Andante Card Porto: Prices, Zones & How to Buy It

You have landed in Porto, you want to reach the old town, the beach or a Douro day trip, and everyone keeps mentioning the same thing: the Andante card. It is Porto’s one travel pass, and once you understand it, getting around the city is genuinely simple.

The catch is that the choice is not obvious at first glance. There is a reusable card, a 24 hour pass, a tourist card, a monthly card and a zone system laid over the top of all of it. Pick the wrong one and you either overpay or spend your holiday topping up at machines.

This guide clears it up. You will get the card types compared, real 2026 prices, how the Porto zone map works, exactly where to buy (including at the airport), and how to recharge. By the end you will know which card to pick before you even leave arrivals.

What Is the Andante Card and What Does It Cover?

The Andante card is a rechargeable smart card that works as one ticket across most of Porto’s public transport. It is “intermodal”, which just means the same card and the same trip cover different types of transport, so you can switch between them without buying a new ticket each time.

One Andante card covers three networks:

Two things are not included, and they trip people up. The Funicular dos Guindais and the historic wooden trams are charming, but both need their own separate tickets. Your Andante will not open the gate on either. For how the whole system fits together, see our Porto public transport guide.

The blue card itself costs €0.60, lasts around a year, and is reusable. You are not buying a ticket, you are buying the card, then loading trips or a pass onto it. Keep it in your wallet and top it up as you go.

Types of Andante Card: Which One Do You Actually Need?

There are four options a visitor will run into. Most travellers only ever need one of them, so here is what each is for.

Andante Azul (the blue pay-as-you-go card)

The blue card is the standard reusable card. You load individual trips onto it and pay by the zone you travel through. Each trip gives you an hour of travel with free transfers inside the zones you paid for. Best for light users who will take a handful of rides over a stay.

Andante 24 (24 hour pass)

The Andante 24 gives you unlimited travel for exactly 24 hours from first use, priced by zone. Validate it at 2pm today and it runs until 2pm tomorrow, not just to midnight. Good for a single busy day of hopping around one zone band.

Andante Tour 1 and Tour 3 (the tourist card)

The Tour card is made for visitors and it is the easy button. It covers every zone, so you never think about the map. Tour 1 runs for 24 consecutive hours, Tour 3 for 72 hours. The one catch: it cannot be topped up, so when the time runs out you buy a new one.

Andante Gold (the monthly card)

Gold is the monthly season pass, really aimed at residents and long stays rather than a week’s holiday. If you are in Porto for a month or more it is worth pricing up, otherwise skip it.

Andante Card Prices 2026: The Full Comparison

Here is how the options compare. Single and Andante 24 fares depend on how many zones you cross, so the table shows the common ones. Prices are correct at the time of writing for 2026, but fares do change, so always confirm on the official Andante website before you rely on an exact figure.

The quick read: for a two to four day city break where you will use transport daily, the Andante Tour 3 is almost always the sensible pick. For a week of mostly walking with the odd ride, the blue card with Zone 2 singles keeps costs down.

Porto Zone Map: Which Zone Do You Actually Need?

Porto’s fares work on a zone map rather than distance, and this is the part that confuses first-timers. The network is split into zones, and your fare depends on how many zone bands your journey passes through, always starting from Zone 2 as the base.

For most visits, you barely leave Zone 2. Here is where the common places fall.

Do not overthink it. If your ticket machine asks for a destination, it works the zones out for you. If you are buying a single by zone, choose Z2 for anything inside the old town and Z4 for the airport. For the full network breakdown, our Porto metro map guide lays out every line and station.

Where to Buy the Andante Card

You can pick up and load an Andante card in plenty of places, so you will never be far from one. The easiest options:

The machines are the fastest route. Choose your language, pick the card or pass, tap or insert your bank card, and you are done in under a minute.

Buying the Andante Card at Porto Airport (OPO)

Most visitors buy their first Andante card the moment they land, and Porto’s airport makes that easy. Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport has its own metro station right inside the terminal, on the Violet line (line E), which runs straight into the city.

Follow the metro signs down from arrivals. You will find an Andante shop and ticket machines by the station entrance. Because the airport is in Zone 4, a single trip into the centre costs about €2.25 on top of the €0.60 card. If you would rather not think about zones for the rest of the trip, buy an Andante Tour there instead, since it covers every zone from the first ride.

The metro from the airport to Trindade, the central interchange, takes roughly 30 to 35 minutes and runs frequently. For the full arrival rundown, see our Porto airport guide.

How to Use and Recharge Your Andante Card

Using the card is straightforward, with one rule that matters: you must validate every single trip. Tap the card on the yellow reader at the metro platform entrance, on the bus as you board, or at the train validator. Skipping this counts as travelling without a valid ticket, even if there is credit on the card, and inspectors do check.

Recharging depends on which product you loaded:

One more habit worth keeping: hang on to the physical card for your whole stay. Because it lasts about a year, you can keep reloading the same €0.60 card instead of paying for a new one each time.

Which Andante Card Should You Choose?

Match the card to your trip rather than buying the priciest option by default.

Whichever you pick, Porto is a small, walkable city, so you will use transport less than you expect. Base yourself centrally and most of the old town is on foot, with the card there for the airport, the beach and the odd tired evening.

That central base is the real money-saver. Staying near central Porto means fewer paid trips and more time on foot. If you are still sorting where to stay, see our Porto pool villa, a private villa with a pool right in the middle of the city.

Frequently Asked Questions