Ada-Europe 2006 Local Information

Local Information [Conference Venue] [Transport Information] [Accommodation] [Maps] [Weather]
Porto (a.k.a. Oporto) is Portugal's second-largest city, with 300 000 inhabitants, and the heart of an area of great vitality, with a population of 1.2 million, ideal gateway to the undiscovered North of Portugal. The social and trade relations that Porto has developed over time with Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Brazil, India and Japan, are reflected in the city's rich Cultural Heritage. From the remains of Visigotic and Celtic villages, Roman roads, bridges and Castros to Romanesque and Gothic churches and Cathedrals built during the Medieval Age, centuries of mankind-built heritage are to be discovered in and around Porto. The recognition of Porto by UNESCO (in 1996) as a World Heritage City, is undoubtedly a tribute to its wealth of over two thousand years of history. At the beginning of a new Millennium, Porto is proud to present a Historic Centre consisting of over 150 classified monuments. In 2001, Porto has been a European Capital of Culture. The city of Porto and its river, Douro, cannot be dissociated. The Douro valley, with its lovely terraces of vineyards clinging to the hillsides, is the kingdom of the famous Port Wine and offers visitors spectacular views. From springtime till autumn many festivals and fairs follow in rapid succession in the whole Northern Portugal. June 24 is Porto largest annual festival, celebrating the city patron saint, São João (Saint John). From the science point of view, the Metropolitan Area of Porto has various Universities, Polytechnics, I&D and Professional Institutes that cover all areas of study for more than 50_000 students. This year's edition of the Ada-Europe Conference will be organized by the School of Engineering of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto (ISEP-IPP). The friendly welcoming nature of the Portuguese people, highly professional and cost-effective services are a guarantee of a successful event and will give you something to remember in the future. More information about Porto is available at: http://www.portoturismo.pt/en/ You can also find some quick fact sheets about Portugal in http://portugal-info.net/travel/traveltips.htm and http://www.portugaltravelguide.com/en/a-z/a.


Conference Venue [Top] [Transport Information] [Accomodation] [Maps] [Weather] The Ada-Europe Conference will take place in the Hotel Le Meridien Park Atlantic Porto, situated on Avenida da Boavista, one of the most modern parts of the city in the heart of the city's Trade Centre.

Le Meridien Park Atlantic Porto
Avenida da Boavista 1466
4100-114 Porto
Portugal
Tel: +351 22 607 2500
Fax: +351 22 600 3214

Photograph of Le Meridien Park Atlantic Porto

Transport Information [Top] [Conference Venue] [Accommodation] [Maps] [Weather]

Airport

Porto is served by the Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (airport code OPO), which is located about 12 Km north of the city center. Several airlines offer direct service to/from major European cities.

Airport - Hotel - Airport

The Metro connection to the airport opened in the 27th of May. The line serving the airport (E or violet line) goes to the city centre via the Boavista area (where the conference takes place). The nearest stations in the conference area are Francos (nearest to the conference venue) and Casa da Música (nearest to the other hotels). There are trains each 25 minutes, and it takes 20 minutes to the conference area. Please see the maps section.

In alternative you can reach the city wih the Aerobus and taxis.

The AeroBus (http://www.stcp.pt/en/alugueres/aerobus.htm) is a service of STCP, the city bus service (www.stcp.pt), that assures the fast linking between the Airport and the main Hotels of Porto. You can ask the AeroBus driver to leave you at one of the hotels which appear in the map of the AeroBus (please note that all the Hotels mentioned in this site are included).

There are trips every 30 minutes, during all the week, between 7:00 and 19:00, with specialised drivers and modern buses, equipped with air-conditioned.

The ticket costs 4 Euros and can be bought directly to the bus driver, being valid in any line of the STCP during the whole day.

The trips to the Airport begin at Av. dos Aliados (near the town hall). Concerning trips beginning in your Hotel, you will have to make a reservation by internet, filling the reservation form, by phone on: +351 22 507 1054 (48h in advance), or making the request at your Hotel.

Taxi services

You can also take a taxi, for which a Airport-Hotel ride costs around 20 Euros.

Getting around in Porto

The Metro system of Porto (Metro do Porto), which is underground in the city centre and light rail outside of the city, already allows to travel to and from the city centre. In the conference venue area, there is a station at Francos (the nearest to the conference hotel), and another at Casa da Música (House of Music), in the Rotunda da Boavista (Boavista Circle). Please see the maps section.

These stations are served by lines A, B, C and E. At the Trindade station it is possible to change to line D, which goes to the town hall (Av. Aliados) and to the S. Bento Railway Station (nearest station to the world heritage area). In this area there is also a funicular (Guindais), which connects the high and low parts of the city.

Fast links: Map of the metro system - Ticket Information

An alternative is to use the city bus service (www.stcp.pt).

Fast links: STCP Journey Planner - Ticket Information

Accommodation [Top] [Conference Venue] [Transport Information] [Maps] [Weather]

Please note that we strongly advice all participants to book early, as June is a very busy period for hotels in Porto. Particularly in 2006, since Porto will host the final of the Under-21 UEFA European Football Championship in the 4th of June.

A block of rooms has been reserved in the conference hotel until the 4th of April. The rooms will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. The rates, in euros, per room and per night (including breakfast and taxes) are:

Single	Double
95 €	110 €

In order to book your accommodation in this hotel, please fill the accommodation form (DOC or PDF), and sent it by fax to the "Le Meridien Park Atlantic Porto Hotel".

Other Hotels

The following suggestions are other hotels reasonably close to the conference venue (local area map). We have negotiated specially reduced rates (please refer to Ada-Europe 2006 when contacting). All rates are per night and include breakfast and taxes.

Hotel Name	Contact	Rates	Address	Distance to the conference venue
Quality Hotel Portus Cale****	Phone: +351 22 6083900 Fax: +351 22 6083906 quality.portuscale@grupo-continental.com	Single: 70 Eur. Double: 77.50 Eur.	Av. Boavista, 1060 4100-113 Porto www.choicehotelseurope.com	5 minutes walk
Hotel Ipanema Porto**** (fenix group)	Phone: +351 226 194 100 Fax: +351 226 194 140 porto@hoteisfenix.com	Single: 65 Eur. Double: 75 Eur.	Rua do Campo Alegre, 156 4150-169 Porto http://www.hoteisfenix.com/	20 minutes walk
Hotel Fénix Porto**** (fenix group)	Phone: +351 226 194 100 Fax: +351 226 194 140 porto@hoteisfenix.com	Single: 65 Eur. Double: 75 Eur.	Rua Gonçalo Sampaio, 282 4150-365 Porto http://www.hoteisfenix.com/	15 minutes walk
Hotel Tuela Porto*** (fenix group)	Phone: +351 226 194 100 Fax: +351 226 194 140 porto@hoteisfenix.com	Single: 50 Eur. Double: 60 Eur.	Rua do Arq. Marques da Silva, 200 4150-483 Porto http://www.hoteisfenix.com/	15 minutes walk
Hotel Douro***	Phone: +351.226 001 122 Fax: +351.226 001 090 hoteldouro@clix.pt	Single: 40 Eur Double/Twin: 45 Eur Suite: 60 Eur.	Rua da Meditação, 71 4150-487 Porto www.hoteldouro.pt	10 minutes walk

A list of hotels in Porto can be found at http://www.portoturismo.pt/en/visitar_porto/onde_dormir/hoteis.asp.

All these hotels are presented in the interactive map of Porto (http://www.cm-porto.pt:8081/infoportugal/main.html?lang=EN).

Maps [Top] [Conference Venue] [Transport Information] [Accomodation] [Weather]

An interactive map of Porto is available at http://www.cm-porto.pt:8081/infoportugal/main.html?lang=EN. This map allows to query the location of, and trace routes between, places (monuments, hotels, streets) in Porto.

You can also query Porto transports at: http://www.itinerarium.net/default.aspx?tab=2&ul=en-us, where you can find metro and bus links and stops, together with tourist information.

The conference site makes available a few maps to situate the conference related places within the city:

You can also download a Google Earth file with placemarks for the conference related places in Porto.

Weather [Top] [Conference Venue] [Transport Information] [Maps] [Accomodation]

The Weather in North of Portugal in this time of the year is normally warm, although a little unpredictable. Below you can find links to weather information for Porto.

For more information please contact the Local Organisation Chair (Sandra Almeida).

The organizers thank the exhibitors and supporters of the conference:

Springer Verlag published the proceedings of the conference, as vol. 4006 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science