The Ultimate Guide to the Lisbon Card

We Tested the Lisbon Card in Lisbon

Many cities offer a city card that combines museum and attraction entry with public transport, promising an easier and cheaper way to explore. But not every city card is actually worth the investment. We put the Lisbon Card to the test during our time in Lisbon, visiting attractions, using transport, and tracking what we would have paid without it. Here is what we discovered and whether we think the Lisbon Card is worth buying.

What is the Lisbon Card

The Lisbon Card is a city pass for tourists who want to make the most of their visit to Lisbon. Available for 24, 48, or 72 hours, it offers access to a range of attractions and unlimited public transportation within the city.

Top Reasons to Invest in the Lisbon Card

• Cost-Efficiency. The Lisbon Card offers exceptional value by bundling admission fees and transportation costs into one affordable package. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much you save with this pass.
• Hassle-Free Exploration. With the Lisbon Card, you can say goodbye to long lines to buy tickets. Tap your card at the Lisbon Card machine, and you’re in! This time-saving advantage lets you focus on enjoying the sights instead of wasting precious moments in queues. 
• Unlimited Public Transportation. This is our favorite part. Whether hopping on a tram, bus, or metro, you can explore the city easily and efficiently. This is particularly handy for reaching attractions that may be a bit off the beaten path. 
• Access to Iconic Landmarks. From the historic Belém Tower to the fascinating Jerónimos Monastery, the Lisbon Card unlocks Lisbon’s most treasured landmarks. You’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the city’s rich history and marvel at its architectural wonders at no extra cost.
• Free or Discounted Entry to Museums. Dive into Portugal’s intricate history at the National Museum of Ancient Art or explore modern art at the Berardo Collection Museum, all at a fraction of the regular cost.

How Much Does the Lisbon Card Cost

The Lisbon Card currently comes in three versions, depending on how long you plan to explore the city. The card includes the same benefits across all three options, with the validity period changing from 24 to 48 or 72 hours. Children aged 4 to 15 get a reduced price, while children under four don’t need their own card.

Validity	Adult	Child (4–15)
24 hours	€31	€21
48 hours	€51	€28
72 hours	€62	€35

What Is Included in the Lisbon Card

For us, the Lisbon Card feels like more than just an attraction pass. It combines free entry to more than 50 museums, monuments, and attractions with unlimited public transport, plus discounts at more than 80 additional museums, tours, boat trips, and experiences. That combination is what makes the card particularly useful when we want to see a lot of Lisbon without constantly buying separate tickets or worrying about transport costs.

• Free Admission to 50+ Attractions. The card gives you free entry to 50+ participating museums, monuments, and cultural attractions. These include major sights such as Jerónimos Monastery, Belém Tower, São Jorge Castle, the National Tile Museum, the National Pantheon and the Royal Treasury Museum.
• Unlimited Public Transport. During the card’s validity period, you can use Lisbon’s metro, buses and trams without buying separate tickets. This also includes the historic Tram 28, as well as Lisbon’s three funiculars: Glória, Bica and Lavra.
• Santa Justa Lift. The famous Elevador de Santa Justa is included, meaning you can use this historic lift without paying the normal admission price.
• CP Trains to Sintra and Cascais. The card is particularly useful if you want to venture beyond central Lisbon. Suburban CP trains to Sintra and Cascais are included, as is the CP service to Azambuja. The Fertagus train between Lisbon and Setúbal is also included.
• Airport Metro Connection. You can use the Lisbon Metro between the airport and the city center with the card. The Aerobus is not included, so you would need a separate ticket if you choose that service.
• Discounts on Other Attractions. Not everything is included for free. The card also provides discounts of 10% to 50% at more than 80 participating places, including museums, tours, boat trips and other experiences. For example, the Oceanário de Lisboa currently offers a discount rather than free Admission, while some other attractions have larger reductions.
• Experiences and Tours. Discounts can also apply to city tours, tuk-tuk tours, boat trips, and other experiences, giving you options beyond traditional museums and monuments.

What Is Not Included

There are a few important exceptions. Tagus ferries, long-distance CP trains, and local buses in Sintra and Cascais are not included. For example, the train from Lisbon to Sintra is covered, but if you use the local bus network, you’ll need separate transport once you arrive in Sintra.

One thing to remember: free admission doesn’t always mean you can just show up and enter. Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower require reservations for Lisbon Card holders, so check the latest instructions before you go.

Which Attractions Are Free With the Lisbon Card

This is where the Lisbon Card really started to make sense for us. Some of Lisbon’s biggest sights are included completely free of charge, so the savings can add up quickly if you plan your sightseeing around them. The official Lisbon Card currently lists 50+ free museums, monuments, and attractions, including several major landmarks.

Attraction	Regular Price	With Lisbon Card
Jerónimos Monastery	€18	Free
Belém Tower	€15	Free
São Jorge Castle	€17	Free
National Tile Museum	€10	Free
Ajuda National Palace	€15	Free
Royal Treasure Museum	€11	Free
National Pantheon	€10	Free
National Coach Museum	€15	Free
Monument to the Discoveries	€5	Free
Arco da Rua Augusta	€4.50	Free
Pilar 7 Bridge Experience	€5.50	Free

Prices and inclusions can change, so check the official Lisbon Card attraction list before your visit.

Not Everything Is Free With the Lisbon Card

This is an important distinction. The Lisbon Card does not mean free entry to every attraction in Lisbon. Some popular attractions and experiences offer a discount instead. The current program includes 10% to 50% discounts at more than 80 museums, tours, boat trips, and experiences.

For example, the current discounts include 15% off the Oceanário de Lisboa, 10% off Pena Palace in Sintra, 20% off Lisbon Cathedral, and 25% off CitySightseeing and tuk-tuk tours.

This is something we would definitely check before buying the card. If the attractions you most want to visit are only discounted rather than free, add those reduced prices to your calculation rather than assuming the entire visit will be covered.

Lisbon Card and Public Transport

For us, public transport is often the biggest selling point of a city card. Whenever we know we will be using buses, trams, and the metro throughout a trip, we always check whether transport is included. The Lisbon Card includes it, which can quickly add value to the pass.

• Metro. Unlimited travel across the Lisbon Metro is included, including the airport connection.
• Buses. All regular CARRIS buses are covered, making it easy to reach sights beyond the historic center.
• Trams. Lisbon’s iconic trams are included, including the famous Tram 28E.
• Funiculars. The historic Glória, Bica and Lavra funiculars are included, which is particularly useful in hilly Lisbon.
• Santa Justa Lift. The famous Elevador de Santa Justa is included too.
• Trains. CP suburban trains to Sintra, Cascais and Azambuja are included, as well as Fertagus trains towards Setúbal. Local transport within Sintra and Cascais is not included.

Do You Need to Tap the Card

Yes. Use the Lisbon Card like a transport ticket. Tap it when you enter the Metro and again when you exit. On buses, trams, and funiculars, validate it when boarding. On included trains, follow the station validation procedure and show the card if requested.

Remember, your first transport journey activates the card and starts the 24, 48, or 72-hour validity period. We therefore recommend collecting the card first and activating it only when you are ready to start using it.

For us, this is where the Lisbon Card really earns its place. We can hop on a tram for a few stops, take the metro instead of climbing another hill, or jump on a train to Sintra without constantly thinking about another ticket. That freedom is a big part of the value.

How to Activate the Lisbon Card

As mentioned several times, you activate the Lisbon Card by tapping it the first time you use it, whether on public transport or at a participating attraction. The clock starts then, not when you buy or collect the card.

For example, if you first tap a 48-hour card at 15:00 on Monday, it remains valid until 15:00 on Wednesday. So, don’t activate it too early. If you collect it in the morning but plan to start sightseeing later, wait until you are ready to use it.

Where to Pick Up the Lisbon Card

If you buy the Lisbon Card online, you receive a voucher by email, which you exchange for the physical card at an official Ask Me Lisboa tourist information office. Show the voucher on your phone, so you don’t need to print anything. The card itself is physical, and you cannot use the online voucher instead of collecting the card.

We actually reserved our Lisbon Cards online in advance and picked them up in the city center at Terreiro do Paço, the huge square better known as Praça do Comércio. The Ask Me Lisboa tourist information center there makes the process quick and straightforward. Collection points are also available at Lisbon Airport, Cais do Sodré, and several other locations, including one in Sintra.

• Buying online: You receive your voucher by email immediately after purchase.
• What to show: Show the voucher on your phone. You do not need a printed copy.
• Physical card: You receive the actual physical Lisbon Card when you collect it.
• Airport collection: An Ask Me Lisboa desk is in the Arrivals Hall at Lisbon Airport, currently open daily from 07:00 to 22:00.
• City-center collection: Terreiro do Paço is one of the most convenient central options, currently open daily from 10:00 to 19:00.
• Collection window: After selecting your collection date, you have 28 days to collect the card.
• Digital card: You cannot simply use the email voucher as a digital Lisbon Card. You need to exchange it for the physical card before using the benefits.

Our tip: If you are flying into Lisbon, picking it up at the airport is convenient. If you are already heading into the center, we found Terreiro do Paço particularly easy, and collecting the card there also meant we were already in one of Lisbon’s main squares.

How to Calculate If the Lisbon Card Is Worth It

Whether the Lisbon Card is worth the money really depends on what kind of Lisbon itinerary you have planned. We wanted to see as many included attractions as possible, so the numbers worked out well for us. The attractions we planned to visit would have cost €125.60 if we had paid separately, while with the Lisbon Card, we paid €69.21 for the same admissions. And that was before adding the value of the public transport we used.

A simple way to work it out is to add up the attractions you actually want to visit and the public transport you would otherwise pay for, then compare that total with the card price.

Our Lisbon Card Calculation

• Without the card: €125.60
• With the card: €69.21
• Our savings: €56.39

That’s exactly why we recommend planning your itinerary before buying the card. If you are like us and want to visit several museums, monuments, and attractions included in the pass, the savings can be significant.

But if your idea of Lisbon is mostly wandering through the streets, enjoying the viewpoints, sitting in cafés, and perhaps using public transport once or twice, we would skip the card. You could easily spend less by paying for your individual attractions and transport as you go.

For us, the answer was clear because we had a sightseeing-heavy itinerary and deliberately chose attractions covered by the card. The Lisbon Card is not automatically a good deal for every traveler. It becomes a good deal when your itinerary uses what it actually includes.

Common Lisbon Card Mistakes to Avoid

The Lisbon Card can save you money, but only if you use it strategically. Before you buy one, keep these common mistakes in mind:

• Activating It Too Early. The clock starts with your first use, so don’t activate the card hours before you actually plan to start sightseeing.
• Assuming Everything Is Free. The card includes 50+ attractions, but many other places offer only a discount. Always check the current list before building your itinerary.
• Not Checking Opening Days. Your card may be valid, but that does not mean every attraction is open every day. Check opening hours before you go.
• Forgetting About Reservations. Some included attractions still require a reservation or time slot. Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower, for example, require reservations for Lisbon Card holders.
• Buying Too Long a Card. If you plan to visit only one or two included attractions, a 72-hour card probably won’t make financial sense. Calculate your expected costs first.
• Not Using Public Transport. One of the biggest benefits is unlimited transport. If you plan to spend your entire visit wandering around one neighborhood, you may not get enough value from this part of the card.
• Trying to See Everything. The opposite mistake is packing your itinerary so tightly that you spend the whole trip rushing between attractions to make the card worthwhile. We would rather use the card for the places we genuinely want to see.
• Not Checking the Current Benefits. Attractions, prices, discounts, and reservation rules can change, so always check the official Lisbon Card information before your trip.

Buy Us a Ko-fi

Lisbon Card: Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Free entry to many major attractions	Not every attraction is included
Unlimited public transport	Some attractions offer only discounts
Can save money with a sightseeing-heavy itinerary	You need to plan around opening hours
Convenient, with one card covering attractions and transport	Some attractions require separate reservations
Useful for visiting several museums and monuments	Less useful for slow travel
Includes selected trains to places such as Sintra and Cascais	Less valuable if you only visit one or two attractions
Discounts on additional tours and experiences	You need to calculate the value based on your own itinerary

Is the Lisbon Card Worth It

For us, yes, the Lisbon Card is worth it. We saved money while visiting many of Lisbon’s major attractions, and unlimited public transport made exploring the city much easier. But the real answer depends on your itinerary. If you plan to visit several included attractions and use public transport regularly, the card can be excellent value. If you prefer slow travel, wandering the streets and visiting only one or two paid sights, we would skip it and pay as you go.

After all the cities we have traveled to, and all the city cards we have tested, only two so far are ones we’d recommend buying: Copenhagen and Lisbon. The Lisbon Card surprised us with how much value we got from it, especially when we combined attractions with public transport. For our style of traveling, it absolutely earned its place in our Lisbon adventure, and it is one city card we would happily use again.

Travel Bold. Eat Well. Waddle Wild.

---

Save This Pin for Later!

This post contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, I might earn a tiny commission, enough to help a penguin keep up its globe-trotting lifestyle. No extra cost to you, just more fish for me. Thank you for supporting the adventure!