Choose Andante 24 if you will make several journeys within a known set of Porto fare zones. Choose Andante Tour if you want unlimited travel across the Andante network for 24 or 72 hours without selecting zones. Use a contactless bank card for an eligible journey when you want to skip buying a ticket, but only if you can board at one of the pilot's listed stations or on STCP line 500.
The price comparison is less obvious than it sounds. In the official 2026 tariff, Andante 24 starts at €5.35 for Z2, Tour 1 costs €7.75, and the bank-card pilot charges €2.30 per journey with a €7.75 daily cap for four or more qualifying journeys. The pilot's cap does not make bank cards usable on the whole network.
This guide compares what each ticket actually covers, when its clock starts and the journeys at which a pass saves money. If your plan involves just one or two rides, a simple Blue Andante ticket may beat all three options.
Andante 24 vs Andante Tour vs contactless at a glance
These are the published fares checked on 21 October 2026. A 24-hour ticket runs for 24 consecutive hours from first validation; it is not limited to the calendar day. Contactless has a daily fare cap under different rules, and only for journeys in its pilot network. See the official January 2026 Andante tariff, the official Andante Tour conditions and the current bank-card pilot locations.
| Option | 2026 fare | Where it works | Main limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andante 24 | Z2 €5.35; Z3 €6.85; Z4 €8.55, plus €0.60 for a new Blue card | Participating Andante services within the zones bought, for 24 consecutive hours | Choose enough zones for the whole route |
| Andante Tour 1 / Tour 3 | €7.75 for 24 hours / €16.55 for 72 hours | Entire Andante intermodal network | Separate card cannot be recharged; no Guindais Funicular or STCP historic tram |
| Visa or Mastercard pilot | €2.30 per 75-minute journey; up to €7.75 in one day after four or more eligible journeys | Listed metro boarding stations and STCP bus 500 | Only marked validators; same card or device for the daily cap |
When is Andante 24 the better day pass?
Andante 24 is the zonal day ticket loaded onto a reusable Blue Andante card. It permits repeated journeys on services in the Andante network within the zone range you bought. The 24 hours begin at the first validation, so a first tap at 14:00 gives you the ticket through 14:00 the next day. Validate again when changing line or vehicle.
For a central day where every planned journey fits Z2, the €5.35 ticket costs less than Tour 1. If you already have a Blue card, you pay only the ticket price; otherwise allow another €0.60 once for the card. Z3 costs €6.85 and Z4 €8.55 in 2026. A Z4 Andante 24 therefore costs more than the €7.75 Tour 1, making Tour 1 the simpler choice for an all-zone day of repeated travel.
The difficult part is coverage, not validity time. Andante zones are counted from your journey's origin, not from a tourist's idea of 'central Porto'. If your itinerary adds the airport, Matosinhos or a different bus route, check the official journey planner before assuming your Z2 ticket still covers it. See Andante cards and fare zones and Porto Metro lines and zones.
When is Andante Tour 1 or Tour 3 worth it?
Tour 1 costs €7.75 for 24 consecutive hours; Tour 3 costs €16.55 for 72 consecutive hours. Both work across the entire intermodal Andante network, so you do not need to buy a different zone for each covered journey. They suit a busy transport day, a mix of the city and farther stops, or a three-day stay with repeated cross-zone trips.
Tour 3 is cheaper than buying three separate Tour 1 tickets (€16.55 versus €23.25). That does not mean it is automatically the cheapest three-day plan. If you are walking around Ribeira and Baixa most of the time, add up the rides you will really take before buying unlimited travel. One airport transfer plus an occasional short ride may cost much less as singles.
Tour uses its own card and cannot be topped up. The official conditions exclude the Guindais Funicular and STCP's historic tram. 'All zones' refers to the Andante intermodal network, not every sightseeing vehicle in Porto. Buy Tour from an Andante shop, an eligible CP ticket office or a participating Payshop point rather than assuming every metro ticket machine sells it. See Andante's Tour sales and coverage rules.
When does contactless beat buying a pass?
A contactless Visa or Mastercard is convenient for a qualifying one-off journey. Andante's bank-card pilot charges €2.30 for a journey lasting up to 75 minutes within the pilot, even if a normal Z2 ticket would have cost €1.40. It can be a practical airport arrival choice: Aeroporto and Trindade are listed pilot boarding stations, and the pilot fare equals a normal Z4 single without the €0.60 cost of a new Blue card.
The pilot is much narrower than the Andante network. On Metro Line E, its listed boarding points are Aeroporto, Senhora da Hora, Casa da Música and Trindade. On lines A, B, C, D and F, the list is Campanhã, Bolhão, Campo 24 de Agosto, São Bento and Aliados. STCP line 500 is also included. Use a validator bearing the bank-card symbol; an ordinary Andante card validator is not a bank-card reader.
After four or more qualifying journeys in one day, the pilot's published maximum is €7.75. Keep using the same physical card or the same phone or watch throughout the day; changing between them can prevent the taps being grouped together. The cap does not include a ride you buy on another ticket or at an STCP driver's separate onboard terminal. A return that begins at an unlisted station needs another valid payment method. See how to pay on Porto Metro and buses and the official pilot station list.
How many rides make a pass cheaper than singles?
Compare journeys that need the same zone ticket and fall inside one 24-hour period. Four separate Z2 singles cost €5.60 at €1.40 each, so a €5.35 Z2 Andante 24 saves €0.25; three singles cost €4.20 and remain cheaper. If you need a new Blue card, add €0.60 to either plan once. Some transfers within a valid single ticket's time and zones count as one fare rather than a second purchase, so count actual ticket uses, not vehicle boardings.
At Z3, four separate singles total €7.40, above the €6.85 Andante 24 and just below the €7.75 Tour 1. At Z4, four separate singles total €9.20. Tour 1 at €7.75 is then cheaper than both four singles and a €8.55 Z4 Andante 24, assuming the journeys are covered by the Tour and occur in its 24-hour window.
The contactless pilot's four qualifying €2.30 journeys would total €9.20 before its €7.75 cap. That makes the capped amount equal to Tour 1's price, but the tickets are not interchangeable: Tour 1 reaches the full Andante network for 24 consecutive hours, while bank-card travel is limited to the pilot and its cap is calculated for one day. Do not choose the pilot solely because its headline maximum matches Tour 1.
Which ticket should you choose for a real Porto itinerary?
For a walk-heavy day around São Bento, Clérigos, Ribeira and Gaia, start with singles if you expect only one or two paid trips. Four separate Z2 trips in a 24-hour window point towards Andante 24 Z2, provided the zone check confirms they all fit. If your day combines several farther trips, Tour 1's all-zone coverage becomes more useful than a central-only day pass.
Arriving at Porto Airport and going straight to the centre
A bank-card tap at the marked Aeroporto validator is easy when your boarding and onward pilot journey qualify. If you will later board at other stops, buy a Blue Andante card with the correct zone instead of planning the whole stay around the pilot. The common airport-to-centre Z4 single is €2.30 in the 2026 fare table; check your exact destination's zone. See Porto Airport to the city centre.
Exploring Porto and Matosinhos over three days
Tour 3 removes repeated zone purchases for 72 consecutive hours and costs €16.55. It is sensible if you will actually use the integrated network often. If you spend one full day on foot and take only a few metro trips on the others, price the singles and any one-day pass first.
Taking bus 500 along the coast
Line 500 is in the bank-card pilot, but only a marked travel validator gives the pilot fare. A bank-card tap at the driver's terminal buys a separate onboard ticket with different transfer rules. If you will change onto metro or another bus, a correctly zoned Andante ticket is often easier to manage. See the difference between bus validators and onboard tickets.
Where do you buy and validate your choice?
For Andante 24, buy or reuse a Blue card and load the right 24-hour zone ticket at an Andante machine or official sales point. The Blue card costs €0.60 if you need a new one. Andante Tour comes on a separate non-rechargeable card from the official sellers listed by Andante. With the bank-card pilot, you buy nothing in advance, but you must find a specifically marked contactless travel validator at an eligible boarding point.
Whichever Andante ticket you choose, validate when starting and again when changing line or vehicle; wait for the green confirmation. For a bank-card pilot journey, present one card or device per person to its marked reader and keep using that same payment device if you expect the daily cap. Recheck the official fare table and pilot station list shortly before travel, because prices and pilot coverage can change. See Follow the steps to top up a Blue Andante card and official Andante sales points.
Useful answers
FAQ - Andante 24 vs andante tour vs contactless
No. Andante 24 is a 24-hour zonal ticket loaded onto a Blue card; Tour 1 is a separate 24-hour ticket valid across the full Andante intermodal network. Tour 1 costs €7.75 in 2026, while Andante 24 varies by zone.
