Aveiro: a beautiful day trip from Porto, Portugal

Aveiro, “The Portuguese Venice”, is a charming, picturesque city . It’s an an ideal day trip from Porto. 

Famous for its canals and architecture, Aveiro city centre is a lovely and peaceful place to spend a day or two when you’re visiting central or northern Portugal.

There are quite a few things you can experience in one day in Aveiro, yet you may want to extend your visit and stay overnight to see even more.

I took this day trip from Porto to Aveiro on my last visit to Portugal. In this guide, I share some of the best things to do on an Aveiro day trip from Porto.

How to get to Aveiro from Porto

Taking the train from Porto to Aveiro

The train ride from Porto to Aveiro takes about an hour on the urban train. 

I took the train from one of the big train stations in Porto,  Campanhã, but you can also take it from São Bento station.

You can also take a bus from Porto to Aveiro.

Search for train and buses between Porto and Aveiro.

Visiting Aveiro on a guided tour

I visited Aveiro as a day trip from Porto, but it’s also possible to combine it with a visit to other nearby destinations, such as the historic university town of Coimbra.

It’s a good option if you don’t have much time in Portugal and want to see as much as possible with a local guide.

Here are your main options:

• Aveiro and Coimbra from Porto
• Porto to Lisbon with stops in Aveiro, Nazaré or Fátima & Óbidos
• Aveiro & Costa Nova with Moliceiro River Cruise
• Aveiro from Porto with Cruise

Arriving at Aveiro

I arrived at Aveiro’s modern train station, but as I stepped outside I saw its old train station, a gorgeous building and a great start for the day trip.

Those amazing blue Portuguese tiles (“azulejos”), typical of the region, cover the building. They depict historical scenes.

From the station, take a walk to the city centre along the wide avenue that you’ll see just in front of you, called Av. Dr. Lourenço Peixinho.

Along the way you’ll pass by the canal and the local shopping centre called “Forum”.

The city of Aveiro is perfectly walkable. You can see it by yourself, but there are also some Aveiro sightseeing tours available.

Aveiro’s beautiful canals

It’s called the Portuguese Venice for a reason 😉

The beautiful canals, bridges and little painted boats are all symbols of Aveiro.

One of the reasons this place feels so pleasant and peaceful is the water and the cute boats.

The decorated gondola-like boats called “Moliceiros” run up and down the canals and if you want to take a tour you will find quite a few leaving from the centre.

A boat tour usually takes about 45 minutes. If you’re visiting Aveiro on a guided tour, this should be included in the tour price.

Museums to visit on an Aveiro day trip

There are some interesting museums in Aveiro, including:

• Aveiro Museum Santa Joana
• The Aveiro City Museum
• The Art Nouveau Museum
• The Marinha da Troncalhada Ecomuseum

They are open from Tuesday to Sunday, so don’t plan a day trip to Aveiro on a Monday if you’d like to visit any of them.

If you’re visiting Aveiro on a day trip, you may want to pick only some of these museums to see in one day and leave time for other things to do.

For me personally, four museums in one day trip seemed a bit too much, so I only visited two: the City Museum and the Art Nouveau Museum.

Conveniently, both of these are on the same street and within a couple of minutes from each other.

Aveiro City Museum

The City Museum, or Museu da Cidade in Portuguese, is dedicated to the history of the city of Aveiro.

It’s a pretty large museum and the exhibitions are spread over several floors.

It has a collection of items, big and small, from different time periods that are typical of Aveiro, plus some local contemporary art.

There are clear explanations in English so you can follow this historical journey easily.

When you go out of the museum, cross the road to take a look at the building itself. It is an impressive combination of Art Nouveau and Portuguese tiles.

Art Nouveau Museum of Aveiro

Continue along the canal, and just a couple of minutes away from the City Museum, you’ll see another impressive building.

This one is hosting the Art Nouveau Museum of Aveiro, or in Portuguese: Museu Arte Nova.

This was one of my favourite things to do in Aveiro, as I’m a big fan of the style.

Enter and climb up a ridiculously narrow but appropriately decorated staircase to reach the second floor.

There you can watch a documentary film introducing the Art Nouveau movement in different places around the world.

When I visited there was also a small exhibition on fashion influenced by the Art Nouveau style.

Regardless of what exhibition is on when you visit, take the time to appreciate the marvellous interior of this building.

The top floor of the museum has a temporary exhibition. When I visited it was about tiles made in Aveiro in the Art Nouveau style.

Although all the exhibition texts were in Portuguese, it was easy to follow and enjoy the display.

More things to do in Aveiro

Art Nouveau architecture in Aveiro

At the Museu Arte Nova you can pick up a map of Art Nouveau buildings around the city.

Aveiro has many of those and they are among the best things to see in Aveiro.

Even without the map, you can simply walk around the small streets and just look up.

This impressive architectural style arrived in Porto in the early 20th century, as it was spreading around Europe.

The typical elements of Art Nouveau, like whiplash lines and nature-inspired themes, are often mixed in Aveiro with traditional Portuguese architecture – the gorgeous painted tiles that you will see everywhere around the centre.

More beautiful places to visit in Portugal

Portugal has plenty of smaller towns and villages to see. They’re all gorgeous, chilled and well worth a visit.

They include places like Monsaraz, Amarante, Santana and Cascais. Read more about them in this full guide to villages and towns in Portugal.

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