Virtudes Garden

Virtudes Garden is a hidden gem of Porto. Its history goes back to the XVIII century. The present outline is reminiscent of famous Portuguese landscape gardener José Marque Loureiro’s projects. He transformed this place into an exhibition place for rare tropical plants.
It was restored in 1998 by Câmara Municipal do Porto. They made up the place with lawns, where you can take a break from the urban rush and environment.

🌳 The Virtudes Garden is very different from others in Porto city. It creates separated ledges that appears in a vertical distribution, which offers you separate terraces to explore.

You can enjoy the one of the best sunset views in the city here. Lots of locals and tourists take a beer or a glass of wine and spend time with a panoramic view of Douro’s river and Gaia landscape.
Even though it is in the middle of the city, near Clérigos Tower and Cordoaria Garden, usually the atmosphere here is very calm. Fortunately, tourists hardly know about it. Moreover, the entrances are hidden. You can find one in Rua Azevedo de Albuquerque and the other is
behind Palácio da Justiça.
Besides, you can also visit the Virtudes Fountain and the largest Ginkgo Biloba tree in Portugal. The plant is also one of the tallest trees in Europe, at around 35 meters height.

Tips:

1. There are some benches to sit. If you prefer more natural experience, bring a blanket and take sit under the trees to relax. This is a perfect place to make a picnic with a beautiful view too.
2. If you go up from the garden, you will find Passeio das Virtudes. This small square is also a good place to watch the sunset. But usually, the place is rather crowded than spacy. On the edge, there is an iron grid (for security purposes) that can ruin the view. If you would like to take some food or drinks, this square is for you, since they have a range of cafes and a minimarket above the garden.
3. If you are lucky, sometimes you can find people playing live music here.