capital of Culture in 2001. Although, its construction didn't finish until 2005, becoming an icon of the invicta  city. Despite all, you're wrong if you think the only purpose of the building is entertainment.

That said, the route of ssturday nights in Oporto has a new reference point: the Casa da Música Bar. This bar started functioning since march of 2013, where every saturday from 11pm to 4am, the top of the building turns into a dancing bar, alienating an informal, elegant and comfortable athmosphere to a program that favors new trends of electronic music. With an outside area, view to the gardens of Boavista, the space bets as much on new DJ's as in safe values, on a national and international level. The program is at Rui Trintaeum's charge (Loco Mosquito, Trintaeum, Rivoli Café-Concerto).

Commissioned by Rui Trintaeum, the Bar Casa da Música is, above all, the ideal space hang out and dance. In Casa da Música, there's bar every saturday night. Sharing space with the restaurant, it has as main dish the DJ menu and a special lure: an exterior esplanade with one of the best panoramic views of the city.

The dancing is towards the multicolor instalation of Pedro Cabrita Reis, created for two operas that saw the light of day in the Suggia Room, in 2009. The instalation breaks the vaguely extraterrestrial, vaguely industrial of Casa da Música - the ceiling is 7m tall, there are metal pannels hanging over the dance floor. Other luxury: the exterior esplanade, with the Boavista roundabout as a vanishing point and one of the best panoramic views in town. For being right next to the the Restaurant Casa da Música, the bar has a wide offer (15 references, with prices from 2,20€ to 5€), sparklings and champagne by glass. It also stands out for the white drinks chart.

Casal Lounge

In Portuguese and Spanish below

In february of 2010 was launched right in Avenida dos Aliados the Casal Louge Caffé. Located in the building of the old Totta & Azores Banc, an architectural masterpiece of particular beauty, the Casal Lounge Caffé has its very own concept: it's a coffee shop, restaurant, pastery and bar. So, you can go there to have a wonderful breakfast, an amazing lunch, a snack, or only for a drink with some friends listening to a DJ.

This Lounge Caffé stands out for its homemade ice creams with more than 30 flavors to choose from. Crepes, homemade cakes, pizzas, pastas and the great invention of cakes with queijo da serra.

The space is pleasant, large, and its highlights are the leather couches, the walls covered with images of several european cities and a seventeenth-century chandelier. This coffee shop also presents an esplanade with Oporto's City Council and Intercontinental Hotel as a background, even if in opposite sides.

The Casal Lounge Caffé is definitely a place to visit, anytime, because it has the right options for each time of the day. 

Tendinha dos Clérigos

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Rock is in town

Tendinha dos Clérigos could be just another random bar, but there's something more to it, something that separates it from the rest of the clubs: the music preference. This bar puts the trendy music aside and bets everything on rock songs, mostly alternative. Moreover, you can see that in its logo, where you can find an electric guitar.

Tendinha dos Clérigos was born from Tendinha dos Poveiros, a bar that has been successful for quite a while. But the lack of space that made the clientele overflow into the street, led to the search of a bigger place and, above all, a place where the "night" could be extended till sunrise. And that's how the success of Tendinha dos Poveiros spread to Tendinha dos Clérigos too, in Conde de Vizela's street.

Even though the street is a little bit hidden, the red door calls the attention of anyone who passes by it. Inside, the decoration is simple. Black, red and orange prevail and mark the personality of the bar, where the walls are decorated with vinyls, t-shirts, pictures of musicians and even guitars.

Bubbles Vanity: Food & Bar

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Bubbles Vanity Food & Bar, the new project by BV Trading, opened up this year in Oporto's downtown, in Rua Conde de Vizela. This company operates in the beverage market, manufacturing sparklings and semi-sparklins, and Bubbles Vanity Food & Bar came to democratize the consumption of drinks like champagne. Aiming all kinds of costumers, Bubbles isn't elitist and it presents all kinds of sparklings and drinks, from Lambrusco for the youngers to  the most refined champagne such as Armand de Brignac. Every week there will be featured different kinds of champagne promoting new experiences and gathering moments.

The name Bubbles comes precisely from the bet on "bubbly" beverages, but they're not the only ones worthy of attention. During the day, Bubbles' meal service stands out for having as executive menu for lunch, and a contemporary style cuisine by dinner time.

However, this Food&Bar also has an exquisite snack menu, including Burrata, Creme Brullé de Fois Gras, the renowned iberian "Joselito"'s toasts or even the micro-hamburguers.

The space itself is also quite a highlight, for its bar has a DJ, a winter garden, a themed bar associated to Armand de Brignac's champagne and a restaurant-lounge, so that while in Bubbles you may never feel adrift, there are places for all tastes.

This bar, despite being recent, is already one of the major references in Oporto's night. It has modern and welcoming space, and the drinks promise to leave you bubbling.

Era uma vez em Paris

 In Portuguese and Spanish below

In Galerias de Paris we can find “Era uma vez em Paris”, a coffee house/bar created to continue the trip once started by “Era uma vez no Porto”.

This café was created in order to give the customers the possibility to “live” a night in Paris, but yet in Oporto, and also to prove that the world is a small place, and that every city, despite its uniqueness, can be transversal.

This is a place where you can hang out with your friends and have a nice conversation while listening to slow music in a very quiet and modern space. This bar offers its’ clients the possibility to have fun with no need to dance.

The coffee has a very nice and modern space, the music is slow and the decoration really makes us feel like we’re in Paris.

So, due to all this, this bar is worth the visit and whoever visits it will be buying a round trip, because whoever spends a nice nigh in “Era uma vez em Paris” always feels obliged to return.

Era uma vez no Porto

In Portuguese and Spanish below

From the river mouth to Oporto's downtown,"Era uma vez no Porto" became one of the highlights of our city when it comes to bars due to its alternative style. Placed in Rua das Carmelitas, near the renowned bookstore Lello, Era uma vez no Porto presents a cosy and modern space, which stands out for its balcony with a view towards the Clérigos' Tower and the Lions' Square, two of the most important landmarks of Oporto.

Era uma vez no Porto is the ideal place for an afternoon well spent in the company of a cup of coffee or tea, good music, and a good time with some friends by night to the sound of the guest DJ's. One of its most beloved features is the integrated "Loja Gira DIscos", which is a store where you can find books and vinyls.

Its retro-vintage and yet welcoming decoration, along with the usually alternative indie rock that characterizes the bar, gives it that special alternative touch mentioned before.

If you're looking for a place to spend a nice afternoon with your friends talking and enjoying a cup of tea, or a pleasant night listening to good music, this is the perfect place.

Boulevard

 In Portuguese below

Located in Avenida dos Aliados, Boulevard is much more than just a bar. It was born from parties organized by four students of Oporto’s University of Nursing. After two years of work their goal was achieved and Boulevard was born, a mixture of coffee, bar and disco.

This place has much more to offer besides a night in the dance floor. From Monday to Friday its founding fathers organize themed nights that stand out for the atmosphere of social gathering.

The Boulevard stands for its dimension, having two floors where it can welcome 500 people. The first floor has more of a coffee shop environment, with chairs and perfect tables to spend a bit of time hanging out among friends; and the second floor is all about concerts and a great dance floor.

Aside from the drink service you can find in any regular bar or club, the Boulevard has also catering and pastry, which allows the costumers to enjoy their meal in the bar. The menu’s highlights are the francesinhas for 6.50€ and the hotdogs for 5.00€.

It’s a multitasking café, capable of serving meals, or provide room to have a nice conversation among friends and have fun till dawn, so if you’re looking for any of those things, Boulevard is a smart choice.

Club Vila

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Near Praça D. João I you can find Club Vila, also known as Vila or Villa. This is one of the larger bars in Oporto’s downtown. Villa prides itself to be one the main preferences when it comes to youngster’s nights out, throwing several weekly events.

The building was previously occupied by the Villa Community, which was meant to be a cultural space but it didn’t work out. However, Club Vila seems to have come to stay, and with a total of 1500 m², this club is divided in two floors and it’s able to welcome 2000 people.

Vila Porto is a great option if the idea is to dance all night long because of its dance floor, which covers the whole ground floor. Although, there’s also a lounge area, on the first floor, especially for costumers whose main interest relies on 80’s and 90’s rock.

If perhaps you’re more interested in a nice quite evening, whether dancing or just hanging out with your friends, Villa presents you two options, in a room filled with modern decoration and tremendous glamour.

Espaço 77

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Low Cost nights

In Travessa de Cedofeita we encounter Espaço 77, a coffee shop able to wonder anyone who enjoy a nice, low-cost snack. Open until 4am every day, 77 is a meeting-point not only for a cup of coffee among friends, but also for a light meal after a fun night out.

In 77 you can eat several snacks such as pizza slices all day long, practically. Although, the main highlight are what we call “minis”, which are smaller sized beers, for only 0.50€. This feature beats records on a national level with an average of 300.000 sales a year. In 2011, Espaço 77 sold 378 230 “minis”, which equals an average of one for every 19 seconds.

This space has a esplanade in an open air area, in the back of the coffee shop. Every Wednesday there’s an invited DJ, making it one of the most bustling and lively nights of the week. Besides that, 77 has a pool table, table football and playstation.

If you’re looking for a light meal or a place to spend some time with your friends at low prices, whether it’s day or night, this is definitely the place to go.

Hard Club

In Portuguese and Spanish below

Hard Club is one of the most important coffee club in Oporto when it comes to live music shows. After being placed in Gaia for nine years, Hard Club moved to Oporto, locating at Mercado Ferreira Borges.

The club always has a busy agenda, not only with live shows but also with solidarity campaigns and trade fairs. This building has a recording studio, a show room, lounge, a book store, open-air places and three stages.

Above all, Hard Club is a cultural club, including various kinds of art, from music, painting, sculpture, photography, dance and theatre. It is a must visit for people who wish to know more about culture, in a space that stands on its own as a piece of art.