a complete guide to transport in Lisbon

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How much does public transport cost in Lisbon? Which lines are most convenient? When is it better to travel by subway rather than by bus or on foot? Are there offers or subscriptions for those who want to travel for several days or on the entire public transport network? Is it possible and advisable to travel by car in Lisbon?

With this post we wanted to write a complete guide that would answer these and other questions on how to get around Lisbon, so that you get to the city ready to leave the airport without too many doubts.

Continuing reading you will find:

What is public transport in Lisbon?

Lisbon is served by a very efficient and widespread network of public transport which will ensure you can move from one part of the city to another without too much hassle.

This is made up of:

• Metropolitan
• Tram
• Funiculars and elevators
• To the ears
• Ferries
• Taxi
• Electric bicycle or scooter

In this article we will cover them all, offering you a view on active lines, costs and transport information so that you are well prepared when arriving in the city for the first time.

As much as we will advise you to get around Lisbon on foot until the end, you will still find yourself having to use public transport, whether because you have to reach attractions far from the center such as the Belém Tower, the Oceanarium or the LX Factory, or because you will really be exhausted after a day of walking up and down the streets of the city.

Public transport in Lisbon: tickets and passes

Public transport in Lisbon can be used with the purchase of a single ticket or a season ticket. The best and cheapest way to pay for public transport journeys is with the Viva Viagem rechargeable magnetic card/Navegante. It costs 0.50 euros and can be purchased at every subway and train station. Viva Viagem has a duration of one year.

Trust me when I tell you that this is the most convenient solution because with it you can pay for your tram rides, metro, trains, on most buses and on some ferries.

Once purchased, the card must be recharged. There are several charging options:

• a ticket for a single journey;
• a day pass with unlimited rides on the metro, trams and buses costing 6.45 euro;
• a credit Zapping. It is the most convenient formula designed for those who intend to use various public transport over several days. Simply place the card on one of the machines at the stations or at an authorized retailer, top up the card with money and use this credit on all transport, getting a discount on journeys, which have a fixed rate of 1.35 euros. Without the Viva Viagem card, purchasing a ticket on board is 1.50 euros. Simply bring the Viva Viagem near the electronic ticket validation machines on buses, subways and trams to deduct the cost of the ticket, until the credit runs out.

Remember that you cannot switch from the daily pass to zapping mode or vice versa until you have exhausted the credit for one of the active options. If you still have zapping credit in Viva Viagem you will have to spend it all before activating a daily subscription, or choose to purchase another card for another 0.50 euros.

The bus ticket lasts 60 minutes, during which you can change lines without having to pay a second time (but still having to validate the ticket again). Subway tickets are only valid for one ride and once you exit the subway you will have to pay for a new entrance.

Viva Viagem card credit cannot be converted back into cash once loaded.

The two versions of the Viva Viagem card

It exists in two versions, white and green. They have the same price and are used in the same way, the only difference is the means that can be used. The white one (sold in metro stations) is valid on the metro, Carris, Transtejo (river ferries) and CP networks. The green one (sold at train and ferry stations) is also valid for the Fertagus, MTS and CP Portugal networks. For you travellers, the white one will be enough.

La Lisboa Card

If you intend to use public transport often in the city and visit most of its museums and paid attractions then you should purchase a Lisboa Card .

This is a city card promoted by the city’s tourist bodies. It allows you to use the entire public transport network and access over 30 attractions for FREE. Offers on tours, purchases in some shops, restaurants and evening clubs are also included.

It can last 1, 2 or 3 days with variable costs (22 euros, 37 euros and 46 euros for adults).

Personally, I advise you to rely on Viva Viagem alone, or alternatively to organize your visits so that you only have to use the Lisboa Card for one day and take advantage of Viva Viagem over the other days.

Where to buy tickets for public transport in Lisbon?

In Lisbon, tickets for public transport can be purchased at the metro stations or train stations (using the various machines installed at stops or in stations) or at some betting shops scattered around the city (mainly tobacconists and newsagent’s).

Tickets can be purchased with cash, debit, credit or prepaid card. If you buy tickets at the ticket office, consider that many shopkeepers do not accept cash payments below 5 or 10 euros, so we always suggest you have some cash for you.

Bus and tram tickets can also be purchased on board (with a surcharge) by paying in cash – despite there being talk of activating digital payments on public transport within the next few years.

How to get from the airport to the city center

Let’s start from the essentials. You have just landed at Humberto Delgado Airport and are trying to juggle taxis, buses and the subway to figure out which is the best way to reach your hotel or apartment where you can leave your luggage before leaving and exploring the wonderful center of Lisbon .

Lisbon airport is just 7 km from the center and there are quick and easy connections to the centre.

These include:

• Aerobus
• Regular buses
• Metropolitan
• Taxi

With this post we want to focus more on how to get around the center of Lisbon. To help you get to the city we have written a separate and more detailed guide which we hope will answer all your questions.

How to get around Lisbon: a brief guide to transport in the city

So let’s see how they work, how much they cost and which transport options are best suited to you!

I Tram

Let’s start with tram transport, a service that is a whole program in Lisbon! The picturesque trams are a symbol of Lisbon, especially on those lines in the city that still use the remodelado models dating back to the 1930s. Small and colourful, modernized to guarantee today’s safety standards, the remodelado trams offer a unique and unmissable visit experience in Lisbon. Some of these, such as the famous tram 28 which we have described extensively here on the blog, offer an ideal panoramic itinerary of the city which guarantees you will see many of its attractions in a 45 minute ride.

The trams are operated by the Carris company and serve the entire metropolitan area of ​​the city of Lisbon. The first trips are every day around 06:00 and the last around 23:00 (with variations depending on the time of year).

There are five lines in Lisbon – most of them have been replaced by the metro service – and we have listed them below for you:

• Linea 28E: from Marmim Moniz to Campo Ourique
• Linea 12E: from Praça da Figueira to Martim Moniz
• Linea 15E: from Praça da Figueira to Algés
• Linea 18E: from Cais do Sodré to Cemitério da Ajuda
• Linea 25E: from Alfandega to Campo de Ourique

The travel cost is 3 euros. Alternatively you can pay 1.50 euros via the Viva Viagem card, which is always much more convenient than purchasing the ticket on board.

Information on Lisbon trams

• Lines:
  • Linea 28E: from Marmim Moniz to Campo Ourique
  • Linea 12E: from Praça da Figueira to Martim Moniz
  • Linea 15E: from Praça da Figueira to Algés
  • Linea 18E: from Cais do Sodré to Cemitério da Ajuda
  • Linea 25E: from Alfandega to Campo de Ourique
• Times: every day / 06:00 – 23:00 / starting every 10/15 minutes;
• Cost of a single ticket: 3 ​​euros for a single journey, 1.50 euros if paid with a Viva Viagem card.
• Cost of a season ticket or carnet: 6.45 euros for a daily season ticket for travel on the urban network by metro, tram and bus. The cost rises to 10.70 euros with urban trains included.
• Sito web ufficiale: https://carris.pt/.

Funiculars and elevators

I’m not surprised you’ve often heard how Lisbon can be tiring to get around on foot. Not so much for its size, perfectly suited for walking, more for the continuous ups and downs and steep climbs that lead to Chiado, Bairro Alto and Alfama.

Fortunately the city is equipped with a series of elevators and picturesque monorail funiculars (called Elevador ) which help to overcome, in a few minutes and at the cost of a few euros, the large differences in height present between a hill and the lowest area.

So beautiful to try and see and photograph from the outside, a clearly distinguishable symbol of the city imprinted on magnets, t-shirts and souvenirs of all kinds, the elevators of Lisbon offer the visitor a unique touch of city life. Just think that, until the arrival of electricity, elevators ran on steam! There are several scattered around the city, below I list the most beautiful and useful:

• Ascensor da Glòria: from Restauradores door to Bairro Alto
• Ascensor da Bica: colleague São Paulo with Bairro Alto
• Ascensor do Lavra: the oldest but least known in Lisbon which connects Avenida da Liberdade with the old neighborhoods above Restauradores.

The ticket can be purchased on board. The cost is 3.80 euros (round trip). There are no single tickets on the elevators, only return tickets.

Along with these, the elevators are other installations that help citizens and visitors move between the various levels into which the city is divided .

The most famous is the Elevador de Santa Justa, a nineteenth-century lift built by the same architect who worked on the Eifell Tower project. The style is unique and very similar to the famous Parisian monument. Art and utility combine perfectly with a service that connects Baixa with Chiado in just a few minutes, offering a truly beautiful panoramic view of the city from the top.

Information on Lisbon’s funiculars and lifts

Funiculars

• Lines
  • Ascensor da Glòria: from Restauradores door to Bairro Alto
  • Ascensor da Bica: colleague São Paulo with Bairro Alto
  • Ascensor do Lavra: colleague Avenida da Liberdade with the first quarter of Restauradores.
• Timetables:
  • Glòria Elevator:
    • From Monday to Saturday / 07.15 – 23.55 /;
    • Sundays and public holidays / 09.15 – 23.55 /;
    • On Fridays and Saturdays it remains active until 00:25;
  • Bica Lift:
    • Monday to Saturday / 07:00 – 21:00 /;
    • Sundays and public holidays / 09:00 – 21:00 /;
  • Ascensor do Lavra:
    • Monday to Friday / 07.50 – 19.55 /;
    • On weekends and public holidays / 09:00 – 19:55 /;
• Cost of a ticket (return):
  • Elevador Bica, Gloria, Lavra 3.80 euros, purchasable on board.

Santa Justa Elevator

• Line: connects the Baixa area to the ruins of the Carmo Church;
• Timetables:
  • Summer period: every day / 07.30 – 23.00 /;
  • Winter period: every day / 07.30 – 21.00 /;
• Cost of a ticket (return): 5.30 euros, can be purchased on site or online.

The buses

The bus transport service in Lisbon is operated by the company Carris, which also covers tram transport. There are 95 active lines of which 69 urban and 17 extra-urban. The service is generally active every day between 06:00 and 23:00. In some cases, rides are offered until midnight, but after this you will have to rely on a taxi or night transport services. Some of these lines (11 in total), the most central and important ones, are also active at night in the hours from 11.45pm to 5.30am. To get a more precise idea of ​​the active lines and which ones may suit you, we suggest you visit the website Carris.pt where, together with the fares, you can consult the map of the bus transport network and purchase tickets online.

The bus transport network is wider than that via tram or subway, and runs in a capillary way through all the neighbourhoods, reaching even less touristy and central areas. The bus in Lisbon will be particularly useful for moving to and from the airport as an alternative to the metro, as well as along the riverside towards the nearest neighborhoods in the Belém area, up to the Cristo Rei or the Oceanarium park.< /span>

The cost of a ticket is 1.50 euros (single journey, reduced to 1.35 euros if with a Viva Viagem card in pay as you go mode), with surcharges if purchased on board. Alternatively you can purchase the day ticket (through Viva Viagem) at a cost of 6.45 euros. The bus ticket has a duration of 60 minutes during which you can change vehicles. However, remember to always validate the ticket every time you get on the vehicle, placing it at the electronic machines inside.

Tickets can be purchased at tobacconists and newsagent’s, but also at subway stops.

Information on buses in Lisbon

• Lines: there are 95 active lines, 69 urban and 17 extra-urban. 11 of these are operational at night;
• Times: every day / 06:00 – 21:00 / (or until 11:00 pm depending on the lines). Night buses operate from 11.45pm to 5.30am;
• Cost of a single ticket: 1.50 euros for a single journey, 1.35 euros if paid with a Viva Viagem card. There are additional charges for purchases on board (2 euros).
• Cost of a season ticket or carnet: 6.45 euros for a daily season ticket for travel on the urban network by metro, tram and bus. The cost rises to 10.70 euros with urban trains included.
• Sito web ufficiale: https://carris.pt/.

Metro

Lisbon also has an active metropolitan transport service with 4 lines (here the map in pdf format). It is perhaps not the most used means of transport to get around the city (we ourselves preferred trams and buses when we didn’t want to move on foot), but it is very useful for reaching the airport or the East (the Expo district).

The Lisbon metro is very modern and efficient, with many stations particularly beautiful because they are decorated with the typical azulejos tiles hand painted by contemporary artists , almost as if to create small underground museums. Many of these were rebuilt for the 1998 Expo. Among the most beautiful stations we point out Rossio and Olaias.

The subway lines in Lisbon are all different colours:

• blu line (from Reboleira to Santa Apolónia): la più utile ai touristi, departing from the Santa Apolónia station and along the route to Terreiro do Paco, Baixa/Chiado, Praca do Restauradores, Avenida do Libertade, Praca do Marques do Pombal, Parque Eduardo VII and Giardino Zoologico;
• yellow line (from Odivelas to Rato): it is the least used one because it serves the neighborhoods north of the city, mostly residential;
• green line (from Cais do Sodré to Telheiras): serves Baixa/Chiado and arrives at Cais do Sodre, from where it is possible to then take the train to reach Belém, Cascais and Estoril or the ferries.
• linea rossa (from Sao Sebastião to the airport): part of the airport and to the East near the Parque des Nacoes.

Lisbon’s metro lines run every day from 06:00 to 01:00. The cost of a metro trip is 1.50 euros (1.35 if paid with Viva Viagem) and is free for children under 4 years old. As with bus and tram transport, you can also purchase a day ticket for the metro with unlimited rides on the public transport network (including buses, trams and metro) for 6.45 euros. The ticket can be purchased at the machines or loaded onto your Viva Viagem. Tickets are available at vending machines in stations.

Accessibility to metro stations

Only some of the metro stations in Lisbon are accessible to all via platform access elevators. Always consult the map to see which of these are marked with the elevator symbol.

Information on the Lisbon Metro

• Lines:
  • Linea blue from Reboleira to Santa Apolónia;
  • Linea gialla from Odivelas to Rato;
  • Green line from Cais do Sodré to Telheiras
  • Linea rossa from Sao Sebastião to all’aeroporto
• Times: every day / 06:00 – 01:00 / every 6/12 minutes depending on the time;
• Cost of a single ticket: 1.50 euros (1.35 euros if paid with Viva Viagem);
• Cost of a season ticket or carnet: 6.45 euros for a day ticket (including tram and bus transport);
• Official website: https://www.metrolisboa.pt/en/.

The ferries

Lisbon also has an active public transport service via ferry, operating on the Tagus River. You will use it very little or perhaps never, perhaps only to guarantee a quick passage to the sanctuary of Cristo Rei. Ferries are, together with buses, the main connections between the center of Lisbon and the neighborhoods to the south, offering transport that offers a beautiful view of the city.

The service is operated by the company Transtejo Soflusa (TTSL) and the latest timetables can be found on their website. Among the active connections from Cais do Sodre, we recommend those that lead to Cacilhas (a beautiful place that we suggest you visit on the other side of the river, convenient at Cristo Rei), Trafaria (known bathing resort), Seixal, Montijo, Belém and Barreiro. They are all small beach towns, with beaches and historic attractions and good restaurants. The duration of a journey is approximately 30 minutes and the cost of the ticket varies according to the distance traveled (usually from 1.30 euros to 3 euros, with lower prices if you travel with the Viva Viagem card).

From Cais do Sodré you can also get to Montijo and Seixa, although we don’t recommend them for tourist purposes – they are residential areas, there isn’t much to see.

As with the train and other public transport in the city, to travel by ferry you can get a single ticket or a carnet. Tickets can be purchased directly at the ticket office near the moorings.

Information on the Lisbon Metro

• Lines:
  • Arancione from Belém to Trafaria;
  • Gialla from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas;
  • Green or red from Cais do Sodré to Seixal;
  • Blu from Cais do Sodré to Barreiro;
• Timetables:
• Cost of a single ticket: from 1.30 euros to 3 euros depending on the route and distance covered. The cost is charged to the Viva Viagem card which costs 0.50 euros;
• Sito web ufficiale: https://ttsl.pt/.

I taxi

Even in Lisbon you will find the taxi service, especially recommended at night when leaving the premises or from the airport towards the city center in case you land outside the opening hours operated by the metro. You will notice taxis parked in different areas of the city – you will not struggle to find them in any square or particularly touristy place. They are black with an aqua green roof..

The cost of a taxi ride in Lisbon varies according to two rates, dictated by time slots:

• Tariff 1: applies from 06:00 to 21:00 from Monday to Friday, with a cost of 0.47 euros per km.
• Tariff 2: applies on weekends and from 9pm to 6am on weekdays, with a cost of 0.56 euros per km.

A start-of-ride cost is applied to the fare per km (3.25 euros for fare 1, 3.90 euros for fare 2). By taking a taxi in Lisbon you pay for luggage transport, which costs 1.60 euros. The taxi also charges 14.80 euros per hour for waiting.

Also in Lisbon you can rely on alternative taxi services including Uber or Bolt . In these cases the rates vary according to the driver and the route covered.

Information on Lisbon taxis

• Hours: available 24 hours a day;
• Tariff: two tariffs with different costs are active:
  • Tariff 1: applies from 06:00 to 21:00 from Monday to Friday, with a cost of 0.47 euros per km.
  • Tariff 2: applies on weekends and from 9pm to 6am on weekdays, with a cost of 0.56 euros per km.
  • There are also costs of 1.60 euros for each bag and a fixed cost for the start of the ride (3.25 euros for fare 1, 3.90 euros for fare 2).

The bicycle and the electric scooter

The most active and sports lovers even on holiday and those who want to see Lisbon from a different point of view will be happy to know how Lisbon is a modernized city suitable for cyclists, with different tracks and routes that allow you to travel around it by bicycle – or with an electric scooter – at a slower pace and in complete safety. If you intend to rent a bicycle to explore Lisbon, consider that together with the wide and flat roads along the riverfront there are also steeper routes in the centre, dictated by the geographical conformation of the city.

Also pay particular attention to trams in streets without cycle paths.

Among the most evocative routes for cycling lovers, I mention the Poetry Bike Lane which winds from Baixa to Belém alongside the river Tagus with a view of the 25th April Bridge. This is perhaps the most recommended route precisely because it is less tiring and dangerous. The areas of Parque das Naçoes and Cais do Sodré are also very beautiful for a cycling tour of Lisbon.

In the city you can find several bike rental points, also with pedal-assisted cycles or electric bicycles – which are particularly useful on uphill sections. We recommend Lisbon Bike Rentals  (with several locations in the city). Alternatively, rely on the new bike sharing system Gira active throughout the city!

To rent an electric scooter you can rely on companies that, in collaboration with the municipality of Lisbon, have activated the scooter sharing service in a similar way to what has been done in other European cities, with the scooters present on the city’s sidewalks.

Among the active companies we point out:

Information on bicycle and scooter rental in Lisbon

• Bikes
  • Recommended services: Lisbon Bike Rentals  (from 19 euros per day) or Gira (bike sharing, 2 for the day pass);
• Scooter rental
  • Recommended services: Lime (0.50 euros to unlock them and 0.15 euros per minute) or You (1 euro to unlock them and 0.15 euros per minute).

I tuktuk

We conclude with one of the most extravagant and alternative means you can choose to get around Lisbon. As much as I consider them to be tourist traps, tuktuks attract a lot of interest among travelers in Lisbon, so far be it from me not to talk about them.

They are certainly not the cheapest means of transport available to you but with their loud music and flashy decorations, tuktuks are among the most spectacular means of transport in Lisbon. It is a small vehicle similar to an electric Piaggio APE, suitable for groups of 4 to 6 people, which speeds through the streets of the city taking narrow streets and shortcuts that a normal taxi couldn’t attempt. In Lisbon, tuktuks are mainly available to offer you organized tours to discover the city.

To take part in a tour on a tuktuk you usually just need to approach one and negotiate the price, or you can rely on this tour organized by Civitatis, simpler to manage and more economical.

Information on the costs of tuk tuks in Lisbon

• Average cost of a tuk tuk in Lisbon: from 90 to 350 euros for a two-hour tour, depending on the vehicle, passengers and route.

Getting around Lisbon by car

Personally I do not recommend renting a car to get around Lisbon. The public transport network in the city is really well designed, modern and efficient. Their cost is not that high, especially if you use a Lisboa Card or the Viva Viagem card.

The car would be a limitation for you and not a real means of freedom as it usually is outside of large population centers. Much of the center of Lisbon is a limited traffic area, without considering the risk of being stuck in traffic and the difficulty in finding parking, not to mention the many one-way streets and narrow streets in some neighborhoods.

The car can only be convenient for you if, together with Lisbon, you intend to visit other destinations near or far. In this case, however, my advice is to rent a car for the day, relying on the most well-stocked and economical companies present at the airport terminal.

Driving in Lisbon – the Low Emission Zone and the ZTL

If you intend to drive in the center of Lisbon, consider that the city is a Low Emission Zone (SEZ), i.e. a restricted traffic zone to which excessively polluting vehicles are denied access. At the moment the SEZ is still under development and will prevent increasingly stringent standards over the years. The area is active from Monday to Saturday in the time slot 07:00 – 21:00 and is monitored by a camera system for license plate recognition.

In addition to the SEZ, in Lisbon there are several limited traffic zones (ZTL), in Portuguese called Acesso Automóvel Condicionado (ZOC) or Zona de Acesso Condicionado (ZAC). In the presence of a ZAC, access is only permitted in certain periods and to certain types of users. To be able to pass through a ZOC or ZAC a user must register and obtain a special sticker for their car.

You can find all the information in more detail, with areas and regulations, go to the official website of the city of Lisbon.

Stops and parking lots

Finding a parking space in Lisbon is not easy, even less so if you are looking for it at a good price. If you are in the middle of a road trip in Portugal and want to visit LisbonI suggest you leave your car outside the city or look for accommodation that offers free parking .

There are very few free parking spaces in the city and they are usually scattered in the surrounding neighborhoods of the city, from which you will still have to travel by public transport towards the centre. You can try to look for parking in the red zone of Lisbon, i.e. the city centre, but in this case I suggest you rely on a covered car park, with prices starting on average from 1.80 to 2.40 euros for the first hour. A parking space in a covered car park for the day should cost you around 15 euros.

How is it worth getting around Lisbon?

We close with one last piece of advice from us.

How would it be convenient for you to get around Lisbon? We suggest you move around on foot as much as possible so as to be able to better breathe the true essence of the city and discover many beautiful places that you may want to return to visit more times (we discovered the best bars and restaurants in the city by chance!)

Try to divide the city into zones, so as to minimize travel and use of public transport. For example, dedicate the same day to visiting Baixa, Chiado and Bairro Alto, but don’t go to Alfama, which is located on the other hills of the city.

In the same way, try to dedicate the same day to the Belém and Alcantara parts, as well as to a possible trip out of the city. Buy a Viva Viagem card and try to concentrate excessive use of public transport in a single day, when it will be convenient for you to purchase a daily pass to load onto the card .

I conclude by sharing that, with a minimum of willpower and training, the climbs in Lisbon are difficult but not excessively tiring. The only neighborhoods that, in our opinion, require the use of public transport are those of Alcantara, Belém and Parque das Naçoes (because they are far away). Finally, consider the use of buses and funiculars to move to Bairro Alto and the more neighboring areas of Alfama.

The best way to reach the Cristo Rei statue of Almada in Lisbon is to take the ferry that leaves from Cais do Sodré and get off at Cacilhas station. From here you can take the bus 101 which leaves every 30 minutes outside the Transtejo terminal. The stop for the statue is called Largo Cristo Rei

Have a nice day and have a good trip!

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