Casa da Música

Northwest of Porto's historic center stands a much more recent monument: the Casa de Música. This concert hall was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and was scheduled for completion in 2001 when Porto was the European Capital of Culture. Due in part to its unusual shape, the building wasn't completed until four years later, opening its doors on April 14, 2005. Besides its modern design, the building is also renowned for its exceptionally good acoustics (and rightly so, considering its construction cost €111.2 million). There are two halls: the large Suggia Hall with 1,238 seats and the flexible Hall 2 with 300 seats and 650 standing. Even if you're not attending a concert, a visit to the Casa da Música is worthwhile.

Crazy architecture and even more crazy when you see how all the details in each venue come together to create the perfect space for each concert. I would recommend buying a ticket for the tour (8 euro). You can just explore on your own pace and use your phone and headphones to be guided through the building by scanning the qr-codes.

Casa da Música is an incredible building with striking modern architecture – well worth seeing in person. We booked a guided tour and it was definitely worth it, giving real insight into the design and history of the space as well as access to areas you wouldn’t normally see. A must-visit in Porto whether you’re into music, architecture or just looking for something unique to do.

This is an impressive art of modern architecture. Unfortunately I was a bit late to arrive and was not able to visit inside, but the building itself is marvelous. There is a good space for skateboarders outside it, with many people skating and skateboarding around the area.

Great building. Saw a 12 euro concert and was fantastic. Great way to see the building and enjoy some local music. Watch out for the lady outside after asking for money.

Impressive building, with several modern concert halls. Guided tours weren't available when we visited but there was a "Keyboard Marathon", mini piano recitals by many pupils from various music schools across Portugal, and we could listen to a couple of young, dazzling performers.

Futuristic structure from Koolhaas that hosts the main concert hall as well as numerous other gathering places. Truly a masterpiece !

Really good interesting tour. Our guide, António, spoke excellent english and was friendly and approachable.

Unique architecture which in stark contrast to the old European buildings throughout Porto. The tile room brings in the traditional Portuguese tile work into this modern building.

We watched a jazz performance here. The seats were not the most comfortable and can be pulled out to be adjusted according to depth. I just found myself trying not to slide back in. There are windows at the back of the concert hall so you can actually have a sense of daylight and sunset during the performance. Buying a ticket was very quick and easy. There is a coat check. There is a very busy cafe downstairs and the bathrooms are there as well. The ushers walk you all the way to your seat (not just your row). Nice service. The baked goods prices at cafe are extremely reasonable which surprised me why US concert halls have such overpriced foods. Apparently there are one hour ticketed tours available which we didn't get to go on.

Pretty interesting building, and quite curious as to why certain architectural choices were made. It's quite imposing and across from a cool park. Would have been fun to watch/ hear something here, and it was intriguing to watch the comings and goings of people here. Lots of people were hanging out outside the cafe. If you are into unique architecture, it's worth checking out, but you won't be able to see too much of the interior. Their shop is fun and has a number of items made in the shape of the building, so if you are looking for an obscure gift for the architect or architecture lover in your life, this may be your spot.

Casa da Musica is a big tourist attraction for Porto, but I'm not certain I saw the appeal. The architecture of the building is impressive, but it wasn't exactly easy to see where you're supposed to enter or exit. Also, they only have 1 tour in English (or so I was told) and it's at 4 pm. Even looking at the entrance of the museum, I couldn't exactly tell what it was supposed to be about. Everything seemed really vague. After the cathedrals, train station, food, walking around looking at all the gorgeous buildings in Porto, and port wine tours to look forward to, my group wasn't exactly willing to ride the metro back here just to take a tour. So we skipped it. I would have liked to see what it's about, but since I didn't take the time or pay the money to see, apparently it didn't draw me in enough.

Had an excellent lunch here. The turkey main course dish was so good, simple but good. Dessert was very good as well. We had the crème brûlée and some other pineapple dessert. The crème brûlée was the best. Only downside was the service was not good.