Lisbon - car hire or public transport?

RoCas

Hi - first post for this newbie ...

I'm planning a fly drive trip to Portugal in June, starting at Lisbon. I was going to arrange car hire pickup at the airport on my arrival but then thought maybe I wouldn't want a car whilst in Lisbon.

Does anybody have experience of sightseeing in Lisbon? Is it better to use public transport there?

Thanks for any info you can give me.

Felix

Public transport is very good, good tram, bus and tube system.

RoCas

Thanks Felix. Any idea how easy it is to get from Lisbon airport into the city? Cost?

gabriel

Public transport is ok for most of the city so I would use it. Traffic and parking is usually insane.

However I would recommend a car if you want to visit any of the nearby regions.

Best way from the airport is by taxi, it shouldn't be that expensive but the cabbie can take you for a ride
A good option is the bus service number 91 (called the Airbus) that should stop near most downtown hotels.

The ticket you get on the Airbus costs 3 Euros and lets you ride the bus/metro/trams all day.

Another ticket you can get after that is the 5 day bus/metro/tram ticket which costs about 12 Euros.

PM me if you have further questions.

trisontana

One tip for the taxi from Lisbon airport. Don't wait in line outside for one. Instead go to the Tourist Information kiosk and pre-pay for your taxi there. With any luck (this happened to us), one of the kiosk staff will take you outside and call up a taxi. This way you won't have to wait for a taxi. By pre-paying you also insure you are not ripped off.

Even if you want to travel out of town I would still use trains. There are fast and frequent ones to Sintra and the coast . they run on time and are very cheap.

To see the best of Lisbon go on the open-top bus trip. You can get on and off as much as you like and the ticket is also valid on the trams. Of these, route number 28 is the best. They use the very old, quaint vehicles on this line and they winds their way through the very narrow streets of the old town.

trisontana

I forgot to add that when travelling back to the airport, get your hotel to book a taxi for you. We did this and, instead of an ordinary taxi, we ended up with a chauffeur driven Merc., complete with uniformed driver. All this for the same price as the taxi. A nice ending to a very enjoyable holiday.

RoCas

Thank you all for your very helpful replies.

fatboyonadiet

The driving is a bit manic (like most cites) so best to avoid, taxis are Ok but public transport is really good and cheap, best to get a book of tickets or the week travel card. Have fun too, it is really nice and the people are lovely. Check out CasCais and the aquarium too, cable car here too but view from here is amazing.

Welcome to MSE too!