10:41:27 Tuesday, 19th March

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There is no shortage of options for a few good hours spent shopping in Porto. In and around the city there are several large shopping centres, such as the Shopping Cidade do Porto, the central Via Catarina, the Norteshopping or the Arrábida Shopping in Vila Nova de Gaia, providing international brands including Zara, H&M or Massimo Dutti. Also in Gaia, the El Corte Inglês provides a comprehensive range of brands, from the most affordable to the most exclusive. The most prominent shop in Mar Shopping, in Matosinhos, is IKEA. These malls also include supermarkets.

If you wish to acquire high-end brands at discount prices, in Vila do Conde’s The Style Outlet, you will find names such as Gant, Michael Kors, Bimba & Lola, Tommy Hilfiger, Desigual and Guess.

International designer brands on the high street can be found on the Avenida da Boavista. Along the avenue, there are brands such as Versace or Dolce & Gabbana or the creations of renowned Portuguese designers, like Nuno Baltazar or Katy Xiomara. Besides this avenue, Porto boasts leading Portuguese designer studio boutiques, such as those of Luís Buchinho, Nuno Gama and Anabela Baldaque.

Rua da Cedofeita is known for its traditional high street shops, providing everything from off-the-peg clothing to shoe shops. On this street there are few of the well-known brand names that are regularly to be found in shopping malls. On Rua de Santa Catarina, other than the aforementioned Via Catarina shopping mall, there are many traditional high street shops and international brand names, such as C&A and Bershka.

And in order to relax after a day or afternoon of shopping (depending on your individual tastes and pocket!), Porto naturally boasts a plethora of wine and wine-tasting shops.

Porto also has street fairs where you can find a bit of everything. The street fair trend began in 2007 with the Mercadinho dos Clérigos. In 2009, the Porto Belo market sprung up in the Praça Carlos Alberto. Here you can pick up anything from vinyl records, clothes, old cameras, stamps and coins to food products such as olive oil, teas or jams. The Urban Market combines fashion, with jewellry and even gastronomy.

If you are the type of person who doesn’t enjoy this type of browsing, rest assured that there are many bars along the way where you can while away the time while your friends enjoy themselves spending their money!

If you like to take home souvenirs from the cities you visit, in Porto you will also find the typical handicraft, like the tiles that are an important part of the country’s cultural heritage. There are plenty of shops in which to buy these. On Rua Miguel Bombarda you can buy handicraft made by local craftsmen themselves. In addition to ceramic tiles, other typical Porto items include wooden toys or filigree, the art of molding gold and silver into intricate jewellry.