Making a round trip from Lisbon to Porto and back: train / rail or plane?
 

I'm going to Lisbon for a professional conference and would like to go over early so I can add in a 3-4 day excursion to Porto. I'm wondering what the better alternative would be: plane or train? I'm thinking plane is probably faster -- depending on the number of flights per day -- but more costly, and I'd get a better view of the country traveling by rail.

For plane, I assume I look to TAP.

For train, what website should I use to check out my options there?

And are there any material considerations in making this choice that might not be obvious?


Thanks!!

Given the time it takes to get to and from airports -- and having to be at the airport early -- my guess is that the train would actually be faster. I could be wrong!

For train info:
Rome2rio.com (click through to the underlying sites)
seat61.com

Thanks, kja. I've found an online site for Comboios de Portugal (= "Portuguese Rail"?) at the location below:

https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times

The plug-in information looks basic, but you need to know which train stations you'll be using in Lisbon and Porto, since Lisbon has three stations and Porto two. I've figured out that Oriente/Santa Apolonia are the Lisbon stations for trains to Porto, and Campanha is the Porto station for Lisbon trains.

Looks like 1st class is around $50 US and 2nd Class is around $35 US for the higher-grade Alpha Pendular trains. If anyone could tell me whether it's worth going on Alpha Pendular rather than the next grade down (Interciades), I'd appeciate some insight. It looks like AP trains are a little faster than IC trains, but it isn't a huge difference.

Also, if my plane is supposed to arrive at Lisbon's airport at 10:45, how much time should I build in for getting my luggage, getting through Customs, and taking the Metro to the Oriente station?

Did you see the comments about the differences between those train lines from he Man in Seat 61?
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-ro...o-by-train.htm

I normally do it by train, it goes door to door, no security etc etc etc

Thanks, kja! This is terrific help. Everything I could have asked for.

The Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com) is an amazing resource for all things related to train travel. :)

train for sure, it is such a brief trip that any class of train service will do, and will definitely be faster than flying given time getting to/from and through the airports.
And you are correct about the train stations.

Thanks all -- now, here'sthe report on the experience
 

I chose the train. Another couple in our group (who were attending a conference in Lisbon) flew from Porto to Lisbon after flying direct to Porto from the U.S., and they experienced a multi-hour delay that was longer than the flight itself. Not surprisingly, they did not recommend it.

I took a Alpha Pendular (highest class) train from Lisbon to Porto, riding in first class, and an Interciadades (IC) train from Porto back to Lisbon, also in first class. Each was perfectly fine. The main advantage to first class that I could see was that it seemed to be less crowded. Also, the first class carriage is always at the front of the train, so it's easier to figure out where you should wait along the platform.

I thought the plane fares, even i first class (around 40-45 Euros), were eminently reasonable. For a difference of 15-20 Euros, I considered first class worth it.

One final thing. I thought the scenery by train would be a big plus over what you can see from the air. But the countryside was mostly dry, dusty, and utilitarian -- farmers don't worry about making things pretty for passers-by. So that was not a big plus of this train trip.

Thanks for reporting back! Am I correct in thinking you specified the TRAIN fares, not plane fares?

Oops! My bad.
 

Yes, I meant that was the cost of the train fares, not plane fares. Thanks again, kja.

view on aircraft, lots of backs of people and tiny windows onto sky
view on train, lots of people's faces and big windows onto sky and land

no competition for me

Did you consider an open jaw flight as into a Lisbon and out of Porto or vice versa?

Further response concerning the Lisbon-Porto connection, by rail versus air
 

Since I've now completed my trip, I can address one other question I had raised in my earlier post, which was:

How much time should I assume it would take to land by plane in at Humberto Delgado airport in Lisbon, get through Customs, and then get to the Oriente train station to catch a train to Porto?

Here are my answers based on my experience:

10:50 a.m.: my arriving plane tied up to the jetway at Lisbon Airport
1:00 p.m. (roughly) I arrived by the Metro at Oriente train station. This was roughly a full hour prior to my 2:10 p.m. Alpha Pendular train to Porto,

So that includes going through Customs, getting my suitcase from baggage claim, then Waiting in line at Tourist Info in the airport for a total of perhaps 15 minutes so I could purchase a Lisboa visitors card, and then riding the mere two stops from the airport to the Oriente metro stop. (N.B. The entrance to the metro is literally right across a small open area when you emerge from the main exit at the international terminal - Terminal 1.) Obviously, if I hadn't checked a bag, I could have done it in a little less time.

mjs:

I'm not sure what you mean by an"open jaw" flight, so the answer was no.

"Open jaw" flights go Into one city, out of another. They are generally booked using the "multi-city" search feature. With the costs in money, time, and logistical stresses of returning to one's starting city, open jaw flights (for example, into Lisbon and out of Porto) often make more sense than round trips, which are by definition into and out of the same city.

I’m making this same trip in September. How did you figure out the train station to Porto, are they all downtown? Thank you.

@ RagtopGirl: Search seat61.com. Here's the section on Porto.
https://www.seat61.com/stations/porto.htm

kja's cite to The Man in Seat 61 -- blessings and felicitations be upon him -- is hard to top. As it indicates, while the Sao Bento station is smack in the middle of downtown and has a legendary entrance hall with blue azulejos depicting scenes from Portuguese history and daily life (ergo, you should definitely visit it while you are there), the Campanha station is still only about a mile out of downtown, and it definitely would not be worth trying to catch a train connection from Campanha to Sao Bento. It's barely a ten-minute cab ride and a $10 US fare from the Campanha station to anywhere in the main area of downtown Porto. The thing about the Sao Bento train station to keep in mind is that if you want to visit in a day trip some of the other relatively close cities in northern Portugal like Aveiro, Braga, or Guimares, that is where you would catch the train from. Campanha handles the more longer-haul connections to Lisbon and places in Spain.