Getting around Porto with local transport

How to get around Porto

On foot

Porto is a small city and everything is within reach, so probably if you are lucky enough to find a house in the centre (and you probably will as accommodation is not expensive! ), you can reach almost everything comfortably on foot!

I have not been very lucky with my house location, and I have to walk at least fifteen or twenty minutes to get near to the centre. As some of you know, the roads are uphill! (never as much as those of Lisbon though! ), so I consider the activity of leaving my house as a daily workout that is helping me (I hope so! ) to avoid a few extra kilos I would gains with the Pasteis de Nata and the codfish that I am eating with no control!

Walking in Porto is very pleasant, many streets are pedestrian, and traffic is always bearable, not like in Milan, where people keep on honking, making a lot of noise and causing a lot of stress!

As you walk, look up, you will be able to admire old Azulejos and abandoned houses on the upper floors, that create truly magical scenery! You should look down as well...! You can find open windows that give on to abandoned gardens and open doors ready to welcome you to places where I doubt you'll want to go!

Thanks to the University of Porto for the image. (Source)

By metro

The subway in Porto is different from the one I'm used to in Milan. For most of the stops, it runs on the surface, it goes underground only in some stations (like House of Music or Bolhao). There are five subway lines, but the ridiculous thing is that four of have the same route in the city centre and then spread into different directions only in the suburbs.

Thanks to mapa-metro (Source) for the metro map.

The only line that completely differs from the others is the Yellow one, which makes a perpendicular route with respect to the others, passing through the hospital, Campanha, and other important points that otherwise would have been hard to get to! The waiting times are average, in the evening they can get to 15 minutes, but it is normal! The subway starts its journeys at six (it might run even before that! ) and ends at one o'clock at night.

Thanks to nit.pt for the image of Porto's metro. (Source)

How much is it?

A trip to C1 area (the centre) costs one euro and twenty cents. If you do not already have it, you should purchase a cardboard pass, which is rechargeable, so it will cost you something extra! Save it and recharge it for when you need it, so you won't have to pay that extra! If you want to go to Matosinhos, you have to get a ticket to C2 Zone and you will pay 1, 55€. Another solution, if you are an Erasmus student or looking to stop for a long time, would be to purchase the card, if you think you have to use Metro and public transportation quite often! The card will cost you 6 euros for activation and 22 to load if for a month (27 if you often go to C2 zone, which is what I had to do, while studying at Matosinhos! ).

After that, you will obviously have unlimited rides for all public transport! To purchase the card, you have to go to Trinidade, take the ticket with the number and wait for your turn!

If you are a student, make sure you have the university card with you, so you can take advantage of a discount! For information about public transport: metro and trains, you can visit their official website "Metro do Porto".

In Porto there are no turnstiles, but only totems where you have to obliterate the ticket at the entrance of the Metro! Don't forget to validate it!

By bus

In Porto there is of course also a bus network, however, not very punctual for what I have seen so far. Very often, you will not find billboards with the waiting time displayed (which I saw they had in Lisbon), so you will have to trust whatever's written on the schedule at the stop and wait..

You can purchase the ticket in bars or directly on the bus, if you have the transport card, you simply validate you travel and that's it (with the card, as I already told you, everything is included! ).

And while on the Metro the controls are not very strickt (or at least, I haven't seen any controllers yet! ) on the buses they are much more frequent. It is the same driver who checks that everyone validates the ticket and that everyone has one.

Thanks to Flickr for the image. Source

One day I was coming back from the beach, I took the bus to go to Porto, and I completely forgot to validate the ticket! (I had the monthly card and often I forget to validate it, but it is not a problem because I have everything unlimited! ). I took a seat and at some point I felt that everyone was staring at me, and a distant voice was screams in Portuguese... it was the driver! And he was talking to me! He was repeating over and over agaian that I had to pay! I didn't know the Portuguese language very well and I didn't even realise he was talking to me! When I did realise who he was talking to, I got up, validated my monthly pass and finally, only then, he cooled off!

I personally do not like to take the bus, it is completely unreliable! I take it just to go to the beach, because the metro takes more time and stops a bit further away from the beach (which is quite far from the right spot for surfing! ).

In any case, for more information about timetables and stops of the trains and buses, you can visit the following website where you will find all necessary information.

Viajar

I hope you will find my post helpful! If you need any further information, do not hesitate to contact me!

Bom dia!

Alessia

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