The main airport serving Porto is Francisco Sá Carniero International Airport, located approximately 20 km northwest of the city centre. There are several airlines which fly direct from the UK, including TAP flying from Heathrow & Gatwick, KLM from London and Ryanair and Air Berlin both from Stansted.
The airport is linked to the city centre by metro line E and by Aerobus which runs from the airport to the town centre every 30 minutes. There are also STCP buses which run from the airport to the city centre. Taxis are available just outside the arrivals lounge.
If you are on a day trip, it is worth noting that there are no facilities for left luggage at the airport.
An alternative would be to fly to Lisbon and then get the train or a coach to Porto.
By Train
If you aren’t pushed for time, there’s always the rail option via Eurostar from London to Paris then on to Madrid and finally on towards Lisbon alighting at Pampilhosa and taking a local train on to Porto.
The price for this option will set you back at least £240 return and will take around 25, yes, 25 hours. Facilities at all these stations are good and similar to what you may expect at international airports.
A more realistic option might be to fly into Lisbon and then travel to Porto by train, taking a slightly more comfortable 4½ hrs and costing €11 by conventional train with 2 trains a day or taking 3½ hours and costing €15 by IC train with four trains running daily.
For details of journeys to Portugal by train, have a look at the Rail Europe or Seat 61 website.
By Bus
If you’re flying into Lisbon, the bus journey to Porto costs approx €13 each way on a Redex bus. Tickets can be purchased on the bus or before boarding.
By Ferry
It is also possible to travel to Portugal via the UK to Spain and then take the coach or train from Spain.
Brittany Ferries sail twice weekly from Plymouth making the crossing to Santander in approx 21hrs.
P & O Ferries sail from Portsmouth to Bilbao in around 30-35hrs, twice a week.
Prices vary depending on when you’re travelling with tickets booked via the internet or by phone.
From Bilbao and Santander it is approx 800 Km to Porto.
