Ahh.. Guess it takes some time to get acclimated with this site (at least for me ) :)

1 question however, I do see the stops listed on the "Urban services" -"Sintra" clicks, but where do you read from the "schedule" page that there is a connection at Mira-Sintra melecas? Maybe I am misreading it, but I see the duration being very similar regardless if one departs from Entre Campos or Sete Rios?

And I am asuming these tickets can be purchsed at the station the day of or before desired travel?? Is there a benefit of purchasing ahead of time from a site like ct.pt?

Thanks much!

Mark

If you can get to the point where you see the column of suggested journeys on the schedules list, there is a little down arrow beside each row/suggested journey. Sometimes clicking on the arrow will reveal the details of that journey, including the required train changes and the cost. I say 'sometimes' because the site is a little fussy - sometimes this feature works, sometimes it doesn't. But you can tell right away that there's a change involved by the letters U|R at the left of each row. The U stands for Urban train, and the R stands for Regional train - in other words, the journey will involve both.

If in doubt, go to the German site I told you about and fiddle with that one. It too will show the change if you click the box to indicate you want the details for the given journey. Note - if you want English version of that site, click on the 'International Guests' header when you first enter www.bahn.de.

I have the feeling that for a small regional train that buying in advance isn't even possible, but you need to ask folks 'in the know' like matt or lobo_mau. My guess is that if it's like Italy, the small local trains aren't a big deal - you just pick up tix the day before or so. Myself, I'm trying to decide if I should try to buy on-line: I've registered, but I don't yet know if the site will accept a non-Portuguese credit card. In my case, I'll be buying Intercity or Alfa Pendular train tix, and buying in advance might prove beneficial.

By the way, the site was working fully earlier, and it showed that you needed to make TWO changes in some cases if you departed from Entrecampos. Unfortunately right now I can't get it to come up in exactly the wame way. I'll try again tomorrow if I have a mo'.

Okay fodors - how can we combine this thread with the monster Lisbon thread: A lot of useful info on here. In fact I might do some cheeky cut and pasting...

Matt

Aha, I solved the mystery - I think. Right now, i.e 16:30 GMT, the cp.pt site is working fully - if you click on the down arrow beside each suggested journey as I described above, you will see the details. Whereas last night, North American time, you could not.

I believe the riddle is solved by the likelihood that cp.pt does system maintenance after hours, i.e. after-hours, Portuguese time (which is GMT, the same as London/Greenwich.)

A handy feature on the cp.pt site: If you click on "Urban Services - Lisbon" you will see a network map. If you download the pdf version of the network map, you will get a complete picture of how the commuter rails interact with the metro system.

Mark: If you click on the pdf file for the timetable for, say, the Sintra line,you will see why leaving from Entrecampos for Obidos involves an extra change as opposed to leaving from Sete Rios. Not all trains on the Sintra line, such as those that depart from Entrecampos, go direct to Mira Sintra - melecas. Instead, one must change at some further point down the line (e.g. Cacem, Monte Abraio) to a train that DOES go to Mira-Sintra melecas, because that is where one picks up the Regional train to Obidos.

Thanks Sue as I feel much more comfortable with the 7C card as well as the train schedules, prices, durations etc..

Well, this just in. After registering on www.cp.pt, I went ahead and bought 2 alfa pendular tickets from Faro to Lisbon; the site seemed to accept my cc and in fact I was able to print the tickets (which is pretty conclusive). However, it was still reassuring to find out that, 2 or 3 days after I bought the tix, the transaction had been posted to my cc account.

So, in summary: unlike something I read on another site, it IS possible to buy Portuguese rail tix from outside the country.

An update, as of April 2006:

The day passes that one can load onto the 7 Colinas card are for CALENDAR days, not periods of 24 hours. (We had 1 day's worth of transit loaded onto our cards and they wouldn't work the following morning, so we have confirmed this.)

During our brief 3.5 day visit, we found it most practical to start with only 1 day pass loaded onto this card - the rest of the time, we used pay-as-you-go metro fares. We never got around to reloading our 7 Colinas card after our initial 1 day pass purchase because, as stated above, we found it cheaper to pay-as-you-go for days when we were doing specific sightseeing as opposed to exploring the neighbourhoods of Lisbon.

It is a simple matter to buy individual metro tix from machines in the station. The machines make change, they also take notes and cards. Be sure to save your metro ticket as you need it to exit your destination station.

Note that while you can reload the 7 Colinas card at the machines you find in metro stations, you cannot buy the original 7 Colinas card itself from the machines, but only from manned wickets. These are generally available only at major stations like Entrecampos or Sete Rios. (check the relevant website for further details.)

***REGARDING LOCAL CP TRAINS *****

It is also simple to use ticket machines to buy local cp rail tickets to Belem, Cascais, and Sintra. However, these machines are found only in the rail stations themselves, not the metro stations (which, of course, makes a lot of sense.) Note that 1-way local rail tix expire 2 hours after you buy them so you can't buy 1-way tix much ahead of time.

Regarding Belem: If you take the train from Lisbon's Cais de Sodre station to Belem (faster than the number 15 tram, although slightly more walking involved once you get there) it is adviseable to get on a train with the word "TODOS" in the train header. This means the train will service minor stops like Belem. Most trains don't stop in Belem - if you get on one of these by mistake, you will have to get off at, say, Alcantara and change trains. (Or get off at Alges and backtrack, but be prepared to explain yourself to the conductor.)

If proceeding onto Cascais from Belem, pick a train with the word "OEIRAS" in the train header. (Actually you have little choice, for rarely will any other trains stop to pick you up in Belem.)You will need to change trains at Oeiras for one to Cascais. Not to fear, trains are very frequent.

***REGARDING AIRPORT TRANSIT*****

We took a cab to the airport. From the area of San Sebastio metro stop to the airport, mid-afternoon weekday, it was just under € 8, including luggage, but excluding tip. Confirm the approximate amount with the driver before starting, if you have any quandaries.

Note: I highly advise taking a cab over the Aero-bus. The Aero-bus must be hailed before it will stop to pick up passengers, even at stops clearly labelled 'AERO-BUS.' (The exception is if it is stopping anyway to let off passengers.) In addition, the Aerobus stop closest to us, the Marques de Pombal stop, is awkward to navigate at the moment (April 2006) as it is torn up for construction.

Thanks for the info. I'm putting together a four-day trip for 15 people to Lisbon. Your above post is a big help.

P.S. I've travelled with this group for the past eight years and it has all gone smoothly except in Dublin. Between bus strikes, fire drills at the airport, motorway detours and constantly wrong directions, I was at my wits end in Dublin. But the group was encouraging and kept me filled with Irish coffee and beer. I love this group!