Page checked and updated 10th May 2017.
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 seven buses each way on weekdays
(eight on Saturdays and Sundays) and the journey takes 50 minutes.
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 straightforward and inexpensive. Take
the METRO DO PORTO Line E from the Airport to Campanhã station.
Trains run about every 20 minutes for most of the day on weekdays,
every 30 minutes at other times including weekends and holidays,
from around 6am until just after midnight. That will take about 33
minutes and costs €2.55 - 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.
At Campanhã walk round from the Metro station to the main railway
station of CP, Portuguese Railways. That takes only a couple of
minutes.
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 €3.15. 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. NB
these tickets are NOT VALID on Intercity trains. Urbanos trains
are (mostly) bright yellow! 
First train from Porto São Bento is at 0620 on weekdays, 0720 at
weekends and holidays and the last train is at 2320 daily. These
stop at Porto Campanhã five minutes later. Be sure to check
timetables at the Portugal Railways Official website; look for Urbanos Porto.
By bus from Porto city centre
The bus fare is nearly double the train fare.
The Arriva 'Rápida' bus service (route 500) also runs between
Porto and Guimarães, making the trip in about 50 minutes. Buses
run every 1 - 2 hours on weekdays, less frequently at weekends.
Timetable here. The Porto terminal for Arriva is in
Rua Régulo Magauanha close to the Trindad metro station.
TRANSDEV also has a local
bus service between Porto (Campo 24 de Agosto) and Guimarães with
six buses on weekdays, three on Saturdays and two on Sundays and
holidays.
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 underground metro trains (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
route 744 to Oriente.
There is also city bus 744 to Oriente station details on Lisbon
city bus website
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 are currently only two trains every day direct from Lisbon
to Guimarães. In the morning there is an Alfa Pendular fast train
leaving Lisbon Santa Apolónia at 0800hrs arriving in Guimarães at
1153hrs. The return trip leaves at 1655hrs, arriving in Lisbon
(Santa Apolónia) at 2052hrs. These trains run daily. One way
ticket €32,80 full price, reduced to €20 for advance bookings.
An afternoon Inter City train starts from Santa Apolonia station
at 1730, stops at Oriente at 1739 and arriving in Guimarães at
2138. The return trip leaves Guimarães at 0743 arriving in
Lisbon at 12 noon. One way tourist (2nd) class fare is €25.80 on
that train, less if booked in advance. Advance reservation is
highly recommended.
You can create more journey options (another eight trains) by
taking one of the frequent trains from Lisbon to Porto (Campanhã)
and changing to the local 'Urbanos' service there. Tickets cannot
be purchased on line for the Porto - Guimarães portion of the
trip.
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 newly-opened metro line. Take any train to the
end of the line at Sao 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 €1,90.
There is also a direct special bus, Aerobus 2, running every 40
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 Portuguese long distance bus website www.rede-expressos.pt
for Lisbon - Guimarães times;remember it's LISBOA in the timetable
search. One-way fare is currently €18.50 and the journey takes
about 4hrs 30 minutes. There are three direct journeys every day
and three more with a change in Porto. Rede Expressos also covers
journeys to Guimarães from many towns and cities through Portugal.
Seats can be reserved up to 30 days prior to travel.
The railway station in Guimarães is on the south-western edge of
the city centre, about six or seven minutes downhill walk. (Uphill
on the way back of course!) Taxis are outside as are local buses.
It's at Alameda Drº Mariano Felgueiras, close to
the large shopping centre Guimarães Shopping and the Hotel IBIS.
Map.
The bus station in Guimarães is a little closer to the city
centre, but a fairly stiff uphill walk. It isn't well signposted
(look for Central de Camionagem) but It is close to McDonalds, the
Hotel IBIS and a large Continente supermarket.
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
immediate suburbs, consult the city bus website ; these buses operate under
the name TUG - Transportes Urbanos de Guimarães. Unusually for
Portuguese cities I have visited, these buses not only operate at
fixed intervals (eg every 15, 30 or 60 minutes) but some routes
also run until 11pm or midnight, including weekends! This is
because there is a large University campus (Universidade do Minho)
located there. There is a large outdoor market on Fridays, behind
the castle.
Guimarães is at the end of the railway line, so the train does
not give any options apart from getting back to Porto or Lisbon.
Several bus companies operate from Guimarães bus station to a
variety of nearby destinations. I recommend that if you are
intending to roam the area or make an onward journey by bus, you
visit the bus terminal as soon as possible after your arrival.
Each bus company has its own office, so you may need to make
several enquiries, which is why I didn't.
Buses are reasonably frequent on weekdays, but very few run on
Saturdays and there are almost none on Sundays or Holidays. Most
interurban buses finish around 8pm. Please bear these things in
mind before making your plans too firm.
There is a plan of the large bus terminal here,
showing which stops are used by which buses. External link.
Bus companies operating from the terminal include:
Rodonorte -
buses to Braga, Barcelos and Montalegre
TransDev - buses to Braga, Viana do Castelo, Póvoa de Varzim and Famalicao
Arriva
- Braga, Brito, Famaliçao, Fafe, Póvoa de Varzim and Santa Luzia.
EBA - Braga jointly with other companies - see below.
Transcovizela - Vizela and the local area - no website
Guimarães < > Braga
Buses to Braga are a joint operation between TransDev,
Arriva and EBA. Buses run about every hour on weekdays until 8pm,
but less frequently on Saturdays and only about every 90 minutes
on Sundays and holidays. These run through Caldas Taipas, a
well-known spa resort, and Morreira. The timetable is on-line here
in Portuguese only - look for Bus Plus 03.
There is also a fast bus once each hour on weekdays via the
motorway, timetable here look for Bus Plus 05. This bus does not
operate for most of July and August.
There are also international links to Spain available through some
of those above.
There is a téléferico (cable car) from the city to Penha, a hill
resort some 1300 feet/400 metres above town and a mile distant.
Well worth a ride (€3.60 up and back) for the views if it's a
clear day. Good walking and general recreation areas. It runs
daily all year, except being closed for maintenance on the last
Monday of very month. Opening times vary according to
season. Website with all the details here but
only in Portuguese.
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.
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!