Lisbon Porto Day Trip: A Step-by-Step Guide

Yes, you can do Porto in a day from Lisbon. Whether you should depends on how many of your hours you are willing to spend on the way. This guide takes you through six steps and gives the numbers for the train and the coach.

All train times and fares come from CP (Comboios de Portugal, the national railway), read on 21 October 2026. Check your date in the CP app before you pay, because timetables change.

Step 1: Decide if a Lisbon Porto day trip works for you

Count the hours first. The Alfa Pendular is CP's fastest train on this route, and it takes 2 hours 48 minutes. The Intercidades (the name means "intercity") takes about 3 hours 13 minutes.

Things to Do in Lisbon's reading of the CP timetable and the day trip's itinerary in October 2026 found that the 07:00 Alfa Pendular day uses about two fifths of the day on the train, 5 hours 38 minutes of 14 hours 30 minutes. The coach day trip uses about two thirds of its 13 hours on the coach, 8 hours 30 minutes.

The whole answer fits in one line. By train you get almost nine hours in Porto. By coach you get about three.

Key Takeaway On the 07:00 Alfa Pendular you spend 5 hours 38 minutes on the train and get 8 hours 52 minutes in Porto, from 09:48 to 18:40.

Step 2: Pick your train and fare

For a full day in Porto, the train is the right tool. The 07:00 Alfa Pendular leaves Lisboa Santa Apolónia and reaches Porto Campanhã at 09:48. In the other direction an Alfa Pendular leaves Porto Campanhã at 18:40 and reaches Lisboa Santa Apolónia at 21:30. The timetable also lists a later Alfa Pendular at 20:40 that reaches Lisbon at 23:30, so check which days it runs.

Fares in 2026 come from CP's Alfa Pendular price table and its Intercidades table. A second-class Alfa Pendular ticket costs €35.70 one way, and a return costs €64.50. The Intercidades costs €28.05 one way and €50.50 return in second class. A return is cheaper than two single tickets on both trains.

The earliest train out is an Intercidades at 06:30, which reaches Porto at 09:43. It does not run every day, so the earliest train you can count on is the 07:00 Alfa Pendular. The last daily trains home leave Porto at 18:40 (Alfa Pendular) and 19:45 (Intercidades, back in Lisbon at 23:00). The Alfa Pendular saves 25 minutes each way and costs €14 more for a return in second class. On a day trip the 25 minutes are the time you spend in Porto, so the Alfa Pendular usually pays for itself.

Pro Tip Pick the 07:00 Alfa Pendular out and the 18:40 back, then set an alarm for 17:30 so you have a margin at Campanhã before the last train you planned to take.

Step 3: Check the coach and the car

A coach is the other public option. FlixBus's route page lists 73 departures a day from Lisboa Oriente, Sete Rios and the Jardim Zoológico stop to the Terminal Intermodal Campanhã. It puts the first at 01:30 and the last at 23:00, and says its fastest trip takes 2 hours 30 minutes. Fares change with demand, so check your date. Other coach companies serve the route too, so look at the timetable of the company you plan to use.

Driving needs a toll check. Brisa Group lists the A1 motorway at 296.4 km. We found no official drive time or official Lisbon to Porto toll total, so check the toll for your car class with the motorway operator. You will also need parking in Porto.

Step 4: Plan the day around the last train home

The last train sets your day, so write it down before you leave Lisbon. If you take the 18:40, the 8 hours 52 minutes in Porto begin at 09:48 and end when you board. Leave a margin, because a missed train is a long evening.

Pick two or three places and keep the rest for next time. You will not cover Porto in one day, and trying to will leave you looking at your phone. A walk through the old town and along the Douro river fits a single day.

CP's price table is written from Lisbon, so look up the Porto to Lisbon fare in the CP app when you buy the return. Buy from CP itself, in the app or on cp.pt.

Step 5: Compare the guided day trip

A guided day trip is slower and gives you less of Porto. The coach day trip to Porto, Óbidos and Nazaré takes 13 hours. Its plan on GetYourGuide lists 1 hour 45 minutes on the coach to Óbidos, a 45-minute visit, 35 minutes to Nazaré, another 45-minute visit, and 2 hours 30 minutes to Porto. In Porto you get about three hours, which includes a 1.5-hour walking tour of the old town and a lunch break. The drive back takes about 3 hours 40 minutes. The operator is World Experience, and the page rates the trip 4.5 from more than 1,600 reviews.

You get a guide, a coach and two stops on the way. You also get a long ride home. The price starts at €82 per person, shown on 21 October 2026 as down from €103, and it changes with the date and the group option. A private option takes your own group of up to 20, and the standard group has up to 30. The page gives two meeting points and tells you which applies once you choose an option. It does not include hotel pick-up and drop-off, food and drinks, or tips. The page says the trip is not suitable for wheelchair users or people with mobility impairments, because each city has a walking tour with climbs and stairs. Bring a passport or an ID card, and note that late arrivals receive no refund.

A day trip is only as good as the last train home.

The coach trip suits you if Óbidos and Nazaré matter as much as Porto. The train suits you if Porto is the point. Both can be cancelled for free up to 24 hours before.

When the day trip is the wrong choice

One day in Porto is the wrong choice if you want to see Porto's food, museums and river at an easy pace. It is wrong if you travel with small children or someone who tires quickly, because either option is long. And the coach day trip is wrong if you want more than three hours in Porto.

Step 6: Think about a private transfer or a night in Porto

If one day is too short, change the question. You can take the train one way, stay the night, and return the next day. A day trip then becomes a short break.

The other way to turn the journey into the trip is a private transfer. The private transfer from Lisbon to Porto with city stops is a one-way private van run by Meridian4People, with hotel pick-up and drop-off, for a private group in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French. It rates 5.0 from 110 reviews. You choose up to three cities to visit from Aveiro, Coimbra, Fátima, Nazaré and Óbidos, and it takes 4 to 10 hours. The page shows from €249 per person, so check the final price for your group size on the booking page.

For more ideas than Porto, see all day trips from Lisbon. In May 2022 the Portuguese government said a future high-speed line would link Lisbon and Porto in 1 hour 15 minutes, but plan your day around the trains that run today.