Palacio da Bolsa, Porto

The Bolsa Palace is set right in Porto downtown. It was built in 19c by the Porto Commerce Chamber with the idea to impress foreign traders and investors, as for centuries Porto was a huge and important trade hub. I was hesitating if to visit this palace, but having missed it 9 years ago when I was here I decided to go. Luckily, waiting time for the next tour was only around 15 min and they had available tickets for English tour (you cannot visit without the tour). Considering the palace, there are 3 impressive places: 1. the main hall with State coats of arms of the states Porto dealt business with, 2. the hall after the stairway which is beautifully hand carved in granite and 3. the last golden Arabic room which is really stunning. All other rooms are very average - you see much better in palaces throughout Europe. However, the biggest drawback was a tour guide herself - a young lady trying to be interesting, but speaking so loud and with such a heavy accent. I was struggling to understand her with that accent, and at the same time her loud voice echoed in those big spaces, so around the half I got tired from that. To conclude, go for the tour if you haven't seen many palace like edifices and if there isn't a long waiting time for your language tour.

Stunning place inside, definitely much better than outside. Sad that even though we bought the ticket online there was a fast queue where you had to specify the hour the the compulsory tour. It’s not like you can just enter and stroll around, you must chose a time and participate in the tour with 30 or more people. You can chose the language of the tour between Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. The space inside is really nice it’s worth to take pictures, kind that the tour is a bit long, it lasted about 1 hours for few rooms. Let’s say there was a lot to listen and standing

This "palace" houses the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce. Because the only available option is the guided tour, one does not really have enough time to absorb the beauty of the building, but this did help us learn about its history (the enforcement of taking up a guided tour is understandable because the building is a workplace for the Chamber of Commerce, but I do wish they offered other options to pace it myself). They did not, however, stop us from taking a second look at some of the halls after the tour's end. There was another group touring the halls after us and we tried to steer clear so as not to disrupt them. The climax of the tour is the Arabic room, at the very end. The doors to the room will be closed, so that the entrance into the room can be more dramatic.

It is better to reserve tickets ahead as the museum can be accessed only by guided tours. I am not sure if tickets can be purchased online, however, I could book a slot in English one hour before it started. The tours are provided in many languages. The palace is beautiful with many history of Portugal.

Unlike most of the other must see places in Porto, the Bolsa Palace is still an active building for normal Porto city business. The visit is a quick 30-minute guided tour. Before heading to the Palace, be sure to check their website. The tours are conducted in different languages throughout the day. During my visit, I was fortunate to arrive when an English tour was about to start in 15 minutes. It is an incredible place to visit and the tour guide provides insight into Portugal's and Porto's history.