There are many ways to get to Porto if you are coming for abroad.

May we suggest the airplane:

Porto has got a modern international airport: the Francisco Sá Carneiro International Airport, located about 11 km from downtown. It is served by many international airlines, including: Ryanair, TAP Portugal, Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, Air Berlin, SN Brussels, HLX, Swiss, Aigle Azur, British Airways, clickair, flyNIKI, Luxair, easyJet, PGA, and, we are pretty sure, many others - the best thing you can do is to select a low cost airliner according to your location. Surf the web: connection flights from main European capitals are very easy to get, and the sooner you book, the cheaper they are. By the way, the code for Porto Airport is "OPO".

From Porto airport to downtown

So, you've arranged that amazing special discount flight that cost you less than the bus from home to the airport, and now that you're at the Porto airport waiting for your luggage, you start to wonder how you're gonna get downtown. Fear nothing, as Porto airport is served by great transports:

Subway
(that is called "Metro do Porto" and is not really a subway, since the granite based terrain at Porto makes it a bit hard and expensive to put away from the sun):

. The modern, clean and safe subway is the best way to get to most of places at the city and sub-urban areas, providing audio and visual warnings in English and disabled facilities.

. So, you're going to enter the E line (violet) at the Airport, that gets you, well, everywhere. If you want good starting points to feel the city, get out at stations "Aliados" (about 30 minutes) or "Casa da Música" (about 23 minutes).

. Tickets are called "Andantes" and can be used at the subway, city bus and sub-urban trains. They are zone dependent, and contact free - you can recharge them (don't trash the ticket after you used it), and every time you validate one you can travel for an hour in all of the means of transport. The average ticket, like the one you need to get from the airport to downtown, costs about 1,35 Euros. Tickets can be bought at every subway station, and there are instructions in English - pay attention to the areas map, that divides the network in circles (C1, C2...).  

. The Subway operates from 06h00 to 01h30.

Alternatives:

Bus Lines
(operated by STCP)
There are connections between the Airport and Downtown, using the following lines: 601 and 87. The price for one trip is 1,35 Euros, but you can use the same ticket ("Andante") you bought for the Subway.

Taxis
You can also take a cab, but that is more expensive and probably less practical and exciting.

From Porto's Airport to the Youth Hostel

Getting from Porto's Airport to the Youth is not hard at all: you just need to use the subway system and one city bus.

We're sure that you understand that we might not be able to get everyone directly at the airport, so, please, make an effort to be as autonomous as you can.

But, if you have any sort of problem or difficult don't hesitate to contact us, of course.

. Get on the subway system at the Airport, as described above;

. Exit at station "Casa da Musica";

. Go to the bus stop "Casa da Musica (Metro)" - it is just next to the exit of the subway station;

. Get in the bus "504 Boavista - Norte Shopping" - waiting time is about 10 minutes. Don't forget that you can use the same ticket ("Andante") that you used on the subway;

. Get out at the bus stop "Pousada da Juventude" - travel time is about 15 minutes;

. And that's it: you're just across the street from the Youth Hostel.

From Lisbon to Porto

So, you're at the Lisbon airport, "Aeroporto de Lisboa". Maybe, because that was the only flight to Portugal you could arrange. Maybe, because you decided to do a little sight seeing. No harm done, getting to Porto is easy:

The Airplane
Well, you saw this one coming, right? This is the fastest way, but most probably, also the most expensive (one way prices ranging from 50 Euros to 100 Euros). There are daily flights between the two cities, mainly by PGA and TAP. If you're planning to make the connection, ask for it when reserving your flight to Lisbon.

The Train
The closest train station to the Lisbon Airport is "Gare do Oriente" (if you're an architecture fan, this one is worth it). To get there you have two choices: taxi or bus.

Taxis are a bit on the expensive side, and, considering the distance, not really worth it.

As for bus (operated by Carris), our suggestion is you take lines 5 or 44. Tickets are 1.20 Euros. Bus usually stop at this big roundabout in front of the airport main entrance, but the best thing you can do is ask the nice people that work at the airport's information desk.

Once you made it to "Gare do Oriente", search CPs ticket office for ALFA/INTERCIDADES. There, buy a ticket to "Porto (Campanhã)" - which is Porto's main train station. This fast train service operates from 06h00 to 21h00, and the trip takes about 3 hours. Tickets range from 18.00 Euros to 28.00 Euros.

Three hours later, you're at Porto. If you want to get downtown, the Alfa/Intercidades ticket you just used is valid to get to "Porto (São Bento)" (a train station at Avenida dos Aliados) - to do that, just get in a sub-urban train (red and yellow trains) that is headed to "São Bento". Don't worry, there is one every five minutes or so.

If you want to use the subway system - "Metro do Porto" - both "Porto (Campanhã)" and "Porto (São Bento)" are serviced by the subway system, but this way you have to pay for the ticket.

The Bus
You really are better off with the train, but if you want to use the bus: search for the information desks of the express transport companies operating at the Lisbon airport (we know this doesn't sound like much, but it's really the best advice). Most express bus connections to Porto start at the centre of Lisbon, but usually a valid airplane ticket to Lisbon grants you a free ride to the express bus itself. 

This company, Rede Expressos, operates at the airport, but they're website doesn't have English language as an option. For more information, you can call them at: (+351) 213 581 460.

Contacts in need of help

At any time, day or night, you can contact:

Carlos "Litos" Ferreira              +351 912 440 183

Mariana Pinto da Costa            +351 916 493 971

Tiago Costa                            +351 916 503 991

Nélia Neves                            +351 914 020 005

National Emergency Number: 112 (dialed for free at any phone)

One last thing

Saving the planet without polluting it

Dear friends,

Every year we fly across Europe to visit the IPPNW European Student Conference. Every year we return home with the feeling that as young medical professionals we can contribute to making the world more peaceful more fair and more healthy. But some of us also have the gnawing bad conscience of polluting the environment with our plane rides. It can sometimes be a stretch to talk about ways to combat climate change and actually living this idea. It's easy to talk the talk, but sometimes it can seem impossible to walk the walk. Taking the bike to a conference might seem like a viable option for some people, train- or bus-rides can be a fun way of bonding before and after the conference, but for most of us, there simply is no real alternative to plane travel for a weekend conference. Now there is a good alternative to simply not coming to the conference at all:

At atmosfair you can calculate the amount of CO2 produced by your flight and find out about ways to clear the damage caused to the environment - planting trees, investing in renewable energy, supporting reforestation projects... There's also a list of projects funded and supported by atomsfair itself, which combine envinronmental with development goals, run by organizations and NGOs in the Global South, profiting the environment AND the people living in poverty: solar energy projects in India or South Africa, biomass energy production in Thailand or a recycling project in Brazil. Making a difference can be as easy as donating a sum of 17 Euro (which is what I payed for "erasing" the carbon footprint caused by my flight from Cologne to Porto and back - around 840 kg of CO2 which I'm responsible for).

I would suggest that we all try to reduce carbon emissions as best we can - for example by trying to find alternative ways of travelling, using more modern communication instead of actually meeting in person or at least finding ways of reducing the IPPNW-carbon footprint. If we want to make a difference, we have to lead with a good example. Perhaps in the future, this method will become standard for all IPPNW conferences - who knows...

For now all the best from Cologne and looking forward to seeing you in Porto in April...

Alex

by

Alex Rosen - Co-Chairman of the IPPNW Board of Directors

We will be updating this little guide, as more information becomes available.

We're sure that you understand that we might not be able to get everyone directly at the airport, so, please, make an effort to be as autonomous as you can. Don't worry, the Youth Hostel and the Associação Nacional de Jovens Empresários (ANJE) are very well located, and getting there isn't difficult at all - as we just seen above.

In the mean time, if you have any sort of question or doubt:
ippnw.porto07@gmail.com