Checked and updated 18th August 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.
Guimarães (pop.55,000, urban area 112,000) is a city of Northern Portugal - it is not in the Algarve. I was visiting. It stands about 54km (34 miles) north-west of the major city of Porto.
It is therefore about the same distance from PORTO airport. Lisbon and its airport are some 365km (250 miles) to the south.
Getbus operates a
direct service between Porto Airport and Guimarães, costing
normally €7,99, but I have seen tickets for as little as €1,99.
There are 12 buses every day at irregular intervals. The journey
takes 40 minutes and this is the quickest way. Tickets can be
bought at their website or app, at the Getbus helpdesk at the
airport (card only) or, with cash only, from the bus driver. At
Guimarães tickets are also sold at the Mondinense ticket office
in the bus station.
Flixbus run about 10
joruensy each day between Porto Airport and Guimarães. Find
their websit or app for times adn tickets.
Rede Expressos also
runs direct and non-stop between Porto Airport and Guimarães.
Five journeys each way at very irregular intervals. There is no
ticket sales point at the airport, buy tickets via their website
or app. I have seen prices as little as €1,95 for advance
purchase!
By metro and train it is frequent, straightforward and
inexpensive. 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 may 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.
At Campanhã walk round from the Metro station to the main
railway station of CP, Portuguese Railways. That takes only a
minute.
From there, local electric trains of the Porto Urbanos network
run to Guimarães about once every TWO hours, with extra trains
on weekday rush hours. The journey takes about 1 hour and 10
minutes and will cost €3.60. There are simple to use ticket
machines in the hall; there were long lines at the ticket office
all three times I was there. The machines take notes as well as
coins. Special note - all CP Porto Urbanos train tickets are now
issued on a rechargeable card called SIGA. This costs 50 cents.
Do not throw it away as it can be used for second and
subsequent ticket purchases on the Porto Urbanos network. NB
these tickets are NOT VALID on Intercity trains. Urbanos trains
are (mostly) bright yellow!
Tourist tickets for all CP Porto Urbanos trains -1
day €7,70 and 3 days €16.50.
First train from Campanhã is at 0625 on weekdays, 0730 daily
and the last train is at 2325 daily. These start from Porto São
Bento five minutes earlier. Be sure to check timetables at
the Portugal Railways Official website
By bus / coach from Porto city centre
Rede - Expressos has about
eight buses each way daily between Porto Campanhã bus station
and Guimarães - website for times and tickets here.
Journey time about one hour. Can be cheaper than going by
train if booked in advance. You can get to the bus station on the metro,
alighting at Campanhã station, which is two minutes walk from
the bus station. The journey from the airport is about 35
minutes and is mostly above ground.
TRANSDEV has a local bus
service between Porto (Régulo de Magauanha bus station) and
Guimarães with seven buses each way on weekdays, but no weekend
or holiday service.
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 and Uber 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, most trains to the
north start from the city centre Santa Apólonia station. Check
timetables and buy tickets at www.cp.pt
There is one train every day direct between Lisbon and
Guimarães. In the morning there is an Intercity train leaving
Lisbon Santa Apolónia at 1130hrs, Lisbon Oriente at 1139
arriving in Guimarães at 1542hrs. The return trip leaves
Guimarães at 1649, arriving in Lisbon Oriente at 2053 and Santa
Apolónia at 2100hrs. One way tourist (2nd) class fare is €29.70
on those trains, can be much less if booked in advance. First
class is €43.15. Seat
reservation is compulsory.
You can create more journey options (about another nine trains) by taking one of the frequent trains between Lisbon and Porto (Campanhã) and changing to / from the local 'Urbanos' service there. Train times are subject to change around major public holidays, for example Easter, Christmas and New Year. Check official timetables carefully when making your reservations.
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.
Direct jourensys between Lisbon Airport and Guimarães operate
once a day, only on Fridays and Sundays There are four direct
services each day from Lisbon Oriente terminal which is a 6
minute metro journey from the airport. Uber and taxis are
readily available.
You will otherwise 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 metro / subway. 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 the 50 cents for the rechargeable ticket card or €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 Portuguese long distance bus website www.rede-expressos.pt
for Lisbon - Guimarães times and tickets; remember it's LISBOA
in the timetable search. One-way fare standard fare is currently
€23.00 and the journey takes about 4hrs 45 minutes. There are
currently three direct journeys most days. Otherwise, a change
is needed in Porto, as shown in the timetable. Extra journeys
(some direct) run on Fridays and Sundays in both directions
during University terms.
Rede Expressos also has journeys to Guimarães from many towns
and cities throughout Portugal.
Flixbus
run six direct journeys daily each way between Lisbon Oriente
bus station and Guimarães. Journey time about 5 hours, plus the
time it takes you get the 9km (6 miles) to Oriente from the city
centre. Oriente is however close to Lisbon Airport, adjacent to
the railway station also called Oriente. Flixbus has no direct
service between Lisbon airport and Guimarães.
The railway station in Guimarães is on the southern edge of the
city centre, about six or seven minutes uphill walk. (Downhill
on the way back of course!) Taxis are outside as are several
local buses. It's at Avenida Dom João
IV, Map.
The bus station in Guimarães is a little closer to the city
centre, at the Jardim da Alameda Mariano Felgueiras. Look for
Central de Camionagem on the map. It is close to McDonalds, the
Hotel IBIS and a large shopping centre.
The tourist office is located in the historic city centre at Largo Cónego José Maria Gomes, 4800 - 419 Guimarães.
Guimarães is a walkable city, if a bit hilly! The historic
centre is traffic-free. If you need local buses around the city
and suburbs, consult the city bus website ; these buses
operate under the name Guimabus. The website is partly available
in English.
Click the tab 'Horários Diurnos e Noturnas' for normal
timetables. The ´Horários Natal, Ano Novo e Pascoa' are special
timetables for Christmas, New Year and Easter. 'Horários em
Tempo Real' gives real time information on bus locations
according to route.
There are two circular routes (numbers 003 and 004) around the
centre, university campuses and railway station operated by
electric buses, running every 20 - 30 minutes on weekdays from
0700 to 2030 on weekdays, every 40 minutes on Saturdays, Sundays
and Holidays.
There is a zonal fare system with tickets for single journeys
starting at €1,25 for very short trips. Longer journeys are
priced according to distance. A ticket for the city zone is
€1,70. A pre paid ten journey ticket reduces the cost by around
10%. Monthly passes are available. Most students can travel free
on a special pass. Payment by contactless card is not available.
There is no system map I can find, but there are various
interactive maps (click Planeador de Viagens) to help you find a
stop and plan a journey. Bus stops and times are also shown on
Google Maps. There is also a very neat real time display of all
buses and bus stops at https://tracking.elevensystems.pt/gmr
The good bus service is because there is a large University
campus (Universidade do Minho) located there. There is a large
outdoor market on Fridays, behind the castle, well worth a
visit.
Cable Car
There is a téléferico (cable car) from the city to Penha, a
hill resort some 1300 feet/400 metres above town and a mile
(1.6km) distant. Well worth a ride for the views if it's a clear
day. Costs €10 up and back down for adults and children
aged 12 and over; €5 for children aged 6 to 11, free for very
young children. It starts running at 10:00 (except on certain
holidays) with finishing times varied according to time of
year. There are closures about once a month for
maintenance. Service may also be suspended in high winds. Check
details here.
The regional bus website is https://avemobilidade.pt/home and is partly available in English.
Buses are reasonably frequent on weekdays, but very few run on
Saturdays and on many routes there are none on Sundays or
Holidays. Most interurban bus service ends around 2000hrs / 8pm.
Please bear these things in mind before making your plans too
firm.
Guimarães < > Braga by
bus
This is AVE route 9304 which runs every 30 - 60 minutes on
weekdays, less frequently at weekends. Go to https://avemobilidade.pt/schedules
and select the 'line' number (they use American English) and be
aware that there are different choices for Dias Úteis
(weekdays), Sábado (Saturdays) and Domingos (Sundays and
Holidays).
AITC Bus 101 Guimarães <> Braga runs on weekdays only,
via the Universities do Minho and Guimarães, times here.
In addition to these buses, the Rede
Expressos long distance bus company
operates several non stop journeys every day but these are more
expensive. Rede Expressos tickets can be purchased from their
website or using their app. Journey time 25 minutes.
It is not possible to travel between Braga and Guimarães by train except by a very long and indirect route.
The stadium of SC Vítoria Guimarães is within easy walking distance of the city centre, you will be pleased to know. It's on the northern edge of town in "Parque Central".
If you have any comments or updates for this page, I will be
pleased to receive them by email.
For more about Guimarães as a city, please see this article in Wikipedia.
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