Train routes in Portugal
18 routes · classic 14 · scenic 2 · mountain 1 · luxury 1
18 routes cross Portugal in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the Alfa Pendular at 390 km; the fastest is the Alfa Pendular, running up to 220 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1863. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
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Classic (14)
- Alfa Pendular
A tilting Pendolino leaning through the curves of the 19th-century Linha do Norte between Portugal’s two great cities.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha da Beira Alta
The last forty five kilometres of Portugal, Guarda out to the Spanish frontier at Vilar Formoso across the high Beira, on the line to the border inaugurated on 3 August 1882.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha do Leste
Twenty nine minutes up the Tagus from the junction at Entroncamento to Abrantes, the first leg of the line Portugal opened on 28 October 1863 to reach the Spanish border.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha do Vouga
The last metre gauge railway carrying passengers in Portugal, an hour from the Atlantic at Espinho inland to Oliveira de Azeméis, opened on 21 December 1908 and still running on the same narrow track.
Wikipedia ↗ - Comboio Raiano
The borderland train across the cork oaks of the Alentejo, Abrantes to Badajoz by way of Ponte de Sor, Crato and Elvas, on the link to Spain that opened in September 1863.
- Alfa Pendular
Portugal’s tilting Pendolino leans into the curves at up to 220 km/h, dropping down the Alentejo to the Algarve at Faro.
Wikipedia ↗ - Intercidades
Climbs the Beira Alta line to Guarda, Portugal’s highest city at 1,056 m, on the historic Sud Express path toward the Spanish border.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha do Minho
Follows the Atlantic, then the Minho river, to the star-fort town of Valença, staring across the water at Spain’s Tui.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha do Oeste
A slow, winding single-track line through the vineyards and spa towns of Estremadura (Torres Vedras, Caldas da Rainha) to the Atlantic at Figueira da Foz.
Wikipedia ↗ - Celta
The only train across the Portugal–Spain border in the north: down the Minho, over the Valença bridge, into Galicia. Two countries, one ticket, 2 h 35.
Wikipedia (PT) ↗ - Intercidades
Across the Tagus and into the cork-oak Alentejo: ninety minutes from Lisbon to Évora’s Roman temple and bone chapel.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha do Algarve
The Algarve coast end to end: Portimão, Silves’ red castle, Faro and the Ria Formosa lagoons out to Vila Real de Santo António on the Guadiana. Every summer visitor’s slow shuttle.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha de Guimarães
Metre gauge until 2004, when it was rebuilt to Iberian gauge and wired: out of Porto through Ermesinde and up the Ave valley by Trofa and Santo Tirso to Guimarães, where Portugal was founded.
Wikipedia ↗ - Évora–Beja railway
Two railways of the 1860s meet at Casa Branca: the branch up to Évora opened on 14 September 1863, and the main line reached Beja on 15 February 1864.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (2)
- Linha do Douro
Clings to the Douro’s waterline for some 100 km on ledges blasted out in the 1880s, passing UNESCO-listed port-wine terraces at Régua and Pinhão.
Wikipedia ↗ - Linha do Vouga
Portugal’s last surviving metre-gauge line still carries commuters, and a vintage wooden-carriage special every summer Saturday.
Wikipedia ↗
Mountain (1)
- Bom Jesus do Monte Funicular
The world’s oldest water-balance funicular in continuous service (1882), climbing beside the baroque stairway of UNESCO-listed Bom Jesus do Monte.
Wikipedia ↗
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Luxury (1)
- Presidential Train
Royal-blue saloon carriages built from 1890, which once carried heads of state, now a fine-dining train up the terraced Douro wine valley.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Portugal?
The Alfa Pendular, running Lisbon to Braga at up to 220 km/h. It is one of 18 routes in Portugal in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Portugal?
Not in this atlas. Portugal has 18 routes here and none of them is a scheduled sleeper, though night trains from neighbouring countries may still reach it.
Can you cross the border by train from Portugal?
Yes, 2 of its 18 routes continue into another country: Comboio Raiano (Abrantes – Badajoz), Celta (Porto – Vigo).
Which is the most scenic railway in Portugal?
Portugal has 3 scenic or mountain lines in this atlas. The longest is the Linha do Douro, 170 km.
Cross-border lines continue into
Train routes in Spain 67 routes