Lisboa Card: save your precious time and money

Learn how to get the Lisboa Card and save a lot of money while visiting the best attractions in Lisbon. Discover how to use public transportation for free. Where to buy? How to use it?

Key advantages of the Lisboa Card

  • – There's no need to worry about buying tickets. The Lisboa Card allows using all public transportation in Lisbon absolutely for free: subway, buses, trams (including historical routes 28 and 12), aerial lifts and the famous Elevador de Santa Justa;
  • – Free commuter train service to and from Sintra or Cascais;
  • – Free entrance and discounts when visiting attractions;
  • – There's no need to wait in lines and queues to visit local museums.

Where can one use the Lisboa Card to get free access to museums?

You can find the full list in PDF.

Where else can you use the Lisboa Card to get a discount?

25% discount on yellow tour buses all around Lisbon.

55% discount on Aerobus.

And many other discounts, including those in souvenir shops.

What is the price of the Lisboa Card?

adults childrens (5 - 11 years)
These prices are valid until March 31, 2020
for 24 hours 19,00 € 12,00 €
for 48 hours 32,00 € 18,00 €
for 72 hours 40 € 21,00 €

Each adult is allowed to bring two children of up to 4 years old (inclusive) free of charge.

How and where to buy the Lisboa Card?

The card can be purchased online as well as at one of the tourist information offices.

While buying the Lisboa Card online, you can save a lot of time during the registration process. You can use the official website of the official distributor of the Lisboa Card called Tiqets Company.

At the end of the process, the ticket will be sent by email or SMS. You can show it right on the screen of your smartphone screen or get a prepaid card in one of the following offices:

Lisboa Welcome Centre
Praça de Comercio
Working hours 9:00-20:00

Foz Palace
Praça de Restuaradores
Working hours 9:00-20:00

Airport
The tourist information office is located in the arrivals hall. You will immediately see it after leaving the luggage collection hall.
Working hours 7:00-24:00

tourist information office in Airport

The most convenient option is to buy the Lisboa Card in advance online. You can immediately use it by showing the ticket on your smartphone or get a prepaid card at the airport upon arrival. It will take just a few minutes and will save a lot of time.

How to use the Lisboa Card?

The Lisboa Card is a personal card and it can't be transferred to someone else.

Activation

The card is activated during the first usage on public transport or in a Museum. It can't be activated DURING the purchase! In other words, you can start using it whenever you want. We recommend that you start using the card early in the morning. Write the activation date and time on the card.

Kindly note that entrance to many museums is free in Portugal on Sundays before 14:00! Take this into account while planning your trip to the country.

Validity

After activation, the card is valid for a certain number of hours (depending on the type of card: 24h, 48h, 72h).

Free access to attractions and sights

When entering a museum or a landmark, simply show the card (on the smartphone screen) or pass it to the employee if they have a card reader. If you want to use a discount, give a card and a brochure with discount vouchers to the cashier while purchasing the ticket. Cardholders are entitled to visit each attraction, not more than once!

Only permanent exhibitions can be visited for free. There are high chances that all temporary exhibitions have to be paid separately. All necessary information can be found in the brochure attached to the card.

Public transportation

During the entire term of the card validity, you are allowed to make an unlimited number of trips on public transportation in Lisbon, as well as take trains to Cascais and Sintra.

Do not forget that one needs to validate the card by applying it to a special device at the entrance for each and every trip!

Discounts

Don't forget to take advantage of all the discounts available to cardholders. To get a discount, show the card before making the payment. Kindly note that several discounts can't be applied together! During sales and special offers, shops and stores are not obligated to provide additional discounts for the holders of the Lisboa Card.

Is it worth buying the Lisboa Card?

Only you can decide if you really need the Lisboa Card. If you are limited in time and want to see as much as possible, then you should consider this option. At the same time, if you explore everything at your own speed, the Lisboa Card won't be the best option because it will push you to check more places at once, thus breaking the entire schedule of the holiday.

If you have a youth card, then you already have a lot of good discounts in many museums.

As you can see, the longer is the validity term of the card, the more profitable it is. You need to check all the details in order to understand if the Lisboa Card fits your holiday style.

Let's imagine that you are planning your trip now. What is the best way to use the Lisboa Card? Let's check the places with the highest concentration of attractions within the walking distance.

Visiting the Belem district in Lisbon:

  • free Museu Nacional dos Coches;
  • free Monasteiro dos Jerónimos;
  • free Belém Tower;
  • free Museu Nacional de Arqueologia;
  • free Palácio Nacional da Ajuda;
  • free Museu da Electricidade;
  • -50% Planetário Calouste Gulbenkian;
  • -30% Padrão dos Descobrimentos;
  • -25% Museu da Marinha;
  • -20% Orient Museum;
  • -20% Centro Cultural de Belém;

I'm pretty sure that not all the options of the above will be interesting to you. As a result, you can easily check many other places and locations during the day, e.g. the city center.

  • free Museu Antoniano;
  • free Museu do Chiado;
  • -50% Museu das Comunicações;
  • -20% Archaeological Museum of Carmo;

One can easily go to the modern area of Lisbon, or so-called the Expo Zone and visit the following locations:

  • -15% Lisboa Oceanarium;
  • -20% Pavilhão do Conhecimento.

If you have enough time to go to magnificent Sintra, you can see the following places and venues:

  • -10% Palácio Nacional da Vila De Sintra;
  • -20% Quinta da Regaleira;
  • -15% Sintra Moorish Castle;
  • -15% Capuchos Convent;
  • -15% Parque de Monserrate.

You will have enough time to see everything in a day, and you will save about 7 euros, not to mention the return train ticket. Keep in mind that the Lisboa Card doesn't include free access to public transportation services in Sintra, but you can get a discount on the Train&Bus pass. Conclusion: it's not worth to use the Lisboa Card only in Sintra.

In my opinion, the main advantage of the card is the convenience and ease of use. You don't need to worry about buying tickets trains or tickets for public transportation in Lisbon. You can avoid standing in queues and losing your precious time. As a result, you can concentrate on the most interesting things around you.

Alberto A. Serra Tchudov

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