Porto-North-Portugal.com
The best independent guide to north Portugal
Porto-North-Portugal.com
The best independent guide to north Portugal
Porto to Aveiro, by train, bus and public transport
Aveiro is a charming Portuguese city, which is famed for its canal network and colourful fishing boats. Close to Aveiro is Costa Nova, one of the prettiest beach resorts in Portugal. Aveiro and Costa Nova are both fascinating tourists destinations, and make for enjoyable day trips from Porto.
Porto is connected to Aveiro by frequent and inexpensive public transport, and this article will detail how to travel from Porto to Aveiro.
Related articles: Aveiro introduction and tour map
The traditional fishing boats nowadays transport tourists around the waterways and lagoons of Aveiro
The distinctly painted beach houses in Costa Nova
Porto to Aveiro, an overview
Aveiro is 57km to the south of Porto. There are both bus and train services from Porto to Aveiro, but the train should always be your choice. The train it is cheaper, the journey faster and there are more daily departures.
The best choice of train service is the inexpensive urban train service, which provides a direct route to Aveiro with a journey time of 1h15. There are also express trains (called Intercidades or Alfa Pendular), which take 43-53 minutes, but these trains are significantly more expensive and require a connection at Campanhã station.
The old train station in Aveiro adorned with beautiful tile paintings
The train to Aveiro waiting in São Bento station
The urban train from Porto to Aveiro
The urban train is the service taken by most visitors when travelling from Porto to Aveiro, either for a day trip or for onward travel.
This service departs from the São Bento train station in central Porto and terminates at Aveiro station. There is at least one departure per hour in each direction during the day, and this frequency makes visiting Aveiro suitable for a day trip.
The Aveiro train is operated by Comboios de Portugal (CP), the national train company of Portugal. As this train is part of the Urban network there are many stops along the route and the journey takes a tedious 1h15. Thankfully, once past Miramar station (about 20minutes from Porto) the railway follows the coastline and has some scenic sections.
A single ticket from Porto to Aveiro costs €3.55/€1.80 (adult/child), and the return ticket is the price of two singles €7.10/€3.60 (adult/child). The journey falls within “Zone 9” pricing bracket of the Porto urban train lines, and for a detailed fare guide, please see the CP website:
www.cp.pt/
(link opens a PDF, which may download on certain mobile phones)
As of October 2019, the departures from São Bento (Porto) are at 55min past the hour, and operated between 6:55 and 23:55. The return train from Aveiro is at 18minutes past the hour (8:18 until 19:18) with later departures at 25 minutes past the hour, until 23:25. The latest time table can be seen on the CP website at:
www.cp.pt/
Note: There is a regular but slower train which departs from Porto Campanhã, and a connection to the São Bento train at Ovar is need to continue to Aveiro. There is no point catching this slow train from Campanhã.
The train to Aveiro as it passes through Espinho
The coastline around Porto is known as the Costa Verde, and is wild, rugged and dominated by the Atlantic Ocean
Have you considered a group tour of Aveiro?
Small group tours are an enjoyable and informative way to discover Aveiro, along with providing a chance to meet fellow travellers. Since the introduction of rating and reviews, the standard of group tours in Portugal has dramatically improved. Now tours are led by enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides, and cater for modern and worldly tourists.
We have worked with GetYourGuide.com for the previous six years and some of their best tours they offer for Aveiro include:
• Half-day tour of Aveiro from Porto with cruise on Moliceiro boat (€ 43)
• Full day tour Aveiro and the Arouca 516 - the World's Longest Suspension Footbridge (€ 110)
• Ful day to Aveiro and the Ílhavo coastline (including Costa Nova) (€ 85)
São Bento train station
The Estação de São Bento (often shorted to São Bento) is conveniently located close to the main tourist areas of Porto and is a short walk away from the Ribeira and Baixa districts. São Bento is served by the D metro line (yellow line), which is the main north-south metro line in Porto.
Tickets are purchased from the ticket office or ticket machines. The ticket machines provide instructions in all common European languages and accept cash or card. The ticket office in São Bento train station can get very busy, especially at rush hour.
Warning: Tickets must be purchased and validated before boarding the train; passengers should expect to get their tickets inspected, and fines are given for invalid (or non-validated) tickets.
While in São Bento train station do not miss the wonderful azulejos tile paintings which adorn the walls of the waiting room
The tile paintings date from 1907-1913 and reflect the eras before and after the 1910 revolution. The classic blue and white tiles were painted before the revolution, while the coloured tiles were considered a modern and progressive style, and suitable for the new republic formed in 1911.
Aveiro train station
The Estação de Aveiro is a modern station, which is 1.1km to the east of the city. From the station entrance follow the Avenida Dr Lourenço Peixinho avenue into the city centre.
Insight: when exiting Aveiro station do look at the beautiful tile paintings on the side of the old station.
Express trains to Aveiro
For most day-trippers to Aveiro, there is no real point catching the express trains from Porto to Aveiro. These trains must be pre-booked, as each seat is designated to each ticket, and this limits the flexibility of return times. The other slight inconvenience is that a connection is required at Porto Campanhã, as none of the express trains stop at São Bento.
There are two types of express trains, the modern Alfa Pendular and slightly older Intercidades. The Alfa Pendular is the faster service, but costs slightly more (€14.70 adult single) than the Intercidades (€12.10).
The Alfa Pendular trains are often the quickest way to travel around Portugal
The entire express train timetable can be seen on the CP website:
www.cp.pt/
(link opens a PDF, which may download on certain mobile phones)
Tickets need to be purchased before travel, either from a train station or the CP website (www.cp.pt/)
To travel from São Bento to Campanhã, a regional or urban train is caught for the 3minute journey. Another option is to take the metro to Campanha metro station, which directly exits into the train station. Train tickets do not include the metro but do include the short urban train ride.
Advice: The express trains are the recommended means of travel from Porto to Coimbra, Lisbon or even the Algarve, but for a day trip to Aveiro they are more hassle than worth.
Porto airport to Aveiro
Aveiro is not the easiest place to travel to from Porto Airport, as there is no direct public transport.
The best method of onward travel is to catch the metro from the airport to São Bento train station, and then take the Aveiro urban train to Aveiro.
A single metro ticket from the airport to Porto costs €2.00 (plus €0.60 for an Andante card), there are departures every 20 minute and the journey takes 40 minutes. For a full guide to travelling from the airport to Porto city centre, please read this guide.
Porto to Aveiro by bus
There is no point taking the intercity bus from Porto to Aveiro as the journey is much longer, the fares are more expensive, and there are fewer departures.
The intercity bus network is operated by Rede Expressos, and their fastest route takes 1h25, but some services take over 2 hours. An adult single fare costs €8.60 and a return is €15.40. Further information and the booking of tickets can be made on the Rede Expressos website:
www.
Rede Expressos coaches are modern, safe and comfortable, but are slower than the train to Aveiro!
Rede Expressos buses depart from the Campo 24 de Agosto bus station, which is to the east of the city. The bus station is close to the 24 de Agosto metro station, and is only a short walk across the Jardim do Campo 24 de Agosto Park.
Advice: The intercity bus station in the Batalha district (called the Garagem Atlântico on the Rua Alexandre Herculano) has closed and now all Rede Expressos buses depart from the Campo 24 de Agosto bus station. Some outdated pages still refer to the Batalha bus station.
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