World of Discoveries

World of Discoveries opened on 25 April 2014 inside the old warehouses of the Real Companhia Velha, a historic port wine company, in Miragaia, on Porto’s riverside a few metres from the Douro and the old customs house. It tells the story of the Portuguese sea voyages between 1415 and 1543, when sailors worked their way down the coast of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope to India and on to China and Japan, and across the Atlantic to Brazil.

It calls itself an interactive digital exhibition. Most of it is built as life-size scenes you walk through, with smells, sounds and guides in period costume, and the part children remember most is a boat ride along an indoor water channel. The whole visit is indoors, which makes it one of the easier rainy-day plans in central Porto.

The first rooms prepare you for the voyage. In “Intentos e inventos” (plans and inventions) you look at the ships and the instruments that let sailors find their way across open sea. “Mundos ao mundo” covers the myths and travellers’ tales of the time, the stories of the navigators, and how maps changed, with interactive globes to spin.

Then comes the “Estaleiro naval”, the shipyard, a tribute to the carpenters and craftsmen who built the ships, and the “Coberta da nau”, the ship’s deck, where sailors lived day to day during months at sea.

You leave from a recreated port. Porto has a starring role because Prince Henry the Navigator was born here. Then you climb into a small boat that floats along a water channel through scenes of the voyages, with the audio guide included on board. The route runs from Lisbon, the great trading port of the time, to North Africa and the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, which the museum treats as the start of the Discoveries.

Next comes the “Mar tenebroso” (the dark sea), where storms and fear had to be faced, and the Cape of Storms, where the giant Adamastor waits. He’s the monster from Camões’s poem “The Lusiads” who guards the tip of Africa. After that come stops in Africa, tropical forests where the Portuguese recorded new plants and animals, India, Japan (the furthest point the Portuguese reached), Macau, Timor and China, and finally Brazil, which from the mid-16th century became the empire’s main economic centre.

You stay seated the whole way, so it’s a welcome rest for children who are tired of walking round museums. The scenes use smells, including spices, to make them feel real.

Children of about 4 to 8 enjoy the boat, the ship’s deck and spotting the monster, even if the history washes over them. Children of 8 to 12 are the museum’s sweet spot: they can follow the route on the globes and understand why the voyages mattered. Teenagers studying Portuguese history get a vivid walk-through of topics from the school syllabus, and the museum runs a school programme with the history teachers’ association among its advisers.

Children under 4 go in free and will like the boat, but most of the story will pass them by.

The exhibition is told from the explorers’ side. It’s worth talking with older children about the people who already lived in Ceuta, Africa, India, Brazil and elsewhere, and what the arrival of the Portuguese meant for them, including conquest and the slave trade. The “after” idea in the learning notes above gives a way in.

When checked in September 2026, the official online booking page gave adult tickets from €18. A family events guide listed children aged 4 to 12 at €12, over-65s and students at €15, and under-4s free; check current prices when you book. Tickets are cheaper online than at the desk.

The museum opens Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 and at weekends and on public holidays from 10:00 to 19:00, with last entry half an hour before closing. It’s closed on Mondays, 25 December and 1 January. On 24 December last entry is at 13:00 and on 31 December at 15:30.

The audio guide comes in six languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. It’s free on the boat ride; for the other areas the family guide gives a rental price of €2.

Allow one to two hours. The museum puts a school group’s visit at an hour and a half to two hours, and families moving quickly may do it in less.

Toilets are split across floors: the accessible toilet is on floor 0, the women’s on floor 1 and the men’s on floor 2. There’s no cloakroom, so travel light. Photos are allowed but not flash. You can’t eat a packed lunch inside; the on-site restaurant, Alfândega d’Ouro, has a children’s menu according to the family guide, and Visit Porto lists its hours as 10:00 to 18:30 on Sundays and Tuesday to Thursday, and until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Visit Porto lists physical, visual and hearing accessibility, and the museum says it has content adapted for visitors with sensory or cognitive needs, so ask at the desk if that would help your child.

The museum runs themed family events through the year, such as a Carnival masks workshop, a Halloween week and Christmas activities with elves, and storytelling sessions. Watch its news page for dates.

The ticket office also sells River Sightseeing cruises on the Douro in a rabelo, the traditional flat-bottomed boat that once carried port wine down the river, with adult tickets from €20 when checked. It’s a natural follow-on if the indoor boat ride leaves anyone wanting the real thing.

The Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, just uphill in Massarelos, have peacocks roaming free and a playground, a good place to run off energy after an indoor morning. On the seafront, Sea Life Porto has an underwater tunnel, and the Planetário do Porto makes a good pairing for children who got interested in how sailors navigated by the stars. Teenagers of 12 and over could try the Porto Bridge Climb over the Douro.

How long does World of Discoveries take?

Around one to two hours. The museum gives school groups an hour and a half to two hours.

Is World of Discoveries good for young children?

Children from about 4 enjoy the boat ride and the ship’s deck. Under-4s go free, but most of the history is pitched at school-age children.

Is the boat ride scary?

The boat floats slowly along an indoor channel and you stay seated. Some scenes show storms and the Adamastor monster, so prepare a nervous child.

Is World of Discoveries open on Mondays?

No. It’s closed on Mondays, as well as on 25 December and 1 January.

Can you bring a buggy?

The museum’s website doesn’t say, and the toilets are on different floors. Ring ahead on 220 439 770 if you need to bring one.