Portugal Public Transport 2026: Cards, Fares & Passes

Portugal does not have one public transport card that works everywhere.

Lisbon uses Navegante. Porto uses Andante. CP has separate rail tickets and passes, and other cities can have their own systems.

Direct answer: If you are in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, start with Navegante. If you are in the Porto Metropolitan Area, start with Andante. Navegante does not become an Andante card in Porto, and Andante does not work as a Lisbon transport card.

You are travelling in…	Start with
Lisbon Metropolitan Area	Navegante
Porto Metropolitan Area	Andante
Lisbon Metro for one-off trips	Navegante occasional/zapping or accepted contactless bank card
Porto as a visitor	Andante Blue, Andante 24 or Andante Tour depending on your journeys
National or regional CP trains	CP ticket or CP pass
Another Portuguese city	That city’s local operator or ticketing system

If the only thing you need is “which option is cheapest for the number of trips I make?”, use the Portugal Transport Pass Calculator. It compares the common 2026 Lisbon and Porto options without pretending to be a route planner.

Lisbon: Navegante, fares and what to buy

Lisbon’s transport network is easier once you separate two things:

1. the card/support you use, and
2. the ticket or pass loaded onto it.

For occasional travel, the usual support is the Navegante occasional card. For regular monthly travel, you normally use a personalised Navegante card.

Lisbon public transport fares in 2026

Product	2026 price	Useful when…
Navegante occasional card	€0.50	You need a reloadable support for occasional tickets/zapping
Carris/Metro ticket	€1.90	You want a normal city journey across Carris and Metro
Zapping	€1.72	You prefer stored-value pay-as-you-go
Metro bank-card contactless	€1.92	You want a one-off Metro trip without buying a transport card
Carris/Metro 24h	€7.25	You expect several Carris/Metro journeys in one 24-hour period
Carris/Metro/Transtejo 24h	€10.35	You also need the Cais do Sodré–Cacilhas ferry
Carris/Metro/CP 24h	€11.40	You also need eligible Lisbon urban CP services
Navegante Municipal	€30/month	Your regular journeys stay inside one municipality and its covered boundary zones
Navegante Metropolitano	€40/month	You need participating transport across all 18 AML municipalities

Where and how to buy a Navegante card

The easiest place depends on whether you need an occasional card now or a personalised monthly-pass card.

What you need	Where to get it	What to do
Navegante occasional (€0.50)	Metro ticket machines and ticket offices; CARRIS shops/kiosks and other participating sales points	Buy the card, then load a Carris/Metro ticket, a 24-hour ticket or zapping credit
Personalised Navegante (€7)	Official Navegante online store or participating Navegante/operator customer points	Apply with your personal details; the normal online service is not instant, so use an in-person point if you need the card urgently
Reload an existing personalised card	Metro/CP ticket machines and ticket offices, supported ATMs, the official navegante® app, CARRISway and other supported operator channels	On a compatible NFC phone, hold the physical card to the phone, choose the pass/title, pay, then hold the card to the phone again to write the load. The official navegante® app accepts MB Way or debit/credit card; CARRISway can also load Navegante passes and zapping

Arriving at Lisbon Airport? If you only need transport immediately, the simplest option is usually the Metro ticket machine at the airport station: buy a Navegante occasional card and load the fare you need. Ordering a personalised card online makes more sense for someone staying long enough to use monthly passes.

Some CARRIS customer points offer 15-minute production of personalised Navegante cards, but services vary by location. Check the current CARRIS sales-point list before making a special trip.

You can also reload Navegante from your phone

If you already have a personalised Navegante card, you do not necessarily need a ticket machine every month. The official navegante® app can read and reload the physical card using NFC: tap the card to the phone, choose the title, pay with MB Way or debit/credit card, then tap the card again to complete the load.

CARRISway is another supported option for loading Navegante passes and zapping from a smartphone. Both the official navegante® app and CARRISway are available on Android; supported iPhones can also use the available top-up functions.

The important distinction is that loading the physical Navegante card with a phone is not the same as travelling everywhere with the phone instead of the card. After a top-up, keep using the physical card to validate unless the specific operator/product says otherwise.

The bit that catches people out is that €30 does not automatically mean “best deal.” A monthly pass can be cheaper on paper and still be the wrong product for your actual route.

When does a Lisbon monthly pass start to pay off?

A rough break-even helps:

• €30 equals about 16 Carris/Metro €1.90 journeys.
• €30 equals about 18 €1.72 zapping journeys.
• €40 equals about 22 Carris/Metro €1.90 journeys.
• €40 equals about 24 €1.72 zapping journeys.

Those figures are before the personalised-card cost and before checking coverage.

The standard personalised Navegante card costs €7. Official 2026 conditions also say a card can still be issued without a Portuguese NIF, but with a shorter validity and loading restrictions. That is different from saying a short-term visitor should get one.

For a five- or ten-day stay, I would compare the whole cost and the hassle first. A €30 pass is not automatically better than zapping just because €30 looks low.

The monthly pass is a calendar-month product

This matters if you arrive near the end of the month.

A standard Navegante monthly pass is tied to the relevant calendar month. It is not a rolling 30-day pass that starts whenever you buy it.

So if you arrive on the 24th, compare the journeys you will actually make before month-end rather than treating the €30 or €40 pass as 30 fresh days of travel.

Municipal or Metropolitano?

Navegante Municipal — €30/month For travel within one selected AML municipality and the applicable boundary zones.

Navegante Metropolitano — €40/month For participating public transport across all 18 municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.

If home and work are in different municipalities, saving €10 can be a false economy. Check the full commute, not only your home address.

Can you use a bank card on Lisbon public transport?

Yes on some systems, but do not treat “Lisbon accepts contactless” as one universal rule.

Lisbon Metro

Metro Lisboa accepts supported physical and virtual contactless bank cards across the Metro network. The 2026 bank-card fare is €1.92 per journey.

Use the same card or the same phone/watch at entry and exit. Do not enter with the physical card and exit with its Apple Pay or Google Pay version as if they were the same credential.

CARRIS buses and trams

CARRIS’ current official payment page lists bank-card/contactless payment at onboard validators, alongside cash, MB WAY and Via Verde Transportes.

The 2026 onboard fares are:

• bus: €2.30;
• tram: €3.30.

Those are onboard fares, not the same thing as loading a cheaper zapping balance onto Navegante.

Can your phone replace the Navegante card?

Not in the simple “put Navegante in Apple Wallet and forget the card” sense many newcomers expect.

CARRISway can load passes and zapping onto a personalised Navegante card, which is useful. But loading a physical card by phone is not the same as turning your phone into a universal Navegante travel credential across the whole Lisbon network.

That distinction keeps appearing in recent traveller and resident discussions because the word “mobile” gets used for several different things.

Lisbon Metro map

The Metro is usually the easiest part of Lisbon transport to understand visually.

Official Metro Lisboa diagram. Open the current Metro maps page before relying on the image where works or temporary closures may affect the network.

For a newcomer, the useful stations to recognise first are the interchanges rather than the tourist stops: Oriente, Alameda, Marquês de Pombal, Baixa-Chiado, Cais do Sodré, Rossio, Jardim Zoológico and Campo Grande.

Lisbon visitor examples: daily ticket, zapping or monthly pass?

There is no single winner because the fare you compare against changes the answer.

• Four €1.90 Carris/Metro tickets = €7.60, so the €7.25 Carris/Metro 24-hour ticket is already cheaper.
• Four €1.72 zapping journeys = €6.88, so zapping is still cheaper than that same 24-hour ticket.
• If you are mostly taking Metro and want no card at all, contactless is convenient, but convenience is not always the lowest fare.
• If you are visiting Sintra or Cascais, do not automatically buy the €11.40 Carris/Metro/CP 24-hour ticket. Compare the actual train journey plus the Lisbon travel you will make that day.

That is exactly why a trip-count comparison is more useful than saying “buy the daily pass.”

Porto: Andante, zones and fares

Porto’s integrated system is Andante. It is used across participating Metro do Porto, STCP, UNIR and eligible CP Porto services.

The main difference from Lisbon is that occasional Andante tickets are zone-based.

Z2 and Z3 do not mean two or three stops

This causes more confusion than almost anything else in Porto ticketing.

A Z2, Z3 or Z4 ticket refers to the number of zone rings covered around the zone where the journey begins. It does not mean two, three or four stops.

Use Andante’s official zone checker for the journey rather than trying to count stations.

Andante fares in 2026

Andante product	Simple	24 hours
Z2	€1.40	€5.35
Z3	€1.85	€6.85
Z4	€2.30	€8.55
Z5	€2.80	€10.25
Z6	€3.25	€12.20
Z7	€3.75	€13.90
Z8	€4.20	€15.60
Z9	€4.65	€17.30

The reloadable Andante Blue occasional card costs €0.60.

For regular travel:

Monthly pass	2026 price	Coverage
Andante 3Z	€30	Three contiguous selected zones
Andante Municipal	€30	One selected municipality
Andante Metropolitano	€40	Porto Metropolitan Area

The normal personalised Andante Silver card costs €6.

Where and how to buy an Andante card

Porto is simpler once you choose the right physical card first.

What you need	Where to get it	What to do
Andante Blue (€0.60)	Ticket machines in Metro and CP stations, Andante sales points and other participating sellers	Buy the card, choose the correct Z2–Z9 fare or Andante 24 product, then validate before travelling
Andante Silver (€6)	Andante Shops, participating CP ticket offices and municipal Andante sales points	Get the personalised card, then load a 3Z, Municipal or Metropolitano monthly pass
Reload a card or monthly pass	Andante Shops, Metro/CP ticket machines, many Payshop agents, the Anda app TOP UP feature and other supported digital resellers	With TOP UP, hold an Andante Blue or Silver card to an NFC phone, choose the title/pass and pay. This card-loading function is available on Android and iOS; special/discounted products can have narrower rules
Andante Tour 1 / Tour 3	Andante Shops, the airport tourism desk, participating CP ticket offices, municipal points and selected Payshop agents	Buy the dedicated non-reloadable tourist card; its validity starts with the first validation

Arriving at Porto Airport? For a normal one-off journey, use a station machine and buy an Andante Blue with the zone product required for your trip. If you want broad network travel for 24 or 72 hours, compare that with Tour 1 / Tour 3, which are also sold at the airport tourism desk.

If you are unsure which zone to load, do not guess from the number of stops. Check the journey in Andante’s zone tool first, then buy that zone product at the machine or sales point.

Andante cards can also be topped up by phone

The Anda app has a TOP UP function for physical Andante cards. Hold an Andante Blue or Andante Silver card to the back of an NFC-capable phone, choose the fare/pass, pay and write the load to the card. Andante says TOP UP is available on Android and iOS, and you can use this loading function even without creating a registered Anda account.

Do not confuse TOP UP with using the Anda app itself as your travel credential. The app’s full tap-and-travel functionality is still tied to compatible Android phones; the card-loading function is broader.

Porto has one extra visitor option worth knowing

Andante also sells:

• Tour 1 — €7.75, valid for 24 consecutive hours across the intermodal Andante network;
• Tour 3 — €16.55, valid for 72 consecutive hours.

They are tourist products on their own non-reloadable cards and do not cover the Funicular dos Guindais or STCP heritage tram.

This produces one useful price quirk:

• Z2 Andante 24 (€5.35) and Z3 Andante 24 (€6.85) can be cheaper if that zone coverage is enough;
• from Z4 upward, Tour 1 at €7.75 is cheaper than the matching Andante 24 product and gives wider Andante-network coverage.

That is the sort of comparison worth doing before buying a zone ticket by habit.

Porto monthly-pass break-even

Before the Andante card cost and the 10+1 occasional-ticket offer:

• €30 equals about 22 Z2 simple journeys;
• €30 equals about 17 Z3 simple journeys;
• €40 equals about 29 Z2 journeys;
• €40 equals about 22 Z3 journeys.

Andante gives one extra identical simple journey when you buy 10, so a long pay-as-you-go comparison is slightly better than multiplying the single fare forever.

Also remember: a 3Z monthly pass and a Z3 occasional ticket are not the same concept. One is a selected three-zone monthly area; the other is an occasional zone-ring ticket.

Porto Metro map

Porto’s Metro covers far more than the historic centre, including the airport, Matosinhos, Maia, Gondomar, Vila Nova de Gaia, Vila do Conde and Póvoa de Varzim. The network map is useful for understanding the lines, but it does not tell you which Andante zone ticket you need. Use the Andante zone checker for that.

Porto Metro network map by Goran_tek-en, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The map is based on Metro do Porto and OpenStreetMap information. Check current Metro do Porto service information before travelling, especially while network extensions are under construction.

The stations worth recognising first are Trindade for the main interchange, Campanhã for national rail connections, Casa da Música for Boavista, São Bento for the historic centre, Jardim do Morro for Gaia and Aeroporto for Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport.

Can you tap a bank card in Porto?

Yes, but the official contactless scheme is still limited rather than network-wide.

During the current pilot, it works at specified Metro do Porto stations including the airport/city-centre set listed by Andante, and on STCP line 500.

The bank-card fare is €2.30 (Z4) and is valid for 1h15 on the eligible Metro/STCP contactless network. If you make four or more eligible journeys in one day, the system applies the more advantageous fare up to a €7.75 daily cap.

If you are travelling outside those participating stations/lines, use the normal Andante system instead of assuming every validator accepts a bank card.

The Anda app is useful — with one big limitation

Andante’s Anda app can calculate and optimise the fare from the journeys you actually make. That removes a lot of zone guesswork.

The full travel function currently requires a compatible Android phone with NFC and Bluetooth. Andante’s own FAQ says the travel implementation is not available on iOS in the same way.

You still validate when starting a journey and whenever you change Metro line or transport.

If you use Porto public transport regularly and have a compatible Android phone, this is one of the few cases where an app genuinely removes fare complexity instead of adding another layer to it.

Validation: the rule people still forget

Lisbon

Validate where the operator requires it. On Metro contactless, use the same payment card/device through the journey.

Porto

Validate every time you start a journey and every time you change line or transport, including when you have a monthly pass.

A green light means the validation worked. If you get a red light, stop and read the validator message rather than repeatedly tapping and boarding anyway.

Can two people use the same transport card?

For two people travelling together, plan on one valid ticket/card/payment method per passenger.

A Navegante occasional card cannot be used for a group on the same journey, and personalised passes are tied to their holder. The same practical rule applies in Porto: do not plan on one Andante card validating two people simultaneously.

CP trains and the Green Rail Pass

Navegante and Andante are metropolitan systems. They do not turn into a national rail pass when you travel between cities.

For ordinary intercity journeys, buy the appropriate CP ticket.

For eligible residents who use CP regularly, the Green Rail Pass costs:

• €20 for 30 days;
• €40 for 60 days;
• €60 for 90 days.

It is available to Portuguese citizens and foreign nationals resident in Portugal. It covers Regional and InterRegional services, Coimbra urban trains, specified outer sections of Lisbon/Porto urban lines, and 2nd-class Intercidades with the required free advance seat reservation.

It does not replace Navegante or Andante inside the metropolitan sections already covered by those intermodal systems.

If you are choosing where to live, test the commute before the pass

The difference between a €30 and €40 monthly pass is small compared with a route that adds two unreliable transfers every working day.

Before signing a lease, check:

• the weekday door-to-door trip at the actual time you will commute;
• number of transfers;
• first and last service;
• weekend frequency;
• whether the pass covers every operator/zone you need;
• what the backup route looks like when one leg is delayed.

I would rather pay €10 more for the right pass than save €10 and discover the commute only works neatly on a map.

If transport is influencing where you rent, see Renting a House in Portugal as a Foreigner and Cost of Living in Portugal by City.