Lisboa Card

Is the Lisboa Card worth it, and how do you activate it?

It pays off on days with paid entries. The Jerónimos cloister (€19.50) and Belém Tower (€16.80) together already cost more than the 24-hour card, before you take a single tram.

On a day of markets and viewpoints with no tickets to buy, on the other hand, you’d only be using it as a transport pass.

Timing is easy, too. You can buy it weeks ahead, because it only starts when you first use it. That first use has to be on public transport, a metro gate or a tram, and you write the date and time on the back.

So a 72-hour card started on a Friday morning lasts until Monday morning. Just don’t start a 24-hour card on a Monday: Jerónimos, Belém Tower and the Coach Museum are closed.

Getting in is simple: at most places you show the card at the desk and go in. Jerónimos and Belém Tower also want a time slot, which is free.

The thing to know is that you book it with the card’s number, so you can only do it once you’ve swapped the voucher for the card in Lisbon. Card holders have their own daily quota, and in high season it fills up.

Also worth knowing: a few included museums are closed for works, among them the National Tile Museum and the National Museum of Ancient Art.

Lisbon transport with the Lisboa Card

While the card runs, you ride as much as you like. That’s every metro line, from the airport into town, and all the Carris buses and trams in the city, the 28 included.

On top of that, it covers the trains from Rossio to Sintra and from Cais do Sodré to Cascais, plus the Fertagus trains over the 25 de Abril Bridge to Setúbal.

Not everything is on it, though: the ferries across the Tagus and the local buses in Sintra and Cascais aren’t. And the Santa Justa Lift is included but closed.

Sintra and other day trips with the Lisboa Card

For Sintra, the train there and back is included, and so is the Sintra Myths and Legends centre.

The palaces and parks give a discount instead: 10% at Pena and the National Palace, 15% at the Moorish Castle, Monserrate and the Capuchos.

The catch is that you only get it at their ticket desks, not online. At Pena that’s a couple of euros, and entry is timed with limited tickets, so buying on the day is cheapest but also riskiest.

And note that Quinta da Regaleira isn’t on the card’s list, and the 434 and 435 buses are a separate fare. The Cascais train is included too, though nothing in Cascais itself is.

Further out, the monasteries of Batalha and Alcobaça, the Convent of Christ in Tomar and the palace at Mafra are included. Getting there is up to you. Tomar’s convent is open, though works have closed some of its terraces, a cloister and its gardens.

Lisboa Card combos with Pena Palace and the Oceanarium

You can also buy the card with a Pena Palace or an Oceanarium ticket, all in one go.

It does cost a few euros more than buying the two separately, though, and the gap grows with the card length. The Pena combo throws in two audio guides, for Sintra and for Lisbon.

One more thing: combos can’t be cancelled, while the card on its own can.

Where to buy and pick up the Lisboa Card

You buy it online and get a voucher by email; the physical card isn’t sold online.

Once in Lisbon, you swap the voucher for the card at an Ask Me Lisboa tourist desk. The one in the airport arrivals hall opens every day, so you can collect it as you land and ride the metro into town.

You have up to 28 days after the date you picked at checkout to swap it. Desks and hours are on where to buy the Lisboa Card.