Lisbon Airport (LIS) to the City Centre

Lisbon’s airport sits at the end of the city’s red metro line, and in about 20 minutes, with no change, it reaches São Sebastião station, a short walk from Parque Eduardo VII’s view down to the Tagus estuary and the Estufa Fria, a garden of ferns and palms under a slatted roof.

The red metro line reaches São Sebastião station with no change

Aeroporto station, the start of the metro’s red line, is just outside Terminal 1, and trains run every six to ten minutes from 6:30am to 1am. São Sebastião, the one central stop on the line with no change of train, is about 20 minutes in, and the São Sebastião guide covers the Gulbenkian museum and garden beside it; Oriente, the Expo 98 waterfront, is only three stops out. For the old centre around Baixa-Chiado, change to the green line at Alameda station, about 40 minutes door to door, where the main Lisbon guide walks from the Rua Augusta arch up to the Alfama. Terminal 2, used mainly by low-cost airlines, has no metro station: the free shuttle bus to Terminal 1 comes first. A Lisboa Card covers the metro along with entry to the Estufa Fria and dozens of museums.

A taxi into the centre takes 20 to 30 minutes. From October 15, 2026, participating airport taxis charge fixed fares, 19 euros by day to the central zone and 23 at night, at weekends and on holidays.

The view down Parque Eduardo VII to the Tagus

Parque Eduardo VII, the long formal park named for Britain’s Edward VII, slopes down from its top terrace over clipped box hedges to the column on Marquês de Pombal square, and from the top the view runs straight down Avenida da Liberdade, Lisbon’s main avenue, to the Tagus estuary. It’s a short walk south from São Sebastião station, free and open all day.

Ferns and palms in the Estufa Fria greenhouse garden

The Estufa Fria, on the western side of Parque Eduardo VII, is a 1.5-hectare garden under a slatted roof, opened in 1933 near an old basalt quarry: a cold house of ferns, azaleas and camellias, a hot house of tropical plants added in 1975, and a sweet house of cacti and succulents. Entry is about 3.60 euros, free on Sunday mornings, and it opens around 10am, closing at 7pm in summer and earlier in winter.

Luggage lockers at Lisbon Airport

Lisbon Airport’s self-service lockers stand on Terminal 1’s departures floor, before security, open 24 hours a day and paid by card or cash, in sizes up to one that takes a suitcase, from a few euros for three hours, with a 72-hour limit. Parque Eduardo VII’s top terrace is a climb from Marquês de Pombal, and a luggage storage point near the old centre is the alternative for a longer stop.

Collect the bag on the way back to the metro, and allow about 40 minutes door to door from the old centre to Terminal 1, or 20 from São Sebastião, before check-in and security.