Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (Porto)
Porto's airport is one terminal, one Metro line and one lounge, which makes it one of the easier airports in Europe to get right. It sits north of the city, 20 to 30 minutes by road from our seven city hotels and an hour and a half from the three in the Douro Valley. Here is what to do from the aircraft door to the kerb and back, checked against the airport, Metro do Porto, STCP and CP.
The 30-second version
For the city, take Metro line E from the station at the terminal: a Z4 ticket is €2.30 on an Andante card that costs €0.60, trains run about every 15 minutes through the day, and Trindade is 27 to 32 minutes away. With luggage or for Gaia, Foz or Ribeira, take a taxi from the rank, 20 to 30 minutes to our hotels. For the Douro, book a car or take the Metro to Campanhã for the Douro line train. Going home, be at check-in 90 minutes before a Schengen flight and two hours before a UK one.
Book a private transfer
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A driver meets you in arrivals with your name on a sign, at a fixed price agreed when you book. Booked and paid with Welcome Pickups through our partner Travelpayouts; we may earn a commission.
Every airline, from TAP and the low-cost carriers to Lufthansa and United
One building for arrivals and departures, with the Metro station at the door. Schengen and non-Schengen gates are split by passport control, and each side has its own children's play area.
From a Schengen country you walk straight through. With a non-EU passport, British and American included, you register in the EU's Entry/Exit System on your first visit: four fingerprints and a photograph, or just the photograph if you hold a Schengen visa. Children under 12 give no fingerprints. Biometric passports can use the self-service kiosks where they are open.
First Café serves coffee and light meals inside the baggage claim area, so a slow carousel is no hardship.
On the ground floor before you leave, the Porto and North tourism desk answers questions, Vodafone sells voice and data cards, and Unicâmbio changes money in arrivals. An eSIM bought before you fly saves the queue.
Aeroporto station, the end of line E, the violet line, is right at the terminal. Buy a rechargeable Andante card for €0.60 and load a Z4 ticket at €2.30, which covers the ride into the city with changes for 1 hour 15 minutes. Staying a few days, the Andante Tour at €7.75 for 24 hours or €16.55 for 72 covers the whole network.
Taxis wait at the rank outside the terminal around the clock and carry up to four passengers; ask for a larger car by phone. Fares are metered, with tolls added. It is the right answer for Gaia, Ribeira and Foz with luggage.
STCP lines 601 and 602 run to Cordoaria in the centre about every 25 minutes from 05:30 to 00:30, at €2.50 on board. After the last Metro, the 3M night bus leaves hourly for Avenida dos Aliados between 00:30 and 05:30.
A private transfer meets you in arrivals with a name sign, and it is the sensible way to the Douro Valley, an hour and a half by road.
The airport's guidance is to be at check-in 90 minutes before a Schengen flight, two hours before a non-Schengen European flight such as London, and three hours before an intercontinental one. Online check-in usually opens 48 hours ahead, 24 for the United States and Switzerland.
Use the airline's app or the airport's ANA app, or the self check-in kiosks, then take bags to your airline's drop-off counter. On some flights, adults with an electronic passport or a Portuguese ID card can enrol at a kiosk or in the app and use their face instead of documents at bag drop, security and boarding; it is optional and the data is deleted after departure.
Fast track runs 04:00 to 23:00. Buy it on the airport's website or app, or from your airline, and show the QR code with your boarding pass at the priority lane; children under 2 go through free with an adult. The airport warns that codes sold anywhere else are not valid.
Some lanes have new scanners that allow up to 2 litres of liquids without a plastic bag, but you cannot choose your lane, so pack to the usual rule: 100 ml containers in one clear 1-litre bag, taken out at the tray.
For the UK and anywhere else outside Schengen, passport control follows security, and non-EU passports are recorded as leaving in the Entry/Exit System. The ANA Lounge is on level 3 by gates 31 and 32.
Before a short flight, a seat at the First Class Wine Bar with a glass of Douro is the best goodbye to the region. With time to spare, the lounge has runway views.
Passes marked Book a pass are sold through GetYourGuide, which shows the price, hours and terms before you pay; we may earn a commission.
Every lounge in detail
Porto's only lounge, and a good one: Portuguese wines and snacks, sofas facing the runway and space to work. It closes at 21:00, so late flights wait in the terminal.
Book a passA FrancesinhaMain terminal
Porto's own sandwich of meats under melted cheese and a beer sauce. If you did not try one in town, this is your last chance.
First Class Wine BarMain terminal
Charcuterie, cheese and gourmet sandwiches with wines from Portugal's regions, the Douro included. The civilised way to spend the last hour.
DouroMain terminal
A restaurant of traditional Portuguese dishes for a proper sit-down meal before a long flight.
Quiosque dos SaboresMain terminal, after security, floor 0
Traditional pastries, tea and coffee from 05:00 to 23:00, the place for an early-flight breakfast.
Sushi PassionMain terminal
Sushi made in front of you, lighter than most airport food.
COMOMain terminal
Sandwiches, salads, juices and a daily traditional dish, quick and fresh.
First CaféMain terminal, baggage claim
Coffee or a light meal while you wait for your bags.
The hotel at Porto
For an early flight, a late landing or a long wait: the one we would book.
Built for the early flight: soundproofed rooms, a free shuttle that runs around the clock and breakfast from 4am. It is small and quiet, and close enough to walk if you would rather not wait.
The shuttle must be booked in advance, so send the hotel your times before you travel.
Getting to the terminal
About 500 metres from the terminal: a 5-minute walk, or a free 24-hour shuttle of about 2 minutes
Line E's timetable from 7 September 2026 has the first train leaving the airport at 06:06 on weekdays, 05:58 on Saturdays and 05:57 on Sundays, and the last at 00:42 every day. Through the middle of the day there is a train about every 15 minutes, and the ride to Trindade, the hub under the city centre, takes 27 to 32 minutes. Some trains carry on through Bolhão to Campanhã, the station for the Douro line.
The ticket you need is a Z4 at €2.30, loaded on an Andante card at €0.60. It allows changes for 1 hour 15 minutes, which is enough to reach any of our city hotels' nearest stops.
Shopping on the way out need not mean carrying it: Pick Up On Return is a free service in which the shop keeps your purchases until you fly back, collected at the Cores Doces stores on the ground floor.
The Xpress Market vending machines before security sell travel basics 24 hours a day, which matters on a dawn departure when the shops have not opened. And buy fast track only on the airport's website or app or from your airline; the airport has warned about resellers whose codes do not work.
The airport has 104 lockers on floor -1, in underground access tunnel 1, before security and open 24 hours. Prices are per item for the first 3 hours: €3.60 small, €6 medium, €9.60 large and €14.40 extra large. Longer stays are paid when you collect: up to 24 hours costs €8.40 for a small locker and €10.80 for a medium one. It is a good way to spend a last afternoon in the city without your cases.
After security there is a playground for children aged 2 to 7 on floor 2 on both the Schengen and non-Schengen sides, each for up to 20 children. Every toilet block in the terminal, before and after security, has a baby-changing unit. Under-2s go through fast track free with an adult, and under-1s enter the lounge free with Priority Pass; the lounge's own rules charge for children over 3.
The airport's free MyWay service covers anyone with a disability or reduced mobility. Ask your airline or travel agent when you book, and no later than 48 hours before the flight. Call points marked MyWay are on level 3 and level 0 of the terminal and on levels -1 and -2 of the car park, and the team takes you through check-in, security and passport control to your seat.
EU rules cover every flight from Porto. After a delay of two hours on a flight up to 1,500 km, three hours up to 3,500 km or four hours beyond, the airline owes you meals, communication and, if needed, a hotel. At five hours you may take a refund instead of flying. Arrive three hours or more late, have your flight cancelled with less than 14 days' notice or be denied boarding, and you can claim €250, €400 or €600 depending on distance, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. If the airline reroutes you to arrive close to your original time, it can halve this, and after a cancellation it may owe nothing; a flight of over 3,500 km that arrives three to four hours late pays €300.
Park Hotel Porto Aeroporto is a 3-minute walk from the terminal, with a 24-hour reception and bar, which suits a 06:00 departure after a late arrival. Fast track opens at 04:00 and so does the ANA Lounge. From our city hotels the airport is 20 to 30 minutes by taxi at that hour, so most guests simply sleep in town.
Seven of our ten Porto hotels are 20 to 30 minutes from the airport by road, with Vila Foz the closest; The One Monumental Palace is a seven-minute walk from Trindade, the Metro's hub. The three in the Douro Valley are 85 to 114 minutes by car, and two of them can be reached by train up the river. Our airport transfers page has every hotel, its drive time and the way we would arrive.
Questions people ask
Metro line E runs from the terminal to Trindade in 27 to 32 minutes, about every 15 minutes through the day, for €2.30 plus €0.60 for the Andante card. A taxi takes 20 to 30 minutes to our city hotels.
00:42, every day of the week. After it, STCP's 3M night bus runs hourly to Avenida dos Aliados between 00:30 and 05:30.
A Z4 ticket, €2.30, valid with changes for 1 hour 15 minutes. The Andante Tour, €7.75 for 24 hours, also covers the airport.
Yes, the ANA Lounge on level 3 near gates 31 and 32, open 04:00 to 21:00. Any passenger can pay to use it, and Priority Pass, DragonPass and Diners Club members get in.
The airport advises 90 minutes before a Schengen flight, two hours before a non-Schengen European flight such as London, and three hours before an intercontinental one.
Yes, 04:00 to 23:00, bought on the airport's website or app or through your airline. Children under 2 go through free with an adult.
Yes, 104 lockers on floor -1, open 24 hours, from €3.60 per item for 3 hours.
By road, about 85 minutes to Six Senses Douro Valley, 99 to The Vintage House at Pinhão and 114 to Quinta Nova. The train from Campanhã to Pinhão takes 2 hours 15 to 2 hours 21.
Image credits: Kanakari (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Robot8A (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Bene Riobó (CC BY-SA 4.0)