In Porto, you can find many modern shops and malls as well as shops selling traditional wares such as embroidered linens, home-made carpets, and ceramics. Porto, being the second largest city of Portugal, offers many options for shoppers.
The main shopping street of Porto is Rua de Santa Catarina. This centrally located street has a lot of clothes shops, shoe shops (don’t forget that Portuguese footwear is the best) and shops selling design items. The most popular shopping centre called Via Catarina is located in the Rua de Santa Catarina, at the corner of Rua Fernandes Tomar. The area near Rua de Santa Catarina has many small pastry and food shops.
Other popular shopping centres of Porto include NorteShopping in Matosinhos, Centro Comercial Peninsular and Centro Comercial Cidade de Porto. All these malls bring together nationally and internationally renowned brands.
The Mercado de Bolão, Porto’s most popular open-air market, should be visited if you want to buy food, spices, flowers or kitchen equipment. The market is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (9am to 12:30pm on Saturday).
The most beautiful and extravagant shop of Porto is the Livrario Lello located in the Rua das Carmelitas. This prestigious bookshop is well known for its Art Nouveau design. And there are always more tourists than readers in this famous shop that should be certainly visited while in Porto.