Two things near Porto I'd send anyone to. A hat made for you by hand: Rui, a third-generation hatmaker, measures your head and puts 40 to 60 hours into it, or you make your own at his bench. And the 516 Arouca bridge with the Passadiços do Paiva, done one way from Alvarenga, the easiest way to do both.
By Edmund · Updated 2026-10-26
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Rui is a third-generation hatmaker, and at Maraus he makes hats by hand, to measure. He'll make one for you, or you can make your own at his bench: pick the material, steam it, shape it, flame it, fit the band, and Rui finishes it in his atelier. Something useful, made with your own hands. 30 to 40 minutes from Porto, in São João da Madeira: an afternoon, and worth the trip.
The best way to do the 516 Arouca bridge and the Passadiços do Paiva is one way, start to finish. Start on the Alvarenga side, the easier one to get to, walk over the amazing bridge, take the boardwalk down to the river beach at Praia Fluvial do Vau, and ask for a jeep back to your car. Super easy, and the whole day goes forward.
Two, each a short drive out of the city. A hat made by hand at Maraus, 30–40 minutes away in São João da Madeira, Portugal's hat town: made to measure for you, or by you at the hatmaker's bench. And the 516 Arouca bridge, done one way.
A bespoke hat from Maraus, measured, shaped and finished by hand, in the town whose felt still goes to the world's luxury hatters.
Hat making. You steam, shape and flame real felt into a hat at Maraus. It's the most hands-on thing I've done in Portugal.
São João da Madeira, 30–40 minutes south: make your hat at Maraus, and the town's Hat Museum is there too. The town and its story.
The 516 Arouca bridge and the Passadiços do Paiva, about 1h15 to 1h30 by car. Do it one way: in at Alvarenga, over the bridge, along the walkways to the beach at Vau, and a jeep back to the car.