Lisbon is a small city that feels bigger than it is, mostly because of the hills. Walking from Cais do Sodré to Saldanha looks like nothing on a map and is a forty-minute climb in practice. Which is why almost everyone who lives here ends up on the metro.
The good news is that the system is cheap, legible and, for a European capital, genuinely quick to learn. There are four lines. You can hold the whole map in your head by the end of your first week.
The four metro lines, and what they are actually for
Lisbon's metro lines are known by colour rather than number, and each one has a personality worth knowing before you choose where to live.
The lines cross at a handful of interchanges (Marquês de Pombal, Alameda, Baixa-Chiado, Campo Grande, São Sebastião) and those interchanges are why some neighbourhoods are worth more than others. Living on a two-line station means most of the city is one train away rather than two.
| Blue (Azul) | Reboleira to Santa Apolónia, runs through Marquês de Pombal, Avenida and Baixa. The line for the centre and the north-west. |
|---|---|
| Yellow (Amarela) | Odivelas to Rato, through Campo Grande, Campo Pequeno and Saldanha. The line for the business district and the northern campuses. |
| Green (Verde) | Telheiras to Cais do Sodré, through Alvalade, Alameda and Baixa down to the river. The student line. |
| Red (Vermelha) | Aeroporto to São Sebastião, through Alameda and Saldanha. The airport line, which matters more than you would think. |
How to actually pay on a bus or a tram
This is where visitors get caught out and residents stop thinking about it. On the metro you tap the Navegante card at the gate. On buses and trams you tap it on the reader beside the driver as you board, there is no need to tap out.
You can buy a single ticket from the driver on a bus or tram, but it costs roughly double the card fare and the driver may not have change. On the 28E tram in particular, buying from the driver marks you out as a tourist in a way that has consequences for your pockets.
Contactless bank cards now work on the metro gates and on most buses. It is convenient and it is more expensive than the monthly pass if you travel daily.
Trams, funiculars and the 28E problem
The yellow trams are genuinely useful transport and also the most photographed objects in Portugal, which creates a conflict. The 28E runs a beautiful route through Graça, Alfama, Baixa and Estrela, and between about nine in the morning and seven in the evening it is packed with people taking photographs of each other.
The 15E out to Belém is a modern articulated tram and much more pleasant. The funiculars (Glória, Bica, Lavra) are short, steep and covered by the Navegante card, which makes the Bica the cheapest good view in the city.
If you live in Santos or Cais do Sodré, the riverside trams will become part of your routine. If you live in Alameda or Saldanha, you may go months without touching one.
Trains, the airport, and getting out of the city
Two suburban lines matter. The Cascais line runs along the coast from Cais do Sodré and takes about half an hour to reach the Atlantic beaches, it is the reason people living in Santos and Cais do Sodré swim more often than everyone else. The Sintra line runs from Rossio and Oriente and gets you to the palaces in forty minutes.
The airport is on the red line, which is unusually civilised. From Alameda or Saldanha it is a direct ride with no changes, twenty-odd minutes, for the price of a normal journey. If you are going to fly home several times a year, that convenience is worth factoring into where you live.
Bikes, scooters and the hill problem
Lisbon has a bike-share scheme, GIRA, and it is cheap, around €25 a year for a pass, with electric bikes in the fleet. The electric part is not optional. Lisbon is built on seven hills and a conventional bicycle here is a commitment rather than a convenience.
The riverside is the exception: the cycle path runs flat from Cais do Sodré out past Belém, and it is genuinely the pleasantest commute in the city if your route happens to follow it. Away from the river you will be climbing.
Rental e-scooters are everywhere and are the fastest way to cover the middle distances, the fifteen minutes that is too far to walk uphill and not worth waiting for a bus. They are also the fastest way to fall off on wet calçada, so take the first few rides gently.
The mistakes people make in their first month
Buying the monthly pass on the 25th. It runs by calendar month, not thirty days from purchase, so you have paid €40 for six days. Wait for the 1st and use Zapping credit in the meantime.
Paying the driver on the tram. It is roughly double the card fare, and on the 28E you will be queuing behind twenty people doing the same thing.
Assuming Google's walking times. They are accurate on distance and silent on gradient. A twelve-minute walk that climbs sixty metres is not a twelve-minute walk, and in August it is not a walk you want to make twice a day.
Not checking the last metro. The system closes around 1am, which is early relative to the hour Lisbon eats and drinks at. Night buses exist and are slower than they look.
What this means for choosing a neighbourhood
Transport is the single biggest practical difference between Lisbon neighbourhoods, and it is worth being deliberate about it. A room ten minutes' walk from campus on a two-line station is a materially different year from a room that is cheaper but forty minutes and a change away.
Our own homes are all on the metro network, and each neighbourhood guide lists the lines and the walk times, so you can work out the commute before you commit rather than after.
