Parque de Serralves

Around the Serralves Museum, in western Porto, spreads one of the city’s great green spaces: an eighteen-hectare park of gardens, woods, orchards and lakes, where contemporary sculpture stands among the trees. It is a place of both art and landscape, at the heart of a celebrated cultural estate.

History and character

The estate was created in the twentieth century, when the villa and its grounds were laid out with the collaboration of the French landscape architect Jacques Gréber. The garden blends formal spaces with romantic woods and water, and in the 1990s the arrival of the museum, designed by Álvaro Siza, gave the estate its present double character of art and garden.

What to see

• The formal gardens and rose beds around the villa and museum.
• The wooded walks, lakes and lawns of the park.
• The sculptures and installations placed through the grounds.
• The views and quiet corners of a park made for slow wandering.

Best time to visit

Spring and early summer bring the gardens to their fullest, when the roses and the flowering trees are at their best; autumn gives the woods their colour. Allow a couple of hours for the park alone.

Nearby

The Serralves Museum stands at the centre of the estate, and the river and beaches of Foz are a short walk away.

Visiting

The park is in Porto, reached by bus and by the city’s transport network. Access to the park and museum follows the foundation’s hours and tickets; check the official page before your visit.

Information: serralves.pt.

Image credit: Parque de Serralves, Porto, by Joseolgon, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.