This one is interesting, but not for all the normal reasons. We learned about it from a travel show understandably where the host gets a private tour. It is an impressive building with some impressive interiors. Even though it is by guided tour only, most comments and reviews said it was absolutely worth it.
First, we learned that this building is still in use by the Chamber of Commerce in Porto. For that reason, it is guided tours only and they are short at only 30 minutes. Second, you can buy tickets online, but they only sometimes do one tour a day in English which can actually change in terms of what time of day it happens. They also have a limited number of spaces for each tour. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a site that encourages tourists but is variable and/or unpredictable in that way.
We arrived early to check on when the English tour would be. As noted, it was up on a board at the entrance as well as the number of spots left (just a few). There was a long line so I’m glad we bought our tickets online and could jump to a side desk for onliners. That allowed us to ensure we grabbed a couple of spots in that tour. Whew.
Then we had almost an hour and a half to wander. It was warm and there aren’t a lot of parks with shade in that area, and it is down by the river so quite touristy. We walked to the river and found a cafe for coffee (natch). It did afford us a great view across to Vila Nova de Gaia and all the port houses with signs. Hence their presence in the photo gallery.
The tour itself was…. Adequate. As you will see, due to the aforementioned limitation of available English tours it was jam packed. This results in photos with lots of strangers in them and at weird angles with weird composition. The other thing about the tour is the guide felt she needed to be entertaining (yawn) and had a heavy accent. Given the echo and her bad jokes and lots of (bullshit) asides, she didn’t use precious tours time to provide a lot of education about the building which was a shame.
In any event, I’m glad we did the tour. We were astounded as much by the intricate wooden inlay floors as the elaborate wall and ceiling decorations. It is cool to know these rooms are all actually still used today – for Chamber business and, in the case of the opulent Arabian Room, rented for concerts and weddings.
Normally I like to add in some meaty facts, but I don’t really have any to post. Maybe everyone out there is saying “Thank Goodness, Gail. We just want to see the photos.” In that case, here you go. If you want more details, there is always https://palaciodabolsa.com/en/tourism/.
