You may not need a pass for a short visit to central Lisbon. Walk between nearby sights, then pay for a tram, bus or Metro ride when a hill or a longer journey changes the plan. The right ticket depends less on the length of your stay than on how many times you will board within its validity period, and whether you intend to take an urban train or visit included attractions.
Which ticket suits your visit?
| Criterion | Per-journey payment | Carris/Metro 24-hour | Carris/Metro/CP 24-hour | Lisboa Card | CP Tourist Pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Network depends on fare bought | Carris buses and trams; entire Metro | Carris, Metro and CP Lisbon urban trains | Urban transport plus included attractions | CP Lisbon urban trains only |
| What you use | Occasional card; bank card at Metro gates | Navegante occasional card | Navegante occasional card | Physical Lisboa Card | Navegante occasional card |
| Good fit for | Walking-led city visit with few rides | Repeated city journeys | City rides plus urban trains | Transport and included museums | Repeated suburban rail journeys |
There is no single best tourist card if you mostly walk. Clustered sights in the centre can leave you with too few rides to justify a pass; slopes and a journey to Belém make a bus, tram or Metro ticket more useful. The Carris/Metro day ticket suits a city day with repeated boarding, while its CP version adds urban trains. The CP Tourist Pass serves rail journeys rather than everyday city buses and trams.
The Lisboa Card is a different decision: it includes public transport, free entry to more than 50 museums and cultural venues, and other attraction discounts. If travelling as a family, choose from things to do in Lisbon with children first, then weigh the admissions you actually want against the cost of the card.
Ticket and pass prices
| Product | Fare | Basis | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carris/Metro advance single | €1.90 | 60 minutes | Carris + Metro |
| Metro zapping | €1.72 | Per journey | Metro |
| Metro contactless bank card | €1.92 | Per journey | Metro |
| Carris onboard bus | €2.30 | One vehicle | Bus |
| Carris onboard tram | €3.30 | One vehicle | Tram |
| Carris/Metro day ticket | €7.25 | 24 hours | Carris + Metro |
| Carris/Metro/CP day ticket | €11.40 | 24 hours | Carris + Metro + CP urban trains |
| Lisboa Card, adult, 24 hours | €31 | 24 hours | Transport + attractions |
| Lisboa Card, adult, 48 hours | €51 | 48 hours | Transport + attractions |
| Lisboa Card, adult, 72 hours | €62 | 72 hours | Transport + attractions |
| CP Tourist Pass, one day | €6.70 | 24 hours | CP Lisbon urban trains |
| CP Tourist Pass, three days | €14.40 | 72 hours | CP Lisbon urban trains |
| Navegante occasional card issue | €0.50 | One-off card cost | Fare carrier |
The three-day CP Tourist Pass is rail-only, while the 72-hour Lisboa Card also covers city transport and included attractions. They are different products, not two prices for the same pass. Add the occasional-card issue cost to a CP pass if you need a new card. The adult Lisboa Card fares apply from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
The prepaid Carris/Metro single allows journeys across those networks within its validity window, counted from first to last entry validation. You can take consecutive Carris journeys, but you cannot make consecutive Metro entries on that single. A Carris onboard ticket instead ends when you leave the vehicle. The 24-hour Carris/Metro ticket begins at first validation, rather than at purchase, so a late start need not use up a calendar day.
The Navegante occasional card
Buy a Navegante occasional card at a Metro vending machine and load the fare you need. Operator ticket offices and service points also sell and load it, and CP and other participating operators have vending machines too. Keep the rechargeable card for later top-ups rather than buying a new one for each journey.
The card carries Carris/Metro singles, the Carris/Metro 24-hour ticket, the Carris/Metro/CP 24-hour ticket and zapping pay-as-you-go credit. A Carris/Metro/Transtejo day product for Cacilhas is also available. Zapping is accepted across participating services including Carris, Metro, CP, Transtejo, Fertagus, Metro Sul do Tejo, Rodoviária de Lisboa and TST. That reach makes stored credit useful when your journeys cross operators, but a zapping balance is not itself an unlimited pass.
For a Metro journey, you can instead tap a contactless bank card directly at the gate without a Navegante card. One contactless payment card serves only one traveller on a journey: each person paying this way needs their own card or device. A bank-card gate tap and a ticket loaded onto the occasional card are separate ways to pay, so use the same medium at the exit gate that you used to enter.
When does a 24-hour ticket pay off?
Four separately charged advance singles cost €7.60, more than a €7.25 Carris/Metro day ticket. If your movements fit within fewer 60-minute single-ticket windows, count the windows rather than every boarding: a permitted transfer does not require another single. Against Metro-only zapping, four journeys cost €6.88 and five cost €8.60, so the day ticket overtakes zapping on the fifth Metro journey. These comparisons assume you already have the occasional card. If not, its issue fee applies to either loaded choice.
Imagine heading uphill by bus, using the Metro later, then riding back after dinner. Spread over the day, those trips may need separate singles, but if several fall within one single’s validity, pay-per-journey can still be cheaper. Aeroporto station is on the Metro network covered by the Carris/Metro day ticket, so you can include an airport Metro ride if it falls within your ticket’s validity.
The Carris/Metro/CP day ticket adds Lisbon urban trains on the Sintra/Azambuja, Cascais and Sado lines. Consider it for a day combining a train journey with city transport, but for an ordinary city day without CP trains, the cheaper city-only ticket covers the relevant networks.
Lisboa Card and CP Tourist Pass
Choose the Lisboa Card for the included attractions you intend to enter, not just for train travel. It covers the Metro, Carris buses and trams, CP services towards Sintra, Cascais, Azambuja and Sado, and listed Fertagus trains, alongside attraction admission and discounts. An online purchase gives you a voucher: exchange it for a physical card at an Ask Me Lisboa Tourist Desk, taking your order confirmation. Collect it at least 30 minutes before the desk closes. Its validity begins when you first use it on transport or at an included attraction.
The CP Tourist Pass instead gives unlimited travel on Lisbon urban trains on the Sintra/Azambuja, Cascais and Sado lines. It suits repeated train travel rather than bus and Metro use in the city. A Sintra day trip by train and bus involves a local bus leg beyond this rail pass, so plan that part separately. You can buy the pass at CP ticket offices or machines. Exchange an online voucher at a CP ticket office.
Buying and validating your ticket
On a Carris bus or tram, pay onboard only if you need a ticket for that vehicle. You can pay cash to the crew member, or use a bank card or MB Way at the validator, but certain articulated trams do not take cash. A preloaded single allows eligible transfers instead, provided you validate it on boarding.
At CP stations without gates, validate at the station before boarding and wait for confirmation. If there is no validator available, contact the inspector immediately after boarding. At inspection, show your valid ticket or proof of payment. For a direct contactless Metro fare, present the same bank card you used at the gate.
At the gate or onboard
Do
- Buy or load the appropriate ticket at a Metro machine, or use a contactless bank card directly at Metro gates.
- Validate at Metro entry and exit with the same card or device; validate a preloaded Carris ticket when boarding and look for the green light.
- Validate a CP urban-train ticket before each journey, at entrance and exit gates where present, or at a station validator where there are no gates.
- Keep the ticket or payment card used for travel ready to present to an inspector.
Don’t
- Swap bank cards or devices between Metro entry and exit.
- Assume a Carris ticket bought onboard covers a second vehicle after you get off.
Sources & fact-checking
Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges and services.
- Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML) — fares and charges
- Metropolitano de Lisboa — fares and charges
- Using the Metro
- Viagens Ocasionais
- Occasional journeys
- Prices table 2026
- Visit Lisboa — fares and charges
- CP – Comboios de Portugal — fares and charges
- BUY HERE – Lisboa Card
- navegante® occasional card
- Carris Metropolitana — service
- FAQ – Metropolitano de Lisboa, EPE – English
- 24h Carris/Metro/CP pass
- Metropolitano de Lisboa — service
- Timetables and frequency — Metropolitano de Lisboa
- 15E — CARRIS
- Monofolha A4 Lisboa Card_Maio_2025
- Lisboa Card — service
- Comboios de Portugal (CP) — service
- Tourist train pass | CP – Comboios de Portugal – CP.PT
- Validation
- Perguntas frequentes
- CP – Comboios de Portugal — service
- Ride on the Lisbon Metro with your contactless payment card
- Metropolitano de Lisboa; CARRIS — fares and charges
