World of Discoveries Tickets in Porto: how to buy, prices and discounts

The World of Discoveries is an amazing interactive museum that dazzles children and teaches them interesting facts about the history and colonial past of Portugal and the lands it conquered around the world. It is also one of the best museums in the city. In this article I will tell you everything you need to know to make sure you don't miss anything during your visit, as well as how to buy tickets, how much they cost and what discounts you can take advantage of. Are you ready?

All tickets to the World of Discoveries include the same price and can be purchased either online or once you arrive in Porto, at one of the ticket offices. The best option is to buy them online and skip the queues. You will also be able to cancel the activity completely free of charge up to 24 hours before the date of your visit.

World of Discoveries visits are free. However, if you want to take a guided tour, the museum has a whole team of guides who have come directly from the 16th century to guide visitors and help them with their queries.

If you want to take a guided tour in your own language, the ticket includes an audio guide during the caravel ride to help you better understand the route of the great galleons. If you want to go even deeper, you will have to book a few days in advance on their website.

Ticket prices for tickets to the World of Discoveries in Porto vary whether you buy them at the ticket office or buy them in advance online. At the ticket office, tickets are slightly cheaper, but you will have to queue for entry once you arrive, so it won't be worth it.

Unfortunately, no. There is no tourist pass that includes free entry to the World of Discoveries. However, if you buy the Porto Card you will get a 35% discount when you buy your tickets.

A visit to the World of Discoveries usually takes about 1 hour, although it depends on how much time you want to spend and how long you spend in each room.

The World of Discoveries is, without a doubt, one of the best things to do with children in the city. In fact, this attraction is considered a mix between a museum and a theme park, thanks to its many interactive rooms, which explain the history of the Portuguese navigators, who crossed the oceans in search of new lands between the 15th and 16th centuries and who travelled around the globe aboard their incredible ships.

Through 20 different themed rooms, children can discover the incredible routes that these explorers took through the exotic Amazon rainforest, some regions of Africa, India, China, Macau, Japan and countless remote places.

In addition, in all the rooms you will find crew members from the 16th century, who will assist you if you have any questions and will brighten up the visit for the little ones.

The World of Discoveries is open every day except Mondays. The opening hours from Tuesday to Friday are from 10am to 6pm (last admission at 5.30pm) and on weekends and public holidays from 10am to 7pm (last admission at 6.30pm).

The only public holidays when the World of Discoveries is closed are 1 January and 25 December. However, on 24 and 31 December the last admission will be at 3.30pm and it will close at 4pm.

The World of Discoveries is located in the Miragaia district and is not there by chance. Besides the fact that this neighbourhood is one of the most picturesque and special in Oporto (which is why I recommend that you take the time to explore it and even take a river cruise), this is where the shipyards of the Portuguese fleet were located during the so-called Age of Discoveries.

So, to access the museum, you will have to walk along a footbridge, which imitates the walkways that allowed you to board the great ancient ships. The World of Discoveries is located in a fairly central area, so the easiest way to get there if you're walking around the centre is on foot.

By public transport: a few metres from the entrance there is a tram stop (line 1) and bus lines 1M, 403, 500 and 910.

There is also a Hop On Hop Off tourist bus stop in the immediate vicinity.

The World of Discoveries is a museum designed for children to discover the history of one of the most important empires in history. All this with special emphasis on the fact that we are in the 15th century, so the technology these people had was practically nil and all the notions and knowledge they had on any subject were acquired through practice and failed attempts.

Not only are we talking about a time when there was no internet or mobile applications, but we are also going back to a time in history when navigation maps were not even reliable: the idea that the Earth was not flat had just been accepted and lands and islands that were not known to exist were still being discovered.

Every incursion into the sea and the ocean was terribly dangerous and many ships ran aground or did not reach their destination. To this must be added the poor living conditions and the unhealthy conditions suffered by the people on board these ships, where disease was often rife.

A little bit of history

Although Portugal may seem a rather small country to us now, the Portuguese Empire was one of the largest, richest and most powerful powers between the 16th and 18th centuries. Although the empire was not officially dissolved until as late as 1975, it was much earlier when it began to gradually lose power (it was around the 17th century that the process of decline began).

If we were to look at a map showing the territories that the Portuguese Empire comprised at the beginning of the 16th century, we would see that it had territories and, with it, fleets and armies on all five continents of the planet.

To this day, the Portuguese Empire is still considered one of the 10 largest empires that have existed in the history of mankind since records began.

Perhaps its best known colony is Brazil (the vast country of Brazil, no less), but the truth is that its territories covered many parts of Africa (where Portuguese is still spoken today), many strategic points such as islands and some parts of Asia, such as the trading enclave of Nagasaki in Japan.

It seems incredible, doesn't it?

The interactive rooms

In the first room, the visit begins with the projection of a video starring Henry of Portugal, better known as Henry the Navigator, an infant who played a leading role in the beginning of the so-called Age of Discoveries (in the 15th century). This video lasts just a few minutes and then we come to the room of inventions.

The room of inventions houses different models of the ships used by the Portuguese fleet for their incursions into the sea and the ocean, from the simplest and smallest to the largest vessels. The idea is to show how these ships evolved to adapt to the new voyages and the dangers of the sea. In addition, there are also some old navigational instruments on display, such as compasses.

The next room is much more interactive and consists of large touch screens and projections, including a 4D projection of a world ball, where you can see the routes established by the Portuguese navigators to reach all these new destinations.

The next thing you will see is a life-size reproduction of the inside of a ship. It's as if you were inside a real 15th century ship. The little ones will be able to see how the ships' crews lived and what their living conditions were like on board, as well as the place where the goods they transported were carried and the tools they used.

But the best is yet to come.

The grand finale

The next thing you'll do in this museum is get on a boat. As you read it: you will leave the city of Oporto by boat and reach far-off and exotic places such as Brazil and India. As well as crossing the Tenebrous Sea, which is how the Atlantic Ocean was known in ancient times, when it was not known what was on the other side and it was speculated that it could be the end of the world...

The boats travel through a series of different sets, while playing with light and sound effects, to try to perfectly simulate the place where you "find yourself". The sets are full of little details that will make you appreciate the visit even more.

These boats have a multilingual audio guide (in Spanish, English, French, French, German and Italian) so you won't miss anything. They are also adapted for visitors with special sensory and cognitive needs. It should be noted that this attraction is nothing more than a boat ride and is not intended to cause vertigo or strong emotions, so it is suitable for children of all ages.

Once here, we have reached the end of the tour and you can visit the souvenir shop. Finally, you can stop off at the museum's restaurant, Mundo Sabores. This themed restaurant maintains the decoration of the rest of the museum and is particularly recommended for its francesinhas (Portugal's signature dish, which you should try on a gastronomic tour ) and its variety of flavoured non-alcoholic sangrias. Prices are average.

Don't worry about the language: all the content presented in this museum is available in 6 languages (Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, German, Italian and French), so you and your children won't miss a thing.

When is the best time to visit the World of Discoveries? Is it worth it to skip the queue? Can I bring a pushchair? Here are some useful tips that will make your visit to the World of Discoveries in Porto even more special.

The best time to visit

The best time to visit the World of Discoveries is at 10 am. Right at opening time is when it's the least crowded, so you'll be able to visit at your leisure.

People with special needs

All the museum rooms and the boat are adapted for visitors with special sensory and cognitive needs. In addition, both the rooms and the boat are perfectly accessible for wheelchair users.

Prams

Pushchairs can enter and move around the museum, although babies will have to be placed on an adult's lap in the final activity on the boat.

Is it worth it to skip the queue?

This is a personal question that you will have to decide based on your preferences, your budget and the needs of the children you are travelling with. As one of Porto's top attractions, it is not uncommon for queues to form at the entrance and it is not unusual to have to wait for at least half an hour.

The best guided tours at the World of Discoveries

As mentioned above, the boat at the end of the World of Discoveries tour has a multilingual audio guide and museum information is available in 6 languages. However, it is worth noting that, throughout the rooms, part of the crew who came here directly from the 16th century will be on hand to guide you and help you if you need any kind of information. If you would also like to book a guided tour with one of their official guides, you will have to book several days in advance through their website.

This is all you need to know to make the most of your visit to the World of Discoveries. As I said, children love it and it's perfect for them to play and have fun, while learning interesting facts about the history of Portugal. Do you need more things to do with children in Porto? Let's go to the rescue!