I have no easy means to check or update so please confirm through sources given below.
COVILHÃ (pop.37,000, urban area 55,000) is a city of Northeastern Portugal. It is not in the Algarve - I was visiting! The city is about 175 miles / 278 km by road from Lisbon and 132 miles /212 km from Porto.
If you are not planning to spend time in Lisbon, you will need to
get from the Airport to LISBOA ORIENTE station. This is now very
simple using the Lisbon metro (subway) - trains run to
Oriente station every few minutes from 0630 until 0100 every
night. The journey takes about 5 minutes. There is also city bus
744 to Oriente.
City bus details at http://www.carris.pt/
If you are planning to spend time in Lisbon, all trains to Covilhã
start from the city centre SANTA APOLÓNIA station. Check all
details and buy your intercity tickets at www.cp.pt
From Lisbon Santa Apolónia there are three direct Intercity trains
each day. Departures at 0815, 1315 and 1915. One way ticket
without discount €17,50 second class, €24,70 1st class. Return
journeys to Lisbon leave Covilhã at 0753, 1453 and 1853.
These also stop at Lisbon Oriente (much closer to the airport) 9
minutes after leaving Santa Apolónia. Journey time Lisbon Santa
Apolónia <> Covilhã approx 3hrs 27
minutes.
Reservation is required. You can buy a ticket at the last minute,
but if the train is full you will have to wait until the next one.
There are also up to three connections daily using regional
trains, changing en route at Entroncamento. These trains take one
or even two hours longer than the Intercity trains, but are
cheaper. Regional train tickets cannot be bought on line or in
advance. Allow plenty of time to purchase a ticket as the ticket
machines for regional trains at some stations are no longer in
service. You may have to wait in line at the staffed ticket
office.
Reservations for train trips in Portugal can only be made up to a MAXIMUM of 60 days in advance. You can reserve on line at www.cp.pt and print your own ticket. A big discount is available on many trains for tickets purchased more than 8 days in advance. DO NOT use RailEurope etc as they cannot issue the required seat reservation for which you will pay extra.
You will need to make your way from the airport to the SETE RIOS
bus terminal. This is about 3 miles/5km from the airport and is
linked to it by the underground metro line. Take any train to the
end of the line at São Sebastião then change to the Blue Line for
a two stop ride to Jardim Zoológico station, which is adjacent to
Sete Rios. Trains run every few minutes from 0630 daily. The
journey will take around 25 minutes and cost €2.
There is also a direct special bus, Aerobus 2, running about
every 20 minutes. Consult the Aerobus website for details. For your bus
options from elsewhere in the city check the city bus website at http://www.carris.pt/
Consult the long distance bus website www.rede-expressos.pt
for Lisbon - Covilhã times, remember it's LISBOA on the timetable
search. One-way fare is currently €15,20 and the journey takes
about 3 hrs 45 minutes. There are six journeys each way on
weekdays, three on Saturdays and four on Sundays. Extra journeys
operate in both directions on Friday and Sunday evenings during
University terms. Tickets can be purchased up to 30 days in
advance.
There is no direct route by train. Travel by IC train from Porto
Campanhã to Entroncamento and change there. Shortest journey time
is 5 hours 4 minutes, other journeys around 6 hours. That does
compare badly with the coach (bus) services which take a more
direct route.
One way 2nd class ticket about €27,00 by most trains. Details and
ticket purchase at www.cp.pt
There is a direct metro connection between Porto Airport and
Campanhã station, takes 35 minutes and costs €2,60.
Please note that reservations for train trips in Portugal can only be made up to a MAXIMUM of 60 days in advance. You can reserve on line and print your own ticket. big A discount is available on many trains for tickets purchased more than 8 days in advance. DO NOT use RailEurope etc as they cannot issue the required seat reservation for which you will pay extra.
Citiexpress Route 1 from Porto (Campo 24 Agosto Bus Station)
journey 3hrs 30 minutes. Mondays to Thursdays five journeys each
way, Fridays seven journeys each way during University terms, five
otherwise, Saturdays three journeys each way. On Sundays there are three
journeys each way, extra buses run during University terms. Many Sunday
journeys DO NOT RUN if the MONDAY following is a holiday; they run
on the Monday instead.
One way ticket is €16,60. Tickets can be bought on line up to 30
days in advance at the Rede Expressos website www.rede-expressos.pt
Rede-Expressos has a daily direct trip from Porto (same bus
station) to Covilhã at 0830 with a return trip at 1715. Additional
journeys (most not direct) run on Fridays from Porto and Sundays
from Covilha. See their website as above.
The Campo 24 de Agosto bus terminal is a short distance outside
Porto city centre, about two minutes walk from the Campo 24 de
Agosto metro station and is served by numerous city bus routes.
The old city and some of the University campus is on top of a
tall hill. The railway and bus stations are 1.5km away down in
valley below. It is a VERY steep hill.
The Bus Station in Covilha is signposted and marked on timetables
and maps as the Central de Camionagem. It is located in the
'Alameda de Europa' down below the old city and University. It is
about 500 metres from the railway station.
Map link http://www.citiexpress.eu/agente/covilha
Once you are up in the old city it is walkable. You cannot drive around there anyway! The city and suburbs have a network of ten weekday bus routes operated under the banner Covibus. Website www.covibus.com only in Portuguese. These stop outside the main bus station and also go up to the old city on the hill.
Click HORÁRIOS for timetables - INV = winter VER = summer where
these are different for certain routes. P. Lectivos = University
and school term times only. Exact dates vary each year so check.
One route (27) does stop at the railway station, but at such
infrequent and irregular times it is probably not worth bothering
about. Several routes stop at the 'Tribunal' about 150 metres from
the station, but it is a steep uphill walk from the station.
(Everywhere in Covilhã is up!)
The main routes run about every 30 - 60 minutes on weekdays until
about 2000hrs. For weekday evening service see below.
Only three routes operate at late on weekday evenings, at weekends
and public holidays. For weekday evening service, click the route
N1, N2 and N3 at the bottom of the section marked SEGUNDA A SEXTA
FEIRA. For Saturday, Sunday and Holiday
service on those three routes, see the SÁBADOS, DOMINGOS E
FERIADOS section at he bottom of the page.
These routes run until around midnight.
On Sunday evenings during term time, there is, or perhaps was, a special shuttle service (Linha / route 14) between the main bus station and the University Campus every 30 minutes from 2000hrs until midnight. The timetable is however no longer on the website but is is still shown on the maps. I cannot confirm that it still operates!
There is a zonal fare system with cash fares of either €1,30 and
€1,45 according to distance. Various weekly, monthly and
multi-ride tickets are available offering discounts of up to 50%
on those fares.
The stadium of SC Covilhã (the Complexo Desportivo de Covilhã is
within walking distance of the city centre. Only one bus route
passes by and not at times convenient for most matches. SC Covilhã
currently play in the Second Division of the Portuguese League in
front of 400 - 500 fans at best.
If you have any comments or updates for this page, I will be
pleased to receive them by email.
For more about Covilhã as a city, please see this article in
Wikipedia.
I take no responsibility for any inconvenience caused as a result of later changes to times etc. This page is for general guidance only and you must check details before making commitments and decisions!