Lisbon Tram
Tram · Lisbon · Carris
6 lines · 95 stations · 42 interchanges
Every line drawn through its stations. Tap a line in the legend to hide or show it.
Lines
Quick facts
- Operator
- Carris runs Lisbon's trams, buses, and historic lifts.
- Payment
- Use a Navegante/Viva Viagem card or the current Carris fare products, do not make onboard payment your whole plan.
- The famous trams get crowded, and paying before you board keeps the ride from becoming a queue-management exercise.
- Viva Viagem
- Famous line
- 28E is the classic Alfama/Baixa/Chiado hill tram, and it is also the crowded pickpocket line.
- 28EVisitor caution
- Network type
- A surface tram network in a steep, tight city, mixing historic small cars with more modern corridor service.
- TramHistoric tram
- Metro connection
- Use the metro for the airport and long spine, then trams for the older surface city.
- Lisbon Metro
Mike’s notes
Lisbon's trams are working transit, not cute yellow props. A steep old city kept a surface railway layer because the street geometry still needs it.
For a first trip, there are two lines to understand: 28E because it climbs through the classic old-city corridor, and 15E because it is the practical ride to Belem.
The practical warning
The famous trams are crowded because everyone has seen the same photo. That does not make them a skip. Treat the ride as a compact tourist attraction with real transport value, not as a private sightseeing carriage.
Ride early, keep your phone and wallet boring, and bail to walking or a taxi when the queue gets silly. Lisbon is good enough above ground that missing one tram does not break the day.
The built-environment bit
The trams make Lisbon readable. The metro explains the modern spine, the trains explain Sintra and Cascais, but the trams explain why moving through Lisbon feels different from Madrid or Barcelona. The streets are steep, the curves are tight, the blocks are old, and the vehicle scale has to respect that.
Short history
1870s
Horse trams arrive
Lisbon's street-rail story begins in the horse-tram era, before electric traction took over the hills.
1901
Electric trams begin
Electric trams start running, giving Lisbon the street-level transport image that still defines the city for visitors.
Today
Working transport and attraction
The tram network remains useful, but the famous routes now carry a heavy visitor load.