Trains in Portugal

Hi,

The first time I went to Portugal I was responsible for arranging train tickets for a 25-people group (and that was as a high school student). My experiences with the Portuguese train system is that it's both affordable and fairly easy to navigate - and I don't speak any Portuguese (and only know a few Spanish words). If you are in doubt, you can always ask the staff or a local if no staff is in sight.

I absolutely love Coimbra with its charming historic city centre. It's definitely worth a night or two on your way to Lisbon. Go to the A-station located in the city centre rather than the Coimbra B-station on the main line.

Hi Bonnie. I visited Lisbon, Coimbra, and Porto last year. I took the train north from Lisbon to Porto, stopping in Tomar (for a few hours) and Coimbra (for a few days) before ending in Porto. I did basically the same thing backwards that you plan: flew into Lisbon, out of Porto. Open jaw flights like that are best if you can arrange them.

The trains in Portugal are fine. The one issue with them is that the fast trains don't stop at the main (smaller) train stations at the center of town. So a few extra changes may be necessary than you might need in other countries. E.g. in Porto, you'd probably stay near the Sao Bento station (which itself is worth checking out for the interior mosaics), but to go south you need to catch a train from there to the Campanha station and pick up another train south from there. (Any ticket from Campanha south will include the ticket from Sao Bento, which is a quick ride, but use one of the actual trains not the subway!) And in Lisbon, unless you are staying in the Al Fama area, you'll need to change trains at either Oriente or Santa Apolonia stations to get closer to your destination. Going north, I was staying in Lisbon in the Baixa area near Rossio Square. I took the subway from there to Santa Apolonia station and caught the train north from there (but you'd be going the opposite direction that I did).

Yes, if you stop in Coimbra, you'll need to get to the little Coimbra station (which is right at the center of town); the larger Coimbra-B station that the fast trains use. I was able in one case to take a regional train directly from Coimbra to Porto Campanha without changing at Coimbra-B. A few trains a day might do that. You might find a train going the other way that does the same thing. Just look at the schedules and see what works best. Regional trains are slower than the others, but in my case I was able to avoid a layover at Coimbra-B so that negated the difference.

Coimbra is nice but small. I had ten nights in Portugal and two nights in Coimbra; one would have been plenty. I wound up day tripping to the lovely (but touristy) beach town of Nazare from Coimbra by bus one afternoon - loved the town, wish I had spent a night there. Buses work better for trains for Nazare, though.

The official trains website for Portugal is here:

https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en

There's also an app if you have a smart phone.

The faster trains are designated IC and AP. (AP are a little faster and cost a little more.) As in other European countries, the fast trains are cheaper if you buy tickets in advance...but in my opinion, not much cheaper. I booked all of my train tickets, even fast trains, at the last minute. Unlike in say France or Italy, the last-minute prices weren't that much - maybe 30 euros instead of 15 or something. I was willing to pay a little more for the flexibility of making last-minute plans. The regional trains I took were actually not bad - and not full, so I was able to spread out in a few cases and have a few seats to myself. On the IC trains I was on, I was a little cramped in 2nd class with most seats full, and of course changing seats wasn't really an option.

Another vote for lovely Coimbra! We thought 2 nights were perfect. We were there when the University students were registering for the school year. What a rich experience to tour the University Campus! Highly recommend a Fado performance at Fado ao Centro. Magical! It was the highlight of our stay.

We ended in Porto. What a gorgeous charming city. Stroll across the Dom Luís l Bridge for the spectacular views. Visit the Stock Exchange Palace and the incredible São Bento Railway Station....
Boa viagem!

Bonnie,

My daughter and I just returned from our trip to Portugal where we traveled solely by trains.

The trains are fairly simple to navigate.
We booked most of our tickets in advance on the Portuguese Railway website: cp.pt

Make sure you read this invaluable website before booking your train tickets: Seat61.com/Portugal trains

As the previous posters have suggested, Coimbra is a great place to visit for a couple of days.

You may consider spending at least 4 - 5 nights in Lisbon, especially if you want to visit Sintra, and/or Cascais.

Have a wonderful trip!

Edited to add...

I forgot to mention this: If you do decide to visit Coimbra, I’d suggest taking the guided tour of the university (Program 1 which includes the magnificent library)

You will need to reserve in advance but it’s definitely worth it. Here’s the official website: uc.pt/turismo

Bonnie,

The trains in Portugal aren't as well organized as in other parts of Europe but they're very easy to use. The trip from Porto to Lisbon is very pleasant, and you can buy tickets online using the website mentioned in a previous reply.

I wouldn't bother stopping anywhere between Porto and Lisbon, as your time would be better spent in both cities and on day trips.

Like Priscilla, I just got back from Portugal - where we met up several times.

First of all, you are entitled to a 50% discount on trains because of your age (though if you buy. The AP trains are more comfortable and may be slightly faster than the IC trains. I found the trains less comfortable than in other countries but not uncomfortable. In first class, seats are a little wider and there's more luggage room (maybe because there are fewer passengers). Half the seats face forward, half backward. there are seats in the middle that face each other (so less leg room). All the seats on AP had retractable trays. If I remember correctly, they also had electrical outlets but no USB ports. As for which station, the AP trains only go to Porto-Campanha and Coimbra-B, though you can then take the next local train, I decided to avoid the wait and the hassle and use Uber/taxi . . . I arrived at Porto-Campanha and called Uber for a ride to my hotel. I should have taken a taxi! They are not expensive and were lined up in front of the station. Uber can't pick up in front, so I had to walk back through the station and up a flight of stairs (the only exit without escalators or elevators) and wait about 10 minutes. Then the driver didn't know the old city well and dropped me a couple short blocks from my apartment, but without any indication how to get there, just a general hand wave (the street was vehicle-accessible). After that, I took taxis to/from the AP train stations. In Lisbon, some AP trains continue to Santa Apolonia. I took the train there and then waited quite a while for a taxi. It looked like some people ordered Uber which picked them up at the other side of the taxi stand. In hindsight, it would have been faster to get off at Oriente where I'm sure there's always a line of taxis waiting. On the subject, when I left Lisbon for the airport, I knew I would be going in evening rush hour. My hotel said a taxi would normally be between €15-20 but if the ride took a long time because of traffic, there's no telling how much it would cost. They ordered a driver for me with a guaranteed price of €18. The ride took 1/2 hour and the driver and I chatted the whole time.

You can buy tickets online or you can wait until you get to Porto. The AP trains do sell out so don't wait until the last minute to buy tickets.

The AP line from Porto to Lisbon stops in Aveiro and Coimbra. I spent time in both. If I had to choose one, it would be Coimbra. Unlike Priscilla, I did not book a university tour. I liked being able to go at my own speed. There are laminated sheets in English (and half a dozen other languages) in most rooms, including the library. The library visit is a timed entry and you get 10 minutes inside, no photos allowed. There are a couple of rooms to see that are part of the building and you have about 10 minutes for that before the doors open to the library itself so be on time. I used a combination of the laminated sheets and the RS guidebook for my visit. I was there on Saturday a week ago and fearing a long line for tickets at the main entrance, I bought mine at the Science Museum (which also has toilets), there was no line at the either place. With the exception of the library, you can visit the other parts of the university in any order and spend as long as you like. If you're going in warm weather, take water! I found a vending machine in the Physics ("fisiks") building which is very near the entrance to the old uni, and got a bottle of ice cold water. After seeing the site, I stopped for a much needed second bottle and the machine was on the blink. I followed the RS self-guided walking tour including the elevator/funicular up to the uni and ends by walking back down to the main drag. I bought a ticket for a fado concert (it's noted on the tour) and liked it very much - 50 minutes of alternating music and explanations in an intimate setting with natural acoustics. I spent 2 nights in Coimbra, arriving late from Porto and leaving early for Lisbon. That worked very well for me.

Thank you to everyone for your advice. My plans are 3 nights in Porto, 2 nights in Coimbra and 5 nights in Lisbon. My husband would like to go to Salema, but we can’t do both Porto and Salema on a 10 day trip. Which would you choose Porto or Salema? Thanks

I think Coimbra is worth a stop for sure - but as I said above, one night would have been enough for me. Personal preference. Even a long day stop off the train would have been enough for me, actually, enough time to explore the town and tour the university, though that's not simple to do (no luggage lockers at the train stations so you'd need to find a place to stow bags - not impossible - plus the need to change at Coimbra-B perhaps)..

Coimbra also has some Roman ruins nearby (not walkable from town). I skipped them, but if you want to see them, that's another reason to spend more time. But compared to Porto and especially Lisbon, Coimbra is a delightfully untouristy town.

Porto is probably smaller than you imagine. It's a nice town, but it doesn't take a huge amount of time to see it. When I visited, I had three nights planned in part so I could take a day trip out to the Douro Valley by train (I don't drink, so it was just to be for the scenery). But after the first night in Porto, it poured rain the rest of my time there, so I skipped the Douro Valley. Without it, two nights in Porto would have been plenty.

I'm pretty flexible when I travel, and when I was in Portugal, I didn't have reservations in Coimbra at all; I checked hotel websites and found plenty of availability on my dates, plus hotels were pretty cheap. So I didn't book anything - I walked up to a place a few blocks from the train station to inquire about a room (I had see it online) and that's all I needed to do. But...if you could be flexible in Porto, you might see how you feel about staying more than two nights and make the third one optional, depending on how you are liking it. With a smart phone or some internet device, it's pretty easy these days to make last-minute travel plans, unless you visit a place that is very busy and hard to find vacant lodgings. But this kind of flexilibity is a personal travel preference, I guess.

Lisbon is much bigger and has more to see than Porto, so five nights there really makes sense.

I just returned from 10 days in Portugal, traveling by train from Lisbon to Tomar, to Porto to Aveiro and back to Lisbon. The trains were easy and comfortable. I ended up NOT buying advance tickets online because with the senior discount they are so cheap anyway it was worth it to me to have more flexibility rather than be bound by a set schedule. It never took me more than a few minutes to buy tickets at the stations.

One thing I learned that might be helpful is that you cannot buy the slower Urban or Regional tickets online but sometimes they represent the fastest and most direct journey. For example, from Lisbon to Tomar, the slow train makes more stops but is direct with no changes and ends up getting you there much sooner than booking a faster train online that requires several changes and then you end up on the slower one, spending more time and money waiting in intermediate stations. However, the faster trains do have nicer seats and wifi.