INFORMATION CHECKED AND UPDATED 2nd DECEMBER
2024
I have no easy means to check or update so please confirm
through sources given below.
Guimarães (pop.55,000, urban area 112,000) is a city of Northern Portugal - it is not in the Algarve. I was visiting. It stands about 54km (34 miles) north-west of the major city of Porto.
It is therefore about the same distance from PORTO airport. Lisbon and its airport are some 365km (250 miles) to the south.
Direct bus
GETBUS operates a
direct service between Porto Airport and Guimarães, costing €8
each way or €14 return. There are 12 buses every day at irregular
intervals. The journey takes 50 minutes and this is the quickest
way. Tickets can be bought on line or from the bus driver. At
Guimarães tickets are also sold at the Mondinense ticket office in
the bus station.
Metro and train
By metro and train it is frequent, straightforward and
inexpensive. Take the METRO DO PORTO Line E from the Airport to
Campanhã station. You may need to change trains, which I recommend
you do at Lapa station
where this is done on the same platform, no need for steps,
tunnels etc. Trains are currently running about every 15 minutes
daily between about 0700 and 2000, about every 30 minutes at other
times. The first train from the airport is at 0606 on weekdays,
0558 on Saturdays and at 0557 on Sundays and public holidays That
will take about 35 minutes and costs €2.75 - a Z4 (four zone)
ticket. More details at the METRO DO PORTO website.
By the way, don't throw away your 'ANDANTE' ticket if you are
coming back to Porto. It is rechargeable. You can use it until it
wears out and saves you €0.60 on each subsequent ticket of the
same type. Tickets are sold at the Airport tourist office, but if
it's not open you will need some coins for the ticket machines.
The service to the Airport from Trindad starts at 0558 on
weekdays, 0622 at weekends and on public holidays, with the last
train at 0037 every night. The first direct trains from Campanhã
station to the airport are at 0707 on weekdays, 0706 on Saturdays
and 0703 on Sundays and Holidays. The last train from
Campanhã is at 0031 every night. If no direct train is
shown, take any WESTBOUND train and change at Lapa station.
At Campanhã walk round from the Metro station to the main railway
station of CP, Portuguese Railways. That takes only a minute.
From there, local electric trains of the Porto Urbanos network run
to Guimarães about once every TWO hours, with extra trains on
weekday rush hours. The journey takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes
and will cost €3.45. There are simple to use ticket machines in
the hall; there were long lines at the ticket office all three
times I was there. The machines take notes as well as coins.
Special note - all CP Porto Urbanos train tickets are now issued
on a rechargeable card called SIGA. This costs 50 cents. Do
not throw it away as it can be used for second and
subsequent ticket purchases on the Porto Urbanos network. NB these
tickets are NOT VALID on Intercity trains. Urbanos trains are
(mostly) bright yellow! 
First train from Campanhã is at 0625 on weekdays, 0730 daily and
the last train is at 2325 daily. These start from Porto São Bento
five minutes earlier. Be sure to check timetables at the
Portugal Railways Official website
By bus from Porto city centre
Rede - Expressos has about eight buses each way daily between Porto Campanhã bus station and Guimarães - website for times and tickets here. Journey time about one hour. You can get to the bus station on the metro, alighting at Campanhã station, which is two minutes walk from the bus station. The journey from the airport is about 35 minutes and is mostly above ground.TRANSDEV has a local bus
service between Porto (Régulo de Magauanha bus station) and
Guimarães with seven buses each way on weekdays, but no weekend or
holiday service.
If you are not planning to spend time in Lisbon, you will need to
get from the Airport to LISBOA ORIENTE station. Obviously, taxis
are available. However, this is very simple using the Lisbon metro
(subway) from the airport station. Trains run to Oriente station
every few minutes from 0630 until 0100 every night. The journey
takes about 5 minutes, ticket price €2,30 (cash), which includes
the 50 cents for the rechargeable ticket card. There is also city
bus 744 to Oriente, however large luggage is not allowed. City
bus details at http://www.carris.pt/
If you are planning to spend time in Lisbon, most trains to the
north start from the city centre SANTA APÓLONIA station. Check
timetables and buy tickets at www.cp.pt
There is currently only one train every day direct from Lisbon to
Guimarães. In the morning there is a daily Intercity train leaving
Lisbon Santa Apolónia at 1130hrs arriving in Guimarães at 1549hrs.
The return trip leaves Guimarães at 1641 daily, arriving in Lisbon
at 2100hrs. One way tourist (2nd) class fare is €28,45 on those
trains, can be much less if booked in advance. Advance reservation
is highly recommended.
You can create more journey options (about another nine trains) by
taking one of the frequent trains between Lisbon and Porto
(Campanhã) and changing to / from the local 'Urbanos' service
there. Train times are subject to change around major public
holidays, for example Easter, Christmas and New Year. Check
official timetables carefully when making your reservations.
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.
For most departures, 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 metro. 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 €2,30
(cash) including the 50 cents for the rechargeable ticket card or
€1,80 by contactless card payment.
For your bus options from elsewhere in the city check the city
bus website at http://www.carris.pt/
Consult the Portuguese long distance bus website www.rede-expressos.pt
for Lisbon - Guimarães times and tickets; remember it's LISBOA in
the timetable search. One-way fare standard fare is currently
€23.00 and the journey takes about 4hrs 45 minutes. There are
currently three direct journeys most days. Otherwise, a change is
needed in Porto, as shown in the timetable. Extra journeys (some
direct) run on Fridays and Sundays in both directions during
University terms. There are also a few departures from Lisboa
ORIENTE bus terminal, which is next to the railway station and
much closer to the airport. Check both sets of times.
Rede Expressos also has journeys to Guimarães from many towns and
cities through Portugal.
Flixbus
run about four journeys daily each way between Lisbon Oriente bus
station and Guimarães. Journey time 5 hours and 5 minutes, plus
the time it takes you get the 9km (6 miles) to Oriente from the
city centre. Oriente is however close to Lisbon Airport.
The railway station in Guimarães is on the southern edge of the
city centre, about six or seven minutes uphill walk. (Downhilll on
the way back of course!) Taxis are outside as are several local
buses. It's at Avenida Dom João IV, Map.
The bus station in Guimarães is a little closer to the city
centre, at the Jardim da Alameda Mariano Felgueiras. Look for
Central de Camionagem on the map. It is close to McDonalds, the
Hotel IBIS and a large shopping centre.
The tourist office is located in the historic city centre at Largo Cónego José Maria Gomes, 4800 - 419 Guimarães.
Guimarães is a walkable city, if a bit hilly! The historic centre
is traffic-free. If you need local buses around the city and
suburbs, consult the city bus website ; these buses
operate under the name Guimabus. The website is partly available
in English.
Click the tab 'Horários Diurnos e Noturnas' for normal
timetables. The ´Horários Natal, Ano Novo e Pascoa' are special
timetables for Christmas, New Year and Easter. 'Horários em Tempo
Real' gives real time information on bus locations according
to route.
There are two circular routes (numbers 003 and 004) around the
centre, university campuses and railway station operated by
electric buses, running every 20 - 30 minutes on weekdays from
0700 to 2030 on weekdays, every 40 minutes on Saturdays, Sundays
and Holidays.
There is a zonal fare system with tickets for single journeys
starting at €1,20 for very short trips. Longer journeys are priced
according to distance. A ticket for the city zone is €1,65. A pre
paid ten journey ticket reduces the cost by around 10%. Monthly
passes are available. Most students travel free on a special pass.
There is no system map I can find, but there are various
interactive maps (click Planeador de Viagens) to help you find a
stop and plan a journey. Bus stops and times are also shown on
Google Maps.
The good bus service is because there is a large University
campus (Universidade do Minho) located there. There is a large
outdoor market on Fridays, behind the castle, well worth a visit.
Cable Car
There is a téléferico (cable car) from the city to Penha, a hill
resort some 1300 feet/400 metres above town and a mile (1.6km)
distant. Well worth a ride (€7,50 up and back down for adults and
children aged 12 and over; €3.50 for children aged 6 to 11, free
for very young children) for the views if it's a clear day. Days
and hours of operation are very limited in winter, which are not
explained very well on the website. I can find no information
about winter days and times of operation. Good walking and general
recreation areas are when you get up there. Website with some
details here
but only in Portuguese.
The regional bus website is https://avemobilidade.pt/home and is partly available in English.
Buses are reasonably frequent on weekdays, but very few run on
Saturdays and on many routes there are none on Sundays or
Holidays. Most interurban bus service ends around 2000hrs / 8pm.
Please bear these things in mind before making your plans too
firm.
Guimarães < > Braga by bus
This is AVE route 9304 which runs every 30 - 60 minutes on
weekdays, less frequently at weekends. Go to https://avemobilidade.pt/schedules
and select the 'line' number (they use American English) and be
aware that there are different choices for Dias Úteis (weekdays),
Sábado (Saturdays) and Domingos (Sundays and Holidays)
Bus 101 Guimarães <> Braga (slower) runs on weekdays only,
via the Universities do Minho and Guimarães, times here.
In addition to these buses, the Rede
Expressos long distance bus company
operates several non stop journeys every day but these are more
expensive. Rede Expressos tickets can be purchased from their
website or using their app. Journey time 25 minutes.
It is not possible to travel between Braga and Guimarães by train except by a very long and indirect route.
The stadium of SC Vítoria Guimarães is within easy walking distance of the city centre, you will be pleased to know. It's on the northern edge of town in "Parque Central".
If you have any comments or updates for this page, I will be
pleased to receive them by email.
For more about Guimarães as a city, please see this article in Wikipedia.
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