Day Trip from Porto to Aveiro: The Full Plan

Comparing the Ways

The train is the only public option the published figures support, and it comes in three speeds. The urban train is the cheapest and the most frequent. Intercidades and Alfa Pendular services are faster but dearer and leave from Campanhã. The guided option removes all decisions: a van, a guide and a moliceiro boat ride are in the price, and it folds Aveiro together with Coimbra in one day. The comparison below shows every option with its published cost and time.

Note that Campanhã and São Bento are linked by urban trains in about 4 minutes, and Campanhã is also served by metro lines A, B, C and E, so reaching the right station is easy from anywhere in Porto.

Tickets and the Station

The €3.95 urban fare is the figure that makes the day cheap, and with at least two departures an hour on weekdays you never wait long. The fast Intercidades (€13.00) and Alfa Pendular (€16.10) trains leave from Campanhã, which sits on metro lines A, B, C and E, and São Bento connects to Campanhã by a 4-minute urban train if you are starting in the centre. For the guided alternative, the full-day Coimbra and Aveiro trip meets at R. de Cândido dos Reis 105 in Porto.

Its moliceiro boat ride on the Aveiro lagoon, a local pastry and water are included, and lunch is not, so eat beforehand or plan to buy it on the day. The group runs with up to 8 and needs a minimum of 3 people, and free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before.

The Sample Plan

With at least two urban trains an hour on weekdays and a ride of about 1 hour 15 minutes, an early start gives you a full day on the ground. The plan below keeps walking distances low and puts Costa Nova in the middle of the day. Every price shown is the published figure, so you can tally the day before you go.

• Take an early urban train from Porto, €3.95, arriving in Aveiro about 1 hour 15 minutes later.
• Walk to the main canal and take the 45-minute moliceiro boat ride, about €15 for adults and €7 for children aged 5 to 12.
• Walk to the Museu de Aveiro / Santa Joana, €7.00, open 10:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 18:00.
• Have lunch near the canals, then try ovos moles, the egg yolk and sugar sweets with Protected Geographical Indication status.
• Catch BUSVWAY line 35 or 36 from Aveiro station to Costa Nova, about €2 to €4, for the striped palheiros houses along Avenida José Estevão.
• If time allows, continue to Barra to see the Farol da Barra, Portugal's tallest lighthouse at 62 m, built in 1893.
• Ride the bus back to Aveiro station and take an evening urban train to Porto, €3.95.

What to Skip If You Are Short of Time

If you only have a half day, keep the moliceiro boat, the canals and the ovos moles in the centre, and drop Costa Nova. The bus out is about 11 km each way and the Transdev service takes about 40 minutes, plus the €2 to €4 fare each way. The Museu de Aveiro is also the easiest cut if its 12:30 to 13:30 midday closure clashes with your timing, since it shuts on Mondays anyway.

The salt pan at the Ecomuseu Marinha da Troncalhada sits beside the Canal das Pirâmides.

The Canals and the Moliceiro Boat

The canals are the reason the town is called the Venice of Portugal, and the moliceiro boats are the way to see them. The ride lasts 45 minutes and costs about €15 for adults and €7 for children aged 5 to 12. The boat sets the rhythm of the day: it is short enough to fit before lunch and it gives you an orientation of the centre that makes the rest of the walking easier.

Free to watch from the canal side if you would rather not ride.

Museu De Aveiro / Santa Joana

The museum occupies the former convent of Santa Joana. The ticket is €7.00 on a listing based on the municipal price list. Hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 18:00, and it shuts on Mondays, so check which day of the week your trip falls on before building the morning around it.

The midday closure from 12:30 to 13:30 is easy to plan around: see the museum first and eat after, or eat first and go in at 13:30.

Ecomuseu Marinha Da Troncalhada

This is a working salt pan beside the Canal das Pirâmides, and in season it runs live salt harvesting demonstrations. Watching the rakes and the pyramids of salt takes only a short stop. Times for the demonstrations depend on the season and the published material does not give a fixed schedule, so treat it as a stop you make if the harvest is running when you walk past.

Ovos Moles

Ovos moles de Aveiro are egg yolk and sugar syrup held in a thin wafer, shaped as shells or fish, and they carry Protected Geographical Indication status under EU Regulation 286/2009 of 8 April 2009. They are very sweet, so one or two between two people is plenty. Shops selling them line the streets near the canals and the price is per piece, so you can spend as little or as much as you like.

Costa Nova and the Striped Palheiros

Costa Nova is about 11 km from Aveiro, and the palheiros are the striped houses along Avenida José Estevão. They began as fishermen's stores for nets, gear and salting sardines, in the municipality of Ílhavo. The stripes are said to come from reusing leftover boat paint, and they helped families identify their own palheiro from a distance and in fog.

BUSVWAY lines 35 and 36 run from Aveiro station to Barra and Costa Nova for about €2 to €4, and the Transdev service takes about 40 minutes, or about 20 minutes by car.

Farol Da Barra

At Praia da Barra, at the end of the same bus line, stands the Farol da Barra, built in 1893 and Portugal's tallest lighthouse at 62 m. It stands on the Atlantic edge of the lagoon, and the beach beside it makes a calm final stop on a warm day before the ride back to Aveiro station. It suits days that started early.

If the light is falling, skip it and take the bus back.

The Verdict by Traveller Type

On your own, the day costs €3.95 each way by urban train, plus about €15 for the moliceiro boat, €7.00 for the museum if you want it and €2 to €4 each way to Costa Nova. You set the order, stay as long as you like in the striped houses and eat where you want. The Coimbra and Aveiro guided day costs $111, runs in a van with up to 8 people and a minimum of 3, and adds Coimbra to the same day, with a moliceiro boat ride on the Aveiro lagoon, a local pastry and water included. Lunch is not included and the guide suggests restaurants. Hotel pickup is not offered either, and the meeting point is R. de Cândido dos Reis 105 in Porto.

The guided day suits travellers who want Coimbra as well and would rather not manage two sets of timetables. The train day suits anyone who wants Aveiro only, at their own pace, for a fraction of the price. If you are weighing other cheap days out, the free day trips from Porto hub compares Braga, Guimarães and this route, and Coimbra has its own page at day trip from Porto to Coimbra.