Page compiled from visits to the city. Porto is not in the
Algarve - I have been visiting! It is the second city of Portugal,
located in the north about 200 miles / 320km from Lisbon.
Please confirm/check on the various official websites before travelling. The emphasis is on public transport, partly as it is so efficient and inexpensive and partly as I don't drive and I am too mean to pay for taxis if there's an alternative.
Porto Airport has a station on the Metro do Porto light-rail
system. You can reach most of the city centre in about 30 minutes
for €2.60*. Metro from the airport runs every 20 minutes for most
of the day on weekdays, otherwise 30 minutes every day from about
06.00 until last train at 00.34 every night. More information at www.metrodoporto.pt
and below. Please
note that tickets must be bought from the ticket machines or at
the tourist information office. * This includes the 60 cents
for the rechargeable ticket card you can re-use for later trips.
The metro station at the airport is on the surface. Most of the
journey into the city is also on the surface. The vehicles are
fully accessible - picture below. There is plenty of space for
wheelchairs and large items of luggage at each end of the trains.
If you have to change lines at Trindad station, it is a matter of
a few steps or an elevator. All other changes are on one level.
The TRANSDEV bus company runs a sparse bus service direct from
the airport to its city bus station at Campo 24 de Agosto. Details
at http://www.transdev.pt/aeroportoporto/
this is the same bus station as used by many long distance
services to and from Porto.
There are also a number of local bus routes from the airport to
various suburbs not covered by the metro. Times at www.stcp.pt or see
below.
There is a bus once each hour during the night, when the metro
does not run, between the city centre at Aliados and the
airport. Go to http://www.stcp.pt/en/travel/ and find route
/ line 3M.
Intercity and Alfa Pendular trains arrive at the Porto Campanhã
station. This is on the eastern edge of the city, about 2km or 1¼
miles from the city centre. If you have booked on line to
Campanhã, you can connect with local 'Urbanos' trains free of
charge for the 3 minute run to the city centre station of
São Bento. There are also local trains to the eastern suburbs -
more information at www.cp.pt - look for Urbanos Porto or see below.
Alternatively, you can pick up the Metro do Porto at
Campanhã for the city centre plus the northern and western
suburbs, or take one of the many buses - see below.
Tip - there is only one ticket machine at the metro station
entrance. There are more in the main station building on Platform
1. There is also a 'Loja Andante' (city transport ticket and
enquiry office) on the way to the metro platforms, queues (lines)
are often very long.
Estádio do Dragão, the stadium of FC Porto, is about 1.2km from Campanhã or
one stop on the Metro to Estádio do Dragão.
Most Regional and Urbanos trains go to/from both the Campanhã and
São Bento stations, but some do not. Check times carefully.
The long-distance bus (coach) timetables do not usually tell you
which bus station is used, which in larger cities with more than
one (such as Porto!) is a bit of a problem. There are several long
distance bus stations in Porto, used by the different companies.
The BATALHA bus station has been closed and replaced by new
facility at Campo 24 de Agosto, about 1km away.
These are the long distance terminals and the companies that use
them. Note that at most there is nothing and often no-one to tell
you which bus leaves from which stop, so allow time to find the
correct stop for your bus. For long distance buses, you must
usually purchase a ticket either from hte company website or from
a ticket office before boarding. Local and suburban buses you can
pay the driver in cash, fares are around €1,95 but almost everyone
has a pass of some kind.
Aliados - AUTNA international service from Vigo in Spain.
120 metres from Aliados metro station, just a bus stop outside a
McDonald's in Praça da Liberdade. Picture here. They also stop at Porto Airport and
elsewhere, some go to Campo 24 de Agosto for easier connections to
the south.
Campo 24 do Agosto . Citi Express, Rede-Expressos,
Transdev. 1 minute walk from Campo 24 do Agosto metro station.
Buses of ETG Gondomarense buses stop by the side of the little
park there. Picture here, local map here.
Casa da Musica - AVIC, Internorte incl. their Eurolines
services, Resende buses, also some local buses of Espirito Santo
across the bridge from Gaia. - adjacent to Casa da Musica metro
station. Picture here.
Hospital São João - Arriva, Transdev, many city
buses and metro line D - in the city's northern suburbs
next to the metro station Hospital São João. Close to
University etc. A downloadable leaflet showing the layout
of stops and a spider map of city and suburban places served is here.
Parque das Camelias (Rua de Augusto Rosa) - AV Feirense,
AV Tâmega, Espirito Santo, MGC Transportes - outdoor bus station
in an awkward location in Batalha district several minutes walk
from nearest metro stations at Bolhão or São Bento. Picture here.
Praçeta Régulo Magauanha - AV Minho. Situated 2 minutes
walk from Trindad metro station. A very basic facility! This is
just off Rua de Fonseca Carlos. Picture here
Rua Alexandre Herculano - União Transportes dos Carvalhos
(UTC) - this is the street outside the former Batalha terminal
that was also called Garagem Atlantico.
The Metro do Porto
is not an underground railway like London, New York or Lisbon.
It's a network of six tram or light-rail lines, running on the
surface in the suburbs, then converging to run under the city
centre in tunnels. The website has comprehensive information, much
of it in English.
Trains run every 15 - 30 minutes on each line from 6am until
after midnight. Through the central section from Senhora da Hora
to Estádio do Dragão that means a train every 5 or 6 minutes most
of the day. Four of the lines radiate out to the western and
north-western suburbs and the airport. Line D, runs north to south
from the Hospital São João across the Douro River (on a rather
spectacular bridge) to Santo Oviedo, in the city of Gaia. Line F
extends eastwards through the Rio Tinto area into the neighbouring
city of Gondomar.
Ticketing is fully integrated with most buses, trams and much of the local rail network under the 'ANDANTE' banner. Zonal fares are used, so you must always be sure that you buy a ticket for the correct number of zones for your journey. Day passes are available and you can choose how many zones you want. Tickets are ridiculously cheap by UK standards; a two zone (Z2) ticket covers most central city journeys and is €1.20! A two zone (Z2) day pass is €4,15 - this covers the whole of the central city area. In both cases add 60 cents for the rechargeable ticket card. You must validate your ticket at the scanners when starting each journey or changing between Metro lines or from bus to Metro. If a nasty noise sounds and a red light flashes, your ticket is not valid!
The Andante tickets are re-chargeable, so for example, the first ticket, for example from the airport to the city, will cost €2.60 (including €0.60 for the card) and subsequent re-charges for the same zones just €2.00 per trip. You can re-charge the ticket until it wears out or the micro-chip fails! You can recharge your ticket with rides of the same value or change the ticket type on the machine, but the Andante offices will swap for you if needed.
However the Andante Tour 3 and 7 day tickets are not
rechargeable. Also, these are NOT valid on the 'old' trams on
routes 1, 18 and 22 nor on the elevator.
Metro stations and stops are unstaffed. The machines take coins,
notes and cards. Many stations have only one ticket machine. Don't
be tempted to avoid paying - although there are no entry barriers
on the system, groups of revenue protection staff make random spot
checks on passengers with hand-held scanners. The current penalty
for travelling without a validated ticket is €95. During one
visit, my ticket was checked twice on the same tram by two
different inspectors ten minutes apart.
On a security note, uniformed security staff patrol most stations,
day and night. These are the only visible staff apart from train
crew and those ticket inspectors. I also noticed city police
routinely travelling on trams. The whole system seemed safe and
secure; no groups of kids or beggars hanging about. Many stations
now also have CCTV.
Non-Portuguese speakers will be pleased to know that almost all the signs and announcements on Metro are in English as well as Portuguese.
The Porto Urbanos train network is operated by CP, the national
rail operator. There are three routes serving the northern and
eastern suburbs with a fourth line south to Espinho and Aveiro.
Large map here.
Trains run at much less frequent intervals than the Metro,
especially at weekends, so you will need to check timetables at www.cp.pt before making a journey - look for
the 'Urbanos Porto'. However, as a general guide, trains on the
Braga line run about every hour every day, on the Guimarães line
about every two hours; to Penafiel and Caide about every hour
weekdays and every two hours at weekends. Down to Espinho and
Aveiro trains run about every half hour weekdays and every hour at
weekends and holidays. There are weekday rush hour extras on all
lines. (If you are going to Aveiro or Vila Nova de Gaia, the
trains from Lisbon stop there before they reach Porto Campanhã.)
Fares are very inexpensive. The 1hr 20 minute ride from Porto São
Bento to Braga or Guimarães will cost you a whole €3.20 on the
local trains. Various tourist passes are available also if you
plan to travel more frequently. The CP Urbanos routes within
the Greater Porto are incorporated into the metro and bus Andante
ticketing system. Any tickets specific to trips on CP trains are
now issued on a rechargeable card called SIGA, which costs 60
cents. These can be reloaded and re-used for any trip wholly on
the Porto Urbanos network. For regular users, there a many
different passes available. The Andante Tour passes are available
to destinations within about 30 minutes of the city, for example
to Espinho.
Porto has an excellent bus network covering the city and far out
into the suburbs. Many buses are operated by STCP (Sociedade de
Transportes Colectivos do Porto, SA) but, especially out in the
suburbs, there are several other operators. Almost all of their
routes are integrated into the ANDANTE
ticketing system, but you might find the times slightly harder to
come by as some don't have websites. STCP times and route maps are
all available through their website; timetables were clearly displayed
at most of the bus stops I used. Beware that in some busy
places/interchanges there are several bus stops, so you sometimes
have to look for the right one for your route. Several routes
radiate from the Airport into the suburbs to complement the Metro
service. Consult this website for a comprehensive, all
operators, trip planner for the Porto Metro area. Cash fare is
€1,95 on STCP, may be different on other buses.
Other bus operators in the area : sites are only in
Portuguese. Note that cash fares paid on board are a lot higher
than previously acquired tickets.
Click the logos to go to
the bus company websites, which will open in a new window.
RESENDE 
Buses around Matosinhos, Senhora da Hora,
Valongo, Areosa and Leca connecting with metro service, also local
service from the airport to nearby suburbs. Website is partly in
English. What they mean by 'tours' are actually normal bus routes!
Espirito Santo 
Buses in and around
Vila Nova de Gaia, also between Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto
Boavista and city Parque da Camelias.
Maia Transportes 
Buses in
and around Maia connecting with metro
Valpibus 
Valpi operate in
and around Penafiel area also with services between that area and
Porto Trindad metro station.
UTC - Uniȃo Transportes dos Carvalhos 
operate between Espinho, Carvalhos and
Porto Rua Alexandre Herculano.
ETG Gondomarense 
operate
in and around Gondomar and to/from Porto Campo 24 de Agosto and
elsewhere..
AV Landim - 
. From Trindad metro to
Celorico de Basto via Penafiel (one trip, weekdays
only); to Felgueiras via Lousada, Freamunde and Paços De
Ferreira daily service 6- 7 times daily plus rush hour extras.
Also to Felgueiras via Santo Tirso and Vizela several times every
day. Many of their buses also stop at Hospital São João bus
station.
AV Pacense - 
From Trindad metro, shares routes with AV Landim
above.
There are only three tram routes remaining in Porto. Ancient (but
refurbished) four-wheeled wooden trams dating from the 1920's are
used. Trams run every 20 - 30 minutes on each line and normally
connect with each other. Although operated primarily for tourists,
local people still use them.
Route 1 from Infante (Praça do Henrique) via Massarelos, the
depot (and museum) along by the river to Passeio Alegre runs
every 20 minutes between 0900 and 1840 returning from Passeio
Alegre 0930 - 1910.
Route 18 runs daily every 30 minutes from Massarelos to Carmo, between 0803 and 1833, returning from Carmo 0815 to 1845, plus one later trip at 1945.
Route
22 daily every 30 minutes on a circular route from Carmo to
Batalha (near the funicular) via Sao Bento station, first journey at
0915 last at 1915. From Batalha 15 minutes later. The first
and last trams run through to/from Massarelos via route 18.
All three historic lines are included in the standard ANDANTE
ticketing system, but if you pay cash on board it will cost €3. A
tram museum ticket also includes rides on these routes. NB The
ANDANTE TOUR 3 day and 7 day tickets are no longer valid on these
old trams.
Printable leaflet with maps and all details of the trams http://www.portotramcitytour.pt/Porto-Tram-City-Tours.pdf
FC Porto play at the Estádio do Dragão, which is on all Metro
lines except C and D. It is about 1.2km (3/4 mile) from Porto
Campanhã main-line railway station. There are many bus routes in
the area. The other major team in Porto, Boavista FC, play at the
Bessa Stadium, which is in the Boavista district to the west of
the city centre. Nearest Metro station (Francos) is about 600
metres away. Buses along the Avenida de Boavista at its junction
with Rua de Pedro Hispano stop closer. Leixões FC play in the
Estádio do Mar out at Matosinhos, reachable by metro from the city
centre. The closest stop is called Estádio do Mar and is about 700
metres away.
If you have any comments or updates for this page, I will be
pleased to receive them by email.
I take no responsibility for any inconvenience caused as a result
of later changes to times etc. This page is for general guidance
only and you must check details before making commitments and
decisions!
For an alphabetical list of places in the
Algarve, please click here
For a quick list of all timetables on the site click here
For some important general notes about buses in the Algarve, click
here
Back to the main page here