Oeiras is a charming beach town situated on the beautiful Lisbon coastline. The town boasts three amazing beaches (Santo Amaro, Carcavelos, Torre) along with a scenic coastal footpath that leads to Paço de Arcos. This area of the Lisbon coastline is less well known by foreign tourists than Cascais or the Costa da Caparica but is as equally good.

Travelling from Lisbon to Oeiras is very easy by public transport as there is a regular and inexpensive railway, which covers the 12km from central Lisbon. If you are travelling from Lisbon airport to Oeiras by public transport, there is an additional stage of crossing Lisbon to the Cais do Sodré train station, which is best travelled using the metro.

This guide will detail how to travel from Lisbon to Oeiras, and the final section will explain how to get to Oeiras from Lisbon airport.
Related articles :Lisbon guide - Torre beach - Oeiras beach

Oeiras is connected to Lisbon by the Cascais to Lisbon urban railway. This railway connects all of the towns and beaches on the northern side of the Tagus estuary between Belem in Lisbon and Cascais to the west.

In Lisbon, the train to Oeiras departs from the Cais do Sodré train station, which is to the west of the historic centre.

Oeiras is the ninth station from Lisbon, and this is the station to disembark for the town. The station before (called Santo Amaro) is closer to the main beach of Oeiras, while the station after Oeiras (called Carcavelos) is nearer to Carcavelos beach.

If you are on holiday in Oeiras and plan on visiting Lisbon as a day trip, this train service also stops in the Belem district, which is one of the best areas of the city for tourists.

The Cascais-Lisbon railway is operated by Comboios de Portugal (CP), which is the national train operator of Portugal. During the day, the train is safe and packed with beachgoers, but late at night, common sense should be used.

The train between Lisbon and Oeiras passes through three fare stages, and a single ticket costs €1.95/€1.00 (adult/child). There are no return tickets on this urban railway, and the return price is the cost of two singles (€3.90/€2.00). The overly complicated CP webpage that details the fares can be found at the following link:
www.cp.pt/StaticFiles/Passageiros/1_horarios/precos/lx/lisbon-urban-trains-price-zones.pdf
(link opens a new tab and is a PDF so may download on certain phones)

The train to Oeiras waiting in the Cais do Sodré train station

The train ticket is charged to the Navegante card, a re-usable ticket, which is used for all public transport in the Lisbon region. The card costs €0.50 for the initial purchase, and each traveller must have their own card.

The Lisbon to Oeiras railway is an urban train service, therefore tickets cannot be pre-booked or purchased from the CP website (www.cp.pt). There is no need to pre-book, as seats are always available and there is sufficient space for bulky luggage. Tickets must be purchased before boarding the train, and there are barriers between the station concourse and the platforms. The ticket machines are often much quicker than queuing for the ticket office and all machines have instructions in multiple languages, including English.

The Lisbon-Oeiras-Cascais train route is one of the most frequent train services in Portugal; for most daytime trips, just turn up at the station and a train will be departing soon. During daylight hours, there is a departure every 20 minutes, with more at rush hour. The frequency reduces in the evenings and the last train of the night depart from both ends of the line (Cascais and Lisbon) at 0:30am, 1:00am, and 1:30am.

The train journey takes between 16 and 24 minutes, depending on the number of stops. For the full timetable, please see the CP website:
www.cp.pt/StaticFiles/timetables/lisbon-cascais-urban-trains.pdf
(Note: the above link opens a pdf)

There are slightly faster trains at rush hour which miss out on certain smaller stations, but the best approach is to catch the first train available.

The train to Oeiras departs Lisbon from the Cais do Sodré train station. This train station is to the west of central Lisbon and is connected to the green metro line by the Cais do Sodré metro station.

The Cais do Sodré railway station in Lisbon

Oeiras station is very small, but it does have a ticket office and ticket machines. All of Estoril bus services depart from outside the train station and there are always taxis waiting in the same area.

The Oeiras to Lisbon railway is a busy train line serving both commuters and beachgoers. The train line is no more dangerous than in any other big city, but never overly display money or other expensive items, which may entice pickpockets (who are always non-Portuguese). When travelling late at night, it is advisable to sit close to other passengers, as there have been reports of late-night robberies on lone travellers (these never occur during the day).

Lisbon airport is located within the city limits, and is only 8km north of the historic and popular tourist districts Baixa and Alfama, and 9km from the Cais do Sodré train station.

The journey from Lisbon Airport to Oeiras by public transport is divided into two distinct sections; the first stage of the route is from the airport to the Cais do Sodré train station while the second stage is from Lisbon to Oeiras by train. The entire journey to Oeiras takes between 50-70 minutes, depending on connections and the total cost is less than €6.00 per person.
Insight: This is not a difficult journey during the day, but later at night (past 7pm we would suggest taking a pre-booked taxi)

There are three ways to travel from Lisbon airport to Cais do Sodré train station; the metro, a taxi or Uber. We prefer taking the metro as it is modern, reliable and the cheapest option, but a connection is required, and this is inconvenient if travelling with bulky or heavy luggage.

By metro
The airport is connected to the red metro line, while Cais do Sodré station is the final stop on the green metro line, and the change of lines is required at Alameda metro station. This connection at Alameda has a walk of approximately 200 meters, with two sets of stairs – there are lifts. A single metro ticket costs €1.80 and is changed to the Navegante card (which is also need for the train)

Taxi
A taxi ride is the fastest method to reach Cais do Sodré and is suitable for groups or families. Lisbon taxis are inexpensive when compared to the rest of Europe, but are notorious for fleecing tourist on airport fares. A single journey to the station should cost around €10-€15 Euro, plus €1.50 for luggage (not per piece of luggage). Always check that the meter is on before leaving the airport, or at least having an agreed price.

Uber
Uber is available in Lisbon, and though no cheaper than a taxi, it does provide the guarantee that you won't be overcharged. Uber pick-ups are from a special bay near departures called "kiss and fly".

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