LISBOA
An informal guide by & for Erasmus Mundus students
Collaborators: Alessandra Gallerano
Becky Chen
Izabela Araújo
Lorenza Tiberi
September/08
ORIENTATION & INFORMATION
Lisbon is Portugal’s capital city and its vibrant cultural life, its multicultural population, and its growing economy certainly prove its importance in the country. However, after a few weeks spent in the ‘cidade branca’ you will notice that Lisbon lacks many of the usual ‘capital-city features’: first of all, it is a walkable city and most of the centre can be toured and appreciated by foot. It is not at all as big as it first appears and this, of course, can be an advantage when exploring the city outside its centre; most of all, its narrow streets, its little old-fashioned restaurants, the houses with laundry hanging outside the windows, the children playing on the streets... everything reminds us of a small town, a village where time has stopped several years ago. Of course, this is not the only side of Lisbon: shabby – yet fascinating – houses exist side by side with fashionable cafés and art galleries, modern buildings, efficient transportation system, and wonderful parks.
WHEN YOU ARRIVE
From the airport
You will have different options to go to the city centre from the airport. Lisbon airport is actually inside the city so a taxi won’t be expensive, especially because this service is especially cheap in Lisbon. If you decide to take a taxi, keep in mind:
- Taxi drivers will charge €2 for each suitcase you carry.
- Taxi drivers in Lisbon can be very smart. As soon as they notice you are not from Lisbon they will try to charge you as much as they can. DON’T FALL FOR THAT! First of all, keep an eye on the taxi counter, as drivers may turn it off without you looking and then charge you lots of money. Second, before arriving, try to see on Google Maps or any other online map what is the distance between the airport and the place you’re going to. If go to University Residence Lumiar, for example, a taxi ride will cost around €5.
If you don’t have a lot of luggage and want to discover Lisbon from the first minute, you can try taking the bus. Bus services are regular and are right outside the airport. It’s cheaper, but it might be just easier to take the taxi and think about exploring the city later!
From bus or train stations
Again probably the best option is to take a taxi. Stations in Lisbon are usually central and if you want to use another kind of transportation from there you may find information on location.
GETTING AROUND
Once you arrive at the airport, the best thing to do is to get a map from the Tourist Office (just opposite to the Arrivals area) and start to familiarize with Lisbon’s geography!
Bus & Tram
- One-way ticket (to be purchased directly on the bus): 1,40 cent
- Multi-trip ticket (5 trips: 4,05 euro /10 trips: 7,50. To be purchased at the post-office [there is one inside the airport ] or at selling agencies. You can find out where the tickets are sold as well as route maps and schedules at www.carris.pt)
- Monthly pass: €22.60 for lines inside Lisbon only.
Metro
- Monthly pass: this might be a good option if you don’t use the bus very often. It costs only €18.50 a month to travel on the metro only. If you think you’ll use the bus occasionally, you can have a monthly metro pass and buy a multi-trip bus ticket.
Combined
- Bus & metro: this is of course the cheapest option if you intend to use both metro and bus. It costs €28.50 and can be purchased as various METRO stations (e.g. Campo Pequeno - yellow line/ very convenient for Mundus Student as it is located just 5 min from our faculty.
- In order to buy the card Lisboa Viva, which allows you to buy the metro and bus monthly pass, you will need 2 passport photos, an identification document, and a lot of patience! The queue can get very long – especially in the afternoon – and Portuguese employees are certainly not the fastest! You might choose between the fast card, which costs €10 and is ready in one weekday, and the ‘lazy’ card, which costs less, €7, but takes 10 days. You can order the fast card only on some metro stations, Campo Pequeno being one of them.
* Advice! Purchase the combined pass for the first month and then you will realize by yourself how much/often you use bus and/or metro).
There are other combined tickets that include train lines or buses to suburban Lisbon. You can look for more information about that on the train and bus stations.
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