Arrival in Lisbon - Passport control lines?

I assume you mean passport control rather than customs. If you have nothing to declare, customs takes no time but passport control, especially for non EU, does get backed up. I have traveled to Lisbon, and also through Lisbon on TAP airlines several times in recent years. The longest it took was over an hour; other times ranged from 20-45 minutes. However, each time I have been there, there have been deparate people asking to jump the line because they are about to miss a connecting flight.. There have also been some strikes by airport workers that led to delays. I would not hesitate to go to or through Lisbon airport again, but I wouldn't do it on a tight schedule to be safe.

I looked at the Reddit post about the 4 hour delays. No one there claimed actually having a 4 hour or multi hour delay. Those who mentioned actual experiences, reported much shorter times .Mostly the thread was about living with the deficiencies of an airport that is too small for its volume while waiting for a second airport to be built someday.

Thanks for the response! I will stop stressing about this then. :) And I updated the wording in my original post to read passport control instead of customs.

I think it took me about 30 minutes in March 2024. US passport holders were able to use the e-gates at that time, but not all of them were open. Also, some people had problems using them correctly and there were no airport workers to help. So, that slowed things down a bit.

It looks like your tour starts in Lisbon, so I would definitely fly in there.

My trip report details my airport experience. You might find it helpful. It was not my favorite airport.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-lisbon-portugal-my-trip-report

Have a great trip!!