How do you cross the lower Douro from Porto to Afurada without a car? Between Cais do Ouro, on the Porto bank, and São Pedro da Afurada, on the Vila Nova de Gaia bank, Transportes Metropolitanos do Porto (TMP) runs a scheduled boat every 30 minutes, every day, and says the trip takes around seven minutes.
Despite the name of the route, the day starts on the Gaia side. The first boat leaves Afurada at 07:30 on weekdays and 09:30 at weekends, with the first from Cais do Ouro fifteen minutes later. Afurada also has the last sailing of the night: 22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, 20:00 every other day.
Any Andante pass or single-journey ticket covering the zones you travel through is accepted. Without a card, the crew charges €3.00 one way; a ticket that also brings you back the same day costs €5.00.
Opening and closing boats on each bank
Departures from Cais do Ouro
- 07:45
- 19:45
Departures from Cais da Afurada
- 07:30
- 20:00
Departures from Cais do Ouro
- 07:45
- 21:45
Departures from Cais da Afurada
- 07:30
- 22:00
Departures from Cais do Ouro
- 09:45
- 21:45
Departures from Cais da Afurada
- 09:30
- 22:00
Departures from Cais do Ouro
- 09:45
- 19:45
Departures from Cais da Afurada
- 09:30
- 20:00
Regular TMP service since July 2026, no end date published · checked 30 October 2026 TMP / Andante – times by quay (notice of 21 July 2026, in Portuguese) · 2026-10-30
What to pay if you have no Andante card
For anyone already travelling on an Andante card, the Afurada boat is just another part of the network: any ticket covering the zones of your journey works. Which zone Cais do Ouro or Afurada falls in is not stated in TMP's announcement, and we do not guess.
The 2025 pilot charged €2.25 on board. Since July 2026 the crew sells two tickets to passengers without Andante, priced as below.
| One way | €3 |
| Return on the same day | €5 |
TMP fares of July 2026, unchanged on 30 October 2026 TMP / Andante – on-board ticket (notice of 21 July 2026) · 2026-10-30
The two landings
TMP mentions no ticket office on either bank. Passengers without Andante pay when they board.
Cais do Ouro
On the north bank the boat uses Cais do Ouro, beside Rua do Ouro in the Lordelo do Ouro area. The first departure is 07:45 on weekdays and 09:45 at weekends, the last 19:45, or 21:45 on Fridays and Saturdays. Only TMP's notice gives these Porto-side times.
Cais da Afurada
On the Gaia side you board at the Afurada landing by Rua da Praia. Both the first and the last boat of the day leave from here; Gaia city council's notice confirms the 07:30 or 09:30 start and the 20:00 or 22:00 finish.
Close to the mouth of the Douro
The Porto pin sits on Cais do Ouro beside Rua do Ouro, the Gaia pin on the Afurada landing beside Rua da Praia. Both positions come from OpenStreetMap, where the landings were mapped during the 2025 pilot; TMP does not publish coordinates.
Worth knowing before you cross
- Later starts at weekends
On Saturdays and Sundays the first boat leaves Afurada at 09:30 and Cais do Ouro at 09:45.
- Friday and Saturday evenings
The last boats are 21:45 from Cais do Ouro and 22:00 from Afurada; on other days 19:45 and 20:00.
- Passengers only
TMP describes a passenger service: it does not carry cars, so a hire car stays on the bank where you parked it.
- Bank holidays
The 2025 pilot had a Sunday and holiday timetable; the 2026 notice says nothing about holidays. Before travelling on 8 or 25 December, call the Andante helpline on 226 158 151.
- Bikes and accessibility
Rules for bicycles and wheelchair access on this boat are not available from TMP, so ask before you travel if you need either.
From a 2025 trial to a year-round service
The crossing has been tried before. On 26 June 2025 TMP opened a four-month pilot between Cais do Ouro and Afurada, together with the Douro and Leixões port authority (APDL), with an hourly boat and an on-board fare of €2.25. It carried 6,776 passengers in its first month and logged more than 22,000 ticket validations between July and September before closing on 26 October 2025.
It came back in July 2026 with a boat every half hour instead of every hour, and the opening ceremony for both Douro crossings was held at Afurada. In Gaia city council's words the service is permanent, meant to keep going through every season. As of 30 October 2026 no winter timetable or end date had been published. TMP's other boat, upstream between Ribeira and the Gaia waterfront, is covered on its own page: Ribeira – Cais de Gaia.
Questions about the Afurada boat
Which side does the first boat leave from?
Afurada: 07:30 on weekdays, 09:30 at weekends. On the Porto side you wait another quarter of an hour (07:45 or 09:45).
How late can I get back to Porto from Afurada?
Until 22:00 on Friday and Saturday nights; on the other five evenings the last boat leaves Afurada at 20:00.
Is the fare still €2.25?
No, that was the 2025 pilot price. Since July 2026 it is €3.00 one way and €5.00 for a same-day return, bought on board.
Do I need to know my Andante zone?
Your ticket has to cover the zones of your trip, but TMP has not said which zones the two landings belong to.
Does it still run only once an hour?
No. The pilot ran hourly; since July 2026 there is a boat from each landing every 30 minutes.
Can I take a car?
No. TMP runs it as a passenger boat and says nothing about vehicles.
Does this boat go to Ribeira?
No. Ribeira to the Gaia waterfront is a separate TMP crossing: Ribeira – Cais de Gaia.