At A Glance
The Lisbon to Porto train takes 2 hours 50 minutes on the Alfa Pendular, and a second class ticket costs €35.70 at the 2026 fares.
- Alfa Pendular: 2h50, €35.70 in second class (Turística) or €49.90 in first class (Conforto).
- Intercidades: about 3h15, €28.05 in second class or €41.50 in first class. Same route, slightly slower, cheaper seat.
- CP Promo fares drop to roughly €16 if you book up to 60 days ahead. They sell out and they are not refundable.
- There are 15 to 19 departures a day, running roughly every hour or two from Lisboa Santa Apolónia and Lisboa Oriente.
- Every train arrives at Porto Campanhã, not the old town. São Bento is one stop and about 5 minutes further on, and my Maison is a 10 minute walk from there.
The train is how I travel between Lisbon and Porto, and it is what I tell guests to book. You leave one city centre and arrive in the other, with no airport transfer at either end, no bag drop, and no queue. On the fast service you are on board for under three hours with a café-bar down the carriage and a plug at your seat.
What people get wrong is the ticket. Two travellers on the same train, in the same seat class, can pay €35.70 and €16 for the privilege, and the only difference between them is when they clicked. Prices went up across the CP network on 1 January 2026, so anything you read quoting last year’s fares is now wrong by a euro or two on every service.
Most of my guests are doing this leg as part of something longer, usually a few days in Lisbon and then the rest of the week here, or a flight into Lisbon because it was cheaper and the train north to make up for it. If that is you, and you are coming from the UK, my London to Porto travel guide covers the whole chain. This page is the Lisbon to Porto leg on its own: what it costs in 2026, which train to book, and where you actually end up.
Arriving in Porto? Check dates at Canto de Luz, my Boutique Maison right in the heart of the old town, a 10 minute walk from São Bento station.
What the Lisbon to Porto Train Costs in 2026
CP raised fares by an average of 2.26% on 1 January 2026. These are the current walk-up prices for a one way ticket between Lisbon and Porto Campanhã.
| Service | Journey time | Second class | First class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfa Pendular | 2h50 to 2h58 | €35.70 (Turística) | €49.90 (Conforto) |
| Intercidades | about 3h15 to 3h23 | €28.05 | €41.50 |
| CP Promo | same trains | from about €16 | limited availability |
The €7.65 between an Intercidades second class seat and an Alfa Pendular one buys you roughly 25 to 30 minutes. If you are travelling with children and the day is already long, I would pay it. If you are on your own with a book, I would not.
Discounts That Actually Apply
- Booking early through CP Promo takes up to 65% off. The cheap seats open around 60 days out and go.
- Children under 4 travel free and do not need a seat reservation. Ages 4 to 12 get 50% off.
- Under 25s get 25% off, and travellers aged 65 and over get 50% off.
- A return ticket takes 10% off.
- Age and youth discounts come off full price fares only, so they do not stack on top of a Promo fare. Work out both and book whichever lands lower.
Alfa Pendular or Intercidades: What You Actually Get
Both trains run the same rails on the Linha do Norte, and both are comfortable. The Alfa Pendular is the tilting one, which is how it holds 220 km/h through curves the older stock has to slow for. That tilt is the entire 25 to 30 minute difference. It is not a nicer railway, it is the same railway taken faster.
Firstly, the classes are named differently, which trips people up at the booking screen. On the Alfa Pendular you are choosing between Turística and Conforto. On Intercidades it is plain 1ª and 2ª classe. Conforto gets you wider seats in a 2 plus 1 layout, more legroom, and a quieter carriage. Turística is a normal 2 plus 2 airline-style seat and perfectly good for under three hours.
Next, the things that are identical on both, which is most of what matters. Air conditioning, free Wi-Fi, a plug at every seat, a café-bar carriage selling coffee, beer, sandwiches and pastéis de nata, and a proper luggage rack at the end of each carriage for big cases plus overhead space for the rest. Nobody weighs your bag and nobody charges you for it, which is the quiet argument against flying this route.
Finally, the seat itself. Every ticket is a named, reserved seat with a carriage and seat number printed on it. There is no standing, no scrum for space, and no boarding order. Turn up, find your carriage on the platform indicator, sit in your seat. If you have booked Conforto on an Alfa Pendular you also get an at-seat drink and a newspaper, which is a pleasant leftover from an older idea of rail travel.
My honest recommendation, having done this run more times than I can count: book Intercidades second class if you are travelling light and the timing suits, and pay for Alfa Pendular Turística if you are arriving with a plan for the evening. Conforto is a treat rather than a necessity on a journey this short. If you are working out the wider trip, my guide to travelling by train in Porto covers the network once you are here.
The 2026 Timetable, Honestly
CP runs 15 to 19 departures a day between Lisbon and Porto, spaced roughly every hour or two from early morning until mid evening. I am deliberately not printing a departure board here. CP adjusts times seasonally and on engineering weekends, and a table of times copied into a blog post is wrong within a month, which is exactly how people miss trains.
Put your date into the CP timetable and book from that. What is stable, and what you can plan around, is the shape of the day.
- The Alfa Pendular is the fastest thing on the line at 2h50, and it tilts through the curves at up to 220 km/h.
- Intercidades sits about 25 to 30 minutes behind on the same tracks.
- Both carry a café-bar, air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and power at the seat.
- Seats are reserved and named. There is no hopping on an earlier train with the ticket you hold.
How to Book, and How to Get the €16 Fare
Book direct at cp.pt or in the CP app. Resellers add a booking fee for the same seat on the same train, and they are slower to reissue if CP moves the service. There is no advantage to going through anyone else on this route.
The Promo fare is the whole game. CP releases a fixed allocation of discounted seats on each departure roughly 60 days out, and once that allocation goes, it is gone and the price steps up to the walk-up fare in the table above. This is why one traveller pays €16 and the person beside them pays €35.70 for an identical seat. Set a reminder for two months before you travel and it is the easiest €20 you will save on the trip.
- Promo tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable. If your dates are soft, pay the flexible fare and stop worrying about it.
- You need the passenger name and an ID number at booking. Bring the same ID you booked with, since it is checked on board.
- The ticket is a PDF or a screen in the app. There is nothing to collect and no machine to queue at.
- Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and the weeks around São João and Christmas sell out completely. On those dates, booking ahead is not about price, it is about getting on the train.
- If you are flying in and connecting, allow a real buffer. Book the train for two hours after you land, not one. Lisbon airport to Santa Apolónia is not a five minute job with bags.
Which Lisbon Station, and Where You Land in Porto
Trains north leave from Lisboa Santa Apolónia and call at Lisboa Oriente a few minutes later. Santa Apolónia is the more central of the two and sits by the river below Alfama. Oriente is the better choice if you are coming from the airport, because the red metro line runs there directly and you skip crossing the city with your bags.
The arrival is where people get caught out. Every long distance train terminates at Porto Campanhã, which is not the old town and not where you want to be standing with a suitcase. São Bento, the tiled station everyone photographs, is one stop further on and about 5 minutes away. Your long distance ticket already covers that connection, so do not buy anything extra for it. Walk to the local platform at Campanhã, take the next urban train, and get off at São Bento.
From São Bento I am a 10 minute walk away, on Rua Do Almada, set back from the main streets so you get the old town without the noise of it. The metro is the other option out of Campanhã if your hotel sits nearer a station, and the Andante card covers both the metro and that local hop to São Bento on one rechargeable card. If you would rather see how the lines fit together before you arrive, the Porto metro map lays out all six of them, including the airport run.
One thing worth knowing before you step off. Campanhã has been rebuilt and the local platforms are a short signed walk from the long distance ones, not a different building. Follow the signs for São Bento, or for Urbanos, and check the departure board for the next Aveiro, Braga or Guimarães service, since almost all of them call at São Bento. They run every few minutes, so a missed one costs you nothing.
Where to Stay When You Get Off the Train
Canto de Luz is my Boutique Maison in Porto’s old town, a 10 minute walk from São Bento. Seven suite types, a heated saltwater pool open every day of the year, and a homemade breakfast that changes daily.
What the Journey Itself Is Like
Nobody books this train for the scenery, and it would be dishonest of me to sell it to you that way. The Linha do Norte is a working main line through the middle of the country. You get the Tagus estuary on the way out of Lisbon, then farmland, pine, eucalyptus, the university tower at Coimbra, and a run of small industrial towns before Porto. It is pleasant and it is green. It is not the Douro.
What it is, is easy. You board at street level with your case, you sit down, and just under three hours later you are in another city with your legs working and your bags where you left them. Buy a coffee, read, sleep, watch Coimbra go past. There is no seatbelt sign and nobody makes you turn anything off.
A few practical notes from doing it often. The café-bar gets busy in the first half hour out of Lisbon, so go later or go early. Phone signal drops in the cuttings north of Coimbra, so download anything you want to watch before you leave. And if you are travelling with children, the luggage rack end of the carriage is the noisy end, which you may want or may very much not want depending on the child.
Once you are off at São Bento you are already in the middle of things. The Sé do Porto is a few minutes uphill from the station door, and if you arrive hungry before you can check in anywhere, a bifana is the correct answer and there are good ones within a short walk.
Adding the Douro Valley to Your Trip
If you are already buying one train ticket, buy a second. The Douro line runs east out of São Bento along the river to Peso da Régua and on to Pinhão, and the last stretch is cut into the terraced vineyards a few metres above the water. It is one of the great railway journeys in Europe and it is a day trip, not a relocation.
The practical version is this. You keep your room in Porto, you go out for the day with the quinta visit booked, and you come back to a bed you have already unpacked into. No second check in, no dragging cases up the valley, and if the weather turns you have lost a day trip rather than half your holiday. Sit on the right hand side going out for the river.
I have written up what is worth doing once you are there in my guide to the top things to do in the Douro Valley, including which quintas take walk ins and which need booking.
A Note from Susan
“Guests arrive at Campanhã, see it is an industrial station miles from anything, and assume they have made a mistake. They have not. Stay on the platform, take the next local train five minutes down the hill to São Bento, and walk out into the tiles. Then come and find me. I would rather you knew that before you booked a taxi you did not need.”
More to Explore
- The Funicular dos Guindais, which saves your legs on the climb up from the Ribeira and takes two minutes.
- Porto spring events for 2026, if you are still choosing your dates.
- A self-guided street art walk, which is a good first afternoon when you have arrived and do not want to commit to anything.
Google review
★★★★★
“We were greeted warmly after a red eye flight and offered some coffees while we waited to check in. We were able to get into our room early, giving us the opportunity to unwind after travel. The included breakfast was a cherry on top of everything and we were even given a to-go breakfast on days where we had early tours or buses to catch.”
Molly Algerheim, stayed with friends
Lisbon to Porto Train: Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to see the answer.
How long does the train from Lisbon to Porto take?
The Alfa Pendular does it in 2 hours 50 minutes on the fastest booking, with most services around 2h58. Intercidades takes about 3h15 to 3h23 on the same line.
How much does the Lisbon to Porto train cost in 2026?
At the fares that took effect on 1 January 2026, an Alfa Pendular second class ticket is €35.70 and first class is €49.90. Intercidades is €28.05 in second class and €41.50 in first. CP Promo fares booked ahead start around €16.
Which Lisbon station should I board at?
Santa Apolónia if you are staying central, Oriente if you are coming from the airport, since the red metro line runs straight there. Trains call at both, a few minutes apart.
Do trains from Lisbon arrive at Porto São Bento?
No. Every long distance service terminates at Porto Campanhã. São Bento is one stop and about 5 minutes further on by local train, and the connection is already included in your ticket.
Do I need to book the Lisbon to Porto train in advance?
Seats are reserved, so booking ahead is how you get a cheap one rather than any one. Promo fares open around 60 days out and take up to 65% off. On a Friday or a holiday weekend the whole train can go.
Can I take the train from Porto to the Douro Valley?
Yes, and it is worth doing. The Douro line leaves from São Bento and runs along the river to Peso da Régua and Pinhão. It works as a day trip from Porto, so you keep your room in the city rather than moving hotels.
Is the train better than flying between Lisbon and Porto?
For this route, yes. The flight is under an hour but you add two airport transfers, bag drop and security either side, and you land outside the city. The train puts you in the centre of Porto in under three hours from the centre of Lisbon.
Your Room in Porto, 10 Minutes from São Bento
Canto de Luz is a restored Boutique Maison right in the heart of the old town. Homemade breakfast every morning, a heated saltwater pool open year round, and a real person to ask about the Douro. From €99 a night.
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