How To Get From Lisbon To Porto Covo
If you’re planning to hike the spectacular Fishermen’s Trail in southwest Portugal - part of the wider Rota Vicentina network - then you have two potential start points for your multi-day walk:
· São Torpes & Porto Covo in Alentejo (the northern end)
· Lagos in the Algarve (the southern end)
After covering the route ourselves over thirteen days, we’d strongly recommend starting in Alentejo and walking south towards Lagos. That applies whether you’re tackling the shorter ‘Classic’ route or taking on the full Fishermen’s Trail over 11-13 days.
The only downside? São Torpes & Porto Covo are only accessible by bus or car, with the closest airport a few hours away in Lisbon and no railway coverage.
Thankfully, there are good, affordable bus connections with Lisbon - which means most hikers actually have to start their journey in the capital!
Following our own experience of flying in to Lisbon in order to hike the Fishermen’s Trail, we wanted to pull together all our research and recommendations to help you plan your journey and avoid a few common mistakes, and share one essential piece of advice to avoid a stressful start to your walk on the wild side of Portugal!
This is how to get from Lisbon to the Fishermen’s Trail start.
Starting in São Torpes vs. Porto Covo
The official start point for the Fishermen’s Trail is on a beach called Praia de São Torpes (Google Maps), 7km outside the small industrial port town of Sines.
However, most hikers skip this and start in Porto Covo instead. There are five reasons why:
It’s mostly along a working industrial port and by a power plant, so not exactly the wild, unspoiled coastal scenery people come for.
Logistics to Sines and São Torpes aren’t any better with public transport
It’s only 10 km walking from São Torpes to Porto Covo, but this adds an extra day on your itinerary
Porto Covo is a much prettier - and was actually the original start point
There’s more accommodation and eating out options in Porto Covo (Google Maps)
This is why we chose to start our own thirteen-day hike in Porto Covo, which is where the official ‘Day One’ section from São Torpes finishes.
We met a grand total of three hikers who started in São Torpes, and none thought it was worth the extra day - and don’t even think about trying to tag it on to the next section to make it a 30km ‘Day One’ on the Fishermen’s Trail!
We’ll leave it up to you but, if you are looking at ways to save a day for Lisbon, add in a rest day, or give yourself more flexibility elsewhere on your Fisherman’s Trail, that’s where we suggest making an easy efficiency here.
If you go ahead though, note that most of the Lisbon to Porto Covo buses include a stop in Sines, so you’ll still be following the exact same route and advice as below! You could also look into a bus or train to Santiago do Cacém, followed by a taxi ride to São Torpes.
Buses From Lisbon To Porto Covo
As there’s no train network along or near the Alentejo coastline, and the costs of a taxi would be ridiculously expensive, most Fishermen’s Trail hikers have to make their way to Lisbon first. From the capital city, you can then take one of two daily bus services south to Porto Covo.
Rede Expressos is currently the only bus company running the route.
Their quickest option to Porto Covo departs from Lisbon Sete Rios bus station (maps), and takes 2 to 2.5 hours if it’s the direct service (or includes one stop in Sines).
The service with more stops along the way takes just over 3 hours.
This Lisbon to Porto Covo service has up to ten or twelve departures a day, and tickets cost €4-6 per passenger.
The alternative option is the other direct Rede Expressos bus from Lisboa Oriente station to Porto Covo - find the station here on Google Maps. This takes just over 2 hours, and has up to three departures a day, but tickets are more expensive at €8-13 per passenger.
FYI //The number of daily departures from both Sete Rios and Oriente to Porto Covo reduces significantly outwith the summer months - down to as little as one or two services a day. This is especially relevant for Fishermen’s Trail trips, as the walking season runs from September to June (it’s way too hot to do it in peak summer). Make sure to check schedules and departures for your own dates as soon as they’re listed on the website.
Buy Tickets in Advance
The most important thing to know at this stage of your Fisherman’s Trail planning - before you finalise that accommodation or get those hiking sandals bought - is that you should buy your Porto Covo bus ticket in advance.
Although there are several departures a day from Lisbon with Rede Expressos, this route is the most common way for Fishermen’s Trail and Rota Vicentina hikers to get down to Alentejo - you’ll easily spot your tribe in the station - and tickets do sell out.
Booking ahead is especially important due to the reduced low season departures, and if you plan to arrive in Porto Covo early and walk the Fishermen’s Trail section to Vila Nova Milfontes that same day (more on that later).
The official bus company website now makes tickets available for purchase 90 days before specified travel dates (it used to be just 30 day), so the best thing to do is work out your plans and just set a calendar reminder for when the tickets will go on sale.
You can also buy them in person at both stations.
Although Flixbus runs a route from Lisbon Oriente down to Vila Nova de Mil Fontes - the place you’’ll spend the night after walking from Porto Covo - this service does not stop in Porto Covo.
Travel Tip // If you’re planning on walking the classic 4-5 day Fisherman’s Trail and returning to Lisbon, then you can take either the daily Flixbus or Rede Expressos services from Odeceixe to Lisbon. The town of Odexceixe is the last stop on that route, and as most other hikers will also doing that journey, it’s recommended to book in advance once your dates are finalised.
Lisbon Airport to Sete Rios & Oriente
We flew into Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) and had ambitiously booked the bus departing 90 minutes after our scheduled arrival.
Thankfully, everything was on time, and the Uber from the airport to Sete Rios bus station took 25 minutes (€8); this was aided by the airport having the most logical set-up for Uber pick-ups that we’ve seen anywhere in the world! If there’s bad traffic though, factor in extra time and don’t blame us if it all goes wrong.
When booking your Uber, just make sure you input the correct Lisbon bus terminal, and make sure the address is for the bus station not the train stations next door!
Alternatively, if you arrive with time on your side, there are regular buses from the airport to Sete Rios that take about 40 minutes.
Oriente bus station is even closer to Lisbon Airport, and you can easily travel between the two in six minutes with the metro.
Sete Rios Station + Travel Tips // Sete Rios is a medium-sized bus station with a ticket office, €1 toilets, a very small shop, and small sandwich and pastries cafe (cash preferred). It’s not a good idea to arrive here expecting to be able to buy anything important for your hike last-minute.
There are two ATMs in the station with free cash withdrawals, so it’s ideal for getting your emergency cash stash for the Fishermen’s Trail. There’s one inside the main ticket office, and then another found closer to the cafe. As always, make sure you reject the conversion rate offered by the ATM to get the best rate!
Backpacks & Packing
If you’re also flying to Portugal specifically to hike the Fishermen’s Trail - or other Rota Vicentina trails - it makes sense to try and get everything to the right size and weight for carry-on hand luggage.
A hack for this is to buy any toiletries once you’ve arrived in Portugal.
However, for an stress-free experience if you're a couple or a group, we recommend booking in one person's backpack as check-in luggage. This means you can bung as many of your shared toiletries and bulky / heavy stuff in there without having to worry about dimensions or weight allowance.
The golden rule for everyone is to wear your hiking boots and any/all layers on the plane!
Plan // Our Fishermen’s Trail Packing List (published soon)
Can You Travel From Lisbon and Do The First Stage?
If you’re trying to save a day or line up transport connections, this is sensible question to ask yourself.
Theoretically, it’s possible.
Realistically, it depends on your travel style.
If you caught the first bus of the day from Lisbon at 7.30am, then you’d arrive in Porto Covo at 9.40am.
The official guidebook recommends 8 hours for that 20km leg, but it took us 6.5 hours at a slow-ish pace with plenty of photo stops.
So, if you hit the trail straight away and have a good pace between breaks, it’s definitely possible.
However, that Porto Covo to Vila Nova Milfontes is amongst the most beautiful on the Fiserhman’s Trail, and isn’t one you’ll want to rush.
Personally, we would only attempt to do it all in one day if we were guaranteed to be on that first bus of the day.
Alternatively, you could start the Fisherman’s Trail at São Torpes and comfortably cover the 10km (3-4 hours) to Porto Covo; as mentioned though, that may be viewed as a wasted day if time is your biggest constraint!
Travel Tip // As we were doing the full Fisherman’s Trail for thirteen days, our aim was to get in and down to Alentejo as quickly as possible. If you’re doing the shorter Classic Fisherman’s over 4-5 days, then you could of course tag on a night or two in Lisbon before or after your hike. However, unless you’re storing luggage somewhere, this does mean you’ll have to pack and carry some ‘city stuff’ on the trail too!
