Lisbon metro and public transport for visitors

Lisbon metro tickets: zapping, contactless or a 24-hour pass

The card to get is the navegante occasional, which used to be called Viva Viagem. It costs €0.50 at the machines in any metro station, lasts a year and carries one person at a time, so everyone needs their own.

You load it with zapping credit, from €3 to €40, and each ride takes its fare off. One catch: the card holds one kind of ticket at a time, so zapping and a 24-hour pass can’t share a card.

For a single ride you don’t even need the card. Tap a contactless bank card or phone at the metro gate, in and out, and it charges €1.92. From the third ride, the card with zapping works out cheaper.

The 24-hour pass pays off from the fifth ride in a day, and its clock starts at your first validation, not at midnight. There’s no 48 or 72-hour ticket for the metro and Carris, though: for longer, you load a new pass each day, or take the Lisboa Card.

For the trains alone, CP sells a tourist ticket for one day or three, at €6.70 and €14.40 (2026), on the Sintra, Cascais and Sado lines.

Lisbon metro lines and hours

The four lines, blue, yellow, green and red, run every day from 6:30 to 1:00. For sightseeing, the green line is the handy one, through Cais do Sodré, Baixa-Chiado, Rossio and Alameda, while the red line runs out to Oriente and the airport.

You validate at the gate going in and again going out. On buses and trams you validate once, when you board. Children under 4 ride the metro free.

Tram 28 and the other Lisbon trams

Tram 28 (the 28E) is the famous one. It climbs from Martim Moniz to Campo de Ourique (Prazeres) by way of Graça, the Sé cathedral, Chiado and Estrela, and zapping, the 24-hour pass and the Lisboa Card all cover it. Paying on board costs €3.30.

The other one you’ll likely use is the 15E, along the river from Praça da Figueira to Belém and Algés. On Carris’s newer trams you can’t pay cash on board, only by bank card or MB Way, the Portuguese payment app, so it’s easier to have a ticket loaded.

Keep an eye on your bag on both lines. In August 2026 a pickpocket who robbed tourists on the 15 and the 28 was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Lisbon funiculars and the Santa Justa Lift

Three of Lisbon’s four funiculars are out of action. The Glória has been out of service since its accident in September 2025, and the press reports that Carris expects it back in 2029. The Bica and the Lavra have no reopening date. Buses 51E, 22B and 19B cover their routes.

The Graça funicular reopened in April 2026 and runs from 7:00 to 20:45. The on-board ticket is €4.30 for up to two rides (2026), by card or MB Way, not cash.

The Santa Justa Lift has been closed since September 2025, and in October 2026 there was still no date to reopen.

Trains to Sintra and Cascais, and the Cacilhas ferry

Beyond the city, the trains of CP, Portugal’s national railway, take you to Sintra and Cascais, and a ferry crosses the river to Cacilhas in about ten minutes.

You validate on every train journey, and the 24-hour pass with CP covers the Sintra, Cascais, Azambuja and Sado lines.

CP is upgrading the Cascais line, and its notice of 21 September 2026 has buses replacing the trains between Caxias and Cascais. They run on weekday nights from 21:50, on Saturdays from 20:50 and on Sundays before 8:50 and from 19:50. Belém isn’t affected.

Lisbon transport on the Lisboa Card

While the Lisboa Card runs, you can forget about fares. It covers the metro, the Carris buses and trams, and the CP trains to Sintra and Cascais, and its 24, 48 or 72 hours start at your first ride.

You still pay for the ferries, and for the town buses once you’re in Sintra or Cascais.