Porto is a well-known travel destination in Portugal for its impressive architecture, fascinating views, and distinctive culture. There are many great options for places to stay for solo travelers throughout the city. If you’re on a tight budget, many hostels offer a cozy place to stay with a social vibe. Also, many hostels arrange walking tours and other activities for guests to have a good time. If you’re watching your budget and traveling alone, Porto has a variety of great options where you can stay throughout the city.
By Lizzy
Top 5 Hostels in Porto:
- #1
- #2 Yes! Porto Hostel
- #3 Rivoli Cinema Hostel
- #4 Porto Lounge Hostel & Guest House
- #5 Pilot Design Hostel and Bar
The 5 Best Party Hostels in Porto
Porto Spot Hostel
Price: $16.73 to $32.86
is located in the middle of the city, which makes walking to tourist spots around the city very doable. These tourist spots include Old Town and Clerigos Tower. The building was completed back in 1935, and it possesses a lot of charm. It’s been fully refurbished and now has modern design cues with a unique vibe. The hostel also has a bar area and patio where you can relax after a fun day exploring the city.
The hostel’s staff is lovely, and they organize a lot of events, including pub crawls, walking tours, and nightly dinners. There’s also a fully-equipped kitchen where you can cook your food and several common areas, including a living room and a media room. Wi-fi access is available throughout, as well.
There are private rooms and dorms are available. Also, you can choose between three beds, four beds, and eight-bed dorms. Coed and female-only dorms are both available, as well.
- Convenient location
- Complete amenities
- Lots of events
Yes! Porto Hostel
Price: $16.73 to $17.92
Yes! Porto Hostel is one of the most famous hostels in the city. It’s also popular among backpackers, solo travelers, groups, and independent travelers because it has a superb environment, accommodating staff, and a very convenient location. Also, the hostel part of a chain of hostels nearby. The hostel relatively new and possess a modern vibe with comfortable decor.
The hostel’s location is convenient as it is near the Clerigos Tower, which is a famous and centrally located monument in the city. Many restaurants and cafes surround it, and the nightlife in the area is excellent.
The hostel has a very social environment, and they organize regular events and parties for guests. Also, there are nightly group dinners that let you interact with other guests. It is a great place to stay if you want a lively environment where other guests are looking to meet and hang out.
- Convenient location
- Social vibe
- Nice interior design
Rivoli Cinema Hostel
Price: $14.41
Rivoli Cinema Hostel features the best common spaces like a large rooftop terrace, a fun swimming pool, and BBQ spots. The large terrace lounge is the place for exciting activities like socializing while holding a drink and chilling, playing video games on PlayStation, and TV or movies from the hostel’s extensive DVD collection. The common areas are usually open all night to let the guests mix and have fun. The friendly staff organizes regular free wine tours, walking tours, and social activities every night. Great party hostel with a lively and buzzing atmosphere. Read more..
- Swimming pool
- Social vibe
- Crazy parties
Porto Lounge Hostel and Guesthouse
Price: $14.41
Porto Lounge Hostel & Guest House is ideal for guest socializing. The interactive spaces include a very cool on-site bar that supplies local wine and beer, a chill, leafy courtyard to relax, and a spacious sunny terrace to have fun while cooking up BBQ with others. The hostel organizes exciting activities like free walking tours, nightly pub crawls, game nights, basic Portuguese lessons, etc. to encourage interaction among guests. The atmosphere has a very social vibe, and the staff is more than accommodating. Read more..
- Daily activities
- Great bar
- convenient location for partying
Pilot Design Hostel and Bar
Price: $11.08
Pilot Design Hostel and Bar features a great bar and lounge that is 24 hours open, a beautiful terrace for spending time with fellow travelers, a tremendous waterfall, and a thrilling foosball table. The location of the hostel is also an advantage because the hottest nightspots are a short walk from the hostel. The staff is helpful, and they organize cool events such as nightly parties, regular in-house games, walking tours to famous wine distilleries and surf spots, and give information about the “Camino de Santiago” among other special events. Read more..
- Great bar
- Convenient location to party
How is Porto’s Nightlife?
Due to a surge in popularity as a must-visit destination, Porto’s nightlife continues to grow. So, the visitors of this booming Portuguese hotspot can have an ever-growing list of choices for enjoying the city at night. As the city is quite small and compact, the nightlife is mostly gathered in the ‘Downtown’ area (known to locals as ‘Baixa’). So, it is easy to visit a few different venues in one night.
Many of Porto’s nightlife spots are housed inside historical buildings that have been re-imagined into a mix of modern, trendy, and cozy spaces. Nightclubs and bars with high ceilings, tall windows, and wooden floors are typical, giving an appealing atmosphere that is awesome, yet charming.
During the weekends and specifically in the summer months, the streets are jam-packed with bustling crowds of people who are either taking in the fresh air or trying to choose their next destination. However, don’t be let down if you find it a bit deserted at first – Porto only gets a bit crowded around midnight!
The Best Clubs and Bars in Porto
We have listed some of the nicest places to party in Porto. So, you should head to:
Flow
For a relaxed way to kick off the night, Flow is an excellent choice. Housed in what was once a ceramics factory, Flow is both a restaurant and a bar. It is attached to an outdoor terrace that is separated by floor-to-ceiling glass walls. The décor is spectacular and distinctly exotic, while still maintaining the modern and spacious feeling. You should have a drink here if you want to feel a bit sophisticated.
Base
One of the newer places to be in the city, Base, is the only open-air bar in the city-center so far. As it is built on a human-made park full of olive trees and skillfully manicured grass. Also, there’s a lot of outdoor seating options that you can choose from, like a bathtub. The bar is also a fantastic spot to enjoy the night, especially when the sun sets late in summer.
Galeria de Paris
Situated on the street with a similar name in the middle of ‘Baixa,’ Galeria De Paris is a social, vibrant, and fun place to get your groove on. The walls are decorated with loads of vintage items, including toys and a wide range of memorabilia from decades past. Also, dinner is served by candlelight and usually accompanied by music from a live band. The party starts around 11.30 pm when the tables are removed to create a dance floor. However, it gets crowded fast, and music is usually pop or 80s.
Aduela
Aduela is a usual meet-up spot that’s adored by the locals and, more recently, travelers too. It has a casual atmosphere and reasonably priced drinks, with a lot of outdoor seating areas. But they are often full. Fortunately, there’s plenty of standing room as well. It’s a great place to begin the night or to chat with friends or strangers over a drink or two (or three).
Café Candelabro
Also, a favorite with the locals, Candelabro is a cozy café/bar that is housed in a former bookstore. Along the walls inside, you can still find shelves holding books that are available to enjoy with your drink, or even purchase (you need to ask). On jam-packed nights, groups mingle on the square directly outside the bar. The atmosphere has a mostly laid-back, but on late weekend evenings, you can expect louder, more energetic music.
About Porto
Porto is a bustling industrial and commercial center. The city has a relatively low population (about 300,000 inhabitants). However, the Porto metropolitan area (Greater Porto) has a population of approximately 2,500,000 in a 50km radius. The area includes cities like Gaia, Matosinhos, Maia, and Gondomar.
The city was founded along the hills facing the Douro river estuary, and UNESCO awarded its historical center World Heritage status in 1996. It has been continuously populated since the 4th Century when the Romans called it the Portus Calle
Porto has been a mercantile city since it was founded. This fact is visible in the style of the buildings along the Avenida dos Aliados, the heart of the downtown area. The center of town is unlike other major Portuguese cities, where the baroque style is preferred, has buildings made of granite and monumental.
The city has a wide range of architectural styles, with medieval as well as modern being side by side. Although the city’s geography is hard for walking, it has incredible views. The city is very hilly, with several buildings carved into a cliff face that has a view of the river. Several stairs cut into the stone run up and down the cliff face and offer a challenging but very worth it walking tour. Across the river from Porto proper, in the suburb of Gaia, are located the warehouses of notable companies dealing with Port Wine, such as Cálem, Fonseca, Sandeman, Kopke, and others.
Lizzy
Traveler & Blogger
Hi, I’m Lizzy! In the past 10 years I’ve travelled 60 countries and I’m still counting. While I was backpacking I could not find a website that provides valuable information about hostels. After months of thinking, doubting and brainstorming, hostelstobook.com was born.
I hope to make your trip easier, so you’d only stay in the best hostels around the globe. Do you have any questions? Don’t hesitate to send me a message.
Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend visiting Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona because they’re all in the region. If you’re looking for the best of the best in party’s, go to Budapest or Berlin.
Porto is safe and has very few problems relating to security. Also, most tourists will not encounter any problems or issues while on holiday to Porto or touring through the northern region of Portugal.
Porto Beaches and Beach Guide. Porto lies within the beautiful Costa Verde coastline and is surrounded by numerous outstanding beaches. … Slightly further from Porto are traditional and characterful beach resorts, including Vila do Conde, Espinho, Esposende, and Costa Nova.
Porto is not that expensive. That’s why it has been a tourists’ favorite in the last few years. Yes, hotels are expensive, and eating out can be costly, but you can always find cheap alternatives.
You can explore Porto by bus, metro, or on foot. Porto has an extensive public transportation system that helps visitors reach the best attractions in and around the city.