Viva Viagem Card

I’m pretty certain if you just get a 24 hour card you can only use it for 24 hours.

The zapping card will work for metro, buses, ferries across the Tejo, trams - and the trains to Sintra and Cascais.

When you switch from one line to another you are not charged twice.

If you are here for several days, I would suggest the regular Via Viagem card - not the 24 hour one.

I agree with buying a viva viagem card and loading it using the zapping option and not the 24 hour flat rate. The card can then be used for up to a year as long as you keep putting money on it. You can reload at a machine at the train or metro stations. I use the zapping option and was able to save my card from May 2017 and use it again with whatever credit was left, in February of 2018. I had to buy a new card for a friend and will use it with whatever credit is on it, when I go back in June this year.

You can use the card on the metro and the train - you just tap it against the reader at the gates and the gates open and you go through. You will need to "tap off" when you are at your destination so the right amount is deducted from the card.

And to reiterate, there is no charge for switching from one metro line to another. Follow the signs for the line you want and you will transfer between trains without ever exiting.

Thank you both for the information. This really helps!

Chris

@Shirley, does the "zapping option" let you easily use all the forms of transport? I'm confused by the description/comments about only being able to use one of the types of transport at a time? Thanks

I found those descriptions of the various types of fares you can load on a card confusing as well.

I was in Lisbon in February for 3 weeks and used my Viva Viagem card with the zapping option on: the metro, a couple of city buses, the train to Cascais and the train to Belem, the tram, and the funicular from the river up to the Chiado neighbourhood.

It always worked and I reloaded a few times at the machines in the metro station.