Porto to Bom Jesus do Monte: the €3.60 train against the €34 per person tour
Doing it yourself
Trains leave São Bento and can also be boarded at Campanhã, which is worth knowing if you are staying east of the centre. The slower service takes 71 minutes and the faster one 54, and at €3.60 a head neither is worth agonising over. Twenty departures a day, seven more on weekdays, means you can leave when you wake up rather than at the hour a coach decides.
From Braga station, TUB line 2 runs to the foot of the sanctuary in about half an hour — two sources on the same site say 25 and 30 minutes, so I write about half an hour and leave it there. It goes every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on Sundays, and that Sunday frequency is the thing that catches people out at dusk. The fare is small change; the exact figure and why I will not state it flatly is on the cost page. Full directions, including from the airport, are on how to get there.
At the bottom you either climb the 573 steps of the official Confraria count — English Wikipedia counts 583 — or pay a couple of euros for the funicular. Both are covered on the stairway page. Nobody charges you to walk in at the top or the bottom.
Tours that run from Porto
Prices per person start at €34 per person for a nine-hour day covering Braga and Guimarães, which is also the most-reviewed product on the list at 4,593 reviews and 4.6 stars. It calls itself small-group and puts the maximum at 27 in an air-conditioned minibus, which is a number worth having before you picture a minivan. Above it: €49 per person for three towns including Viana do Castelo over ten and a half hours with headsets and hotel pickup, €45 per person for a six-hour version with a tapas lunch and castle entry, and €65 per person for a Braga-only day with a cathedral ticket and no ratings yet. The four-hour half day at €60 per person is rated 4.7 from 48 reviews and is the shortest way to do this from Porto with someone driving.
Most reviewedFrom Porto: Braga & Guimarães Tour with Bom Jesus & Castle
Three citiesFrom Porto: Viana do Castelo, Braga and Guimarães Day Tour
With tapasFrom Porto: Braga & Guimarães — History & Local Flavours
Braga onlyFrom Porto: Braga Day Trip with Bom Jesus & Cathedral Ticket
Half dayFrom Oporto: Braga Tour (4 Hours) — Half Day
Driver-guideBraga & Guimarães: 7-Hour Tour from Porto
When the tour wins
When you have one day in the north and want Guimarães in it as well. Doing both cities by public transport in a day is possible and joyless; a coach makes it ordinary. When you are four people, because €34 per person a head with the driving and the commentary handled starts to look like a sensible use of a day. When you want somebody to explain the Five Senses fountains rather than photograph them. And when you are travelling on a Sunday, because the bus up the hill halves in frequency and the day gets tighter than it looks on paper.
When the train wins
When Bom Jesus is the point of the trip. Every full-day tour from Porto is running a schedule, and the sanctuary is one stop on it. Reviewers who gave five stars still wrote that they wanted more time here, which is the strongest evidence I can offer that a fixed itinerary and this particular hill are in tension. Two people on the train pay €7.20 return between them, plus small change for buses and the funicular, and can stay until the light goes. The grounds do not close. That argument in full is on Braga and Guimarães in one day.
What works
- The train is €3.60 and runs 20 times a day
- You choose when to leave and when to give up
- The sanctuary is free and open around the clock
- Braga is small enough to walk once you are in it
Worth knowing
- Two changes: train, then TUB line 2, then the climb or the funicular
- Sunday buses run hourly rather than every 30 minutes
- No guide, and nothing on the hill explains itself
- Guimarães on the same day means a lot of platform time
If you take the train, go up early. The stairway faces east, the coach parties arrive from Porto late morning, and the funicular queue is shortest before ten.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I get from Porto to Bom Jesus do Monte without a tour?
Train from Porto São Bento to Braga, 54 or 71 minutes at €3.60 adult, then TUB line 2 from the station to the foot of the sanctuary in about half an hour. Then either the 573 steps of the official count or the funicular for a couple of euros. Step by step on how to get there.
Is a day trip from Porto to Braga worth it?
If you want Guimarães in the same day, a tour from €34 per person is the practical way to do it. If Bom Jesus is the reason you are going, the train gives you the one thing no coach can, which is the ability to stay. Read the one-day or two-day argument before booking.
How far is Braga from Porto?
42 km by road. By train it is 54 or 71 minutes depending on the service, and by coach on a guided day trip you are looking at eight to ten and a half hours door to door because of what gets added in between. Costs are broken down on the cost page.
Can I get to Braga from Porto Airport?
Yes. The Get Bus takes about 50 minutes from the airport to Braga, running eight times a day and eleven on weekdays. Fares are listed on the cost page with the rest of the money. Several tours also offer hotel pickup in Porto instead.