dwsnyder

We're begining to plan a 10 day trip for the middle of September. My current thought is to spend a few days in and around Lisbon, relying on public transportation and cabs. Rent a car on the way out of Lisbon on our way north to Porto.

The big question (at least currently) is whether to leave the car in Porto and take a train to the airport (or nearby), or to deal with the traffic in and around Lisbon. Our flight is at 1:55 pm on a Thursday.

Two questions I have right now; What is the closest train station to the airport(and how far away is it). And, secondly, how reliable are the train schedules ?

Does anybody have any additional insight or experience that might be helpful ?

Thanks in advance,
David

Sher

Hi David. Are you saying you are thinking of flying into and out of Lisbon? And for the Porto part of the trip you are going to drive there and are considering taking a train back?

PalQ

Oriente is the closest rail station to the airport.
On mainline Portugese trains are quite good - about hourly service to Porto and fairly reliable - much quicker than buses i think.

PalQ

AP (Alta Pendular) trains are the fastest, taking three hours from Oriente station to Porto. These trains leave Oriente about every two hours for Porto. There are also cheaper and slower IC Inter City trains on the route but train travel in Portugal is still incredibly cheap compared to other european countries.

dwsnyder

Sher:

That's what we're thinking about. I've seen several comments that suggest that traffic into and out of Lisbon can be a pain. We'd like the freedom of a car outside of Lisbon but would rather spend an extra day in the north and feel confident that we won't miss our flight because of traffic.

If you other suggestions we're very receptive.

Thanks
David