PORTO - Portugal - page 322

AndanteCard: This card is required to ride the Metro, and also covers all other forms
of public transit (including the train linking Campanhã and São Bento stations) except
trams. Your fare depends on which “zone” you travel in. Zone 2 covers all the recommen-
ded sights in this topic (€1.15/trip, allows transfers); the airport is in Zone 4 (€2.30/trip).
The regular Andante Card is reloadable—you can buy as many trips, or titulos, as you
want (one-time €0.50 card fee, discounted 10-trip card-€12, versions with more trips also
available). Unless you're taking just a few rides, it's a better value and simpler to buy the
€4.45 one-day AndanteTour Card, which is good for 24 hours after its first use. To use
any Andante Card, pass it over the scanner on the Metro, bus, or train.
The cards are sold at TIs, the Loja da Mobilidade transport office in the São Bento
Station, Andante stores (one at the airport), and some bus, Metro, and train ticket offices
( www.linhandante.com ).
By Bus
Several local buses are useful for tourists, such as the routes that go to the port-wine
lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia across the river (#900, #901, and #906). Buses also run from
the Ribeira to Foz (#500), and from the beach in Foz to the Serralves Museum (#203).
Service is generally speedy, but avoid buses during rush hour, when traffic slows to a
crawl.
Individual bus tickets cost €1.85 if purchased from driver; if riding public transporta-
tion more than once, it's cheaper to buy an Andante Card (described earlier).
By Tram
Three interconnecting tram lines of interest to a tourist are #1, #18, and #22. Tram #1
(Infante/Passeio Alegre) uses a historic car that shudders along the river from the Ribeira,
past several museums to the Jardim do Passeio Alegre, a 10-minute walk to the Foz dis-
trict and the Atlantic Ocean. Tram #18 (Restauração/Cordoaria) begins at Carmo Church
and wobbles to the recommended Tramway Museum. Tram #22 makes a loop through the
city center, from shopping street Rua de Santa Catarina, down Rua Passos Manuel, cut-
ting through Avenida dos Aliados, and turning near Carmo Church to return along Rua 31
de Janeiro, with a jog across Praça da Batalha to the funicular.
Trams are not covered by the Andante Card. Individual tickets cost €2.50 per ride
(purchase from driver). You can also buy a combo-ticket that includes entrance to the
Tramway Museum (€4), or an €8 pass that covers unlimited rides on all three lines for a
24-hour period as well as entrance to the Tramway Museum (purchase from driver, or at
the Tramway Museum, travel agencies, and some hotels).