Metro Porto Andante Card

One card, three transport modes, zero confusion about which line takes which ticket. That's the promise of the Andante system, and once it clicks, getting around Porto stops being a logistics problem and starts being background noise to the trip.

Here's the complete guide to Porto's Andante card — what it is, which version to buy, how zones work, and how to avoid the fines that come with skipping validation.

What Is the Andante Card? Porto's Unified Public Transport Ticket

Andante is the universal contactless public transit ticket used across the entire Porto Metropolitan Area. Its core idea is intermodal: one ticket carries a rider seamlessly between the Metro do Porto, STCP buses, and CP suburban trains, with no need to buy separate tickets for each mode.

The pricing logic follows the same simplicity. What you pay depends entirely on the geographical zones your journey crosses — not on which vehicle you take or how many times you transfer along the way.

Andante Azul (blue), Prateado ( silver), or Andante Tour: 

Which Card Should You Buy?

Porto offers three distinct card types, and picking the right one depends almost entirely on how long you're staying and how often you'll ride.

Andante Azul

the occasional-use card, is the standard choice for tourists and infrequent riders. It's a simple paper card costing €0.60 — non-refundable, but reusable and valid for a full year. The main limitation is that it can only be loaded with one zone type at a time, so you can't mix, say, a Z2 and a Z4 ticket on the same card. Each passenger also needs their own physical card; a single tap can't cover multiple travelers at once.

Andante Prateado

the regular or monthly pass card, targets frequent commuters rather than visitors. It's a durable PVC card costing €6.00, valid for five years, and personalized with the holder's photo and name. It supports monthly passes, mixed zones, and special social fares — genuinely useful for residents, largely unnecessary for a short visit.

Andante Tour

 the specialist tourist pass, is built specifically for visitors planning to travel extensively. Andante Tour 1 covers 24 consecutive hours for €7.75, and Andante Tour 3 covers 72 consecutive hours for €16.55. Its biggest advantage is ignoring zone limits entirely — the pass works across the whole network with no separate card fee. The main constraint worth knowing about: it's non-rechargeable, and it doesn't cover the historical STCP tourist trams or the Funicular dos Guindais, which need separate tickets.

Understanding Porto's Andante Zone System and 2026 Prices

Andante's fare structure works on rings, or zones, radiating outward from your point of origin — the more zones your journey crosses, the higher the fare. Each zone also comes with a time-validity window: a Z2 ticket, for example, is valid for one hour, while a Z4 ticket stretches to one hour and fifteen minutes.

For 2026, simple occasional ticket prices break down as follows: Z2, covering downtown travel, costs €1.40. Z3, for mid-distance trips, costs €1.85. Z4 — the zone that covers airport-to-downtown journeys — costs €2.30. Further out, Z5 costs €2.80 and Z6 costs €3.25.

For travelers planning multiple trips in a single day without committing to the full Tour pass, the Andante 24 daily zone passes offer another option: Z2 at €5.35, Z3 at €6.85, Z4 at €8.55, Z5 at €10.25, and Z6 at €12.20.

One small but genuinely useful perk: buying 10 occasional simple trips of the same zone at once earns one extra trip completely free — the "10+1" bonus worth remembering if you're staying long enough to rack up regular rides.

Contactless Cards and the Anda App: Going Cardless in Porto

Porto has moved decisively toward cardless payment, and for many visitors this is now the simplest option of all.

The contactless bank card pilot lets passengers tap a physical contactless credit or debit card (Visa or Mastercard) or a digital wallet like Apple Pay or Google Pay directly at select validators. This works at major stations including Aeroporto, Senhora da Hora, Casa da Música, Trindade, Campanhã, Bolhão, Campo 24 de Agosto, São Bento, Aliados, and on STCP Bus Line 500. Each tap costs €2.30 (the Z4 fare) and comes with an automatic daily spending cap of €7.75, matching the Tour 1 rate — so heavy same-day use never costs more than the day pass would.

The Anda Mobile App offers a different, post-paid model. Trips are registered on a digital card, and the app automatically bills the cheapest combined fare at the end of the month. It's fully operational on Android, with iOS support expanding.

The Golden Rules of Andante Validation

Getting a card is only half the process — validation is where most first-time visitors slip up, and it carries real financial consequences if skipped.

The rule is simple but absolute: every ticket type, including occasional cards, passes, contactless cards, and mobile apps, must be validated before every single boarding, including each time you switch lines. Validation needs to happen no more than 10 minutes before starting a trip.

The physical process is easy once you know it: hold the card or smartphone within 10 centimeters of the black circle on the yellow validator. A green light with a single beep confirms success and displays the remaining card balance. A red light with an error beep means something went wrong — hold the card close to the screen again to read the specific error message before boarding.

How to Top Up Your Andante Card Using Your Smartphone

The official Anda App includes a "TOP UP" feature that effectively turns a smartphone into a portable Andante ticket office. The process runs through NFC in three steps: tap the physical Andante Azul or Prateado card to the back of the smartphone, choose and purchase the desired zone ticket or monthly pass inside the app, then tap the card against the phone a second time to digitally save the ticket onto the card's electronic circuit. No trip to a machine or ticket counter required.

Where to Buy and Reload an Andante Card in Porto

Several official channels sell and reload Andante cards across the city. Automatic Ticket Machines (MVAs), found in every metro and CP railway station, handle roughly 49% of all ticket sales and remain the most common purchase point for visitors. Andante Shops at 10 major stations — including Trindade, Campanhã, Casa da Música, Senhora da Hora, and Hospital São João — handle more complex operations and customer support. CP Ticket Offices at 13 train stations, including São Bento and Campanhã, offer another staffed option. Beyond the transit network itself, over 1,478 Payshop agents across the city sell and reload cards, alongside designated tourist offices such as the Interactive Tourism Shop on Floor 0 of the Airport Arrivals hall.

Getting the Most Out of the Andante System

For a short city break, the Andante Tour pass is usually the simplest choice — one purchase, unlimited travel, no zone math required. For longer stays with more targeted trips, occasional Z-tickets or the Andante 24 daily pass often work out cheaper. And for anyone who'd rather not carry a card at all, contactless bank cards and the Anda App now cover nearly the entire network. Whichever option fits, the one rule that never changes is validation — tap it every time, and Porto's public transport runs about as smoothly as it gets.