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How to take the subway in Lisbon Airport

Lisbon Airport Guide

Lisbon has become one of Europe’s hottest travel destination. I’ve been traveling here for over five years and the tourism boom is exponential. Why is this so? Lisbon is inexpensive compared to most other major European capitals, it is gorgeous, it is close to crystal clear beaches, and offers great food and wine. If you’re finally going to visit the City of Seven Hills, take a few to check out my Lisbon Airport Guide. It will make your arrival significantly more pleasant.

Lisbon Airport Guide

Getting to Lisbon from the Airport

Let’s discuss the multiple ways you can get from Lisbon airport to the city center: 1. Skip taxis: Not all taxi drivers speak English in Lisbon and some who do will make believe they don’t so they can go the longer way and tack on a few extra bucks to your ride. Many taxis are old and decrepit. They don’t always want to take you to your exact location, and overall, I’ve not had the best experiences with taxis in Lisboa. Of course, not all taxi drivers are like this, but why take the chance? A taxi will cost you between €15-20 2. Take an Uber: Ubers are great. Even if your driver does not speak English, you can just put in the address of your destination and they’ll get you where you need to go. There is one caveat. You can’t pick up your Uber where the taxis are parked. Instead, walk to the car rental area – Ubers know to pick up their fares there. An Uber will cost you around €10-15
If you don’t already have an international smart phone, and you aren’t planning on purchasing a SIM card at the Vodaphone kiosk at Lisbon airport, you can use the airport’s free WIFI to procure your Uber. Just keep in mind that the service is only available for 30 minutes and requires you to create an email log-in.
3. Hire a Pickup CompanyThere are companies you can hire like Welcome Pickups in Lisbon that will not only pick you up, they will work with transfers, they will assist you with things to do, information and a ton more. Check reviews online to find your favorite one. 4. Take the MetroThe metro in Lisbon is easy to take and cheap. I prefer Uber because you’ll probably be tired when you arrive, but if you have the stamina, go for a ride on the metro. It’s pretty easy and it is CHEAP! A trip on the metro will cost you €1.45 5. Take the AeroBusLisbon’s Aerobus has two lines that will get you to the city center. A one-way adult ticket costs 3.50.
  • Line 1 – Entrecampos, Campo Pequeno, Avenida da República, Saldanha, Picoas, Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo, Marquês de Pombal, Avenida da Liberdade, Restauradores, Rossio, Praça do Comércio, Cais do Sodré. Leaves every 20 minutes.
  • Line 2 – Entrecampos, Sete Rios, Avenida Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, Praça de Espanha, Avenida José Malhoa. Leaves every 40 minutes.
6. Take the City BusThis should be your last choice. These are the city Carris buses and while they will get you to your destination, they’re not the most reliable and have a restriction on luggage sizes. The bus will cost you €1,85 if you pay cash, or €1,45 if you use the Viva Viagem card.  If you do decide to take the bus, these are your choices:
  • 705 Oriente-Aeroporto-Roma/Areeiro
  • 722 Praça de Londres-Aeroporto-Portela
  • 744 Marquês-Aeroporto-Moscavide
  • 783 Amoreiras-Aeroporto-Portela
  • 208 Cais do Sodré and Oriente
7. Rent a Car:  Let me be clear. You do not need a car in Lisbon. The metro is outstanding, it’s a very walkable city (except for the hills), and Uber is quite reliable. Only rent a car if you are planning to head to Sintra or Setubal or to the Algarve. That being said, there are tons of car rental companies at the airport. Some have their stalls right at the airport, others will have representatives meet you there and then shuttle you over to their offices. Either way, you can get some incredible deals. These are a few of the car rental companies you can rent from:
  • Europcar
  • Guerin
  • Hertz
  • Avis
  • Budget
  • GoldCar
  • Enterprise
  • Sixt

How Long To Get to the City Center by Car

Lisbon airport is ridiculously close to the city center, about 4 miles to the downtown Lisboa. Here are estimated times on how long it will take you to get to different neighborhoods in Lisbon:

Alfama Uber 8-20 min Cais do Sodré 25-30 min Marquês de Pombal 20-25 min Parque das Nações Metro 5-10 min Rossio 25-30 min Saldanha 20-30 min São Sebastião 20-30 min

How Long to Get to the City Center by Metro

As I mentioned before, the metro is the cheapest way to get to Lisbon proper. The line at the Airport is the red line that goes to São Sebastião. It connects with all other lines, so no matter where you are going, it’s pretty easy to get there on maximum 1 transfer. Alfama 24 min Cais do Sodré 30 min Marquês de Pombal 20-25 min Parque das Nações 5-10 min Rossio 25-30 min Saldanha Metro 20 min São Sebastião Metro 20-25 min

How to Buy A Metro(Viva Viagem) Card

Metro cards in Lisbon are called Viva Viagem Cards. You can purchase them at the ticket machines (they have an option for English on the screen). The card will cost you 0.50€, then you need to add value to the card.

Each person in your party needs to have his or her card. Lisbon is not like NYC where you can swipe people in with your card.

The Viva Viagem card works not just on Lisbon’s subways, but also on the yellow Carris buses.

Lisbon Airport Guide – The Terminals

There are two terminals at Lisbon Airport:

    • Terminal 1: Arrivals & International departures
  • Terminal 2: Low-cost airlines

Have other questions about this Lisbon Airport Guide? Have other questions about Lisbon in general? Leave your question in the comments.

29 thoughts on “Lisbon Airport Guide”

  1. I LOVE Portugal and I LOVE Lisbon. I prefer it to any city in Spain anyday! I love the fact that there is no need to rent a car (I can’t be bothered with that) and that we can just walk or take the metro anywhere. This is such an extensive and helpful guide, I will be bookmarking it for my next visit to Portugal. Thanks for sharing with us!

  2. This is super helpful for people traveling to and from Portugal! You have so many great details here.

  3. I love this helpful Lisbon airport guide! It’s so nice to have this type of information ahead of a trip. It makes traveling so much smoother and enjoyable. 🙂

  4. You are a girl after my own heart. Lisbon is so easy to fall in love with. I also hate driving (and I don’t know how to drive stick – so I’m with you on not being bothered with rentals). Next time you’re in town, message me – we’ll grab a coffee.

  5. Glad that you found it helpful. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments. I’m always happy to answer.

  6. Glad you liked them. If you plan on coming to Lisbon this fall, make sure you don’t come during the Web Summit. Prices will be much higher than usual then…so come either before or after the event.

  7. I was thinking the exact same thing as I made this post. I’m headed back to the US in a few weeks, so I may have to do this at Newark airport. I’m kinda bummed I didn’t do this at all the other cities I visited 😉

  8. Glad you like it. I’m planning on doing this whenever I fly. It’s so hard to navigate airports when you’re tired and confused.

  9. I was thinking how crappy I felt when I was getting off a flight, confused, in a rush…and since I was headed to Lisbon Airport, I figured why not craft this guide. Thrilled to see that you liked it 😉

  10. It’s crazy. I have been coming to Lisbon for the past 5 years and each year it just gets more and more popular. This is good and bad, but the government of the city is handling the influx of tourism fairly well. If you haven’t been here yet, I highly recommend a visit.

  11. Well naturally I love Portugal as I my heritage is Portuguese (my parents are from Madeira) but I have not been able to go to Lisbon unless you count its airport on a stopover haha! Its amazing how cheap the metro is!

  12. That is a helpful post… I have never been to Libson… But some day i would love to visit Portugal… It seems like a lovely place and this post will be useful 🙂

  13. That’s so awesome. I’m sure you can tell I love Portugal (I came once and fell in love), but I haven’t made it to Madeira yet. If you have tips, I would LOVE them…if you drop by Lisbon, make sure to message me – we can grab a coffee & pasteis de nata.

  14. You should think about a trip to Lisbon soon. It is such a wonderful destination. Great beaches near by, inexpensive and delicious food, tons of architecture (and Lisbon airport is so easy to manage).

  15. Exactly. I do tons of travel and there is nothing worse than getting to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, are tired and have no idea what’s going on. With this Lisbon Airport Guide I wanted to make things easier. Is there anything else you’d like to see?

  16. Thanks so much for sharing. Travel is wonderful, but it can be so stressful. I just hope that my tips help make other’s travels much more fun and easy.

  17. Lisbon is one of the city I wish to visit soon. And also maybe my trip will help me to motivate to learn the language 🙂 I wish to learn Portuguese!

  18. You’re going to love Lisbon. It is a wonderful place. When you’re ready, if you need tips, just ask. And if you want to learn Portuguese, check out Memrise. It’s a free app which makes it so easy to learn the basics 🙂

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