Right now I am living in a shore city about a half hour from Lisbon called Cascais. You have all heard of Cascais, or at least Estoril - the coast line, the Casino, car racing, golf...a million reasons why tourists from all over flock to Costa do Estoril year round. In case you are planning a trip to Portugal and choose this, as one of many possible fabulous places to stay - the Cascais / Lisbon train line is just something you have to do.
I take the train every morning and all the evenings on which I can't get a ride home, and I am still in love with the "Marginal" that goes along side the train line, starting at the bay of cascais (in the picture above, passing by all the beaches in Estoril, S. João do Estoril, Carcavelos, Oeiras, Algés and finally finishing at Cais do Sodré. I am not exaggerating when I say I have never been on a more beautiful railroad line anywhere!
I take the train every morning and all the evenings on which I can't get a ride home, and I am still in love with the "Marginal" that goes along side the train line, starting at the bay of cascais (in the picture above, passing by all the beaches in Estoril, S. João do Estoril, Carcavelos, Oeiras, Algés and finally finishing at Cais do Sodré. I am not exaggerating when I say I have never been on a more beautiful railroad line anywhere!
I have just decided I am going to leave tips, spread throughout the blog for visiting Portugal, so without further adew -tip number 1....
TIP # 1 - CASCAIS /LISBON TRAIN LINE
1. Tickets cost 1.70€ one way and 3.40€ for a return ticket. Once you buy that ticket hold on to it because a ticket man will be walking the train to check all tickets.
2. If there are a lot of you, or you feel you will be taking the train in often you can buy a 10 trip ticket. I just bought one at the beginning of this week and I have a feeling it was cheaper than buying just the one - but I am not completely sure. Those tickets must be validated everytime you take the train, or for each person riding the train. Ask someone at the station for help. In general Portuguese people are super friendly and love to help out!
3. Getting to Lisbon is easy. If you are going from Cascais you just hop on whatever train is about to leave. The train will stop at every station until S. Pedro. If you want to get to Carcavelos or Parede, get off and hop on the next train. It will stop at every station until Lisbon. If you stay on the first train you took, after Oeiras - where all trains stop, it will only stop at Algés, Alcantara and the final stop Cais do Sodre, where you can get any manner of transportation to anywhere in the country, just about.
4. Getting to Cascais, equally easy. There are three trains - the fast track to Cascias, the medium speed to S. Pedro which stops at more stations than the fast track one, and finally the slow train to Oeiras which will stop at every station.
I know this can't read as simple as it actually is, but seriously it is really simple. The main thing is you know that slower or faster the trains only go from Lisbon to Cascais and from Cascais to Lisbon so you cant go wrong. I have helped out some foreigners who panic when they dont see the train stopping!
You know you can drop me a line and I will be happy to give you more details and answear all your questions.
1. Tickets cost 1.70€ one way and 3.40€ for a return ticket. Once you buy that ticket hold on to it because a ticket man will be walking the train to check all tickets.
2. If there are a lot of you, or you feel you will be taking the train in often you can buy a 10 trip ticket. I just bought one at the beginning of this week and I have a feeling it was cheaper than buying just the one - but I am not completely sure. Those tickets must be validated everytime you take the train, or for each person riding the train. Ask someone at the station for help. In general Portuguese people are super friendly and love to help out!
3. Getting to Lisbon is easy. If you are going from Cascais you just hop on whatever train is about to leave. The train will stop at every station until S. Pedro. If you want to get to Carcavelos or Parede, get off and hop on the next train. It will stop at every station until Lisbon. If you stay on the first train you took, after Oeiras - where all trains stop, it will only stop at Algés, Alcantara and the final stop Cais do Sodre, where you can get any manner of transportation to anywhere in the country, just about.
4. Getting to Cascais, equally easy. There are three trains - the fast track to Cascias, the medium speed to S. Pedro which stops at more stations than the fast track one, and finally the slow train to Oeiras which will stop at every station.
I know this can't read as simple as it actually is, but seriously it is really simple. The main thing is you know that slower or faster the trains only go from Lisbon to Cascais and from Cascais to Lisbon so you cant go wrong. I have helped out some foreigners who panic when they dont see the train stopping!
You know you can drop me a line and I will be happy to give you more details and answear all your questions.
