Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rede Expressos
( 222 006 954;
www.rede-expressos.pt
;
Rua Alexandre Herculano 366)
has services to
the entire country from the smoggy
Paragem Atlântico terminal
.
For fast Minho connections, mainly on weekdays, three companies run from around
Praceta Régulo Magauanha, off Rua Dr Alfredo Magalhães.
Transdev-Norte
(
www.transdev.pt
)
runs chiefly to Braga (€6, 1¼ hours) and Guimarães (€6, one hour).
AV Minho
(
www.avminho.pt
)
goes mainly via Vila do Conde (€2.45, one hour) to Viana do Castelo
daily departures (fewer on Saturday) for Amarante (€6.30, one hour), Vila Real (€9, 1½
hours) and Bragança (€14, 3½ hours).
International
There are Eurolines departures from Interface Casa da Música (Rua Capitão Henrique
from the same terminal. Most travel agencies can book outbound buses with either operat-
or.
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
All major Portuguese and international car-hire companies have offices at the airport
(some have offices in town, as well) including the always helpful and reliable
Cael
(
229
222 057 737;
www.europcar.com
;
Rua Antonio Bessa Leite 1478; per day from €40)
.
TRAIN
Porto is the principal rail hub for northern Portugal. Long-distance services start at
Cam-
panhã station
( 9am-7pm)
, which is 3km east of the centre. Most
urbano,
regional and
in-
terregional
(IR) trains depart from the stunning indoor-outdoor
São Bento station
(Praça Almeida
Garrett)
, though all these lines also pass through Campanhã.
For destinations on the Braga, Guimarães and Aveiro lines, or up the Douro valley as
far as Marco de Canaveses, take one of the frequent
urbano
trains. Don't spend extra
money on
interregional, intercidade
(IC) or Alfa Pendular (AP) trains to these destina-
tions as the
urbano
trains take around the same amount of time; Porto to Braga costs
€2.20 by
urbano,
but €13 by AP train.
Direct IC destinations from Porto include Lisbon (2nd class €20, three hours, hourly).
There are information points at both São Bento and Campanhã stations. Alternatively,
