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I am travelling to Lisbon (on Airport terminal 2) soon, and would like to know how to get to the city center without using a taxi. Is there some public transport that can easily be reached from the airport exit?

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The metro network in Lisbon is very well developed and covers most, if not all, of the city. Indeed Lisbon airport has its own metro station. This means you can reach the city centre, say Baixa-Chiado, from the airport by changing at Alameda. Below is a screenshot of the metro journey planner for this route:

Metro journey planner

For more information on the metro system here is the official homepage.

The linked airport page shows other options including buses, airport shuttles and train. Rome2rio also shows a bunch of other options including bus, taxi, uber and even walking. In my opinion the metro remains the smartest option since it its schedule not subject to road traffic, and the tickets are cheaper.

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  • Thank you for showing me that the metro has been extended to the airport since I was last there. I wish it had been in my time. But OP please be careful of Lisbon taxis, at any rate from the airport in the evening. They are infamous for cheating foreigners.
    – David Pugh
    Apr 21, 2015 at 14:12
  • @DavidPugh I wouldn't say taxi drivers are worse than in any other city. They usually don't like when it's a short drive, and the airport in Lisbon is really close to the center. They often wait hours for a client. A transport to the center does not compensate. Some (and this is a minority) choose more "scenic route". An effort to improve that has been done with several surprise inspections.
    – nsn
    Apr 22, 2015 at 8:28
  • @nsn: You have experience of not speaking any Portuguese? If you're a native, experiment next time by speaking only English or bad Spanish, and be a tourist trying to understand the surcharge upon surcharge.
    – David Pugh
    Apr 22, 2015 at 8:55
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    @DavidPugh I can't discuss theoretical situations. I don't know what surcharges those are. There are a few, like for luggage and some night services. If you feel you're being scammed ask for the invoice and optionally call the police. Keep the license plate and the driver license nr. You can send the complain to imtt.pt. Those things can happen anywhere and authorities are keeping an eye. No one is interested in that kind of thing.
    – nsn
    Apr 22, 2015 at 9:41
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There are several options to travel from the aiport to city center.

A few notes about terminal 2

Terminal 2 is departures only. Although you arrive officially at terminal 2 (the airplane actually stops near terminal 2) you will be transported directly to terminal 1 where the arrivals hall and the checked in luggage belts are. From there you can either get the subway, bus or a taxi.

For departure the process is a bit different. You will depart from terminal 2. You can use all of the transports mentioned but both subway and regular bus will leave you at terminal 1. Aerobus (a dedicated bus service) also goes to terminal 2. From terminal 1 to terminal 2 there is a free airport bus. It departs every 10 minutes. The trip shouldn't take more than 5 minutes between terminal 1 and 2.

http://www.ana.pt/en-US/Aeroportos/lisboa/Lisboa/Departures/Terminal2/Pages/Terminal2.aspx

Online Planner - From the airport to the city center

Lisbon region has a transport planner. You can find it here:

http://www.transporlis.sapo.pt/Default.aspx?tabid=36&language=en-GB

It may be useful both to find routes from the airport and others.

Try this link. It's already prepared with the route going downtown (restauradores). Just pick a date and hit calculate.

Available transports - summary

  1. Subway: You can find here the official website in english. You can download the network map, plan the route and see the line status (to know if there is a service interruption). The price is currently 6€ for a 24h ticket and 1,40€ for a regular ticket. You need to pay an extra 0.50€ if you don't have already the rechargeable card.
  2. Bus: You can find here the official website with their regular routes, some of them passing through the airport. The lines serving the airport are Nº 208, 705, 722, 744, 783 (these serveral destinations, not only downtown) - The price of the ticket is 1,80€ if bought in the bus. If you buy tickets in advance 24h tickets cost 6€ and regular (valid for 60 min) cost 1,40€.
  3. Aerobus: You can find here information about the aerobus. The dedicated bus service that connects the airport / downtown OR to the financial district. The first goes downtown and passes by some of the major hotels. The second goes through the major business areas. It currently costs 3.15€ if bought on-line.
  4. Taxi: works like in any other city :) ask where you want to go, pay in the end.
  5. Uber: Uber is available in Portugal and at the airport. There are currently some problems with taxi drivers and Uber (the first acusing the second of illegal concurrence). If you use this service, Uber will probably request you to meet their car a bit away from arrivals (around 150mts away) to avoid meeting the taxis.

You can also find this information, with more details, at the airport website

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  • The Carris website says, "The transport of baggage allowed in our vehicles is of small in size (maximum dimensions of reference: 55x40x20 cm)", which probably stops many people from using the bus from the airport (as you can't take anything larger than most carry-on luggage).
    – gsnedders
    Aug 2, 2016 at 15:11
  • @gsnedders I never saw people having issues. I have traveled in Lisbon and never saw any problem, but I can't tell about every situation. If the bus has enough space no one will bother you. In the back there is also a space for wheel chairs and people standing. You can easily travel there with larger luggage. Again, I can't guarantee anything.
    – nsn
    Aug 2, 2016 at 21:20
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The local Carris bus company runs a bus transport service connecting Lisbon's airport to the city centre passing by the main transport hubs such as Comercio Square and Cais de Sodré. This service is called AeroBus and passes by dozens of Lisbon hotels, thus providing tourists arriving at the airport with easy access to their accommodation. An alternative to the bus is the metro or Lisbon airport taxi

I hope this helps.

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Metro is best - really simple, cheap (compared to places like London or New York), and quick.

Just follow the 'M' logos to get to the airport Metro station. You need to take the pink line and change at S. Sebastiao, switching to the light blue line and getting off at Baixa-Chiado (the absolute centre of Lisbon).

Good luck - It's a lovely city!

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