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Destinations
Portugal
🇵🇹 Portugal
Cheap, card-friendly and hilly — get the transit card on arrival and never queue again.
Ready-made routes
Know before you go
The practical facts for Portugal, at a glance.
Currency
Euro (EUR)
roughly €0.92 to US$1 — and Portugal is the cheapest country in western Europe
Tap to pay
Widely accepted, though some places still prefer the local Multibanco network.
Power
Type C / F (two round pins)
230V, 50Hz
Tap water
Tap water is safe everywhere and perfectly good to drink.
Tipping
Not expected. Round up, or leave a euro or two. Never a percentage.
Emergency
Police 112 · Ambulance 112
112 · Works with no SIM, no signal
Best months
March–June and September–October: warm, open, and far less crowded
Entry requirements
Schengen area. Many passports get 90 days visa-free in any 180-day window. ETIAS has been delayed repeatedly — check its current status before you fly.
Paying in Portugal
Widely accepted, though some places still prefer the local Multibanco network.
Tap to pay works
Restaurants and supermarkets
Shops and department stores
Metro ticket machines
Hotels
Carry another way to pay
Small cafés and tascas
Markets
Tips, which are cash
Lisbon runs on a rechargeable Navegante or Viva Viagem card, not your bank card. Buy the card at a station machine for a euro or so, then load it with a day pass.
Apps to download
The apps people in Portugal actually use, in the order to set them up.
Carris Metropolitana
Free; card €0.50, single fares about €1.80
Critical
Lisbon’s buses, trams and funiculars, plus the Navegante card top-ups everything runs on.
Comboios de Portugal
Free; Lisbon–Porto €25–45
Important
The national railway — Lisbon to Porto in under three hours on the Alfa Pendular.
Before you fly
Bolt
Free; fares well below metered taxis
Important
The dominant ride-hailing app in Portugal, and reliably cheaper than a taxi.
Google Maps
Free
Critical
Accurate across Portugal including transit — and crucially it shows the gradient.
Airalo
From about $5
Critical
An EU-wide eSIM installed before you fly.
Before you fly
Booking.com
Free
Important
Widest Portuguese inventory, and honest about which apartments are up four flights of stairs.
Wise
Small conversion fee
Important
A euro balance and card at the real rate.
Before you fly
WhatsApp
Free
Important
Universal in Portugal for hosts, guides and tour operators.
Step-by-step setup for each app is in the iPhone app.
First 60 minutes after landing
1
Buy a Navegante or Andante card immediately
It costs €0.50 and roughly halves what you pay per journey. Paying a tram or bus driver in cash is the most expensive way to move around either city.
2
Use a Multibanco ATM, not Euronet
Portugal’s domestic network is one of the few in Europe that usually charges nothing. Decline the conversion offer regardless.
3
Move your wallet before you board tram 28
It is the most reliable pickpocketing location in the country. Bag in front, phone away, and do it before you get on.
4
Check the gradient before you accept a walking route
Both cities are far steeper than a flat map suggests. A twelve-minute walk can be sixty metres of vertical stairs.
Where to stay in Portugal
2 cities
Lisbon
Built on seven hills above the Tagus, with trams, funiculars and more staircases than you are ready for.
Watch out for
Tram 28 is a working tram, not a tourist ride, and it is the single worst pickpocketing spot in Portugal. Bag in front, phone away.
The Navegante/Viva Viagem card costs €0.50 and makes every journey far cheaper than buying singly.
Those beautiful calçada pavements are lethally slippery in rain. Wear grip.
Porto
Smaller, steeper and more atmospheric than Lisbon, with the port cellars across the river in Gaia.
Watch out for
The metro uses the same Andante card system — validate it every single time, including transfers.
Port tastings are in Vila Nova de Gaia across the bridge, not in Porto proper.
The walk back up from Ribeira is genuinely steep. The funicular exists for a reason.
Getting around
Lisbon airport → city centre
The airport is unusually close — 7km from the middle.
Metro (red line)
Station is inside the terminal. Buy a Navegante card at the machine.
About €1.80 plus the €0.50 card
20–30 min with one change
Bolt or Uber
Designated pickup at departures level. Cheap enough to be the default for two people.
€8–14
15–25 min
Aerobus
Direct to the centre, simpler than the metro with cases.
About €4
30–40 min
Porto airport → city centre
One metro line, straight in.
Metro line E
Direct from the terminal. Buy an Andante card at the machine and validate it.
About €2.60
30 min to Trindade
Bolt or Uber
Cheap and simple with bags.
€12–18
20 min
Lisbon → Porto
Under three hours by train, and no reason to fly.
Alfa Pendular
Fastest service, reserved seating, book ahead for weekends.
€30–45
2 hr 45 min
Intercidades
Half an hour slower and noticeably cheaper.
€20–30
3 hr 15 min
FlixBus
Cheapest, and the roads are good.
€10–18
3 hr 30 min
Staying connected
Yes — a carrier-locked phone cannot use a local SIM or eSIM
Airalo
Eurolink regional
5GB · 30 days · US$20
Sensible if Portugal is paired with Spain, which it usually is.
Airalo
Portugal local
3GB · 30 days · US$9
Cheaper per gigabyte for a Portugal-only trip.
MEO / Vodafone prepaid
Physical prepaid SIM
15GB · 30 days · US$18
Gives a Portuguese number. Passport required at purchase.
When to go
Best months
March–June and September–October: warm, open, and far less crowded
Hardest months
July–August: hot and very full, especially Lisbon
Languages
Portuguese, English widely spoken, more so than in Spain or France
Getting it right socially
The couvert — bread, olives, cheese brought unasked — is charged. Sending it back is completely normal and not rude.
Do not call it Spanish. Portugal is a separate country with a separate language and people mind.
Greet with "Bom dia" before asking anything.
Lunch runs 12:30–15:00, dinner from 19:30 — earlier than Spain.
Ready-made routes
Lisbon and Porto in 6 days
6 days · about US$95 a day
Two hilly river cities three hours apart, and the cheapest good food in western Europe.
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