Conference location

The XVI DCIS2001 Conference will be held at Hotel Ipanema Porto, located near Praça da Galiza, an important business and shopping area of Porto. Within a few minutes by car or bus you can reach the city downtown, the historic centre, the Douro river or the Atlantic ocean. For more information about the hotel you can consult the web page www.ipanema-porto-hotel.pt. The hotel address is Rua do Campo Alegre 156 – Porto (phone +351 22 6075059).

Weather

Weather forecast for the next days:   www.meteo.pt   www.cnn.com  

Arrival by plane

The international airport of Porto (Aeroporto Francisco Sá Carneiro) is located north of Porto, about 11 Km from the conference site.

Buses

There is a direct bus line (Aerobus) that connects the airport with most important hotels in the city. Fare is 500 PTE (2.5 Euro), but if you travel with TAP you can get the ticket for free. There is also a regular bus (no. 56) that also connects the airport with the city downtown (see more at www.stcp.pt). If you exit at the bus stop Praça da Galiza, the hotel is about 300m east.

Taxis

From the main exit of the airport (arrivals sector) you can also get a taxi. Taxis are usually painted pale yellow with the word “TAXI” in both front doors. Fares from the airport to the conference site will be around 3000 PTE (15 Euro), but that depends on the time of day, duration of the trip and the amount of luggage transported.

Rent-a-car

If you plan to rent a car you will find offices of well-known companies in the airport lounge, although it is recommended that you book the car in advance. For instructions on reaching the hotel please see below the Arrival by car section.

Arrival by train

Main railway station in Porto is Campanhã and is located at the east end of Porto. To reach the conference site it is advisable to take a taxi. Fare will be around 5 Euro (1000 PTE). Alternatively you cat take bus no. 35 and exit at bus stop Praça da Galiza. To know more about the Portuguese railways please consult www.cp.pt

Arrival by car  (updated!)

There are four main road entries to Porto: one from north, one from east and two from south. Highway fares are payed at the exit toll. Be aware that, contrary to the Spanish tolls, you must have live money because you can’t use your credit card. Fares are 1230 PTE for Valença-Porto (A3 from north), 580 PTE for Amarante-Porto (A4 from east) and 3060 PTE for Lisboa-Porto (A1 from south). 

Speed limits in Portugal are (unless specified by traffic signs): cities 50 Kph / highways 120 kph / default 90 kph.

Approaching the hotel area (Campo Alegre)

For your convenience a route map is included here (copy granted by Automovel Clube de Portugal, the Portuguese Automobile Club - www.acp.pt).

From south via highway A1 (Lisbon-Porto): A few kilometers after the exit toll take the direction Porto - Arrábida. Just after crossing the Arrábida bridge take the first exit Campo Alegre. If you can’t find the exit Campo Alegre just after crossing the bridge, you probably missed the Porto – Arrábida exit at the highway and you have just crossed the Freixo bridge. In this case, proceed ahead for about 12 Kmand take the exit Porto – C^po Alegre.  

From north via highway A3 (Valença-Porto): take the exit “VCI – ARRABIDA” at the end of the highway; drive for 8.0 Km and take the exit Porto – C^po Alegre;

From east via highway A4 (Vila Real-Porto): take the exit A3-Porto and follow the same route as if you came from north.

How to reach the Ipanema Porto Hotel

The map below shows the path from the highway exits referred above to the hotel (larger view). Follow the blue and red arrows, but please note that the map drawn near the end of the bridge is not very accurate (highway continues after the bridge). For an accurate map image of this region please click here (this map image has been granted by the Portuguese Army Geographic Institute - www.igeoe.pt). 

Click the red arrows on the map or the links in the text below to see photographs taken from those places.

After exiting the highway (either coming from north or south), keep at the right lane and you'll find the first traffic lights after a few hundred meters. When you reach them, turn right and you will find the hotel around 170m ahead on the left side of the street (the tall building in the picture). If you want to stop at the hotel entrance or use the hotel parking, you need to make a U-turn (not allowed and dangerous...). This is the safe way to do so: at the next lights (150m away from the first lights) turn right again and you should see "Capa Negra" cafe at the corner by your left (by the way, a nice place to try francesinhas). At the end of this street (120m) go left, drive to the next traffic lights, turn left and turn left again at the next traffic lights. You should be now in the main street (Rua do Campo Alegre) and you should find the Ipanema Porto Hotel near 100m at your right. The entrance for the hotel parking is right after the building.

GPS data (NEW!)

If you have a handheld GPS receiver, you can download here usefull information for your navigation approaching the Ipanema Porto Hotel. The data files included here should be used with the GPS configured for datum Europe. These files are intended to be used with OziExplorer for Windows (download from www.oziexplorer.com), but the waypoint list (ASCII file) can also be input by hand if you don't have the interface cable for your receiver. If you have any trouble using this data don't hesitate to contact me (jca@fe.up.pt)

Note: the map images included here have been granted by the Portuguese Army Geographic Institute (www.igeoe.pt).

Some interesting links about GPS

- GPS Overview (univ. Colorado)

- A GPS primer (Aerospace Corporation)

- International GPS Service (JPL)

- www.mundogps.com (in spanish)

- Peter Bennet's web page (many links to GPS software)

Additional Information

Currency

The Portuguese currency is the “Escudo” (PTE). There are coins of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 escudos and bank notes of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10000 escudos. The fixed conversion rate for Euro is 200.482 PTE per Euro.

Safety

Porto is a relatively safe city, but you should follow basic safety rules as in most large cities: avoid walking alone by night in low illuminated places; never leave you luggage alone in public places; don’t leave anything visible in your car and prefer guarded parking lots. In case of difficulty don’t hesitate to call the emergency number 112.