Portugal is in the south-west corner of Europe, far from the more populated central area of the continent. This makes that travelling by train to the country is time consuming, and even became more time consuming and complicated recently.
Until March 2020 there was a direct night train (Sud-Express) from Hendaye, at the French-Spanish border, to Lisboa. However with the Covid-19 pandemie this train was suspended. Also the night train (Lusitania) between Madrid and Lisboa was suspended. With the most severe effects of the Covid crisis fading away, the Portuguese railways (CP) wanted to reinstate those trains, but the Spanish railways (Renfe) refused and took the opportunity to abandon all night trains and put the rolling stock out of service. As a result there are no direct train services anymore between Portugal and Madrid and the rest of Europe.
The only remaining options to travel by train to Portugal require several changes of train and staying overnight in at least one location en route. This article gives a summary of the current (April 2022) possibilities.
For travel planning and booking check the official sources!
- French railways SNCF.
- Spanish railways Renfe.
- Portuguese railways CP.
- Basque railways Euskotren.
- The user interface of the German railways DB travel planner is superior to any of the others, but it relies on the supply of information by the other railway companies.
There are daily direct High-speed trains from Marseille via Montpellier to Barcelona and Madrid, from Lyon via Montpellier to Barcelona and from Paris via Montpellier to Barcelona. From Paris there are daily multiple direct High-speed trains via Bordeaux to Hendaye at the Spanish border.
There are only three trains daily between Portugal and Spain. Twice daily there is a train connecting Porto with Vigo and once daily a train between Entroncamento and Badajoz. So any trip by train to Portugal must go via Vigo or Badajoz.
How to get to Portugal by train is essentially how to get from Barcelona or Hendaye-Irun to Badajoz or Vigo. Renfe train services most have low frequencies, sometimes only once daily, except for the Madrid-Barcelona route and a few other lines between major cities not on a route to Portugal.
Although the routes via Barcelona are longer as those via Hendaye-Irun, via Barcelona is faster because of the high-speed railway between Barcelona and Madrid. Between Irun and Madrid there is only a much shorter section of high-speed railway. On most of this route the trains still have to run on the classic railway, partly trough a mountain area with many curves in the route of the railway. Moreover the border crossing at Hendaye-Irun is a bit complicated and the French and Spanish trains are not scheduled for giving short transfers. Details are given more below.
The high-speed railway between Madrid and Galicia makes that travelling via Madrid is faster as using the cross-country route.
Renfe publishes the time-tables only one to two months in advance. So all information available is what’s at this moment (April 2022) valid, not for what’s valid in the future as the schedules aren’t known yet.
All the time-tables in this article for Spain are those as valid in APRIL 2022. For travel planning check the official Renfe sources!
To Portugal via Barcelona and Badajoz
| Train | AVE 9731 | TGV 9713 | AVLO 6308 | AVE 3180 | AVE 9743 | AVE 3202 | AVLO 6310 | TGV 9715 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Gare de Lyon | 10:10 | 15:12 | ||||||
| Lyon Part-Dieu | | | 14:35 | | | |||||
| Marseille St-Charles | 8:02 | | | | | | | ||||
| Montpellier St-Roch | 9:39 | 13:46 | 16:32 | 18:46 | ||||
| Barcelona Sants | 12:50 | 16:54 | 17:25 | 18:25 | 19:32 | 20:00 | 21:10 | 21:54 |
| Madrid Atocha | 15:45 | 19:55 | 20:55 | 23:17 | 23:55 |
Renfe runs daily at least about 20 trains in each direction between Barcelona and Madrid with travel times between 2h30′ and 3h30′ depending on the number of intermediate stops. Trains depart from the station Barcelona Sants where also the high speed trains from France arrive. Trains arrive on the station Madrid Puerto de Atocha, often just called Atocha. There are several competing operators on this route.
There are only a few connections between Madrid and Badajoz and daily only one train in each direction between Badajoz in Spain and Entroncamento in Portugal. This train needs 2h50′ for the 174 km distance, an average velocity of 61 km/h. The total journey time between Madrid and Lisboa is about 11 hours.
| Train | RE 17014 | AVE 3270 | RE 17902 | Avant 8100 | RE 18770 | Regional 5500 | IC 731/527 | Regional 4432 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Sants | 7:00 | |||||||
| Madrid Atocha | 8:04 | 9:30 | 10:18 | 10:35 | ||||
| Puertollano | | | | | 11:48 | 12:00 | ||||
| Mérida | 12:48 | 15:15 | 15:25 | |||||
| Badajoz (Spanish time) | 13:26 | 16:04 | 16:24 | |||||
| Entroncamento (Portuguese time) | 18:14 | 18:30 | 18:44 | |||||
| Lisboa Santa Apolónia | | | 20:20 | ||||||
| Coimbra-B | 19:29 | |||||||
| Porto Campanhã | 20:53 |
From Portugal via Badajoz and Barcelona
| Train | IC 520 | IC 541 | Regional 5501 | RE 18777 | RE 17907 | Avant 8191 | AVE 3203 | MD 17025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porto Campanhã | 6:37 | |||||||
| Coimbra-B | 8:04 | |||||||
| Lisboa Santa Apolónia | | | 8:15 | ||||||
| Entroncamento (Portuguese time) | 9:00 | 9:23 | 10:24 | |||||
| Badajoz (Spanish time) | 14:14 | 14:30 | 16:45 | |||||
| Mérida | 15:14 | 15:20 | 17:29 | |||||
| Puertollano | 19:02 | | | 19:15 | | | ||||
| Madrid Atocha | 20:10 | 20:26 | 20:40 | 21:45 | ||||
| Barcelona Sants | 23:55 |
Renfe runs daily at least about 20 trains in each direction between Madrid and Barcelona with travel times between 2h30′ and 3h30′ depending on the number of intermediate stops. Trains depart from the station Madrid Puerto de Atocha, often just called Atocha. Trains arrive on the station Barcelona Sants where also the high speed trains to France depart. There are several competing operators on this route.
| Train | AVE 9736 | AVLO 6301 | AVE 3071 | TGV 9702 | AVE 3093 | AVLO 6303 | TGV 9704 | AVE 9724 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid Atocha | 6:20 | 7:00 | 9:30 | 10:30 | 13:25 | |||
| Barcelona Sants | 8:15 | 8:50 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 12:37 | 13:15 | 14:00 | 16:36 |
| Montpellier St-Roch | 11:21 | 13:13 | 17:13 | 19:45 | ||||
| Marseille St-Charles | | | | | | | 21:26 | ||||
| Lyon Part-Dieu | 13:22 | | | | | |||||
| Paris Gare de Lyon | 16:47 | 20:48 |
To Portugal via Barcelona – Madrid – Vigo
| Train | AVE 9731 | TGV 9713 | AVLO 6308 | AVE 3180 | AVE 9743 | AVE 3202 | AVLO 6310 | TGV 9715 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Gare de Lyon | 10:10 | 15:12 | ||||||
| Lyon Part-Dieu | | | 14:35 | | | |||||
| Marseille St-Charles | 8:02 | | | | | | | ||||
| Montpellier St-Roch | 9:39 | 13:46 | 16:32 | 18:46 | ||||
| Barcelona Sants | 12:50 | 16:54 | 17:25 | 18:25 | 19:32 | 20:00 | 21:10 | 21:54 |
| Madrid Atocha | 15:45 | 19:55 | 20:55 | 23:17 | 23:55 |
Renfe runs daily at least about 20 trains in each direction between Barcelona and Madrid with travel times between 2h30′ and 3h30′ depending on the number of intermediate stops. Trains depart from the station Barcelona Sants where also the high speed trains from France arrive. Trains arrive on the station Madrid Puerto de Atocha, often just called Atocha. There are several competing operators on this route.
| Train | AVE 3662 | AVE 3092 | AVLO 6304 | AVE 3112 | AVE 3130 | AVE 3150 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Sants | 7:40 | 9:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 13:25 | 15:25 |
| Madrid Atocha | 10:10 | 11:45 | 13:17 | 13:45 | 15:55 | 17:55 |
The trains to Vigo depart from Madrid Chamartin. Transfers from Atocha to Chamartin can be done with the Cercanias (Renfe suburban trains). In Atocha these trains depart from the platforms 1 & 2 every 5 to 10 minutes. The journey takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Tickets can be bought from machines or the counter. When travelling with a Renfe long distance ticket, the Cercanias ticket can be gotten free.
| Train | Alvia 4115 | Alvia 4145 | MD 9183 | Alvia 4165 | Alvia 4175 | MD 9213 | Alvia 4185 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid Chamartin | 11:20 | 14:30 | 16:00 | 17:45 | 19:15 | ||
| Santiago de Compostela | | | 17:46 | 18:30 | | | 21;28 | 21:47 | 22:46 |
| Vigo Urzaiz | 15:38 | 19:20 | 20:12 | 22:51 | 23:46 |
| Train | Celta 420 | IC 720 | Celta 422 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigo Guixar (Spanish time) | 8:58 | 19:56 | |
| Porto Campanhã (Portuguese time) | 10:20 | 10:38 | 21:18 |
| Coimbra-B | 12:02 | ||
| Lisboa Santa Apolónia | 14:00 |
The trains from Madrid arrive in the station Vigo Urzaiz. The trains to Porto depart from the station Vigo Guixar. The walking distance between both stations is about 1.2 km. There is a direct urban bus, line L24, but this rides irregular with a rather low frequency.
From Portugal via Vigo – Madrid – Barcelona
| Train | Celta 421 | IC 523 | Celta 423 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lisboa Santa Apolónia | 15:30 | ||
| Coimbra-B | 17:30 | ||
| Porto Campanhã (Portuguese time) | 8:13 | 18:52 | 19:10 |
| Vigo Guixar (Spanish time) | 11:35 | 22:34 |
The trains from Porto arrive in the station Vigo Guixar. The trains to Madrid depart from the station Vigo Urzaiz. The distance between both is about 1.2 km. When walking from Guixar to Urzaiz keep in mind there is also a level difference between both of about 50 m with Urzaiz being the higher one.
| Train | Alvia 4484 | Alvia 4254 | Alvia 4354 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigo Urzaiz | 5:50 | 9:20 | 13:20 |
| Madrid Chamartin | 10:20 | 13:42 | 17:36 |
Transfers from Chamartin to Atocha can be done with the Cercanias (Renfe suburban trains). In Chamartin these trains depart from platform 8 every 5 to 10 minutes. The journey takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Tickets can be bought from machines or the counter. When travelling with a Renfe long distance ticket, the Cercanias ticket can be gotten free.
| Train | AVE 3113 | AVE 3151 | AVE 3191 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid Atocha | 11:30 | 15:00 | 19:00 |
| Barcelona Sants | 14:42 | 17:30 | 21:30 |
Renfe runs daily at least about 20 trains in each direction between Barcelona and Madrid with travel times between 2h30′ and 3h30′ depending on the number of intermediate stops. Trains depart from the station Madrid Puerto de Atocha, often just called Atocha. Trains arrive on the station Barcelona Sants where also the high speed trains to France depart. There are several competing operators on this route.
| Train | AVE 9736 | AVLO 6301 | AVE 3071 | TGV 9702 | AVE 3093 | AVLO 6303 | TGV 9704 | AVE 9724 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid Atocha | 6:20 | 7:00 | 9:30 | 10:30 | 13:25 | |||
| Barcelona Sants | 8:15 | 8:50 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 12:37 | 13:15 | 14:00 | 16:36 |
| Montpellier St-Roch | 11:21 | 13:13 | 17:13 | 19:45 | ||||
| Marseille St-Charles | | | | | | | 21:26 | ||||
| Lyon Part-Dieu | 13:22 | | | | | |||||
| Paris Gare de Lyon | 16:47 | 20:48 |
To Portugal via Hendaye-Irun, Madrid and Vigo
On this route travellers must change trains on the French-Spanish border. There are direct TGV services from Paris to Hendaye on the border with a journey time of about 41/2 hour. The time-tables vary by day and season. Bordeaux and San Sebastian can be good places for a night over.
The transfer Hendaye – Irun
In the past the french SNCF trains ran to Irun in Spain and the Spanish Renfe trains to Hendaye in France. This provided easy change of trains at the border. Alas both SNCF and Renfe decided to discontinue this, which means that through train travellers need an alternative for the only 2 km wide gap between Hendaye and Irun. This alternative is the narrow gauge Euskotren. Elsewhere on this page is told how to use Euskotren for travelling between Hendaye and San Sebastian. Here is a description for those who want to continue with Renfe from Irun.
In Hendaye the Euskotren station is on the forecourt of the main station. Train departures are every half hour at -.03 and -.33. The station only has one platform and all trains go via Irun to San Sebastian. Leave the train at Irun-Colon, this is the second stop after departure from Hendaye and the trip takes five minutes.
When leaving the Irun-Colon station go to the right, after about 60 m use the pedestrian crossing, also cross the side street and continue to follow the busy road for one more block. (Red line on the map) You’ll come on a kind of square. Actually this is a very wide viaduct above the tracks of the Renfe. At the left you see a building, behind this building at the right side is an escalator down to the platform from where the long distance trains of Renfe depart. The track on the right is of the long distance trains. The left track is the normal gauge where in the past the SNCF trains arrived. On the platform is a station building with a counter and a vending machine for the long distance trains. The Renfe Cercanias (sub-urban trains) depart from the platforms at the right. The distance from the Irun-Colon station to the escalator is about 150 m.
Opposite direction. If you arrive on the Cercanias platforms leave the station building and walk straight ahead keeping the railway at your right hand until the busy road (dotted red line on the map). Turn to the right. The Euskotren Irun-Colon station is about 150 m further at the left side of the road where the bus stop is. If you arrive at the long distance trains platform, walk on the platform ahead to the escalator at the end of the platform. Go up and to the right. The Euskotren Irun-Colon station is about 150 m further at the left side of the road where the bus stop is. Euskotren trains to Hendaye depart every half hour at -.17 and -.47, the trip to Hendaye takes five minutes. In Hendaye the Euskotren station is on the forecourt of the SNCF railway station.
San Sebastian / Donostia
Instead of making the change between Euskotren and Renfe in Irun, it can also be done in San Sebastian, or called with its Basque name Donostia. The distance between the Euskotren station Donostia-Amara and the Renfe station San Sebastian is with about 800 m significant more than in Irun. However if a night over is needed, San Sebastian is the better option. To get to San Sebastian (Donostia-Amara) just take the Euskotren train departing every half hour at -.03 and -.33 from Hendaye. In the opposite direction the trains depart every half hour at -.15 and -.45 from Donostia-Amara to Hendaye. The trip between Hendaye and Donostia-Amara takes 40 minutes.
| Train | TGV 8531 | Euskotren | TGV 8537 | Euskotren | TGV 8541 | Euskotren |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Montparnasse | 7:11 | 10:11 | 12:11 | |||
| Bordeaux Saint-Jean | 9:20 | 12:20 | 14:20 | |||
| Hendaye | 11:47 | 12:03 | 14:47 | 15:03 | 16:47 | 17:03 |
| Irun-Colon | 12:08 | 15:08 | 17:08 | |||
| Donostia-Amara | 12:43 | 15:43 | 17:43 |
| Train | Alvia 4115 | Alvia 4086 | Alvia 4166 | Alvia 4166 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irun | 8:07 | 15:32 | ||
| San Sebastian | 8:57 | 16:35 | ||
| Madrid Chamartin | 11:20 | 14:28 | 16:00 | 22:08 |
| Vigo Urzaiz | 15:38 | 20:12 |
| Train | Celta 420 | IC 720 | Celta 422 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigo Guixar (Spanish time) | 8:58 | 19:56 | |
| Porto Campanhã (Portuguese time) | 10:20 | 10:38 | 21:18 |
| Coimbra-B | 12:02 | ||
| Lisboa Santa Apolónia | 14:00 |
For travelling via Badajoz a night over in Madrid is required. See above for the time-table Madrid – Badajoz – Portugal.
From Portugal via Vigo – Madrid and Irun-Hendaye
| TRAIN | Celta 421 | IC 523 | Celta 423 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lisboa Santa Apolónia | 15:30 | ||
| Coimbra-B | 17:30 | ||
| Porto Campanhã (Portuguese time) | 8:13 | 18:52 | 19:10 |
| Vigo Guixar (Spanish time) | 11:35 | 22:34 |
| TRAIN | Alvia 4087 | Alvia 4254 | Alvia 4166 | Alvia 4354 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigo Urzaiz | 9:20 | 13:20 | ||
| Madrid Chamartin | 8:10 | 13:42 | 16:10 | 17:36 |
| San Sebastian | 13:34 | 21:33 | ||
| Irun | 14:33 | 22:50 |
| TRAIN | Euskotren | TGV 8534 | Euskotren | TGV 8540 | Euskotren | TGV 8544 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donostia-Amara | 8:45 | 11:45 | 15:15 | |||
| Irun-Colon | 9:17 | 12:17 | 15:47 | |||
| Hendaye | 9:22 | 9:36 | 12:22 | 12:59 | 15:52 | 16:12 |
| Bordeaux Saint-Jean | 12:08 | 15:43 | 18:40 | |||
| Paris Montparnasse | 14:23 | 17:53 | 20:58 |
Cross-country, not going via Madrid
Daily there is a train between Barcelona and Galicia. On Sunday, Wednesday and Friday the destination is Vigo. On the other days the train goes to A Coruña with in Ourense a connecting train to Vigo. In the opposite direction the train to Barcelona departs from Vigo on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. On the other days there is a connecting train from Vigo to Ourense where can be changed for the direction Barcelona. Travel time between Barcelona and Vigo is almost 14 hours. In Vitoria/Gasteiz can be changed from/to San Sebastian and Irun. Although by distance the shortest, this isn’t the fasted route to go to/from Portugal. Travelling via Madrid with use of the high-speed lines takes less time. Two intermediate night overs are required If travelling to/from Portugal with this cross-country train.
| TRAIN | IC 281 | Alvia 622 | Alvia 626 | MD 12477 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Sants | 9:30 | 9:30 | ||
| San Sebastian | 12:13 | | | | | |
| Vitoria/Gasteiz | 13:58 | 14:16 | 14:16 | |
| Ourense | 21:21 | 21:21 | 21:31 | |
| Vigo Guixar | 23:12 | 23:12 |
| Train | MD 12474 | Alvia 625 | Alvia 621 | IC 282 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigo Guixar | 7:42 | 7:42 | ||
| Ourense | 9:11 | 9:16 | 9:16 | |
| Vitoria/Gasteiz | 16:33 | 16:33 | 16:45 | |
| San Sebastian | | | | | 18:35 | |
| Barcelona Sants | 21:35 | 21:35 |
Have a good trip!