Getting to Lisbon
Lisbon is a major city and a major transportation hub, and it can be easily reached by plane, train or automobile.
Flying into Lisbon
Foreign and domestic flights to Lisbon land at the Aeroporto de Lisboa (tel. 21/841-35-00), about 6.5km (4 miles) from the heart of the city.
An AERO-BUS runs between the airport and the Cais do Sodré train station every 20 minutes from 7am to 9pm. The fare is 2.45€. It makes 10 intermediate stops, including Praça dos Restauradores and Praça do Comércio. There's no charge for luggage. Taxi passengers line up in a usually well-organized queue at the sidewalk in front of the airport, or you can call Radiotaxi at tel. 21/793-27-56. The average taxi fare from the airport to central Lisbon is 10€. Each piece of luggage is 1.50€ extra.
TripAdvisor has an Lisbon airfare comparison engine that will scan dozens of websites to find the cheapest flight for your trip.
Getting to Lisbon by Train
The European rail system is one of the most convenient and economical ways to arrive in Lisbon.
Most international rail passengers from Madrid and Paris arrive at the Estação da Santa Apolónia, Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, the major train station. It's by the Tagus near the Alfama district. Two daily trains make the 10-hour run from Madrid to Lisbon. Rail lines from northern and eastern Portugal also arrive at this station.
Gare de Oriente at Expo Urbe opened in 1998 and is the hub for some long-distance and suburban trains, including service to such destinations as Porto, Sintra, the Beiras, Minho, and the Douro. It is also connected to the Metro system. At the Estação do Rossio, between Praça dos Restauradores and Praça de Dom Pedro IV, you can get trains to Sintra.
The Estação do Cais do Sodré, just beyond the south end of Rua Alecrim, east of Praça do Comércio, handles trains to Cascais and Estoril on the Costa do Sol. Finally, you can catch a ferry at Sul e Sueste, next to the Praça do Comércio. It runs across the Tagus to the suburb of Barreiro; at the station there, Estação do Barreiro, you can catch a train for the Algarve and Alentejo.
For all rail information, at any of the terminals above, call tel. 808/208-208 between 7am and 11pm daily. Rail Europe also has extensive information on fares and schedules.
Rail Europe has a money-saving Portuguese Railpass that gets you 4 days unlimited train travel throughout Portugal in a 15 day period. If you're traveling all over Europe by train, a Eurail Pass is your best bet. Nearly all rail passes provide even more discounts if two or more are traveling together at all times (Saverpasses) or if you are under the age of 26 (Youth Passes
).
Getting to Lisbon by Bus
Buses from all over Portugal, including the Algarve, arrive at the Rodoviária da Arco do Cego (tel. 21/358-14-81). If your hotel is in Estoril or Cascais, you can take bus no. 1, which goes on to the Cais do Sodré. At least six buses a day leave for Lagos, a gateway to the Algarve, and nine buses head north every day to Porto. There are 14 daily buses to Coimbra, the university city to the north.
Driving into Lisbon
International motorists must arrive through Spain, the only nation connected to Portugal by road. You'll have to cross Spanish border points, which usually pose no great difficulty. The roads are moderately well maintained. From Madrid, if you head west, the main road (N620) from Tordesillas goes southwest by way of Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo and reaches the Portuguese frontier at Fuentes de Onoro.
If you have a rented car, make sure that your insurance covers Portugal. Drive on the right side of the road; international signs and symbols are used. Most of the 15 border crossings are open daily from 7am to midnight.
AutoEurope provides great deals on a range of rental cars in Portugals (American travelers only).
