Public transport in Portugal: Lisbon and Porto passes, trains, driving licences

Lisbon: one card, one pass

The Navegante card (0,50 € for the anonymous version, personalised card for passes) works on Metro, Carris buses and trams, CP suburban trains, Fertagus, the Tagus ferries and the metropolitan buses. Fares in 2026:

Young residents travel free under the metropolitan area’s youth free pass (gratuitidade jovem), requested with the personalised card and proof of age and residence; over-65 residents with a Lisbon fiscal address also have free options. Passes for the following month are sold from the 26th. Bus tickets bought on board cost more than card fares.

• 40 € a month for the whole Lisbon metropolitan area; 30 € for one municipality
• 1,40 € to 4,65 € single journeys in Porto by zone (Andante)
• Free passes for young residents in the Lisbon and Porto metropolitan areas
• A22 toll-free since 1 January 2025 (Lei n.º 37/2024)

Porto: zones and the Andante

Porto’s Metro, STCP buses and CP suburban trains share the Andante card (0,60 €), priced by zones: a single journey costs from 1,40 € (Z2) to 4,65 € (Z9); ten journeys buy an eleventh; the 24-hour Andante starts at 5,35 €; tourist passes (Andante Tour) cost 7,75 € for one day and 16,55 € for three. Monthly passes are sold by zone, with reductions for over-65s and free or discounted passes for young people; a ticket bought on board an STCP bus costs 2,50 €, which is why residents load the card.

Trains and coaches

CP runs the suburban lines around Lisbon (Sintra, Cascais, Azambuja, Sado) and Porto, regional trains, the Intercidades and the Alfa Pendular between Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Braga and Faro. Suburban travel is on the Navegante or Andante; long-distance tickets are cheapest booked online in advance. Coaches (Rede Expressos, FlixBus) cover the towns trains do not. Domestic flights matter only for Madeira and the Azores.

Cars: driving licences, tolls, buying

A foreign licence is the newcomer’s other transport question, and IMT sorts licences into four groups:

• EU and EEA licences remain valid; after settling you must register your residence with IMT within 60 days (free) and may exchange the licence when it expires or at will.
• OECD and CPLP licences covered by Decreto-Lei n.º 46/2022 — Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe; Australia, Canada, Chile, South Korea, the United States, Iceland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Turkey — are accepted for driving even after you become resident, provided the licence was issued or last renewed less than 15 years ago, you meet the Portuguese minimum age and the licence is not suspended. Exchange is optional.
• Other countries party to the Geneva 1949 or Vienna 1968 conventions, or with a reciprocity agreement: you may drive as a visitor for 185 days after entry while not resident; once resident you request the exchange on IMT’s A Minha Carta de Condução portal with a medical certificate uploaded by your doctor, your residence document, fiscal-address certificate and passport.
• Countries outside the conventions: the licence is not valid for driving in Portugal; exchange requires passing the theory and practical tests for each category.

Motorways are tolled, except those the law freed from tolls on 1 January 2025 — the Algarve’s A22 among them; most tolls are electronic (Via Verde transponder, or the toll-payment services for foreign plates). Buying a car in Portugal is a NIF, a registration at the conservatória and an annual road tax (IUC); bringing one from abroad triggers registration tax (ISV) unless the transfer-of-residence exemption applies — a customs file the office handles.

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