Lisbon Tram 28: Route, Fare and Boarding

You came for the yellow tram, so this guide gets you onto it. It covers the route, the day and time to go, the fare, and how to ride it. The last step helps you decide whether a tram tour is worth the money.

Prices and timetables below come from Carris and Turismo de Lisboa pages read on 21 October 2026.

Step 1: Learn the tram 28 Lisbon route

Tram 28 is Carris line 28E, between Martim Moniz and Campo de Ourique (Prazeres). Turismo de Lisboa says it visits the cathedral and crosses Baixa. Then it climbs to Chiado and Estrela and ends in Campo de Ourique.

On Carris's line page, the outbound direction lists 34 stops. Carris's own timetable sheet gives an approximate ride of 57 minutes from Martim Moniz to Prazeres and 60 minutes back, not counting the wait. Visitors usually want a handful of them. These are Graça, Largo das Portas do Sol, Miradouro de Santa Luzia, Sé, Chiado, Praça Luís de Camões, the Estrela basilica and Prazeres.

Routes change when streets close. From 13 April to 11 May 2026, Carris ran trams only between Martim Moniz and Praça Luís de Camões. Buses covered the rest, because of a road closure on Calçada da Estrela. Carris's October 2026 list of service changes shows no notice for line 28E. Check it again before you go.

Step 2: Choose where and when to board

Carris publishes no queue or crowd figures for any stop on the line. So nobody can promise you a short queue, and any number you read elsewhere is a guess. What Carris does publish is where the trams start and when they run.

Trams start at two places, Martim Moniz and Prazeres in Campo de Ourique. A tram leaves each of those stops with nobody on board. At every stop in between you board a tram that other riders have already boarded, so seats are not guaranteed. The two ends give you different rides. From Martim Moniz you pass Graça, Portas do Sol and Sé first. From Prazeres you start with Estrela, Camões and Chiado, and Carris times the hop from Prazeres to the Estrela basilica at about 7 minutes.

Go early. Carris's timetable sheet, in force from 1 June 2026, gives these first and last departures.

Carris's sheet also answers how often the tram comes. On weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00 a tram leaves each end seven times an hour, about every 8 to 9 minutes. At weekends it is six or seven times an hour, about every 9 to 10 minutes. After 21:00 it thins to about one every 15 minutes.

Key Takeaway Carris's tram 28 timetable starts at 05:40 on weekdays, and no tram 28 ticket we checked says it skips the queue.

None of the tickets we checked says it skips the queue. The page for the 24-hour pass with an audio guide has a warning. The time slot you book is when you meet your host and swap your voucher, not when you board the tram. Two guided-tour pages add that tram 28 is public transport and runs with traffic. One says seats are not guaranteed.

Other lines if tram 28 looks too busy

Carris's pages show where three other lines run, so you can choose. They give no crowd data, and we make no claim about which is quieter.

Line 12E runs between Martim Moniz and Praça Luís de Camões. It calls at Largo das Portas do Sol, Miradouro de Santa Luzia, Sé, Chiado and Camões, the same stops as tram 28 on that stretch. Turismo de Lisboa describes the number 12 tram as a circular route through the historic hills, free with the Lisboa Card. The weekday winter timetable on Carris's 12E page runs from 08:00 to 20:45, and the morning trams leave about 35 minutes apart.

Line 15E runs from Praça da Figueira along the river through Cais do Sodré and Santos to Belém, with stops at the Jerónimos Monastery and the Centro Cultural de Belém, and on to Algés. That is a different part of the city from tram 28. Carris's October 2026 list of service changes includes route-change notices for 15E, so check it first.

Line 24E runs from Praça Luís de Camões to Campolide via Príncipe Real, the Rato and the Amoreiras. Carris's page for 24E does not say what kind of vehicle runs it, and its weekday winter timetable runs from 07:00 to 20:05.

A tram that every guidebook recommends is still a tram that people use to get to work.

Step 3: Pay the right fare

You have four ways to pay. The cheapest for one ride is the ticket you buy on board.

Two rides cost €6.60 on board. A third ride goes past the €7.25 for 24 hours. Carris says the 24-hour ticket gives unlimited rides on Carris and the Metro. Tram 28 is one of its lines, but the price page does not name trams. Ask at a Carris counter if you want to be sure.

The reusable card is the navegante occasional card, which costs €0.50 and is valid for a year. You may still see the old name Viva Viagem in guides, but the Carris and Metro pages do not use it. You can load day tickets or zapping credit on it, and it works across the member operators, including Carris, the Metro and CP. Zapping is pay-as-you-go credit. Carris sets a journey at €1.72, with a minimum load of €3. It does not say whether a tram ride is charged at that rate or at the €3.30 on-board fare.

The Lisboa Card pays off for sights, not for the tram. It costs about €24 more than the 24-hour ticket. That makes sense only when you will use the free entries. See our Lisboa Card and attraction tickets page for the sights.

Pro Tip Ride up, walk down. The Graça and Portas do Sol stops are the climb. The walk from Miradouro de Santa Luzia to Sé goes downhill, which is how the walking tours below plan it.

Step 4: Ride it well

Once you are on, hold on. The tram runs through narrow streets and over steep gradients, and one tour page says you may have to stand.

Watch your pockets. The UK government's travel advice for Portugal says to take care on public transport and at crowded bus and tram stops, because thieves use distraction techniques and often work in teams. It also says not to carry all your valuables in one place. So keep your bag closed and in front of you, and split your cards and cash between pockets. Get off at Portas do Sol or Santa Luzia for the views over Alfama and the Tagus. Get off at Sé if you want the cathedral, or at Estrela for the basilica. With a pass you can board the next tram. A single on-board ticket is valid only on the tram where you bought it, so a new ride means a new fare.

Step 5: Decide whether a tram tour is worth paying for

If all you want is the ride, the €3.30 on-board fare beats every tour below. A tour is worth the money for a guide, a downhill route or an audio guide.

Things to Do in Lisbon's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found 19 tours with a tram in the title. Prices run from €10 for an audio guide to €497 for a seven-hour day trip. Among the 18 priced per person, the middle price is about €40.

The 24-hour tram 28 pass with an audio guide costs from €18 and is run by Book N Tour. You meet your host at Praça Dom Pedro IV to swap the voucher, and its page lists no group size. It gives you a phone audio guide and a pass for Lisbon's public transport. It has no live guide. Its page lists the Santa Justa lift among the access, although Carris lists that lift as temporarily closed.

The hop-on hop-off tram ticket along route 28 costs from €25. Yellow Bus Tours runs it from Praça do Comércio. The ticket is for a separate yellow tourist tram with three stops, Praça do Comércio, Estrela and Portas do Sol. Its page says departures run every 40 minutes from 9:30 to 18:10, and that service can be suspended during roadworks.

The tram 28 ride and Alfama walking tour costs from €20 and is run by Lisbon Spirit. It takes three hours in groups of up to 10, meets at Praça Luís de Camões and is guided in English.

The tram 28, Alfama and custard tart walking tour costs from €34 and is run by Seven Wonders. It rides tram 28 to the hilltop, then walks mostly downhill past viewpoints, the cathedral and a pastel de nata bakery. Groups have up to 6 people, or you can go private for up to 10. There are two possible meeting points, depending on the option you pick. The rating is 4.9 from 185 reviews.

For more walking tours beyond tram 28, see our guided tours in Lisbon.

When a tour is the wrong choice

A tour is the wrong choice if you only want to ride. None of the four pages says it skips the queue, and tram 28 stays a public tram with limited seats. Two pages, the pass and the custard tart walk, say they are not suitable for people with mobility impairments. Check the page before you book if hills and stairs are a problem.