Porto Andante Card: How It Works, Zones and Prices

Which Andante card or ticket do you need?

A Blue card is a reusable carrier, not unlimited travel by itself. Load it with occasional single journeys or an Andante 24 ticket for the zones you need. Andante Tour is a different, non-rechargeable visitor card. A monthly pass normally uses a personalised Silver card rather than a visitor's Blue card. See Andante 24, Tour and contactless for your itinerary.

How do you use a Blue Andante card?

Start with your origin and destination, including any planned change of line or transport. At a metro or participating CP station machine, choose the zone ticket shown by the official route or zone information. Buy a new Blue card only if you do not already have a usable one; a card belongs to one passenger and can be reloaded.

Buying a ticket and validating a journey are separate actions. A ticket can be on the card while the journey has not yet started. At a metro or train station, validate at a reader before boarding. On a bus, use the reader at the entrance. Wait for a green light and sound, then keep the card for possible inspection. See Follow the Blue Andante card top-up steps and official Andante validation guidance.

1. Check the route and zone range in Andante's official journey or zone tool; include the full journey, not only the first metro segment.
2. Buy or reuse one Blue card per traveller, then load the required single or Andante 24 ticket at a machine or official sales point.
3. Validate before your first metro or train, or when boarding a bus. A green confirmation means the tap worked.
4. Validate again when you change line or mode. Within the ticket's time and zones, this is a transfer, not automatically a new fare.

How do Porto's Andante zones work?

Andante occasional tickets use a range of zone rings centred on the zone of your first validation. Z2 covers the minimum two-zone range; Z3 and Z4 extend the permitted range. The letters and numbers printed on the zone map identify geographic areas, such as PRT1, PRT2 and PRT3 in Porto. They are not ticket names: seeing PRT1 on a sign does not mean you should buy a Z1 ticket.

A single ticket must cover the origin, destination and zones crossed. Changing vehicle does not reset the origin of that ticket. For an airport-to-centre metro trip, the established example is Z4. For a shorter journey, do not assume the zone from the number of stops or the line colour; centre the official zone map on the starting area and check the complete route.

If the next journey needs a wider range than tickets already on your card, Andante says you may load the new zone ticket onto the same Blue card. The last occasional ticket loaded is used first, leaving the older balance for later. Check what the machine displays before validating, especially if you bought different zones on the same card. See Andante's interactive zone information and the Porto Metro map and airport interchange guide.

How much does an Andante card cost in 2026?

The Blue card itself costs €0.60. The official January 2026 occasional fares below are per person. A Z2 or Z3 single lasts one hour after first validation; Z4 lasts one hour and 15 minutes. Andante 24 runs for 24 consecutive hours within the bought zone range. The first purchase costs the listed ticket plus €0.60 if you need a new card. See the official Andante 2026 fare table.

Where can you use an Andante ticket?

Andante is the integrated ticket for participating Metro do Porto, bus and CP urban rail services within its network and the zones purchased. The benefit is that a valid zonal ticket can continue across a covered change of transport; it is not tied to one train or bus. Always check that the specific operator and route are in the Andante system before assuming the card works on every coach or train leaving Porto.

Historic STCP trams, the Guindais Funicular and long-distance rail services require separate checks or tickets. In particular, the Andante Tour conditions explicitly exclude the trams and funicular. A boat cruise, sightseeing bus or airport taxi is also outside the ordinary Andante journey. Keep the distinction between the public transport network and tourist attractions clear when comparing passes. See official Andante card and network rules.

Do you need to validate when changing lines?

Yes. Andante requires a validation at the beginning of the journey and whenever you change line or transport, even when you are still inside the single ticket's time window. Use station readers for metro and CP, and the reader at the bus entrance for buses. The operator says validation can be made at most ten minutes before starting the journey.

A green light and confirmation sound indicate success. If the light is red, hold the card still long enough to read the reason on the screen and resolve it before travelling. Repeated taps immediately after a correct validation do not automatically consume another ticket; a new ticket is normally used after the original time has expired. Keep the card separate from other cards in your wallet so the intended card is read. See Andante's validation FAQs.

What should you buy for common Porto journeys?

For a first arrival from Porto Airport to Trindade, a Z4 single on a new Blue card costs €2.90 in total in 2026 (€2.30 fare plus €0.60 card). Keep the card for later journeys. If you plan only a qualifying airport journey and have an eligible bank card, the limited contactless pilot may be simpler; its stations and transfer rules are different from full Andante coverage.

For a day mostly on foot around Baixa, Ribeira and Gaia, count the rides you will actually need. One or two separate short trips may cost less as singles; four separate Z2 ticket uses cost €5.60, just above a €5.35 Z2 Andante 24. A transfer inside an existing single ticket's time and zones does not count as a separate ticket use, so do not count every boarding as another fare.

For repeated journeys across several zones, compare the correct Andante 24 zone ticket with Tour 1 or Tour 3. Tour 1 is €7.75 and covers the full Andante network for 24 consecutive hours; a Z4 Andante 24 is €8.55. The detailed break-even cases belong in the dedicated comparison guide. See the Porto Airport to city-centre transfer and Andante day tickets and contactless.

Where do you buy and recharge a Blue card?

Metro station machines and participating CP machines sell occasional tickets and reload an existing Blue card. Andante shops and official sales points can help with a damaged card or an uncertain ticket choice. The official Anda Top Up feature can write tickets to a physical card using a compatible iPhone or Android phone, but the purchase is not on the card until the final phone-to-card tap finishes.

The Blue card can be reloaded for one year. After that top-up period, Andante says remaining tickets can still be used for a further 12 months but the card cannot receive new tickets. If you already have a card from an earlier Porto trip, check its validity and balance before buying a replacement. For a Tour 1 or Tour 3, buy the separate non-rechargeable Tour card from a listed official seller. See where and how to top up an Andante card and official Andante sales points.

Which Andante mistakes should you avoid?

The common errors are buying a ticket for too few zones, using one Blue card for two passengers, boarding without a green validation and confusing the bank-card pilot reader with an ordinary Andante validator. Check the destination and any transfers before purchase. If a machine or app has left a recharge pending, settle that operation before relying on the card.

If you are deciding between a Blue card and a bank-card tap, remember that contactless travel is only available at the pilot's listed boarding points. An STCP driver terminal sells a separate onboard ticket, not an Andante top-up. The PortoGuru payment guide explains the readers and their different transfer rules. See how to pay on Porto Metro and buses.