The first two days in Porto, in priority order: what has to happen, what should, and what can wait. Tick things off as you go.
For Porto
How long you are staying
Must do
MEO, Vodafone and NOS all sell prepaid SIMs at the airport and in shopping centres; bring your passport. A local number unlocks MB Way and most app sign-ups.
Buy a paper Andante Azul (€0.60) for the first days and load Z2 singles at €1.40. For a monthly pass you need the €6 personalised card: €30 for three zones, or €40 Metropolitano if you will fly or cross more of the city.
At a Finanças office (book ahead) or through a representative. Without it you cannot sign a lease, open a bank account or take out a phone contract.
Bring your passport, NIF and proof of address. A Portuguese IBAN is what landlords, utilities and employers expect.
Confirm the landlord registers the contract with Finanças and issues a recibo de renda each month. That paperwork is your proof of address for residency, schools and healthcare.
Should do
112 is police, ambulance and fire. 808 24 24 24 is the SNS health line, open around the clock, for advice before you head to an urgência.
The domestic cash machines are everywhere and also pay bills and buy tickets. Small cafés and markets may still prefer cash or MB Way.
Bolt for rides, CP for trains, Glovo or Uber Eats for delivery, and MB Way as soon as your account is open.
On a residence visa, find the date of your AIMA appointment and list its documents now. EU citizens: put the CRUE registration in the calendar for the three-month mark.
Look up the parish council for your address. It issues the atestado de residência, including the 90-day declaration that makes urgent care free before a residence permit exists.
Before viewing a furnished flat offered by the month, ask whether it has an alojamento local registration. If it does, what you are being offered is not a residential lease.
Nice to do
Ask for um café and you get an espresso, drunk standing at the counter. A pastry alongside is the national breakfast.
Many embassies run a registration or alert service for nationals living abroad. Two minutes now saves a scramble in an emergency.
The city's restored market hall sells fish, fruit, flowers and charcuterie, and the streets around it are where the Baixa still does its everyday shopping.
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