The city that hosts the Gaia Half Marathon is the third largest in Portugal: nineteen kilometres of Atlantic coastline, the Douro river separating it from Porto, and a heritage that runs from fortified wine to Blue Flag beaches. Those who come to run stay at least one more day.
Vila Nova de Gaia has nineteen Blue Flag beaches in 2026, the highest number in the Porto district alongside Matosinhos. It is along these beaches, between Aguda and Valadares, that the Gaia Half Marathon course runs.
Seven museums, twelve restaurants and bars, and a wine school, housed in the old warehouses where Port wine used to age. WOW (World of Wine) opened in 2020 on the Gaia quayside, a few metres from the centuries-old cellars that still store the wine today: history, food and art in the same quarter.
A five-minute ride over 562 metres, between the Jardim do Morro, next to the Serra do Pilar Monastery, and the Gaia quayside on the riverfront. The Gaia cable car flies over the Port wine cellars with views of the Dom Luís I Bridge and of Porto, on the other side of the Douro.
Gaia competes with Porto for the title of francesinha capital, the iconic sandwich soaked in a tomato, beer and spice sauce. Also try tripe Porto-style and, of course, a Port wine tasting in the centuries-old cellars of the Gaia quayside or at WOW.
From charming riverside hotels such as The Yeatman, with views over Porto and one of the most awarded Port wine cellars in the world, to international hotels such as the Hilton Porto Gaia, and accommodation by the Blue Flag beaches: Vila Nova de Gaia has somewhere to stay for those who come to run and want to extend their visit.
A 16th-century monastery above the Douro river, with a circular cloister unique in Portugal and views over the Dom Luís I Bridge. It is part of the Historic Centre of Porto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The cellars where Port wine has aged for centuries, along the Gaia quayside, with names such as Sandeman, Graham's, Taylor's and Cálem.
A fishing quarter at the mouth of the Douro, with colourful houses, fishing nets drying in the streets and the smell of grilled sardines.
An 18th-century chapel built on a rock on Miramar beach, on the Atlantic shore, surrounded by water at high tide.
The Gaia Half Marathon 2027 takes place on 14 March in Vila Nova de Gaia.
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