Information checked and updated 23rd September
2026
Please check at official websites for the times on the exact date you plan to travel.
Long distance train tickets are available up
to 60 days in advance.
Rede Expressos coach / long distance bus tickets are available
up to 90 days in advance.
Flixbus ticket sales dates vary but are generally up to two
months in advance.
Please confirm local transport information through sources given below.
GUARDA (pop.42,000, urban area 55,000) is a city of North-eastern Portugal. It is not in the Algarve - I was visiting! The city is about 197 miles / 316 km by road from Lisbon and 126 miles /202km from Porto.
You can pay for Lisbon metro journeys using contactless payment. Each journey including transfer to another line if needed will cost €1,92. A paper ticket costs €2,40, which includes 50 cents for the rechargeable Navegante ticket card if needed.
If you are not planning to spend time in Lisbon, you will need to get from the Airport to LISBOA ORIENTE station. Obviously, taxis are available. However, this is very simple using the Lisbon metro (subway) from the airport station. Trains run to Oriente station every few minutes from 0630 until 0100 every night. The journey takes about 6 minutes. There is also city bus 744 to Oriente, however large luggage is not allowed. City bus details at http://www.carris.pt/
If you are planning to spend time in Lisbon, all trains to
Guarda start from the city centre SANTA APOLÓNIA station.
Complete timetable is here.
Daily trains from Lisbon Santa Apolónia at 0730, 1230 and 1830.
From Guarda at 0718, 1248 and 1816. On Sundays there is also a
slow train at 1646, arriving in Lisbon at 2150. No reservations
available or needed on that one. Other journeys are possible
with a change of train at Coimbra-B. Full price 2nd class
(Turista) ticket is €23.65, discounts available for advance
purchase.
Check all details and buy your tickets at www.cp.pt nb tickets can only
be bought a maximum of 60 days in advance. Seat reservation is compulsory on
the Intercidades (IC) trains. Reservations are not available
for Inter-Regional or Regional trains.
The railway station at Guarda is about 2 miles / 3.2km from the
town centre. There is an irregular bus service on weekdays which
does provide connections with most of the trains, but there are
only three buses all day on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays. Bus
times here.
Taxis wait at the station.
There are daily Intercity trains from Lisbon Santa Apolónia
station to Guarda via Covilhã, a slightly longer journey,
daily at 0815, 1315 and 1915. From Guarda to Lisbon at 0702,
1407 and 1825. Standard fare 2nd class is €23,65, 1st class
€32,85 but discounts are usually available for advance
bookings.
These also stop at Lisbon Oriente (much closer to the airport) 9 minutes after leaving Santa Apolónia. Journey time to Guarda approx 4hrs 20 minutes.
Seat reservation is
compulsory. You can buy a ticket at the last minute,
but if the train is full you will have to wait until the next
one.
Reservations for train trips in Portugal can only be made
up to a maximum of 60 days in advance. You can reserve on
line at www.cp.pt and
print or download your own ticket. A big discount is
available on many trains for tickets purchased more than 8
days in advance. Do not use RailEurope etc as they cannot
issue the required seat reservation for which you will pay
extra.
Anyone aged 65 or older can travel half price. ID e.g.
passport number required at the time of purchase and which
must be carried on the journey.
There are no cross border train connections with Spain.
There are no direct services from Lisbon Airport and only two or three each day from Lisbon Oriente terminal which is a 6 minute metro journey from the airport. Uber and taxis are readily available. Remember it's LISBOA on the timetable search.
You will most of the time need to make your way from the airport to the Sete Rios bus terminal. This is about 3 miles/5km from the airport and is linked to it by the underground metro line. Take any train to the end of the line at São Sebastião then change to the Blue Line for a two stop ride to Jardim Zoológico station, which is adjacent to Sete Rios. Trains run every few minutes from 0630 daily. The journey will take around 25 minutes and cost €2,40 (cash), including 50 cents for the rechargeable ticket card, €1.92 by contactless card payment. Check the metro website for options from other parts of the city. Taxis / Uber are readily available.
For your bus options from elsewhere in the city check the city bus website at http://www.carris.pt/
Consult the long distance bus website www.rede-expressos.pt
for Lisbon - Guarda times and tickets, remember it's LISBOA on
the timetable search. One-way standard fare is currently
€20.00 and the journey takes about 4 hrs 30 minutes. Discounts
of up to 70% are available for tickets booked well in advance.
There are about ten journeys each way every day, some extras
on Fridays and Sundays during University terms. Advance
reservations are strongly recommended for travel on Friday and
Sunday afternoons and evenings.
Flixbus ( www.flixbus.pt or app)
currently operate three or four times daily between Lisbon Oriente and Guarda.
Lisbon Oriente bus station is much closer to the airport than
Sete Rios if you are flying into or out of Lisbon. Journey
time 3hrs 50 minutes.
There is no direct route by train. Travel by IC train from
Porto Campanhã to Pampilhosa and change there. Most journeys
take around 4 hours, with sometimes a long wait between
trains. The train option does compare badly with the coach
(bus) services which take a more direct route. There are five
or six trains available each day.
One way full price will vary between €20 and €30 depending on
which trains are used. Seat
reservation is compulsory for any part of the journey
requiring Alfa Pendular (AP) or Interciades (IC) trains
Details and ticket purchase at www.cp.pt/en
Take the Metro do Porto Line E from the Airport to Campanhã
station. You may need to change trains, which I recommend you
do at Lapa station
where this is done on the same platform, no need for steps,
tunnels etc. Trains are currently running about every 15
minutes daily between about 0700 and 2000, about every 30
minutes at other times. The first train from the airport is at
0606 on weekdays, 0558 on Saturdays and at 0557 on Sundays and
public holidays.
Payment by contactless credit / debit card is possible for
metro journeys from the airport. Any journey will cost €2,25.
Contactless payment is only available at a few other places on
the network.
That will take about 35 minutes and otherwise costs €2.85 - a
Z4 (four zone) paper ticket. More details at the Metro do
Porto website. By
the way, don't throw away your 'ANDANTE' ticket if you are
coming back to Porto. It is rechargeable. You can use it until
it wears out and saves you €0.60 on each subsequent ticket of
the same type. Tickets are sold at the Airport tourist office,
but if it's not open you can pay by contactless card or will
need some coins for the ticket machines. The service to the
Airport from Trindad starts at 0558 on weekdays, 0622 at
weekends and on public holidays, with the last train at 0037
every night. The first direct trains from Campanhã station to
the airport are at 0707 on weekdays, 0706 on Saturdays and
0703 on Sundays and Holidays. The last train from
Campanhã is at 0031 every night. If no direct train is
shown, take any westbound train and change at Lapa station,
where you simply wait on the same platform for the next train
to the airport.
Reservations for train trips in Portugal can only be made up to a maximum of 60 days in advance. You can reserve on line at www.cp.pt and print or download your own ticket. A big discount is available on many trains for tickets purchased more than 8 days in advance. Do not use RailEurope etc as they cannot issue the required seat reservation for which you will pay extra.
Rede-Expressos runs
from Porto Campanhã Bus Station, journey is about 2 hours 45
minutes. There are currently twelve direct journeys every day,
with additional faster journeys in both directions on Fridays
and Sundays during University term times. There are also four
journeys every day starting at the airport. There is no ticket
sales point at the airport. You must therefore obtain yours
from their website or app.
One way standard fare ticket is €15,95 but discounts up to 70%
reduction are available in advance. Tickets can be purchased
up to 90 days in advance at the Rede Expressos website www.rede-expressos.pt
or app.
Flixbus run 3 - 5
times every day between Porto Campanhã and Guarda. Use their
website www.flixbus.pt or app for
times and tickets. Journey time about 3 hours.
The Porto Campanhã bus terminal is about 2.5km east of the
city centre, adjacent to the Campanhã railway and metro
stations and is also served by numerous city bus routes.
Campanhã is about 35 minutes by metro from the airport.
There are no rail
connections across this area of the border. A train journey
to or from Spain is not possible.
Rede Expressos runs a
once or twice daily coach (long distance bus) passing through
Guarda on its way between Porto and Madrid. One journey runs
in daytime, one runs through the night See www.rede-expressos.pt
for times and tickets. There is a daily service to Salamanca,
Valladolid, Burgos and Bilbao, also but not currently daily,
to San Sebastian. Same company, same website. These are very
long journeys!
Flixbus runs between Guarda and Madrid (Sud), stopping at the border town of Vilar Formosa and also Salamanca. There is one daily journey from Guarda at 1245 arriving in Madrid Estacion Sur at 1915 Spanish time. The return journey leaves Madrid (Sud) at 1000 (Spanish time) arriving in Guarda at 1425 Portuguese time. Flixbus also runs between Guarda and San Sebastian via Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao, leaving Guarda at 01.50am. The return journey runs overnight with arrival in Guarda at 05.50am. The journey to / from San Sebastian is 8 hours, 35 minutes.
The old city is on top of a tall hill. The railway station
is about 2 miles / 3km from the city centre. There is a bus
service between the station and the city centre about every 30
- 60 minutes on weekdays, less often at weekends. See below
for details. The bus station (Centro Coordenador de
Transportes) is just outside the old city, in Rua António
Sérgio next to the Municipal market.
Once you are up in the old city it is walkable if rather
hilly. You cannot easily drive around there anyway! The city
and suburbs have a network of six bus routes operated under
the name Transportes Urbanos da Guarda.
The website information is only in Portuguese. These all stop
outside the bus station (C. Camionagem) or the Mercado
Municipal, which is adjacent. Route map here.
The site also has a good interactive map at https://transportes.mun-guarda.pt/Tracking?tab=Paragens
which enables the day's bus times for any stop to be displayed
and also shows the locations of buses in service. Click on a
stop to show the routes that stop there and then on the route
number.
The main routes, now numbered U01, U02 and U03, have buses
every 30 - 60 minutes on weekdays. The other routes are
essentially for school and work. Weekend service is very
limited on all routes.
Route U01 also stops at the railway station - Estação
C.F - and will take you into the centre. Times at https://etug.pt/Schedule
Some of the buses used may not display the route number, just
the destination. Cash fare on board is €1,30. A pre paid
ten journey ticket is €10,00
The Guarda municipal stadium is within walking distance of
the city centre. No buses pass nearby. Guarda has two clubs
playing in the lower divisions of Portuguese football.
If you have any comments or updates for this page, I will be
pleased to receive them by email.
For more about Guarda as a city, please see this Wikipedia
article
I take no responsibility for any inconvenience caused as a result of later changes to times etc. This page is for general guidance only and you must check details before making commitments and decisions!
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