2023 Lisbon Trip (Day Two – Using the Lisbon Metro for the First Time)

My night in the Holiday Inn Express Lisbon complete I was going to walk directly to Encarnação Metro which was around twenty minutes away, around five minutes quicker than walking back to the airport and its Metro station. Unfortunately this plan was soon set aside as the Google Maps walking route was so complex in terms of crossing major roads that I thought it would be just as quick to return to the airport. After all, the other three were desperate to see me.

The airport Metro station looking modern and contemporary, part of the Red Line extension which opened in 2012. I’d also add that it was too hot for me, the blazing February sun was already just a bit too much.

There was a sizeable queue to buy a Metro ticket, but fortunately it was efficient and so I had a wait of only around five minutes or so. Note the heap of litter as the machines automatically print out a receipt that most people clearly don’t want.A single ticket is €1.65 but there’s a €0.50 charge for the ticket itself, although that only has to be paid once as it can be reused. There’s the option of a day ticket as well which is just over €6, all a lot cheaper than TFL in London.

It’s quite a deep Metro station so there were numerous levels to descend.

I don’t know whether it’s normal for musicians to meander up and down the carriages with a dog sitting on them. I’ve never seen this in London, or indeed in cities such as New York. Perhaps it’s to try and surprise and delight the tourists arriving in from the airport station.

Inside of the Metro carriage. Basic but functional.

I was heading to Restauradores Metro station, so I switched to the Blue Line, or the Seagull Line, which was well signed. This line is the only one of the four which is entirely underground. I’m not a huge fan of seagulls, so I’m not convinced they couldn’t have found something better to name it after. I’d add that seagulls don’t offend me, they just always appear to be quite a menace in the sky, particularly when I’ve got chips. Passengers need to keep their Metro ticket, not least as they’ll have to pay €0.50 for another one if they lose it, but also to be able to exit the network through the barriers.

The four lines, the Red, Green, Yellow and Blue lines. Although there had been plans to build a Metro system in Lisbon since the late nineteenth century, it didn’t finally open until December 1959. They started with the Blue Line, then came numerous extensions to that, then the Yellow Line, the Green Line and finally the Red Line. They don’t seem to have any plans to build a new line, with much of the city not that near to a Metro station, but there is also a train, tram and bus system to patch those gaps up.

And into the square where the three were standing to the right hand side of the monument. My peace and quiet shattered for the next few days….. At least the catching a Metro service had been simple and easy.