How To Get To
Cascais And Estoril

Cascais is situated 30 km to the west of central Lisbon, and both destinations are on the northern banks of the Rio Tejo estuary. Between Lisbon and Cascais are many wonderful beaches, and this popular coastline is also served by the Cascais urban railway.

It is not advisable to drive to Cascais as there is very limited car parking, and during the summer it can be very difficult to find a car parking space. There are bus services between Lisbon and Cascais, but the journey times are longer, and the main bus station is not as conveniently located as the train station. Therefore, the recommended means of travel from Lisbon to Cascais is by train.

 The Lisbon to Cascais railway is a short urban line that extends the length of the Lisbon coastline. The railway is operated by CP (Comboios de Portugal), the national train company of Portugal. In Lisbon, the train departs from the Cais do Sodre train station and at the western terminus is Cascais station, which is in the central of Cascais.

 Cais do Sodré is the final metro station on the green line, that you can take in Baixa-Chiado metro station, but is is also within walking distance (20-30 minutes approximately from our apartment).

 The Cascais railway passes through the popular districts of Belem and the docks of Alcântara-Mar but these services are less frequent Monday to Friday and require a connection at Oeiras. Generally, Cais do Sodré is the better departure location.

A single ticket from Lisbon to Cascais passes through four fare zones and costs €2.20/€1.10 (adult/child). There are no return tickets, so the price of a return is €4.40/€2.20 (adult/child), the price of two single tickets. The train fares are charged to the Viva Viagem card, which is the reusable public transport ticket for all of Lisbon. The initial purchase of the Viva Viagem card is €0.50. Annoyingly the Viva Viagem can only store one type of ticket at a time; so if a card has an unused metro or bus ticket another one must be purchased.

The Lisbon to Cascais train line is not included in the 24-hour unlimited public transport ticket (€6 purchased from any metro station, and is great value while exploring just Lisbon). There is a 24-hour urban-railway ticket for €6.00 but this does not include the public transport in Lisbon (metro/bus/tram) and is only worthwhile if three or more journeys are to be made. Finally, there is a 24-hour urban train and public transport ticket for € 10.15, this provides no real savings for tourists travelling to Cascais as a day trip. All of the fares are summarised on the CP website:

Note: the link opens a new window and is a PDF file, so may download on certain browsers)

In Cais do Sodre, tickets can be purchased from the ticket office, which frequently has long queues, or from ticket machines, which have equally long queues. These machines have instructions in English (and most major European languages) and are relatively straightforward to use. Cais do Sodré is a busy train station so always use sensible precautions so as not to attract pickpockets and other opportunistic thieves.

 The Lisbon to Cascais railway is an urban train service, therefore tickets cannot pre-booked and are purchased on the day of travel. There is no need to pre-book as there are always seats available and there is sufficient space for luggage. Tickets must be purchased before boarding the train and there are barriers between the station concourse and the platforms.

 The train journey takes between 30-40 minutes depending on the number of stops, and during daylight hours there is a departure every 20 minutes. At the weekends the train service stops at every station along the line, while during the working week there is a fast train direct to Cascais and slower service that terminates at Oeiras. The last trains of the night depart from both Cascais and Lisbon at 0:30am, 1:00am and 1:30am. For the full timetable please see the CP website:

The train route follows the coastline and provides some great views over the sea, for the best views sit on the left side when departing from Lisbon or right side from Cascais. 

 It is worth to also visit Estoril (or simply enjoying the scenic waterfront walk from Cascais to Estoril). Both Estoril and Cascais have beaches with plenty of facilities. The Cascais bay provides a calmer sea than in other coastal areas. On the other hand, if you wish to enjoy a bigger beach with surfing schools and facilities, we suggest that you stop at Carcavelos station and reach the beach in a 5 minutes pleasant walk on a wide and treed sidewalk.

There have been reports of petty crime occurring late at night on this train line, if traveling late always sit in the busiest carriage. The train route is perfectly safe during the day. If you wish further readings about beaches, click here