Porto

Is Porto safe?

Yes. Porto is one of the safer cities in Europe for a visitor, and serious violence is rare. Eurostat counts 5 homicides in the whole Porto metropolitan area in 2024, home to about 1.8 million people, a rate of 0.3 per 100,000. Violent and serious crime in Porto district fell 8.4% in 2025, according to the government's annual internal security report (RASI).

The main risks are ordinary ones: pickpockets in the old centre, drug dealing that the government says is returning to parts of the city, and steep, slippery streets. We score Porto 83, above Lisbon (80), which has more theft, and a point above Madrid.

Pickpockets in the Ribeira and São Bento

Pickpocketing is the crime most visitors meet. Portugal recorded 7,443 pickpocketings in 2025, up 7.7%, and the RASI singles out Porto district after Lisbon, with 70% of the district's cases in the city itself. Complaints rose another 7% nationally in the first five months of 2026, and the police say gangs now work all year rather than only in summer. The PSP describes organised groups of three or four, often from abroad: one or two distract you, another takes the wallet, and sometimes a fourth waits in a car.

Where they work in Porto:

• The Ribeira waterfront and the lower deck of the Dom Luís I bridge, especially at sunset.
• São Bento station, where people stop to photograph the tiled hall.
• Rua de Santa Catarina and the Bolhão market area.
• Queues at the Livraria Lello bookshop and the Clérigos tower.
• Tram 1 along the river, the metro, and buses to and from the airport.

Use a bag that closes, wear it in front in crowds, and keep your phone off café tables. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary also advises care at crowded bus and tram stops in Portugal.

Drugs and the government's response

On a visit to Porto in May 2026, the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, said drug dealing and use were getting worse in both Lisbon and Porto. "You only need to walk the streets of Lisbon and Porto to see the re-emergence of some areas especially affected," he said, linking the drug trade to thefts, robberies and killings. The government promised about 200 extra PSP officers for the Porto metropolitan command in 2026, more patrols freed from desk work, and riot police in the most sensitive areas.

For visitors, the effect is mostly street dealing and drug use in a few neighbourhoods and some corners of the centre, which you can easily avoid. Do not buy from anyone on the street.

Porto at night

Porto is not in the European Commission's 2023 survey of city residents, so we start from Braga, about 50 km to the north-east. There, 84% of residents said they feel safe walking alone at night in the city, one of the highest shares in Europe. We take 3 points off for the drug problems the prime minister described in Porto. Even so, Porto sits well above Lisbon, where 68% of residents felt safe.

The centre is lively and generally easy-going after dark. The bar streets around the Clérigos tower, Rua da Galeria de Paris and Rua Cândido dos Reis fill up at weekends. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says attacks, including sexual assaults, are rare in Portugal, are most likely late at night around nightlife areas, and warns about drink spiking. Stay with friends, keep your drink in sight, and use a taxi, Uber or Bolt rather than walking home through empty streets.

Hills, roads and the Atlantic

Porto's hills are steep, and the granite paving and stone stairways turn slippery in rain, which is frequent from October to April. Wear shoes with grip, especially on the stairs between the Ribeira and the cathedral.

Portugal's roads are less safe than the EU average: 58 deaths per million people in 2024, against 45 across the EU, according to the national road safety authority (ANSR). It also says Portugal has the EU's most urban road-death profile, with 55% of deaths happening in towns, against 39% across the EU. Porto district recorded 41 deaths at the scene of crashes from January to late November 2025, second to Lisbon. Cars often do not stop at zebra crossings, so make eye contact before you step out.

The beaches at Matosinhos and Foz face the open Atlantic, with cold water, strong currents and big winter waves. Swim only where lifeguards are on duty.

Fires, storms and health

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says earthquakes are a risk in Portugal, but Porto is less exposed than Lisbon. Wildfires are the more common hazard: Porto district had 1,908 rural fires in 2025, more than any other district, though 91% burned less than a hectare. Winter Atlantic storms can flood the Ribeira when the Douro rises.

Air-quality data for Porto are thin: the WHO database has only a partial 2019 reading of about 13.5 µg/m³ of fine particlesPM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary (PM2.5), well above the WHO guideline, and traffic nitrogen dioxide averaged 31 µg/m³ in 2020. Tap water is safe, and public hospitals are good but busy.

How we scored it

Violent crime (91) and walking at night (85) are Porto's strengths, with killings rarer than in almost any city we score. Traffic (82) reflects Portugal's high urban road-death rate, and health (84) rests on a partial air-quality reading; we have only district road figures and thin air data for Porto, which is why confidence is medium. Theft and scams (70) is the weakest factor because of pickpocketing in the Ribeira and around São Bento. See our Portugal page for the rest of the country.