Matosinhos is a city and a municipality in the northern Porto district of Portugal famous for a port and fishing industry. The main dominant is the Matosinhos beach visited often by locals, but also by tourists as it is easily accessible by metro. There are so many activities to do, places to see and restaurants to try around Matosinhos beach apart from enjoying the beach itself that I have gathered below some suggestions. Feel free to comment with your opinion.
- Surfing – Matosinhos beach is a famous surfing area with ideal conditions to catch a right wave. There are also plenty of schools that will gladly teach you how to surf. I recommend for example FISH SURF SCHOOL.
- Visit local fish market – Matosinhos is also known for its fishing industry. To get the fresh fish, visit the local market Mercado Municipal de Matosinhos where you can also taste some of local products and buy not only fish and seafood, but also fruit, vegetables and other local products.
- Try seafood and fish at “marisqueira” – The best fish and seafood can be found in so called “marisqueiras” meaning literally a seafood restaurant, while “marisco” means seafood. I recommend for example well-known A Marisqueira de Matosinhos, Marisqueira Antiga, or a more modern Meia-Nau Matosinhos.
- Visit Castelo do Queijo – Castelo do Queijo, or in English the Cheese Castle, or Forte de São Francisco Xavier. The tradition says that the name comes because it was built on a rounded granite rock with a shape similar to that of a cheese.
- Visit Pinhais Cannery & Co. – Conservas Pinhais factory is the factory of traditional Portuguese canned sardines and other products still being produced by hands. You can book here a tour available in several languages.
- Visit Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões – Porto Leixões Cruise Terminal is a purpose built terminal for ocean-going passenger ships built by the Port Authority of Douro. As it has a very interesting architecture, you can visit the terminal also from inside each Sunday. You can find more information about the terminal visit here.
- Try Camino de Santiago for one day – Matosinhos is a place where every year thousands of pilgrims pass to reach Santiago de Compostela as a part of a traditional Camino de Santiago. Here you can find some useful tips about this one-day adventure.
- Have a brunch in a nice café – There are plenty of nice traditional cafés in Matosinhos where you can drink a good traditional coffee. Although brunch is not a typical Portuguese thing, I leave here two suggestions where to take it – Terrárea selling not only a good coffee, but also beautiful flowers, plants and ceramics and Negra Café.
- Visit Parque da Cidade do Porto – Located right next to the Matosinhos beach, Parque da Cidade offers a huge green area with amazing fauna and flora to explore. It is also the largest urban park in the country and the only one in Europe with a seafront.
