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Car Hire at the Lisbon Airport

Bruno Marques — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:38:43 +0000

I know a lot of Lisbon visitors come here as a start for a bigger travel thorugh Portugal, including most of the times spending some days in the warm beaches of Algarve. It’s common to search a car rental right at the airport, specially if you are not planning to spend any time is Lisbon (oh, you shouldn’t do that).

For those of you that need to rent a car, here is some info about the dealers you can find at the airport :

Budget

Open from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Phone : +351 210 32 36 05

Europcar

Open from 6:30 a.m to 12 p.m. Open from 12 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. for an extra cost.

Phone : +351 21 8401176 Fax : +351 21 8473180

Guérin

Open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Phone : +351 21 848 61 91 Fax : 351 21 019 27 14

Auto Jardim

Phone : +351 21 8462916 Email : lisboadesk@auto-jardim.com

Hertz

Open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Phone : +351 21 8438660

Sixt

Open from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Phone : +351 21 8407927 Fax : +351 21 8407923

Avis

Open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Phone : +351 21 8435550

Summer is Lisbon : Going to The Beach

Bruno Marques — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:00:28 +0000

As with all the countries in southern Europe, Portugal is also known for it’s sunny and warm beaches, with Algarve being the most famous and desired shores. Every years thousand of tourists coming mainly from Germany and the UK flock to the south of the country to spend their vacation, in the search for the great weather and spendid landspaces that only the sun and the sea can offer.

Although being far away from Algarve, Lisbon also has some nice coastlines in it’s surroundings, where the it’s citizens spend their free time over the summer weekends. In this post I will talk about the closest ones, the Cascais/Estoril and the Costa da Caparica. If, while spending your time in Lisbon, you decided to rent a car and travel a little bit further, you can also try the beaches at the north of Sintra (Ericeira, Santa Cruz, Nazaré) or further down on the south side of the river (Portinho da Arrabida or Troia), than can be more quiet and relaxing.

The Cascais / Estoril Coastline (Green) - It is the most easy beach area to access to someone traveling from abroad. First, because of the Cascais train line, take starts in Lisbon at Cais do Sodré (close to downtown), goes through Belém area and goes straight to Cascais always close to the ocean. The most known beach on this shore is Carcavelos. On second place it’s easy to get to this beaches, because of the Estoril and Cascais areas, that are worth visiting even if you are not enjoying the beach. I would recomend visiting the various defensive forts that are spread along the coastline, the Estoril Casino, and in Cascais, the sea bay and the Boca do Inferno cliff. The train tickets prices vary, but the ticket from Cais do Sodre to Cascais (the whole line), costs 1.7€ per journey.

The Costa da Caparica Coastline (Pink) - Costa da Caparica is the ocean shore on the south bank of the Tagus river. The beaches here are clearly better than the ones of the Cascais line : larger and more wild spaces, fewer building in it’s surroundings, specially on the southern beaches. The handicap of this area can be it’s access, as the transportation between Lisbon and the south bank of the Tagus serve mainly it’s working population that lives in cities like Almada, Seixal or Barreiro. Still you can get to Costa using three buses from Transportes Sul do Tejo : the 153, that leaves from Praça de Espanha (Spain Square), the 161, that leaves from Areeiro Square and finally the 186 that leaves from the Universities area.

Lisbon Airport : The AeroBus and AeroShuttle

Bruno Marques — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Lisbon has a good and growing network of subways, but for some reasons I cannot really explain, it misses at least two connections that could be very handy for those visiting it : A connection with the Belém area and a connection to the airport. This last one has been planned and delayed for many years, as a construction of a new airport is beginning to take shape. But meanwhile the subway expansion has started, and Lisbon Airport will have an subway connection in the years to come. But right now, it doesn’t.

When arriving to the airport you have two options available to get to a more central part of the city : the bus or taxi. I will talk about taxis when I have the chance, but right now I would like to focus on bus connection, specially on the AeroBus and AeroShuttle special bus services, created to serve the one’s arriving or leaving town through the airport.

Aerobus

It’s the first of the two connections created to serve the airport. It runs daily from 07:00 AM to 11:00 PM, at 20 minutes intervals.

Normal tickets cost 3€, but you can buy the frequent travelers ticket pack (it costs 10€ and has 5 tickets, meaning 2€ for trip). If you have a Lisboa Card, ticket price has a discount, costing only 1.65€.

Leaving the airport, the bus goes through the Campo Pequeno, Saldanha square, Marquês de Pombal square, Restauradores / Rossio (downtown) , Praça do Comércio and finally Cais do Sodré.

If you’re going to Sintra, take this bus to Entrecampos. Here you can take a train on the Sintra Train line.

If you’re going to Estoril or Cascais, take this bus to Cais do Sodré. Here you can take a train on the Cascais Train line.

AeroShuttle

The more recent connection from the airport . It runs daily from 07:00 AM to 11:00 PM, at 30 minutes intervals.

Leaving the airport, the bus goes through Campo Grande, Sete Rios, Praça de Espanha ending close to the Marquês de Pombal square. This bus connection has recently expanded, also connecting the airport with the Gare do Oriente station.

Funiculars and Elevators

Bruno Marques — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:00:58 +0000

Like I have said before Lisbon is not the most plain city in the world. It has a lot of hills and depressions, and although giving it a special landscape it can be tricky if you want to ride a bike or if you have to carry your groceries up-hill.

Well the hills have been there since the beginning of time (give or take a million years) and the industrial age brought to Lisbon some solutions that would minimize the problem. So three funiculars and one elevator has built. I want to talk more about them in the future, but by now, I just want you to know that they exist and where they are located. So you have :

Glória Funicular (Elevador da Glória) – It connects the Restauradores square with Bairro Alto
Bica Funicular (Elevador da Bica) – It connects Av. Boavista (Cais do Sodré) to Bairro Alto
Lavra Funicular (Elevador do Lavra) – It connects Rua de Portas de Santo Antão and Campo de Santa, close to São José Hospital.
Santa Justa Elevator (Elevador de Santa Justa) - Today it goes nowhere. It used to connect the downtown area with Bairro Alto, but today it just gives you access to a nice café and a great view of the downtown area and the hill surrounding it.

Camping in Lisbon : Public Transportation Tips

Bruno Marques — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:00:16 +0000

Lisbon only has one camping park but don’t worry because it is a big one with very good conditions (it’s a five star camping park with a lot of facilities). It’s location is perfect if you enjoy a closer contact with nature, since it’s located in Monsanto Park, the green lung of the city. On the other hand it has it’s drawbacks, since there aren’t any subway or trains around and buses are the only solution to get in the heart of the city.

When I started to research for this post, I got a scared : there are only two bus routes that stop at the camping park door, and at first sight this seemed to be a problem that could make the camping park away from everywhere. But I was wrong. The routes that stop in the camping gates are well planned to cover most of the city and it’s surrounding. Let’s see :

Bus 750 (Algés – Oriente)

Starts at 05:35 and stops at 01:00. When taking this bus to get to town you’ll always have to take the Oriente direction. Has the following main stops:

Benfica (12 minutes) – This stop in right in the middle of urban neighborhood Benfica and the only point of interest is the connection to Sintra Train Line, from where you can get to Sintra.
Campo Grande (more 17 minutes) – Again not a big place for sightseeing, but a good connection to the city subway.
Airport (more 8 minutes) – Well, if you are coming or going by plane, you should consider this option.
Gare do Oriente (more 15 minutes) – Nice if you traveling by train or long distance buses that start from here. Also is close the modern area of Parque das Nações where you can do a lot of sightseeing.

Bus 714 (Outorela – Praça da Figueira)

Starts at 05:00 and stops at 00:48. When taking this bus to get to town you’ll always have to take the Praça da Figueira direction. Has the following main stops:

Belém (10 minutes) – One of the city most attractive places, where you can see Belém Tower or the Jeronimos Monastery. You can also take the Cascais Train here, that may lead you to Cascais, Estoril or Carcavelos beaches.
Alcântara (10 minutes) – It’s where the Docas night clubs are located, in a nice river side location below 25 of April bridge.
Praça da Figueira (15 minutes) – Terminal stop right in the middle of downtown. Before this one you also have Praça do Comércio or Cais do Sodré, all of them good places to start exploring the downtown area.

Going to Sintra

Bruno Marques — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:00:14 +0000

If you don’t know this already, learn it know and never forget it : visiting Lisbon and not spending a whole day in Sintra is missing one of the most beautiful places in world. And this is not my solo opinion : everyone who’s been there will tell you the same. In the future I will surely spend it’s deserved space on this blog, which is a lot. But for now, I’ll just focus on how to get there, since Sintra is 30 Kms away from Lisbon, right by the ocean.

By Car

If you traveling on you own car or if you have rented one, you’ll have to take the IC19 route to get to Sintra. To find this route, the best way is to get to 2ª Circular, which is one of Lisbon main roads, surrounding it. There you should take the Sintra / Amadora direction (the other way will take you to A1 highway, that can lead you to Oporto). If you follow IC19, you’ll get to Sintra at the end of it, it’s that easy. Please be aware of congestion on this route. Avoid the Sintra-Lisboa direction early in the morning and the Lisboa-Sintra direction at the end of the day.

By Train

For most people this will be the most common way to get to Sintra, since this is the most direct public transportation to get there. You can get a train to Sintra in Gare do Oriente, Entrecampos, Areeiro, Sete Rios, Campolide, Benfica and Rossio stations. They are very frequent and the journey will take between 40m and 1 hour and cost you something between 1.65€ and 2.00€, depending on you starting station.

By Tour Bus

The number of bus tour to Sintra has grown in the last years, as more and more companies are exploring this circuit. As an example, you’ll have the Carris Tour (Carris is Lisbon bus company). The ticket costs 35€ for an adult and 20€ for children from 4 to 12 years. If you have a Lisboa Card ticket price drops from 35 to 20€. The trip lasts 4 and a half hours and it happens every day, starting at Praça do Comércio at 14:30. The bus will take you not only to Sintra, but also through Cascais, Estoril, Cabo da Roca and Guincho beach.

Getting To Lisbon : By Train

Bruno Marques — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:29:34 +0000

If you know where Lisbon and Portugal are located, who’ll know that we are at Europe most western end. So, unlike central Europe countries, where you can get to almost everywhere by train, Lisbon is much more limited in its international train destinations. This is not only justified by our edge position : to this you can add the fact that we are totally surrounded by Spain (our only border) and the fact that over the years trains have always been seen by governments as a “not so good” mean of transportation. So, if you are looking to come by train directly to Lisbon, you currently have two choices:

SudExpresso

The SubExpresso is a night train that connects Lisbon with Hendaye, in the border between Spain and France. From Paris to Hendaye, you’ll get connection through TGV trains. You only have one train ride in each direction daily:

Lisbon – Hendaye, train leaves Lisbon between 16:00 and 16:30 and arrives at Hendaye in the following day at 07:10
Hendaye – Lisbon, train leaves Irun (on the Spanish side) around 22:00 and arrives at Lisbon in the following day at 11:03.

The train has two classes, one that provides a bed for the night train (single bed 175€, double bed 125€, triple bed 107€) and other provides only a seated place on a six place cabin (65€).

You can find more information about this train here.

Lusitânia Comboio hotel

The Lusitânia hotel Train is a night train that connects Lisbon to Madrid. Again, you’ll only have one train ride in each direction daily:

Lisbon – Madrid, train leaves Lisbon around 22:00 and arrives at Madrid in the following day at 08:40.
Madrid – Lisbon, train leaves Madrid around 22:45 and arrives at Lisbon in the following day around 08:00.

The train has two classes, turista (2nd class) and preferente (1st class). Seated tickets are available for Turista only (57.50€). Bed tickets cost 81€ for Turista and 102€ (double bed) / 146.50€ (single bed) for Preferente.

You can find more information about this train here.

Train Stations

Lisbon has two train stations where international trains stop. Santa Apolonia Train Station (Estação de Sta. Apolonia) is the older station, located close to downtown and Gare do Oriente, located in the eastern and more modern part of the city. They are now both served by the subway system, so it should be quite easy to get anywhere from any of them. My word of advice is:

If you’ll be staying downtown, use the Sta. Apolonia station. You can quickly get to downtown by subway, exiting at the Baixa/Chiado, Rossio or Restauradores stations.
If your destination is Sintra, use the Gare do Oriente station. You’ll have there direct trains to Sintra.
If your destination is Algarve or any other place in the south, use the Gare do Oriente station.
If your destination is Estoril / Cascais you’ll have to take the coastline train at Alcantara. In Gare do Oriente you’ll have to take a train to Alcantara-Terra and there go to the connecting station called Alcantara-Mar.

If your looking for an hotel, please take a look at Hotel reservations in Lisbon.

Lisboa Card

Bruno Marques — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:21:17 +0000

Like many other cities in the world, Lisboa also has it’s “city card”, which is the cheaper way to travel around town and see all the main monuments and sights. I surely recomend it : the transport system in Lisbon is confuse and most tiumes requires a different ticket for every different kind of transportion. Just this can justify it’s purchase. But you take a look at the fees to visit two or three main monuments, you’ll get a quick idea of how much money you will be saving.

What kind of cards can I buy?

The card types are classified by two aspects : age (adult / children from 5 to 11) and duration (from 1 , 2 or 3 days). For children aged less than 5, transportation and sights fees should be free.

How much will I have to pay?

One day : 15€ for an adult card / 8€ for a children card
Two days : 26€ for an adult card / 13€ for a children card
Three days : 32€ for an adult card / 16€ for a children card

Where can I buy it?

The Lisboa Card can by purchased in the Ask Me Lisboa kiosks that are placed in some convenient city locations :

On the main city entry points for people coming from abroad :

At Lisboa Airport and at Santa Apolonia train station

Close to the main attractions :

Downtown (Rua Augusta, Palácio Foz at Restauradores square, Rua do Arsenal) and at Belém area

Some examples of useful transportation discounts

A day ticket for the subway and bus system will cost you 3.5€.
Santa Justa Elevator costs 2.7€ for an up and down trip.
Airport shutle bus will have a discount of 1.65€.

Some examples of main sights with discounts

Jeronimos Monastery costs 6€ per adult (over 25 years old) [Free with Lisboa Card]
Belem Tower costs 4€ per adult (over 25 years old) [Free with Lisboa Card]
Palácio Nacional da Ajuda costs 5€ per adult (over 14 yeard old) [Free with Lisboa Card]

More Information

Please check official Lisboa Card page for complete information!