Andante is the multimodal ticket system for Porto’s public transports. It can be used for the tram/metro (Metro do Porto), buses (Espirito Santo, Maia Transportes, Resende, STCP ), Funicular dos Guindais and suburban trains (Comboios de Portugal).

Usage

You can buy the refillable cards (don’t throw it away!) at the multilingual machines in every tram stop, at mobility shops located in the main transport interfaces or at many newspaper and shops identified with the Payshop symbol.

When buying the card you will need to choose the type of ticket you’ll be filling it with. Fares are dependent on the zones you need to cross during your travel. Check below to understand the zoning system. You can also buy a 24h ticket giving you unlimited travel in your chosen zones.

The card must be validated at the yellow machines located in every metro and train stations or inside the buses. You need to validate the ticket each time you change transport.

Andante Tour

To make tourist’s life easier, Andante’s management company launched Andante Tour. It comes in two sizes Andante Tour 1 valid for 24h and Andante Tour 3 valid for 72h. Both cards allow you unlimited travels on trams, metros and suburban trains all over Porto metropolitan area. Andante Tour 1 costs 7 € and Andante Tour 3 costs 15 €.

Review: Most of Porto’s attractions are located within zone C1. Zones C2 and S8 are interesting to visit and maybe you will go to zone C3 for dinner or N10 to the airport. You surely won’t do all that in one day, so Andante Tour price seems excessive. A smarter option is to get Porto Card  which not only includes unlimited public transport travels but also museum discounts for 10,50 €, 17.50 € or 21.50 € for one, two or three days respectively.

Pricing

Andante Blue card: 0,50€

Note: If you fill your card with ten tickets you are offered one extra.

ClickZ

If your card is empty you can always change the type of ticket you refill it with. However, suppose you had your card filled with three Z2 tickets and you needed to travel using a Z3 ticket. Many people still don’t know this but you don’t need to buy a new card. Just go to machine at the tram stations (or a Payshop) and choose the option ClickZ to fill your card with any other type of ticket. Note that you can only add one ticket of a different type.

Understanding the zoning system

Andante zoning system differs from most national and international multimodal ticket systems whose zones are concentrically defined. Such system benefits travellers within the city centre and penalises travels from the suburbs to the centre as well as travels between suburbs. Andante zones are not concentric and were defined based on known travel patterns and local geography to develop a fairer system. The drawback of a fairer system, however, is additional complication.

The map below displays the most important Andante zones

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As you can see, there are three types of zones, a central area (letter C), a northern area (letter N) and a southern area (letter S). This distinction is for designing purposes only and it will not affect how you travel. Porto’s city centre is defined as zone C1. The airport is located inside zone N10.

The type of ticket to buy depends on the number of zones you need to cross between your place of departure (A) and your destination (B) .

If A and B are inside the same zone or if to reach B you need only to cross one border then you need a Z2-type ticket. If between A and B you need to cross one other zone, you will need Z3 ticket, if you need to cross two other zones, you will need Z4 and so on. Note that what counts is the shortest number of  zones you need to cross.

Example:

Departure
Destination
Ticket



C1
C1
Z2


N10
N10
Z2


C1
C2
Z2


C1
C3
Z3


C1
N10
Z4


C4
C9
Z3

Andante Gold

Andante Gold is the monthly subscription card . It is issued in the moment at mobility shops, costs 5€ and to request it you need your ID card and a passport-type photo.

The zoning system is slightly different here than with Andante Blue. For Andante Gold you need to specify the zones you wish to travel in. The price is dependent on the number of zones you request and allows you unlimited travels for a month within the chosen zones.

It is recommended for commuters travelling daily for more than two weeks between the same departure and destination zones.