Getting There
There are no direct flights to Porto from the U.S. and only Continental Airlines and TAP Portugal currently fly to Lisbon non-stop from New York. The latter airline is arguably more convenient, as you can fly TAP from its US gateway in Newark, with connecting service to Porto arranged all at once. Flying time from New York to Lisbon is about 6.5 hours; from Los Angeles it’s 15 hours (with a layover); from Atlanta it’s 12 hours – factor in an extra 45 minutes (plus layover time in Lisbon) for the connecting flight to Porto. If you can spare the time, our preferred route to Porto from Lisbon is a more scenic one that involves catching the train from Lisbon; it’s a three- to five-hour ride, depending on which train you take.
Another option is to book an air-and-hotel package to Portugal, with an itinerary that includes Porto. Petrabax Tours offers a seven-day escorted tour of Northern Portugal, with deluxe hotels, meals and tours, while Go-Today usually has seven-day fly-and-drive packages, with air to Lisbon and car rental.
For heaps of useful information once you’ve arrived, City Council Tourism Office on Rua Clube dos Fenianos 25 (July–Sept Mon–Fri 9am–7pm, Sat & Sun 9.30am–4.30pm; rest of the year Mon–Fri 9am–5.30pm, Sat & Sun 9.30am–4.30pm), or the second branch on Rua do Infante D. Henrique 63 (same hours) just up from the Ribeira; they have a plethora of leaflets, maps, brochures and booklets in addition to the Passe Porto we referred to, above.
