Porto to Lisbon CP Train Booking Guide 2026

Traveling from Porto to Lisbon by Train

How to Book Tickets on the Official CP Website

When planning your journey from Porto to Lisbon, you have three main options:

Bus, Train, or Flight

Comparing the travel times on Omio, the breakdown looks like this:

Bus: 3 hours 15 minutes

Train: 2 hours 50 minutes

Flight: 1 hour (excluding airport transit and security time)

Flying isn't very cost-effective once you factor in airport hassle, so we can skip that option.

Buses are about half the price of trains, but trains offer a much more comfortable journey.

If you prefer a smooth, scenic, and relaxing ride with plenty of legroom, taking the train is definitely the way to go!

The official railway operator in Portugal is

CP (Comboios de Portugal)

You can easily book your tickets directly on the official CP website:

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CP - Comboios de Portugal

Unlike Spain's Renfe website, which often requires a VPN,

the CP website is easily accessible from anywhere in the world without any connection issues.

While you might be able to book as a guest, we highly recommend creating an account first to keep track of your tickets easily.

On the homepage, enter your departure and arrival stations, select your travel dates, specify the number of passengers, and click search.

If you are traveling from Porto to Lisbon, make sure to select these specific stations:

Porto - Campanha

Lisboa - Santa Apolonia

Note that Porto's famous, centrally-located São Bento Station

does not serve the high-speed trains to Lisbon. You will need to start your journey from Campanhã Station.

Don't worry, Campanhã is also close to the city center and very easy to access!

Next, you will see the available train schedules for your selected date.

The "AP" (Alfa Pendular) is the fastest high-speed train, while "R" (Regional) is the slowest.

If you want to save precious travel time, always opt for the AP train.

Otherwise, you can compare the departure times and choose the one that fits your itinerary best.

By booking in advance, you can take advantage of the Promo Ticket prices,

which are usually around $10 cheaper than standard fares. It pays to plan ahead!

Click on your preferred departure time to proceed.

When selecting a promo or special price, a terms and conditions window will pop up.

Simply check the box to agree to the terms and click continue.

Now, enter the passenger details.

Fill in the names, select "Passport" as your ID type, enter your passport number, and select "Full Price" as the default option.

Instead of keeping "no special offer," make sure to click the dropdown menu and select "Promo Ticket" to apply your early bird discount.

Double-check that all passenger information is correct

and verify that the discounted promo price has been successfully applied.

Next up is seat selection.

The system automatically assigns you a seat to start.

The gray icons represent your currently assigned seats.

If you want to charge your phone during the trip, look for seats with the power plug icon and move your selection there.

(No one wants a dead phone on a scenic train ride!)

Pay attention to the "moving direction" indicator.

The green part represents the seatback, so you can easily choose a forward-facing seat to avoid motion sickness.

Enter the email address where you would like to receive your booking confirmation.

Since this is an international transaction, we highly recommend using a Gmail address to ensure the confirmation email doesn't get blocked or sent to spam.

Enter your payment and billing details.

Make sure your billing address is entered correctly in English.

Once the payment is processed, a success screen will appear confirming your reservation.

You can view your tickets directly in your account dashboard under "My Travel."

A separate PDF file will be generated for each passenger (and copies will also be sent to your email, so don't worry!).

To be safe, we recommend saving the PDF tickets directly to your phone or printing them out before your trip.

📌 Train conductors in Portugal do check tickets on board, so have your printed copy or digital PDF ready to show!