Train Travel in Portugal: 2024

Train travel in Portugal: Your complete guide.

Hello, this is Ismail Siddiky of Europe Diary, and here I am with another set of tips and tricks about Portugal. Today, it will be all about Train travel in Portugal.

National Train System

The first thing you need to know about the trains in Portugal is that we have a national train system, and you can find information about that on their website www.cp.pt – Comboios de Portugal. They also have an app available for download to your cell phone. • There isn’t a lot of practical information about the trains and their routes there, but it is very practical for people who are looking forward to scheduling their trips while they are in Portugal. • You can also find information about discounts there. Seniors have discounts, younger people also have discounts, and there are also discounts for people who schedule their trips in advance. Especially if you schedule them 5 to 8 days before the trip, you can have discounts of up to 65%, which is quite good.

Safety and Cleanliness 

• It is important to assure you that it is really, really safe to travel by train in Portugal. • Trains are usually clean, they have toilets available that are also clean, and they usually run on time, with the exception of times of strike. • In Portugal, it is allowed for workers to strike, and if they feel like their working conditions are not good enough, they can schedule a strike. Usually, that’s scheduled in advance, so you can learn about this while you are traveling and reschedule your trips if needed, or at least count on the suppression of a few schedules during the day.

Ticket Purchase Options

• You don’t need to buy the tickets at the train station. You can buy the tickets online through their website www.cp.pt, or you can buy them through their app.

Train Station Amenities

• Train stations are also usually quite comfortable. • The main train stations always have cafes, and if the cafes are closed, if it’s at night, for instance, you can find plenty of snack machines so you can have water, a snack, or a coffee. • You will find Wi-Fi areas and chargers around the stations, and the same thing goes for the trains. • The main train stations have lockers available. For example, in Coimbra, for a long time we didn’t have lockers, but fortunately, last year they made them available, and they’re quite inexpensive. • You can easily leave the luggage at the train station, and then you will have an area of taxis and also buses that connect to the city center, so you can easily travel within the city as well. • Other things that you can count on at train stations are parking lots for cars and parking areas for bicycles.

Carrying Bicycles

• It is actually possible to carry a bicycle with you on the train. They have specific rules for that, which you can find on their website under Useful Information. • They have different rules for the different trains, but you can carry your bike, which is quite good for people that are traveling around and want to be very eco-friendly.

Connections to Other Transport

• You can easily find connections to other buses and also subways. For example, when you arrive at the airport of Lisbon or Porto, you have a direct connection to their subway system, and the subway will take you pretty much everywhere.

Types of Trains

Urban Trains

• We have the urban trains, which are trains that stop everywhere. So, they may take a little longer to get to places, and they are the most common, for example, if you are searching for a connection to an area within the countryside or a little bit more to the east of Portugal because the west is quite well supplied with the two other types of trains that I’m mentioning after, which are the inter-cidades, the inter-city train.

Inter-City Trains (Inter-Cidades)

• The main cities of reference are Lisboa (Lisbon), Coimbra (my hometown), and Porto. But you have intercities connecting with other main cities of Portugal, so you should check that out on their website as well.

Alfa Pendular

• The Alfa Pendular system is the most expensive system, but just for you to have an idea, an Alfa Pendular trip between my hometown, Coimbra, and Lisbon, which is about 200 kilometers of distance, is about 24 euros per person. And that is tourist class. If you want to go in first class, it will be a little bit more expensive. • I really never felt the need to buy the first class ticket. I don’t think that it’s that different from the second class, but you will have a little bit more space between seats, and you will be closer to their bars, so if you want to drink or eat something, if you’re not prepared to do so with snacks in your pocket, you can actually go there pretty easily. • It’s really comfortable and very good to travel in second class. So if you don’t want to spend extra money, don’t worry, you’ll be fine. • I just have a little tip about the Alfa Pendular trains. They are very fast, and if you get motion sickness, you should search for a seat where you are not backwards to the movement. So, if the train is moving straight ahead to the south, you should find a seat that is headed south and be aware of that when you schedule the tickets online, or if you buy them at the ticket office, tell them about that so you don’t get motion sickness and it doesn’t ruin your trip around Portugal.

International Trains

• There is another kind of train that we have, which is the international train. We have trains connecting with Spain. You have a train that goes all the way to Vigo, but also we have a night train to Madrid that is a hotel train. • You have normal seats where you can go, and I already tried that, and it was quite comfortable. But if you don’t want to go in normal seats, you can also schedule a bed, and you can go very comfortably during the night. • Usually, the train leaves from Lisbon, it passes by Coimbra, and it stops in other areas. But as you go, you will find that you will get very quickly to Madrid. You will arrive there around 6 am, and that gives you enough time to explore the city or do whatever you want to do over there. • I went there because of work, but it’s also a great way to discover Europe, so you can connect then from there to France and other countries around Europe. • If you are thinking about doing an interrail, it’s something that you should consider, starting in Portugal and then, why not, traveling around Europe.

Rail Passes

• If you want to also do an intra-rail or a rail within Portugal, there are certain passes for that. So, there is an intra-rail and also a Portugal rail pass, which are passes with unlimited journeys between three and seven days. And that’s a great thing for you to use if you are just looking forward to getting to know Portugal traveling by train.

Themed Routes and Festivities

• One thing that I learned about when I was doing some research on the Comboios de Portugal website is that they’ve made available many different theme routes throughout the country at different times of the year. • If you are curious about them, go check them out. The ones that I would suggest are the historical train through Douro Valley, then we have one which is a cherry blossom circuit, really, really beautiful. We also have the Vouga historical train and the almond blossom circuit. Those are top-notch trips. • They have very useful information about festivities and pilgrimages as well. So they have a calendar that tells you which ones are happening close to train stations. And if you’re around Portugal during a specific festivity, you should check that out and go participate in one of those.

Taste and Cuisine Routes

• Other information that they have, and I found it very useful, was about taste and cuisine. So, they have a few routes connected with gastronomy and wine as well. • They did partnerships with local entrepreneurs, so you get to the train station, you go to the place where they are taking that activity, and then they have a guide or someone responsible for the activity waiting for you over there. And that’s something for you to do if you are already in Portugal and want to live a different day.

Concerts and Festivals

• Comboios de Portugal also did partnerships with some associations that organize concerts and festivals in Portugal. So they have some information on their website about concerts. You should check that out as well.

Virtual Journey

• If you want to get a little bit more inspiration, just go to their website. They have an area for a virtual journey. It’s basically a virtual tour. They recreate a tour on the train, so you can see the line, you can see the landscape around, and you can feel inspired about coming over here.

• Alright, and I hope that this inspired you to come to Portugal, travel around, and use the train, being very eco-friendly while you travel around here. I hope you enjoyed this Blog and that it was useful. If you did, just give it a thumbs up, leave a comment down below, and share this article to your friends, obviously, because there will be many more Blog of tips and tricks and other Blog coming up very soon. And it’s all about my beautiful country, Portugal.

Okay, see you soon! Bye!