Lisbon to Porto by train

I purchased tickets a couple of months earlier in hand (and on our phones) ready and waiting. Since we will only be taking two trains this trip (from Lisbon Oriente station to Porto Campanha station and back to Lisbon) we opted for point-to-point instead of rail passes.

Although the Man in Seat 61 recommends Omio we used the official Portuguese train website (cp.pt), which he also suggested. Like The Man said it was a bit clunky but worked fine.  Oh, and don't try to create an account unless your a Portuguese national. 

Anyway, after a few quick screens we downloaded our 1st class tickets on one of the high-speed Alfa Pendular train. As some of you know we always choose 1st class on trains; the cost is usually not much more than 2nd class and you get better access to luggage storage on board and more seating space, both of which are much appreciated by travelers in their golden years.

The trip will take less than 3 hours (each way) and costs €180 for the two of us roundtrip. Not bad.

And if you're really interested in train travel in Portugal here's a map of their rail network.

I should say that as things turned out the trains running north from Lisbon (and south from Porto) were all cancelled while we were on our trip in early February of 2026. This was due to the severe storm that blew threw the country with incredibly high winds creating a large swath of destruction and damage particularly between Coimbro and Fatima. As a result we (and many others) were forced to take the buses back and forth.