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Palacio da Bolsa
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Palacio da Bolsa

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Palacio da Bolsa
4.5
5,623 reviews
#34 of 380 things to do in Porto
Historic Sites • Architectural Buildings • Civic Centres
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9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
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About
National Monument, located in the historical centre of the city, classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Palacio da Bolsa, built by the Porto Commercial Association on the ruins of the Saint Francis Convent, has become by excellence the Porto city’s drawing room, welcoming the most illustrious visitors, amongst which are monarchs, presidents and ministers from almost every country, transforming this building into the most visited monument in northern Portugal.
Suggested duration
< 1 hour
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The area
Address
Reach out directly
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See what other travelers are saying
  • Jaffathecat1
    510 contributions
    Worth taking the tour even if it's not in your 1st language
    All the English tours were full so we took a french tour as it still takes you into every room. The undoubted highlight is the room modelled on the Alhambra in Grenada with its opulence and breathtaking plasterwork & furniture. The Borso is privately owned so tours are a little more pricey than other places in Porto but still worth it
    Visited January 2020
    Traveled as a couple
    Written January 4, 2020
  • DezzerG
    Mirfield, United Kingdom69 contributions
    Great place for a short visit
    Having read some reviews we weren’t too sure about getting a tour in English. We turned up at 11.00, and joined the 11.15 tour ..... the next tour would have been 12.30 or 2.00, so we needn’t have worried too much. The tour lasted about 40 minutes, and the building is packed with history. The Arab Room was outstanding. Coronavirus note - the guide apologised for having smaller groups of 20 (which sounded really good to us), but as the museum is in private hands it remains open.
    Visited March 2020
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 11, 2020
  • John L
    Grand Bend, Canada2,038 contributions
    Quick tour
    I wasn't really expecting the history of a stock exchange to be too exciting, but was pleasantly surprised. Our guide did an excellent job of providing an overall history of the building, as well as explaining the purpose and importance of various rooms. The ballroom, central hall and Moorish room were particularly striking. Tours are run regularly in various languages ... it is not possible to wander through the building on your own. Best to book on line to avoid having to wait for a tour.
    Visited March 2020
    Written March 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
5,623 reviews
Excellent
3,104
Very good
1,832
Average
478
Poor
118
Terrible
90
Italia Ignota
Florence, Italy342 contributions
Gorgeous!!! It is worth visiting.
Sep 2019
We went there by chance because we were nearly and because we just missed this place to visit. I must say that I was completely satisfied with the choice to enter. The palace can only be visited with a guide and above all the visits are at specific times, in well-defined languages and especially with limited places. My advice is to go to the first visit with places available, no matter if you do not understand the language spoken by the guide because the most important thing is to visit the beautiful halls of the building.
Written May 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I ❤️Europe
United Kingdom128 contributions
A must when visiting Porto
Apr 2022
I turned up around 10am and there was a small queue of about 10 people. I agree with other reviews the booking system is not great. When you arrive there is a screen with the time slots, however you don’t know what time your language is going to be until on the day as the system works by as soon as someone books the first slot for a certain time then depending on their language this will determine what times the tours are.

The tour takes up to 50 people. I booked the 13:30 English tour the guide was late, and it was only because people started complaining otherwise we would have been waiting longer. I read online the tour lasts 30mins, however our tour lasted 50mins. Because the guide was late a few people left early.

Despite the late start the tour was very good and informative. The Arab room which they saved the best to last was was very impressive.

I would highly recommend visiting.

Prices - Adult €10 Student €6.50
Written April 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Martin F
Holbeach, UK50 contributions
Informative and entertaining
Oct 2022 • Couples
Worth a visit but be careful not to spend longer in the queue than you do on the tour!
Be mindful that you queue to buy a ticket which won't get you necessarily on the next tour, you will choose the language when you buy your tickets and they confirm the times available. We bought our tickets around 9.30am and queued for maybe 15 minutes. The next available tour was 10.15am so we went and got a coffee. When you return for your tour don't join the ticket queue but go into the entrance hall (we went in via the exit) then head to the inner courtyard, somebody will check your ticket just as you go through the door to the courtyard. The tour was informative and entertaining. It is worth the 10 euro price. When we came out at around 10.45am the queue for tickets was massive so suggest getting in early. I can't see any advantage to buying tickets on line, as at Oct 22 the online option doesn't let you chose a date and time, you still have to queue to book which language tour you need and check availability.
Written October 31, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
banstead
Kirkby Lonsdale, UK434 contributions
Beautiful building - don't miss it
Feb 2020
We were staying close by and for some reason only made it on our last day. I had read about it, but my husband hadn't so was amazed when we ended the tour in the Moorish room, stunning.

It really is far more interesting than the name of the building suggests, it shows the importance of Porto as a trading city over time. We had an excellent guide, with lots of personal comments and anecdotes, didn't catch her name but she's visiting London in April for football!
Written February 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tanya T.
Illinois1,572 contributions
Great Rainy Day Activity
Nov 2022
The tour lasts about 30 minutes and you'll need to watch the schedule to know when the next tour in your language begins. We purchased tickets in advance and had to redeem them at the counter, the next tour (in English) was 30 minutes later and after receiving tickets, you can leave the building but must return at least 5 minutes before your scheduled tour begins. Sadly, there were non-English speakers on our tour who kept talking in their language. Perhaps someone in their party knew English and was interpreting which made it difficult to hear the tour guide. The most impressive part was the last room and some tid-bits of knowledge about government and architecture. The guide was good. He had a polite delivery of speech with small doses of jokes which made it engaging. Another draw is that this attraction is low-budget and affordable.
Written December 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrew C
13 contributions
Cool, but Portugal has much better
Jan 2022
If I had not already visited Lisbon, Sintra, and Pinhao, I would probably have given this five stars, but as it stands, Bolsa Palace pales in comparison to the other great places we visited. Considering many of them are priced similarly, it felt a little silly to pay 10 euro for this.

That being said, the tour was great and informative. Our guide was charming and gave us plenty of time to take photos. The full tour was about half an hour. Most interesting part for me was that the building actually functions as an office building, which is why tours are required. Some employees actually walked through our tour to get to a meeting room. Most impressive to me, and I'm sure everyone, is the last room, which is absolutely beautiful.
Written January 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Patouke
Edinburgh, UK145 contributions
Wish the guided tour were longer
Aug 2023 • Solo
It’s a beautiful building with rich history, architectural gem, still actively used as a Chamber of Commerce.
Visits are guided only and tours, hosted in different languages, last 30minutes. Unfortunately tickets are not available to be purchased online, only in person, and the volume of visitors requiring specific language, determines the wait for next available tour. If you’re planning to visit, especially on the cloudy/ rainy day, it’s best to get in earlier in the day so you don’t wait long. Our guide, Pedro, was very friendly and funny, he knew a lot about the history, city and the build itself. It’s a shame the tour only lasts half an hour, there’s so much more to discover and learn, that extra 10-15min would make a huge difference to visitors (especially for a price of €12).
Written August 19, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WanderingOttersons
Denver, CO1,326 contributions
Beautiful building
Sep 2021
Not quite as old as many of the more tourist visited buildings in the city, it certainly doesn't lack for wow factor. It still has an interesting history and is still in use today. From the hand cut/laid intricate floors put together like a puzzle with no nails or glue to the incredibly ornate Arab room, this building has many amazing architectural features not to be missed. A tour is quick and reasonably priced as well as convenient to the main areas of Porto so it's well worth a stop.
Written December 5, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Keith L
Taunton, UK211 contributions
Well decorated rooms
Sep 2021
Visits are only by a tour which required a wait of three hours for an English version. You circulate the building on the first floor entering various large rooms. One was an old courtroom with huge wall paintings. Another was the Chamber of Commerce meeting room with inlaid wood floors. The best and largest was left till last - the Arabian room. 30 minute visit costing 10 euros each so quite pricey.
Written September 11, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Merrowmum
Guildford, UK1,260 contributions
Short but very sweet tour!
Apr 2023 • Couples
We had pre-purchased tickets online, but still had to queue with everyone else to be allocated a tour slot. On the day we went, the two tours in English were at 11am and 11.45am, nothing in the afternoon, so we were pleased we had made it the first stop of our day as we had about 20 minutes to wait for the 11am tour by the time we had got to the ticket desk.
The tour itself only lasts about 35 minutes but is well worth it; our guide was very entertaining indeed - a great actress! - and the building itself is definitely worth seeing as a whole but especially the stunning Arab room, the last room of the tour. I also really liked the courtroom.
When we left, it was noticeable how much longer the queue for the ticket office was!
Written April 3, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Palacio da Bolsa - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about Palacio da Bolsa
Palacio da Bolsa is open:
  • Sun - Sat 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
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