Buying train tickets in Portugal
Soon, my wife and I want to travel from Faro to Lisbon by train and back a few days later. I have found this website: Comboios De Portugal.
A complication is that we are not exactly sure when we will get to Faro. So, if we book ahead then we will need to play safe and book a fairly late train. Alternatively, we could just turn up at the station and buy on the spot. My experience with UK trains is that this is a poor strategy as the prices will be bad and we might not even get seats. So, here is the question: which of these strategies?
Book ahead as the prices will be better and we will certainly get seats. Accept that we may need to hang around in Faro for a few hours.
Just turn up at the station. The prices will be the same or similar and there will be little danger of no seats.
Something else that I have missed.
The prices on the website seem reasonable and first class is not much more so we will probably go first class.
Update. I am on the train now. It was at the platform 30 minutes before departure and it departed exactly on time. Despite the booking site showing that it was nearly full, it is in fact almost empty. I guess that more may get on at intermediate stops. The carriage is nice: roomy, clean, and comfortable. Storage for large bags is not great. If it was actually full then it might have been a problem. However, it is at least as good as trains in the UK.
One minute late out of Loule and a few people got on.
7 minutes late out of Tunes and it is close to full now.
Final update after quite a few trips. Ticket buying is easy online for major routes and you do not need to print the tickets. You will be asked for an ID number, e.g. passport, but we never had this checked. Local trains may require old style paper tickets bought at the station. It is a good idea to book several days ahead in a busy season as the trains often sell out. Punctuality is erratic. It seemed good at first with delays of at most 10 minutes but later we had some trains 30 or 40 minutes behind schedule.
Best Answer
In Portugal train prices are stable, they never escalate. Only difference is that there are discounts (up to 65%) for people who buy some days ahead. You can check information here.
The big disadvantage when buying on the spot is that tickets may run out. This doesn't happen often and many times they only run out in second class, so you may still find some first class tickets, more expensive, but like you said it's not a big difference. Also even if they run out for next train there will be seats for the train after; tickets in Portugal are mostly bought on the spot so they sell their last seats in the last minutes.
Buying on the spot is a fair option. No discount, but besides that the worst it can happen is that you go in that train you would be going if you buy before.
Edit: After comments from @badjohn I know now that what I've written here about tickets running out prevails in most cases but not in Algarve during Summer.
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Can you buy train tickets at the station in Portugal?
Tickets can be bought at the station up to the last minute, but if the train is full you will have to wait for the next one, which might be tomorrow.Are trains cheap in Portugal?
The Urban trains (which can't be booked in advance) are often even cheaper. These trains aren't everywhere in the country, but are especially common around Lisbon and Porto. As well as advanced tickets, there are also discounts for: Under 25s: 25% off for those under 25.Do you have to validate train tickets in Portugal?
All tickets on the Lisbon urban network (which includes Sintra) must be validated on the devices or through the gates seen on the platforms BEFORE you board the train.How much do trains cost in Portugal?
As a rule, a price for Portugal rail tickets starts from 25 USD per passenger. Do Portuguese trains have WiFi? All Alfa Pendular high-speed trains offer free WiFi to its passengers, while only some of the Intercity trains have internet access at no extra cost. Other trains running on Portugal railways do not have WiFi.TRAVELING BY TRAIN IN PORTUGAL | TIPS \u0026 TRICKS #2 | Everything about train travel within Portugal!
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