Porto City Card Review

I received the Porto.card in exchange for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and an absolute gem of the north. Porto is about half the size of Lisbon, with a population of about 250,000. As a smaller city, it has a more intimate feel when getting to know the area. Most blogs seem to recommend spending 2 days in Porto, but 3-4 days is ideal. It’s very walkable (but very hilly), with amazing history, architecture, restaurants, and is the home to Port wine. There are hidden treasures scattered throughout the city, and the Porto.card offers great value for those wishing to see attractions in the city. Read on for a full Porto City Card Review, including a breakdown at the end to see if it’s worth it for you.

Table of Contents

Porto City Card Review
Walker or Transport Pass?
Places to Visit with the Porto.card
Breakdown of Costs for Porto.card Savings
Is the Porto.card worth it?

I think city cards can be great, and it is very dependent on what you want to get up to in a city. If you’re on a budget, city cards help you save money if you’re already planning on spending money. It’s worth it to do a little bit of research beforehand, to see if you can make a city card worth it for your time and money. The Porto City Card is sold by hours, instead of days, which gives more flexibility on it’s use. That means if you activate a 1-day city card at 3 pm on a Thursday, the card is valid until 3 pm on Friday.

The Porto.card includes free admission to 7 sights and museums and mostly offers discounts at a lot of other sights and tours within the city. Discounts range between 5% to 35%. You can find the complete map and list of discounts here. Porto is a smaller city, so you could definitely get your worth out of a 1-day or even 2-day pass.

Click here to purchase a walker card in advance.

Walker or Transport Pass?

There are two Porto.card passes: a walker and a transport. The difference is simple: a walker pass does not include public transportation. The 2023 costs for the two cards are below.

The costs for Porto City Card with transport:

1 day – €13
2 days – €20
3 days – €25
4 days – €33

The costs for Porto City Card without transport (i.e. walker pass):

1 day – €6
2 days – €10
3 days – €13
4 days – €15

As you can see, it’s about €4.50-€7 per day more for the transport card (depending on the card you get). If you are staying outside the city centre, the transport card might be worth it for you! However, if you’re staying within the historic city centre, the walker pass is probably right for you. I include a cost breakdown at the end of this post to help you make your decision!

Places to Visit with the Porto.card

There are 133 attractions to save money with the Porto City Card, and additional discounts on tours are also available! As found above, you can find the complete map and list of discounts here. Here are some of the most popular attractions.

Stock Exchange Palace (Palácio da Bolsa)

The Stock Exchange Palace, or Palácio da Bolsa in Portuguese, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the historical centre of Porto. It’s an absolutely stunning building. It is still in use by the Association and is used for major events, such as events and official receptions. Your ticket is a timed entry with a short tour around the building. If you stick to the back of the group, you can get plenty of photos without people.

Empty room with three chandeliers in the middle of three gold decorative circles on the ceiling.

Clérigos Tower (Torre dos Clérigos)

The Clérigos Tower, or Torre dos Clérigos, is a 75-meter-tall bell tower that is part of the Clérigos Church. It’s an iconic tower that can be seen across the city. It is one of the most popular attractions in Porto and the views from the tower are breathtaking. The Church is free to visit, and the tower/museum has a small cost. The climb to the top of the tower is approximately 240 steps with no accessible options. The tower is open during the day and a night, while the museum is only open during the day. It’s a great spot to catch a sunset!

View of Porto from above, as seen from the Porto Cathedral Tower.

Porto Cathedral (Sé do Porto) and Cloisters

The Porto Cathedral is the most important religious building in Porto. The exterior is kind of an unassuming fortress, while the interior has beautiful cloisters, tiles (azulejos) and a tower view over the city. It’s well worth a visit!

Cathedral cloisters. Blue and white tiles are on the wall on the right.

Woman wearing a pink shirt and matching shorts sitting on a concrete bench in front of blue and white tiles in Portugal. The tiles depict scenes that are religious in nature.

WOW – World of Wine

A total of 7 museums, restaurants, an exhibition space and a wine school, the World of Wine is a great stop in Porto! You can visit the themed museums, take a wine making class, or just wander the area. The WOW project was started by restoring old port wine cellars in Gaia, and now works on teaching the history and art of winemaking.

Soares dos Reis National Museum

The National Museum is the first Portuguese national museum exhibiting collections of Portuguese art. Soares dos Reis is a celebrated Portuguese sculptor, after whom the museum is named. A fantastic art collection is inside and the building itself is wonderful!

Pink building with three balconies and a tree to the left of the photo frame. Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis

Sandeman

Sandeman is a brand of Port and Sherry wines from the 1700s. Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley, typically as a sweet red wine served after dinner. The Vila Nova de Gaia is a hub of the port wine industry, where you’ll find Sandeman and many other cellars. Enjoy a port wine tasting, and learn about the history of Sandeman and port wine.

Woman wearing a black dress and a straw hat looking out over Gaia towards Porto. The Douro Valley splits the image in the middle.

Bridges Cruise

A cruise that takes just under an hour, you’ll head out on the Douro River and learn about the 6 bridges that cross the river from Porto. It’s a really great experience, especially if you want to take a short rest from walking. You’ll get a glimpse of both Porto and Gaia as well!

View of Douro River with Porto to the left and Gaia to the right. There are boat cruises in the water coming towards the viewer and bridges across the river in the background

Francesinha

The must-eat food in Porto is a Francesinha. It’s a sandwich made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage, steak or roast meat, and covered with melted cheese and a hot and thick spiced tomato and beer sauce. Stop at Lado B to give this a try!

Breakdown of Costs for Porto.card Savings

Here is a breakdown of some of the savings for a walker Porto.card, including time it takes to visit! This gives a better sense of what you can do in a day and how much you can realistically save. All prices are for a single adult. Some places have senior/student/children discounts which are not accounted for here!

Stock Exchange Palace (Palácio da Bolsa). This takes about 30 minutes and the Porto.card will save you 25%. Regular price ticket is €12 so you save €3.
Clérigos Tower (Torre dos Clérigos). With no line, it takes about 30 minutes. However, you could wait up to 1.5 hours, so let’s average it and say you’ll spend 1 hour here. The Porto.card will save you 25%. Regular price ticket is €8 so you save €2.
Porto Cathedral (Sé do Porto) and Cloisters. I’d give yourself about an hour to explore and head up to the north tower. Regular price ticket is €3 and you save €‎1 with the Porto.card.
Soares dos Reis National Museum. You could probably spend 30 minutes to an hour here, and save 50% of the ticket price. Regular price ticket is €5 so you save €2.50.
WOW – World of Wine. Plan to spend about 2 hours, or more, depending on how thoroughly you want to explore the area and museums. You save 10% of the cost of a 2-museum ticket. Regular ticket price is €18 so you save €1.80.
Bridges Cruise. The cruise takes 50 minutes and you can save 10% off the ticket price. Regular ticket price is 18€ so you save €1.80.
World of Discoveries. This usually takes about 1 hour and you save 35%. Regular ticket price is €16 so you save €5.60.
Francesinha. Stop by Lado B and save 10% off the sandwich price. The sandwich costs about €10 so you save €1.

Total walker card savings: €18.70. Even if you purchase the 4-day walker pass and complete all of the above (which is totally do-able), you’ll still save €3.70. This doesn’t include savings you might have at some of the restaurants, the free museums or other attractions not listed! Realistically, you could purchase a 1-day or 2-day pass and do almost all of the above to save even more.

One thing to note: I couldn’t find out how to use the Porto.card when purchasing tickets online. For the 6 bridges cruise, there are booths along Cais da Riberia and you can book your ticket in advance there!

If you’re considering a transport card option, the price for an Andante Tour card is below:

Andante Tour 1 / valid for 24 consecutive hours after the 1st validation = 7,00€.
Andante Tour 3 / valid for 72 consecutive hours after the 1st validation = 15,00€.

A single trip covering 1 or 2 zones is €1.20, 3 zones is €1.60 and 4 zones (airport) is €2. To consider the transport Porto.card, it is more cost-effective if you need it for multiple days. You would have to take six 1 or 2 zone trips in a day to offset a 24-hour card. Unless you are staying outside the historic centre and taking multiple trips per day, the additional cost for a transport card isn’t worth it. You’re better off loading an Andante Card with single trips (if you buy 10, you get an additional trip for free).

Is the Porto.card worth it?

Yes! The walker card is the best deal. Even if you only get the 1-day walker pass, you could visit the Stock Exchange Palace, Clergios Tower, Porto Cathedral, World of Discoveries and try a Francesinha. The 1-day pass would cost €‎6 and you would save €12.60, for a total savings of €6.60.