We are currently planning a trip to Portugal. We are trying to decide if we want to fly into porto or Lisbon. The prices are similar. The plan is to immediately go from airport to train station and head to Coimbra.. It seems neither of the train stations are housed in the Airport. Which of these cities would be easiest to transfer from the airport to the train station?
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I haven't checked the exact routing and timing of doing it either way but I would probably lean toward Porto. It's a smaller airport and physically a little closer to Coimbra. I took the train from Lisbon to Coimbra and then Coimbra to Porto. I flew into Lisbon and out of Porto. I stopped in between so didn't do exactly what you are doing. Unfortunately, expect a lot of connections between airport, trams, and trains between either airport and Coimbra. In Portugal, the fast trains don't stop in the city centers, so you often need to transfer close to the city to a local train to take you a short distance to the center.
E.g. Coimbra-B is the "fast train" station - you need to get to "Coimbra" (sometimes called "Coimbra-A") to get to the center.
In Lisbon, the Oriente station is closest to the airport I think. You can take a subway from the airport to this station to catch a fast train.
In Porto, the Campanha station is the fast train station. I only took the tram from the center (Sao Bento station) to the airport. If there's a tram connection directly to Campanha, that would save you from connecting to Sao Bento.
As I recall, some regional trains between Porto and Coimbra may actually be almost direct - if you find a regional train that starts or ends in either city, you can skip at least one change of trains. Although the regional trains are slower with more stops, by avoiding a change you also make up some of the time that way. I took regional trains a few times in Portugal (including between Porto and Coimbra) and they were fine.
Use the Portugal trains site to check routings.
https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en
I think I would consider if there are any direct buses between the airports and Coimbra too (not sure) or shuttle services. I love trains and greatly prefer them to buses, but sometimes buses are more convenient.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
@Andrew
Thank you so much! As far as busses, do any leave from the airport?
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
7055 posts
Lisbon would be my choice. It is almost walking distance from the airport to Oriente station, or two stops on the metro. A very easy transfer.