Portugal Airport Transfers: Lisbon Airport Metro, Porto Airport Metro Line E, Faro and Taxis

PORTUGAL · AIRPORT TRANSFERS · LISBON, PORTO, FARO

Landing in Portugal comes with a gift for the jet-lagged: in both Lisbon and Porto, the metro starts at the airport itself. Lisbon’s Aeroporto station sits inside the terminal on the arrivals side, at the end of the Red line. In Porto, line E runs from the Airport to Trindade in the city center without a change of train.

Faro, the Algarve’s airport, is the one where the plan gets settled in the arrivals hall. At all three airports, official taxis wait at a marked rank outside arrivals, and ride-hailing apps work across the country, so a door-to-door fallback is always close at hand after a long flight.

On this page

• Lisbon airport to downtown by metroRed line from arrivals, changes at Alameda, Saldanha and São Sebastião
• Lisbon metro fare from the airportEUR 1.90 single, EUR 1.72 zapping, EUR 7.25 for 24 hours
• Lisbon metro first and last train6:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., a train every 6 minutes at peak
• Porto airport to the city centerLine E to Trindade in 27 minutes, Z4 at EUR 2.25
• Faro airport bus to the AlgarveBus details to confirm at arrivals, taxi rank outside
• Taxi or ride-hailing from the airportOfficial ranks at Lisbon and Porto, apps nationwide

Both metros run on a reloadable card: you tap it at the gate before the platform, and it needs validating again on every new trip. Hang on to it after the airport ride, since it reloads for getting around town. For routes from the US into Lisbon, Porto and Faro, see flights from the US; entry and money basics are in what to know before you go.

How to get from Lisbon airport to the city center

The Aeroporto metro station is part of the airport building, on the arrivals side, so the walk from baggage claim to the platform stays indoors. Escalators and lifts link the platform to the concourse and the concourse to the street, a relief with a rolling suitcase. Aeroporto is also the end of the Red line: every train at the platform heads toward town.

Where you change depends on the color of your hotel’s line. On the Red line, Alameda is the transfer for the Green line, Saldanha for the Yellow and São Sebastião for the Blue. For the downtown, Baixa-Chiado is served by both the Blue and the Green lines, so either change gets you there.

Buses leave from the airport too. The operator’s Aeroporto station page lists connections with Carris buses 705, 722, 744 and 783, and with Aerobus lines 1 and 2. Carris and Aerobus post the routes and stops for each, a useful check if your bed sits far from a metro station.

The Red line carries everyday commuters, so suitcases share the car with office workers and students. Outside the morning and evening rush, a big bag fits without fuss. Door-to-door directions for each neighborhood are in our Lisbon airport-to-city guide, and the city itself waits in the Lisbon guide.

Lisbon metro ticket from the airport

First comes the reusable navegante occasional card: it costs EUR 0.50 and reloads for one year. Load it with a single Carris/Metro ticket at EUR 1.90, good for one journey within one hour of the first validation, for EUR 2.40 in all on the first ride. That ticket does not allow two consecutive entries into the metro, so leaving the network and coming back in needs a new one.

Frequent riders can load a zapping balance instead. Paid that way, a metro trip costs EUR 1.72, valid across the whole metro network. Tapping a contactless bank card at the gate works too, at EUR 1.92 per metro trip. Neither price applies to Carris buses, trams or funiculars: those take the EUR 1.90 Carris/Metro ticket on a navegante card, or the on-board fare.

If the first day in town mixes the metro with a tram and a bus, the 24-hour Carris/Metro ticket costs EUR 7.25 from its first validation. Adding the ferry to Cacilhas brings it to EUR 10.35. The version with the CP suburban trains, the ones to Sintra and Cascais, costs EUR 11.40, a fine pick for a first afternoon by the sea in Cascais.

Lisbon airport metro hours

Trains run from 6:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. every day, weekends and public holidays included. On weekdays a Red line train comes every 6 minutes at the morning and evening peaks and about every 7 minutes through the middle of the day.

Early and late arrivals see longer gaps. Before 7:10 a.m. and after 10:30 p.m. on weekdays, the wait stretches to 9 minutes 45 seconds. Weekends and holidays run every 7 to 8 minutes by day and every 9 minutes 45 seconds after 10:15 p.m. Once the metro has closed for the night, head for the official taxi rank outside arrivals.

How to get from Porto airport to the city center

Metro do Porto’s Violet line, line E, is the one the operator itself calls the airport line. It links the Airport station with Trindade, in central Porto.

In a 2016 notice, the operator gave the ride as 22 minutes to Casa da Música and 27 minutes to Trindade, with no change of train, on a Z4 Andante title. Those timings date from that notice, so leave a little slack when a dinner reservation is waiting.

Porto runs on the Andante system. The reusable Andante Azul card costs EUR 0.60 and holds one kind of title at a time, so it cannot carry a Z2 and a Z3 title together. On the current fare scale a Z4 costs EUR 2.25 for an hour and a quarter, putting card plus first ride at EUR 2.85. The scale climbs with each zone crossed, from Z2 at EUR 1.40 for one hour through Z3 at EUR 1.80, Z5 at EUR 2.75, Z6 at EUR 3.20 and Z7 at EUR 3.65, up to Z8 at EUR 4.10 for two hours.

For a longer stay, the Andante Tour 1 covers 24 hours from the first validation for EUR 7.50, and the Andante Tour 3 runs 72 hours for EUR 16.00. Line E carries everyday commuters as well, so a big suitcase rides easiest outside the rush hours. Directions by neighborhood are in our Porto airport-to-city guide, and the riverside city waits in the Porto guide.

How to get from Faro airport to the Algarve

Faro works differently from Lisbon and Porto: there is no metro, so the plan gets settled on landing, at the official taxi rank outside arrivals or with the city buses, whose current lines and fares are worth checking on the day. For a coast-hopping trip, our car rental guide covers picking up a car, and the Algarve guide helps choose the beach town to sleep in.

Taxi or Uber from Lisbon and Porto airports

Official taxis wait at a marked rank outside arrivals at both Lisbon and Porto airports. Ride-hailing apps also operate across Portugal, so a pickup can be booked from your phone as soon as it finds a signal.

A ride from car door to hotel door makes the most sense for a family with heavy bags or a group sharing the fare. Late arrivals after the metro has shut for the night head straight for the rank. For trains and buses between regions, our guide to getting around Portugal has the options, and the driving guide covers the roads and tolls.