Humberto Delgado Airport (Lisbon)
Lisbon's airport sits inside the city, about 20 minutes from the centre by the airport's own reckoning, and all ten of our hotels are 20 to 25 minutes from the arrivals kerb by road. It rewards knowing three things: which terminal you leave from, how the new fixed taxi fares work, and where the Metro starts. This is what a friend who flies through every month would tell you, checked against the airport, the Metro and the taxi associations.
The 30-second version
Land, collect your bags and take a taxi from the arrivals rank: since 15 October 2026 the fare into central Lisbon is fixed, €19 to eight of our ten hotels on a weekday daytime and €23 at night and weekends, with no supplements and cards accepted. Travelling light, the Metro's red line starts in the arrivals area and runs 06:30 to 01:00. On the way home, check your airline first: Ryanair, Vueling, Volotea, Transavia, Wizz Air, Eurowings and Norwegian leave from Terminal 2, reached by a free shuttle from Terminal 1. Allow at least 90 minutes before a Schengen flight and two hours for the UK or further.
Book a private transfer
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A driver meets you in arrivals with your name on a sign, at a fixed price agreed when you book. Booked and paid with Welcome Pickups through our partner Travelpayouts; we may earn a commission.
TAP Air Portugal, British Airways, the long-haul carriers and every other airline not in Terminal 2, plus all arrivals
The main building: all arriving flights, the Metro station, the taxi rank, the lounges and most of the food. Schengen and non-Schengen gates are split by passport control.
Departures only: Eurowings, Norwegian, Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air
A simple departures building with no car park, open 03:30 to 00:30. Reach it on the free shuttle from Terminal 1 departures: every 12 minutes, about 3 minutes' ride.
Arrivals from Schengen countries walk straight through. With a non-EU passport, British and American included, you register in the EU's Entry/Exit System on your first entry: four fingerprints and a photograph, or just the photograph if you hold a Schengen visa. Children under 12 give no fingerprints, and biometric passports can use the self-service kiosks where open.
The baggage hall in Terminal 1 has a Vodafone shop (06:00 to 21:00), a Unicâmbio exchange desk and Just Arrived, a café in the reclaim area open 06:30 to 23:00, so the wait for a late bag can come with an espresso.
In the arrivals hall, Vodafone's second shop sells voice and data cards from 07:00 to 23:00, and Unicâmbio has a desk for euros. With an eSIM installed before you fly, skip both.
The official rank is outside arrivals. Fares into the city are fixed by zone, with no supplements, and the car must take cards and MB Way; a voucher from the Turismo de Lisboa desk in arrivals also works. Take a taxi from the rank or a ride booked in an app, never one offered by someone approaching you in the terminal.
Aeroporto station is the end of the red line, and its entrance is in the arrivals area. Buy a navegante card for €0.50 and load it, or simply tap a contactless bank card in and out at €1.92 a trip.
App rides pick up in a dedicated area on Level 2 of car park P2, on the arrivals level, not at the kerb, and drop off at Drop Off 1 or 2 beside departures on the way back. A pre-booked driver meets you in the arrivals hall with a name sign.
Carris buses 744 and 783 run from near arrivals to Marquês de Pombal, the 744 on to Restauradores, the 783 to Amoreiras, at €2.30 on board. The airport limits luggage on city buses to 50 x 40 x 20 cm, so they suit a carry-on, not a suitcase.
Eurowings, Norwegian, Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air leave from Terminal 2. Taxis drop you at its door; from the Metro, take the free shuttle from Terminal 1 departures, every 12 minutes, from 03:30 until after midnight.
The airport's guidance is to be at the check-in desk 90 minutes before a Schengen flight, two hours before a non-Schengen European flight such as London, and three hours before an intercontinental one. Online check-in is usually open 48 hours ahead, 24 hours for flights to the United States and Switzerland.
Self check-in kiosks are in the Terminal 1 check-in areas and by the Metro entrance. Checked in online, go straight to your airline's bag drop.
Fast track runs 05:00 to 23:00. In Terminal 1 it is the two dedicated lanes on the right at boarding control; in Terminal 2 it is a marked lane in the check-in hall. Buy it on the airport's website or app, or through your airline; under-2s travel through free with a paying adult. The airport warns that only those two channels issue a valid QR code, so ignore resellers.
For the UK, the Americas and anywhere else outside Schengen, you pass passport control after security, where non-EU passports are recorded as leaving in the Entry/Exit System. The TAP Atlântico lounge and the non-Schengen gates are beyond it.
The ANA Lounge in the Schengen shopping area looks over the runway and takes walk-in guests for a fee. Without a lounge, the Living Spot after security has seats, flight screens and phone charging.
Passes marked Book a pass are sold through GetYourGuide, which shows the price, hours and terms before you pay; we may earn a commission.
Every lounge in detail
About 900 square metres with a runway view, private booths and showers, and the one lounge open to anyone whatever the airline. On a non-Schengen flight, leave yourself time for passport control after it.
Book a passThe big one, 320 seats, and the right lounge for anyone on a TAP flight within Europe.
Smaller, 100 seats, and quieter; the place to wait before a TAP flight to London, New York or Brazil.
O MercadoTerminal 1
A food hall styled on a Portuguese market in the middle of the airport: pastéis de nata and bolinhos de bacalhau, the two things you should not fly home without trying.
Confeitaria PeixinhoTerminal 1, after security
The oldest maker of ovos moles from Aveiro, founded in 1856, open 06:00 to 23:00. The sweet egg-yolk sweets travel well, so buy a box for whoever is watering your plants.
Dots BakeryTerminal 1, after security
By gates 7–13 and 19–21, open 05:00 to 22:00: pastries beyond the classic nata, bagels and carob bread for an early flight.
Heineken Grand CaféTerminal 1 before security, Terminal 2 after security
Breakfast, snacks and a sushi counter as well as beer, 05:30 to 22:00, and the most reliable sit-down meal in Terminal 2.
Just ArrivedTerminal 1, baggage hall
Coffee and a bite while the carousel turns, 06:30 to 23:00. Small, but exactly where you want it.
The hotel at Lisbon
For an early flight, a late landing or a long wait: the one we would book.
The one hotel at Lisbon airport you can simply walk to from Terminal 1. It is a modern four-star with a wellness centre and pools, so a layover here feels like a stop rather than a wait.
Low-cost flights from Terminal 2 mean a ride on the airport's free Shuttle T2 from Terminal 1, which does not run between 00:30 and 03:30.
Getting to the terminal
Across the road from Terminal 1, a few minutes on foot
Terminal 2 is a separate departures building for Eurowings, Norwegian, Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air, with no Metro station. Ask your taxi for Terminal 2 and it will drop you at the door; arriving by Metro, take the free shuttle from Terminal 1 departures, every 12 minutes and about 3 minutes' ride.
Terminal 2 opens at 03:30 and closes at 00:30, and the shuttle runs only in those hours. All flights land at Terminal 1, so this only matters on the way home.
The taxi rank changed on 15 October 2026. Trips from the arrivals rank into Lisbon now have fixed prices by zone, covering up to four people and their luggage with no supplements, and the driver must accept cards and MB Way. A voucher from the Turismo de Lisboa desk in arrivals settles it before you get in.
Older guides send you to the Aerobus. The airport's own transport page lists the Metro, Carris city buses, Flixbus coaches, a shared shuttle to central Portugal and taxis, and no airport express bus into the city.
Only buy fast track on the airport's own website or app, or from your airline. The airport has warned that resellers are selling codes that will not open the gate.
After security in Terminal 1 the airport lends free pushchairs for babies up to 3 years or 15 kg; leave it at the gate. Changing tables are in the women's and accessible toilets in both terminals, and there are breastfeeding rooms by gate 15 in the Schengen area and on pier 14, level 5, on the non-Schengen side. Under-2s go through fast track and into the ANA Lounge free.
The airport's free MyWay service covers anyone with a disability or reduced mobility, arriving, departing or connecting. Request it through your airline or travel agent when you book, and no later than 48 hours before departure. On the day, use one of the MyWay call points, telephone booths marked with the logo, and the team takes you through check-in, security and passport control to your seat. Lifts, moving walkways and reserved parking near the car park exits are part of the service, and guide dogs are welcome in the terminal.
EU rules apply to every flight from Lisbon. After a delay of two hours on a flight up to 1,500 km, three hours up to 3,500 km or four hours beyond, the airline owes you meals, communication and, if needed, a hotel. At five hours you can take a refund instead. Arrive three hours or more late, have your flight cancelled with less than 14 days' notice or be denied boarding, and you can claim €250, €400 or €600 depending on distance, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. If the airline reroutes you to arrive close to your original time, it can halve this, and after a cancellation it may owe nothing; a flight of over 3,500 km that arrives three to four hours late pays €300.
Terminal 1 never closes, but between 00:30 and 03:00 only passengers with a boarding pass or booking, staff and crew are let in, and Terminal 2 is shut from 00:30 to 03:30. For a 06:00 departure the ANA Lounge opens at 04:00 and fast track at 05:00.
The Star Inn Lisbon Airport is five minutes' walk from the terminal, with breakfast from 06:00. From our hotels, though, the airport is a 20 to 25 minute taxi at night, so most travellers simply stay in town.
All ten of our Lisbon hotels are 20 to 25 minutes from the arrivals kerb by road, and the fixed taxi fare makes a car the obvious choice with luggage. The exceptions are the doors you cannot drive to: Santiago de Alfama sits in a quarter closed to parking, and app cabs stop at a barrier short of Verride. Our airport transfers page has every hotel, its drive time and the best way to arrive.
Questions people ask
From the arrivals rank the fare is fixed: €19 on weekdays 07:00 to 22:00 and €23 at night, weekends and national holidays to most of central Lisbon, or €16 and €20 to the closer zone around Avenidas Novas. It covers up to four people and luggage, with no supplements.
Take the red line from Aeroporto, in the arrivals area; Saldanha is about 20 minutes away, where you change for the rest of the network. It runs 06:30 to 01:00 and costs €1.92 with a contactless card.
Eurowings, Norwegian, Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air depart from Terminal 2. Every flight arrives at Terminal 1.
The airport advises 90 minutes before a Schengen flight, two hours before a non-Schengen European one such as London, and three hours before an intercontinental one.
Yes, the ANA Lounge in Terminal 1, open 04:00 to 23:00, takes any passenger for a fee booked on the airport's website, for up to three hours.
Yes, 05:00 to 23:00 in both terminals, sold on the airport's website and app or by your airline. Children under 2 go through free with a paying adult.
In a dedicated area on Level 2 of car park P2, on the arrivals level.
Image credits: ほっきー (CC0) · Sharon Hahn Darlin (CC BY 2.0) · Jcornelius (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Asurnipal (CC BY-SA 4.0)