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Traveling to Lisbon

Planning a trip to Lisbon? Discover our flight, car and public transport tips for Lisbon

Traveling to Lisbon

Anyone going to Lisbon by plane arrives at Lisboa Airport. The airport is located 7 kilometers northeast of the city center.

There is a convenient metro connection to the city centre, but because of the short distance, the centre can also be reached within 15 minutes by bus or by taxi. It's best to take the special shuttle bus, Carris number 91. This bus drops you off at the centrally located train station Cais do Sodré.

Lisbon Airport is the base of the airline TAP Air. Other airlines that fly to this airport include KLM, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and Iberia. The most popular destinations from the airport are Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Madeira, Amsterdam and Londen.

Public transport in Lisbon

Around Europe, it is possible to travel to Lisbon by a Eurolines bus, but don't forget that these trips can take a long time. From The Netherlands you'll be traveling for almost 30 hours. From Denmark you will be on the road for two days (about 44 hours) and from the United Kingdom for about three days (36 hours, with waiting time in Paris). With public transport you can get anywhere in Lisbon. There are buses, trams, cable cars, and subways. Transport by bus, tram and cable car is arranged by Carris. The metro is operated by the Metropolitano de Lisboa. The metro is the easiest way to get around if you need to get somewhere fast. The old atmospheric trams are not the quickest way to get around the city, but they are very nice for a sightseeing tour to the upper Alfama district or to the Belém district along the riverbank.

The trams depart from the Praça do Comercio, among other places. Many buses depart from the same square, including special tourist buses. The tourist buses have a fixed route through the city, past all the major sights. Useful if you want to get to know the whole city quickly. It is also a special experience to take the lift or the cable car from the lower town to the upper town.

Access by car

Lisbon is easy to reach by car. The A1 and A5 motorways lead straight to the city. Lisbon is located right on the country's west coast, so rides to other major cities nearby are long. You can drive to Seville for example, this is 461 kilometers from Lisbon and can be driven in just over 4 hours.

Car rental Lisbon

For information about car rental in Lisbon, you can take a look at this page.