- Both decks are free to walk. The choice is not about money, it is about where you come out.
- Lower deck for the port cellars. It lands at the Gaia quayside, where they are.
- Upper deck for the viewpoint and the cable car. It lands by the Serra do Pilar monastery.
- Get it wrong in Gaia and it is 88 metres of hill, or 7.00 EUR for the cable car.
- Line D of the metro uses the upper deck, sharing it with people on foot.
Crossing
Free, both decks
Upper deck
Walkers and metro line D
Lower deck
Walkers, buses, taxis
Wrong deck in Gaia
88 m of hill
Cable car instead
7.00 EUR one way
Central span
172 m
Almost everything written about this bridge is about how it looks. The thing that actually affects your afternoon is that it has two decks, they are at very different heights, and they deliver you to two different parts of Vila Nova de Gaia.
Two decks that go to different places
The lower deck sits at river level. On the Porto side it joins the Ribeira waterfront; on the Gaia side it lands on the quay where the port wine cellars are. People on foot share it with buses, taxis and bicycles.
The upper deck sits about sixty metres higher. On the Porto side it comes out by the Fernandina wall, above the river; on the Gaia side it arrives next to the Serra do Pilar monastery and the top station of the cable car. It is for people on foot and for line D of the metro, which runs down the middle of it. Cars were taken off this deck in June 2003 to convert it, and the metro started running in September 2005.
So the two decks are not two ways of doing the same thing. They are two different trips that happen to use the same structure. The upper one is the walk with the view. The lower one is the walk to the cellars.
What the wrong deck costs you
Walking distances and climbs below were measured along real pedestrian routes on 15 October 2026, not in straight lines.
| Route | Distance | Minutes | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper deck in Gaia down to the cellars | 1.3 km | 16 | 88 m down |
| Cellars back up to the upper deck | 1.3 km | 16 | 88 m up |
| Ribeira up to the upper deck, Porto side | 970 m | 12 | 106 m up |
| Across on the lower deck, bank to bank | 880 m | 15 | almost flat |
| Across on the upper deck, bank to bank | 1.0 km | 12 | 56 m down |
| Upper deck to the Serra do Pilar viewpoint | 420 m | 5 | level |
The expensive mistake is crossing on the upper deck when you wanted the cellars. You arrive at the top of Gaia, the cellars are at the bottom, and getting down is 1.3 km and 88 metres of descent. Going back up afterwards is the same 88 metres in the other direction, at the end of a day that probably included a tasting.
On the Porto side the number is even bigger: climbing from Ribeira to the upper level is 106 metres over about a kilometre. If you walked down to Ribeira for lunch and then planned to cross on the top deck, that is the hill between you and it.
Crossing on the lower deck is the flat one. Bank to bank it is 880 metres and essentially level, which makes it the deck to use with anyone who would rather not climb anything at all.
The cable car, and the 7 euro question
The Gaia cable car runs between the upper deck and the quayside, which is to say it covers precisely the 88 metres above. That is what it is for.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| One way, adult | 7.00 EUR |
| One way, child 5 to 12 | 3.50 EUR |
| Return, adult | 10.00 EUR |
| Return, child 5 to 12 | 5.00 EUR |
| Family return, two adults and two children | 22.50 EUR |
7.00 EUR to avoid 88 metres of hill is the whole decision, and it is reasonable either way. The ride is about five minutes with a view over the river. Walking it is sixteen minutes and free. Where it stops being a close call is at the end of the day, uphill, or with children, or with anyone whose knees have opinions.
One timing detail worth knowing this month. The cable car runs 10:00 to 19:00 until 24 October, and from 25 October it closes an hour earlier, at 18:00, through to the end of the year. It opens every day except Christmas Day. In high summer, from late April to late September, it runs until 20:00.
On the Porto side there is an equivalent for the 106 metre climb, the Guindais funicular, which runs between Ribeira and the upper level. Its fare is not quoted here because it is not published in the metro operator's price table and no official figure could be confirmed.
Eiffel entered the competition and lost
The bridge is routinely credited to Gustave Eiffel. He competed for it and did not get it.
In 1879 Eiffel put forward a design with a single high deck, and it was turned down: the city had grown and one deck was not going to be enough. A competition for a double-deck bridge opened in November 1880 and drew eleven proposals, his among them. The winner was the Belgian Societe de Willebroek, awarded the contract on 21 November 1881, whose project was both cheaper and rated for heavier loads.
The man who ran it was Theophile Seyrig, Eiffel's former business partner and the author of the design. The upper deck opened on 31 October 1886 and the lower one the following year, with a central span of 172 metres, the longest of its type in the world at the time.
The confusion has a good reason behind it. Seyrig had already designed the Maria Pia railway bridge, a kilometre upriver, and that one was built by Eiffel's firm in 1877. Same engineer, same arched silhouette, nine years apart. One is Eiffel's company and the other is the company that beat it.
Questions
Can you walk across the Dom Luis bridge?
Yes, on both decks, and it is free. The upper deck is for people on foot and line D of the metro; the lower deck is for people on foot plus buses, taxis and bicycles. Which one you want depends entirely on where you are going on the other side.
Which deck of the Dom Luis bridge should I use?
If you are heading for the port cellars in Gaia, take the lower deck: it leaves you at the quayside where they are. If you are heading for the Serra do Pilar viewpoint or the cable car, take the upper one. Getting it wrong on the Gaia side means about 1.3 km on foot and 88 metres of hill, measured on 15 October 2026.
How much is the Gaia cable car?
7.00 EUR one way for an adult and 3.50 for a child aged 5 to 12, or 10.00 and 5.00 for a return. A family return for two adults and two children is 22.50. Tickets stay valid for 30 days. Read from the operator on 15 October 2026.
Is the Dom Luis bridge the one built by Gustave Eiffel?
No. Eiffel submitted a design in 1879 that was rejected, and then entered the 1880 competition and did not win it. The contract went to the Societe de Willebroek in November 1881, under Theophile Seyrig, who had been Eiffel’s business partner. The confusion is understandable: Seyrig had also designed the Maria Pia railway bridge a kilometre upriver, that one built by Eiffel’s firm, and the two bridges look alike.
How high is the Dom Luis bridge?
The central arch spans 172 metres, which was the longest of its kind in the world when it was built. The practical figure for a visitor is the gap between the two decks, which works out at about 88 metres of climb on the Gaia side if you need to get from one to the other on foot.
Does the metro cross the Dom Luis bridge?
Line D runs along the upper deck, sharing it with people on foot. The upper deck was closed to cars in June 2003 so it could be converted, and the line opened in September 2005. Cars use the lower deck.
Header photograph: Puente Don Luis I, Oporto, Portugal, 2012-05-09, DD 13 by Diego Delso, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped to fit.
Written by Diego Fresno, who measured what it costs to cross Porto's famous bridge on the wrong deck: 88 metres of hill on the Gaia side, or 7 euros for the cable car. Verified quarterly: last review September 2026. About the author →