Casa da Guitarra fado show
A one-hour fado concert with a glass of port near the cathedral, from €16.15, with 1,088 reviews and a 9.5 score.
- Price
- from €16.15
- Duration
- 1 h
- Guest rating
- 9.5/10
- Cancellation
- Free up to 24 h before
Fado in Porto
Fado show in Porto: which one to book
Six fado shows you can book ahead in Porto and Gaia, with the same facts for each: length, price, the port in the glass, age rules and refund terms.
- Show sheets
- 6
- Cheapest
- from €14
- Most reviewed
- Casa da Guitarra
Checked on 4 October 2026
Porto
Portugal
Verdict
Our pick, by who is going
First time in the city
Casa da Guitarra
Casa da Guitarra has the strongest evidence: 1,088 reviews and a score of 9.5, the highest of the six. It lasts an hour, includes a glass of port, costs from €16.15 and can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before.
from €16.151 h9.5/10Free up to 24 h before
Seen one before
Ideal Clube de Fado
Ideal Clube de Fado is the one room the catalogue describes as unamplified, and the venue does not allow eating during the concert. The format is plain: two singers, Portuguese guitar, fado viola and two instrumental pieces, with 1,057 reviews and a score of 9.2.
from €211 h9.2/10Free up to 24 h before
A night for two
Fonseca
The Fonseca cellar evening is the only ticket that fills a whole night: a guided cellar visit, two ports with live fado, then a three-course dinner with wine, four hours from €56. It has 46 reviews, so the evidence is thinner than for the concert halls.
from €564 h9.2/10Free up to 48 h before
With children
Fado na Baixa
Fado na Baixa has no minimum age, lists rates for under-6s and ages 6 to 12, is wheelchair accessible and is the cheapest at from €14. Three of the other shows refuse children under 6. Cais do Fado also admits all ages and has a 17:30 show.
from €141 h9.3/10Free up to 12 h before
At a glance
The numbers before the words
Starting price
Usual start times
- Casa da Guitarra18:0019:30
- Cais do Fado17:3019:00
Each bar runs from the start to the end of the show. Not published: Ideal Clube de Fado, Fado na Baixa, Fonseca, Mosteiro de São Bento da Vitória
A fado show in Porto is usually a different product from the Lisbon dinner house. Most of what is sold here is a one-hour concert in a small hall in the early evening, with a glass of port wine handed to you as part of the ticket. You sit, you listen, you are out in time for dinner somewhere else.
The catalogue we work with lists six seated fado performances: four concert rooms (three in the old centre, one on the Gaia riverfront), one concert in the sacristy of a monastery, and one four-hour evening in a port cellar with dinner. We read the booking terms for each on 4 October 2026 and checked the venues' own pages where they exist. We have not attended any of them, so nothing here judges the singing. Anyone looking for the best fado in Porto by reputation should also know which restaurant houses are missing from the catalogue, and we name them below.
Side by side
The shows compared
Scroll sideways to see every show.
| Venue | Casa da Guitarra | Ideal Clube de Fado | Fado na Baixa | Cais do Fado | Fonseca | Mosteiro de São Bento da Vitória |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guest rating | 9.5/10 · 1,088 reviews | 9.2/10 · 1,057 reviews | 9.3/10 · 294 reviews | 9.3/10 · 62 reviews | 9.2/10 · 46 reviews | 9.2/10 · 19 reviews |
| Type of room | Concert hall | Concert hall | Concert hall | Concert hall | Other | Church |
| Price | from €16.15 | from €21 | from €14 | from €17 | from €56 | from €22.10 |
| Duration | 1 h | 1 h | 1 h | 50 min | 4 h | 1 h 20 min |
| Room capacity | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue |
| Dinner | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included | Not included |
| Drink | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Usual start times | 18:00 · 19:30 | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | 17:30 · 19:00 | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue |
| Minimum age | 6 and over | 6 and over | All ages | All ages | All ages | 6 and over |
| Dress code | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue | Not published by the venue |
| Seating | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 h before | Free up to 24 h before | Free up to 12 h before | Free up to 24 h before | Free up to 48 h before | Free up to 24 h before |
| See the show sheet | See the show sheet | See the show sheet | See the show sheet | See the show sheet | See the show sheet |
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Show sheets
One sheet per show
Ideal Clube de Fado show
A one-hour unamplified fado concert near Bolhão market with a glass of tawny port, from €21, 1,057 reviews.
- Price
- from €21
- Duration
- 1 h
- Guest rating
- 9.2/10
- Cancellation
- Free up to 24 h before
Fado na Baixa show
A one-hour fado show above the Ribeira with a glass of port, from €14, all ages admitted, 294 reviews at 9.3.
- Price
- from €14
- Duration
- 1 h
- Guest rating
- 9.3/10
- Cancellation
- Free up to 12 h before
Cais do Fado show
A 50-minute fado show on the Gaia riverfront facing Porto, with a glass of port for adults, from €17.
- Price
- from €17
- Duration
- 50 min
- Guest rating
- 9.3/10
- Cancellation
- Free up to 24 h before
Fonseca cellar visit, fado and dinner
A four-hour Gaia evening: cellar visit, two ports with live fado and a three-course dinner, from €56.
- Price
- from €56
- Duration
- 4 h
- Guest rating
- 9.2/10
- Cancellation
- Free up to 48 h before
São Bento da Vitória monastery visit and fado
A fado concert in a 17th-century monastery sacristy with a self-guided visit and two drinks, 80 minutes, from €22.10.
- Price
- from €22.10
- Duration
- 1 h 20 min
- Guest rating
- 9.2/10
- Cancellation
- Free up to 24 h before
You book on Civitatis, the ticket platform, under its own terms.
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Before you choose
How the houses differ here
Five of the six are the same kind of evening: 50 to 80 minutes of fado, no food, from €14 to €22.10. The differences are in the small print. Casa da Guitarra and Ideal Clube de Fado each have more than 1,000 reviews, the other three have between 19 and 294. Casa da Guitarra, Ideal Clube and the monastery concert do not admit children under 6. Casa da Guitarra, Cais do Fado and the monastery are not wheelchair accessible, while Ideal Clube and Fado na Baixa are.
The glass of port is the Porto habit, and it is worth knowing what it is. On the five concert tickets, 'drink included' means one glass served with the show, not a tasting. Ideal Clube's listing says it is a tawny and that mineral water is the alternative. Cais do Fado and the monastery serve alcohol only to over-18s. The monastery ticket adds a glass of Singeverga, a liqueur made by Benedictine monks. Only the Fonseca evening is a tasting in the cellar sense: a guided visit, two ports (Bin 27 and Siroco) and a three-course dinner with wine, four hours from €56.
If you care about how the music is delivered, the catalogue gives one hard fact: Ideal Clube de Fado is described as a show without amplification. Fado na Baixa is the most explanatory of the group, a one-hour programme that walks through traditional fado, Coimbra fado, Amália Rodrigues and contemporary fado, with filmed testimonials from the singers. None of the venues publishes its capacity, so we cannot rank the rooms by size.
What the catalogue does not sell is the restaurant version of fado in Porto. Casa da Mariquinhas, O Fado and the fado evenings at the Cálem cellars or the Palácio da Bolsa did not appear as products in English, Portuguese or Spanish (Cálem is listed only as a cellar tour). Those are booked directly with the house. Refund terms also vary more than usual here: 12 hours' notice at Fado na Baixa, 24 hours at four venues, 48 hours for Fonseca.
Plan
The evening, step by step
Before the show
Eat afterwards. The published start times are 17:30, 18:00, 19:00 and 19:30, and no concert ticket includes food, so a show followed by dinner is the natural order. The Fonseca evening is the exception, because dinner is the last part of it.
Arriving
The catalogue asks for 10 minutes' margin at Fado na Baixa, Cais do Fado, the monastery and Fonseca, and punctual arrival at the other two. Ideal Clube opens its doors 15 minutes before each show. No listing mentions numbered seats, so earlier arrival is the only way to influence where you sit.
The show itself
Expect 50 to 60 minutes with a glass of port. Only the monastery concert lists an interval (10 minutes, when the port is served). Ideal Clube does not allow eating during the performance, and silence while someone sings is the custom everywhere.
Getting back
The four Porto venues are within walking distance of each other in the old centre. The catalogue puts São Bento metro (line D, yellow) a ten-minute walk from Casa da Guitarra. Line D also stops at Jardim do Morro on the Gaia side, at the top of the hill above Cais do Fado and Fonseca. We did not verify last departure times, so check them on the day if you stay for the Fonseca dinner.
Where
Where the houses are
Sé and Ribeira
The slope from the cathedral down to the river holds two concert rooms. Casa da Guitarra is at Avenida Vímara Peres 49, by the upper approach to the Dom Luís I bridge, and Fado na Baixa is at Rua de São João 99, a few streets above the quay.
Bolhão and Vitória
Ideal Clube de Fado is in the shopping streets of the upper town, at Rua do Ateneu Comercial do Porto 32, which an official tourism listing puts two minutes from Bolhão market. The monastery of São Bento da Vitória is on the western side of the old centre, entered from Rua das Taipas 94.
Vila Nova de Gaia
Across the river, where the port cellars are. Cais do Fado is on the riverfront at Avenida Diogo Leite 108, on the first floor, facing Porto. Fonseca is uphill at Rua do Choupelo 54, and its dinner is served at a restaurant in the WOW complex next door.
Common questions
How long is a fado show in Porto?
About an hour. Casa da Guitarra, Ideal Clube de Fado and Fado na Baixa run 60 minutes and Cais do Fado runs 50. The monastery ticket lasts 80 minutes including the visit, and the Fonseca cellar evening with dinner lasts four hours.
Does the ticket include port wine?
Yes, all six include it. On the five concert tickets it is one glass served with the show. The Fonseca evening includes a tasting of two ports and wine with dinner. Cais do Fado and the monastery concert state that alcohol is served only to over-18s.
Is there fado with dinner in Porto?
One product in the catalogue includes dinner: the Fonseca cellar evening in Gaia, from €56 for a cellar visit, two ports with fado and three courses. The fado restaurants in the old town, such as Casa da Mariquinhas and O Fado, are not in the catalogue and take reservations directly. We have not eaten at any of them and cannot rate the food.
Do I need to book fado in Porto in advance?
The catalogue sets no minimum notice for any of the six, so same-day booking works when seats remain. The rooms are small concert spaces with one to three shows a day, so the early evening times in summer are the ones most likely to go. Booking early costs nothing if you stay inside the free cancellation window.
Can children go to a fado show in Porto?
It depends on the venue. Casa da Guitarra, Ideal Clube de Fado and the monastery concert do not admit children under 6, and Ideal Clube's site cites Portuguese law for it. Fado na Baixa, Cais do Fado and the Fonseca evening have no minimum age. Under-18s get no port, and Fonseca serves grape juice to children at the tasting.
Can I cancel a fado ticket in Porto?
All six can be cancelled free of charge, with different deadlines. Fado na Baixa allows it up to 12 hours before, Fonseca up to 48 hours before, and the other four up to 24 hours before. After that, or if you do not turn up, there is no refund.
Sources
Price, duration, what is included, minimum age and cancellation come from the Civitatis catalogue. Room capacity, dress code and start times come from each venue's own website. Everything on this page was checked on 4 October 2026. Prices are starting prices and move with the date. How the sheets are built
The same kind of show elsewhere
Lisbon
Three fado shows you can book ahead in Lisbon, with the same facts for each: length, price, dinner, age rules and refund terms.
Seville
Prices from €20 to €36, rooms from 50 to 500 seats, and only two houses that sell dinner. Here is how they differ.
Paris
Six bookable evenings in four houses, with showtimes, minimum ages, dress rules and refund terms read from the small print.