Porto Self-Guided Walking Tour: Riddles & Landmarks

Riddles lead you through Porto's granite streets and baroque towers.

This self-guided walking tour of Porto uses app-based riddles and photo tasks to guide you from landmark to landmark on foot, with no fixed start time or guide. You download the Explorial app, enter your game code and set off through the city's steep streets at your own pace, competing for points as you solve trivia about Torre dos Clérigos, São Bento railway station's twenty thousand azulejo tiles, and the Livraria Lello's neo-Gothic facade. The tour runs around two hours and suits groups up to fifteen people. You can pause, break and restart whenever you want.

The experience

Start at the Jardim da Cordoaria, open the app and enter the six-digit code you receive by text. From there, riddles count the steps and point you toward Torre dos Clérigos: the seventy-five-metre baroque bell tower that long marked home for sailors returning to Porto. The game does not ask you to climb it. Instead, trivia and photo tasks pull out the stories the tower holds. You move at your own speed, stop for coffee, sit on a step if the hills wear you down. There is no schedule to keep and no one waiting for the group to catch up.

São Bento railway station comes next: twenty thousand azulejo tiles turn the train hall into a history book written in blue and white. The app's trivia picks out battles, coronations and everyday river life from the ceramic panels, so you are not just looking at them. You are reading them. Then the Livraria Lello appears from its neo-Gothic facade, the crimson staircase inside famous enough to have inspired writers and a very famous wizarding world. The app does not require you to enter (all puzzles relate to public areas of the sights), so you see what you want to see without paying entrance fees.

The whole route takes around two hours of walking and marvels, though you control the pace entirely. Points and scoring let your group compete against each other and against the city's high score. When you finish, port wine across the river makes a fine trophy ceremony. The app works in twenty-four languages. You choose yours when you start the game.

What’s included

• Free download of the Explorial app for iOS or Android.
• self-guided walking tour with interactive riddles, trivia challenges and photo tasks.
• live location map so you always know where you are.
• points and scoring system to compete within your group and against the city's high score.
• total flexibility to start anytime, walk at your own pace and take as many breaks as you want.

Before you book

Days and timesDaily

Ages10 to 90 years · Under 10 — Free

Meeting point and pickupNo pickup · ends where it startsMeeting point, per the operator: “Book your Explorial tour today. Start whenever you want. *** After booking, you’ll receive your game code via text message and a Viator message. *** Downl…”

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 12 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Explorial

Is this one for you?You guide yourself through Porto using your phone instead of following a guide, which means you set the pace, choose when to start and stop, and walk only the streets that interest you. This suits anyone who prefers to explore without a fixed schedule or the pressure of keeping up with a group, and anyone traveling with children who need flexibility to rest or move faster.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Romanian, Danish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Ukrainian, Czech, Norwegian, Hungarian, Cantonese, Greek, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Hindi and Turkish.

Can children come?

Under 10, free.

What is Torre dos Clérigos and why does the tour start there?

Torre dos Clérigos is Porto's seventy-five-metre baroque bell tower, long the first landmark sailors saw when returning home. The app guides you toward it as the opening landmark, using riddles to count the steps and trivia to reveal the stories the tower holds.

Do I have to pay to enter the landmarks on this tour?

No. All puzzles on the tour relate to public areas of the sights, so you see Torre dos Clérigos from outside, read the azulejo tiles in São Bento station's public hall, and view the Livraria Lello's facade without paying entrance fees.

What happens if I need to stop or take a break during the two hours?

You can pause anytime. There is no fixed schedule and no guide waiting for the group, so you can sit down, grab a coffee, or come back to finish another day. The app saves your progress and you restart whenever you want.

What do I need to bring to start this tour?

Bring a fully charged smartphone with an active mobile data connection and the Explorial app downloaded from your appstore before you arrive. Disable any VPN and avoid city Wi-Fi, as these will cause the app to malfunction. Wear comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing for around two hours of light walking on steep streets.

Can I do this tour with a larger group?

The maximum is fifteen people per booking. If your group is larger, you can make multiple bookings and have teams compete against each other using the app's scoring system.