Lisbon Airport to the City Centre: Metro, Bus 744, Night Bus or Taxi?

For most first visits to Lisbon, take the Metro Red Line from Aeroporto station and change once: at Alameda for the Green Line to Rossio, Baixa-Chiado and Cais do Sodré, or at São Sebastião for the Blue Line to Avenida and Restauradores. A contactless bank card works at the gates, so you do not need to queue at a ticket machine. Take Carris bus 744 or 783 if your hotel is on Avenida da Liberdade, around Marquês de Pombal or near Saldanha and you would rather not change trains. After the metro closes at 01:00, your options are night bus 208 or a taxi.

Older guides often recommend the Aerobus shuttle. We could not find a current official operator page for it, so this guide covers the Metro and the Carris city network, whose routes and fares we checked on the operators’ own sites.

Lisbon airport transport at a glance

Option 1: the Metro Red Line

Aeroporto is the end of the Metro’s Red Line (Linha Vermelha), at the airport itself. Trains run every day from 06:30, and the last trains leave the end stations at 01:00. According to Metro de Lisboa’s published frequencies, a Red Line train comes about every 6 minutes in the weekday morning and evening peaks, every 7 minutes through the middle of the day, every 8 to 10 minutes early in the morning and late in the evening, and every 7 to 10 minutes at weekends and on public holidays.

The Red Line does not go straight into the old town, so most visitors change once. Where you change depends on where you are staying:

• Rossio, Baixa-Chiado, Martim Moniz, Intendente or Cais do Sodré: stay on to Alameda and change to the Green Line towards Cais do Sodré.
• Avenida da Liberdade, Restauradores, Terreiro do Paço or Santa Apolónia: ride to the end at São Sebastião and change to the Blue Line towards Santa Apolónia.
• Saldanha, Picoas or Marquês de Pombal: change to the Yellow Line at Saldanha, or get off there if your hotel is in the Avenidas Novas.
• Parque das Nações or onward trains: get off at Oriente, three stops from the airport, where the metro meets the railway station.

A Metro journey includes changes between lines as long as you stay inside the network, so one fare covers the whole trip from the airport to your stop.

Which metro ticket to use

Lisbon’s metro gates take three kinds of payment, and the right one depends on how much you plan to travel:

• Contactless bank card: tap your card at the gate for a single Metro journey at €1.92. It is the quickest option on arrival. Each card covers one person, so a couple needs two cards, and you should tap the card itself rather than a wallet holding several cards.
• Zapping credit on a navegante occasional card: the reusable card costs €0.50 and is valid for a year. Load it with credit (from €3) and each Metro journey costs €1.72. The same credit also works on Carris buses and trams and other operators in the network, with each operator’s fare deducted.
• Carris/Metro ticket (€1.90) or a 24-hour pass: the €1.90 ticket gives 60 minutes on the Carris and Metro networks from first validation, which covers a metro ride followed by a bus or tram. The 24-hour Carris/Metro pass costs €7.25; the version that adds CP trains, including the Sintra and Cascais lines, costs €11.40.

A navegante occasional card is for one person per journey, even if it has enough credit for two. If you are travelling as a group, buy a card each at the machines in the station. If you also need a pass for sightseeing, our guide to whether the Lisboa Card is worth it compares it with paying as you go.

Option 2: Carris buses 744 and 783

Carris city buses stop at the airport and run straight into the Avenidas Novas and the city centre, with no change. Route 744 runs from the airport via Saldanha, Picoas and Marquês de Pombal down Avenida da Liberdade to Restauradores. Route 783 follows a similar route via Campo Grande, Entrecampos, Saldanha and Marquês de Pombal to Amoreiras. Route 722 also links the airport with Areeiro, Saldanha and Restauradores.

A single ticket bought on board costs €2.30, paid in cash to the driver, by contactless card at the validator or with MB Way. Using a navegante occasional card with zapping credit, or the €1.90 Carris/Metro ticket, is cheaper. The bus makes sense if your hotel is right on these routes and you would rather sit with your bags than change trains, but it shares the road with city traffic, so journey times vary more than on the metro.

Arriving after the metro closes

The last Red Line trains leave at 01:00. After that, Carris route 208 runs through the night between Cais do Sodré and Oriente, calling at the airport and at Martim Moniz and Praça do Comércio in the centre. On the current winter weekday timetable, buses leave Cais do Sodré from about 00:30 to 05:35, mostly every 30 minutes. Check the Carris timetable for the direction you need before you land, because night frequencies are lower than daytime ones.

If your flight lands very late, you are arriving with children or heavy luggage, or you are in a group of three or four, a taxi or ride-hailing car may be worth the extra cost over several bus fares. Follow the airport’s signs to the official taxi rank or the ride-hailing pick-up area, and check the app’s price before you confirm.

Which option should you choose?

• Staying in Baixa, Chiado, Alfama or Cais do Sodré: Red Line to Alameda, then the Green Line.
• Staying on Avenida da Liberdade or near Restauradores: bus 744 for no changes, or the Red Line to São Sebastião and then the Blue Line.
• Staying near Saldanha or Marquês de Pombal: Red Line to Saldanha, or bus 744 or 783.
• Catching a train onwards: Red Line three stops to Oriente.
• Landing after 01:00: night bus 208, or a taxi or ride-hailing car.
• If your flight uses Terminal 2: check the airport’s website for how to reach the metro station and bus stops from your terminal.

Official sources

• Metro de Lisboa: opening hours and ticket FAQ
• Metro de Lisboa: fares for occasional journeys
• Metro de Lisboa: train frequencies
• Metro de Lisboa: network diagram
• Carris: on-board and occasional fares
• Carris: route 744, route 783 and night route 208
• Lisbon Airport (ANA): public transport

Routes, fares and frequencies were checked on 29 October 2026 and may change. Check the Metro’s line status and the Carris timetables before you travel.