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TRIP REPORT: Off to Porto with Comboios de Portugal – Europe: Start voting now!

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Europe: Start voting now! Off to Porto with Comboios de Portugal

Eurovision Lisbon Header Image

In this musical spectacular…

After waking up, and my feet instantly complaining I put weight on them, I prepped for the day ahead for the long journey home. With water bottles filled, and my bag packed, I checked out of the hostel, and headed onto the street.

a street with cars parked on it
No. No more hills. I’m done with that malarkey this trip.

Once again, I hailed an Uber… and had a driver that was happy to drive around the area and wait for a cancellation rather than actually pick me up.

Grr.

In the end, I ran out of time, and switched to MyTaxi – which got me a taxi quickly and with a €9.20 ride A bit more expensive than Uber – but I wasn’t in a position to argue.

a phone in a car
It was kinky.

With me at Lisbon Oriente station, I caught up with Adam. We would be travelling together to Porto Airport on the same train. And unusually for both us – in first class.

people walking in a tunnel
Interesting architectural design thing going on…

a sign with a light on it
To the trains!

a staircase in a building
To the platforms!

a clock and a sign in a train station
This looks good. But over 10 hours plus wait for a next train from this platform?

a train station with glass roof
Well.. this seems a bit stunning.

a train station with a train and stairs
Someone is doing some odd shunting…

Well – considering I’d be on a Ryanair flight next – I’ll take all the comfort I can get.

Train 721 Lisbon Oriente to Porto Campanhã Railway
Comboios de Portugal Intercidades Service
Price paid €36.25 (Advance Purchase)

a train at a train station

a purple train with white text and a wifi symbol on the side

a sign with numbers and a number on it
Into Car 11.

With the train arriving, it instantly reminded me of the traditional SNCF (French Railway) CoRail coaches – the traditional long distance railway coach before the TGV took over a lot of the long distance-high speed market.

Inside, the coach had been refurbished with a nice and chilly air conditioning system, and 2 x 1 seating. There was one and a half coaches of first class seats (at the back of the train). The seats were pretty wide, and well padded.

a group of people sitting on a train
Looking down the carriage.

a group of people sitting in a train seat
2 across seating

a group of people sitting on a train
High ceilings add to an airy feel.

a blue chair with a green curtain
The seat

a white paper with black lines on it
Headrest

As for modern amenities, there was wifi  on the train – which was considerably awful.

a screenshot of a phone
What is the point of this Wi-Fi service?

Additionally – on limited seats, there was power at seat

a blue and white object with a blue knob
Tip: Look for the blue covered outlets. You can pick these seats out on the CP booking engine.

With a 3 hour run – this would be pretty good for me to finish charging a few things up. Amd yes – it was a 3 hour run…. Pretty much like listening to The Common Linnets (2014, The Netherlands – and yes, I maintain this song is too good for Eurovision).

a building with blue tiles on the side

a building with a tower

a woman standing in front of a building

With the train running up to 200kph (up to 125mph) it would be fast – but it felt long. The additional stops didn’t help. In fact, in many respects – it reminded me of a classic Virgin West Coast service before the days of Pendolinos. What do I mean by that? The open carriage, the luggage in the aisles the doors opening when they chose to, the semi swaying carriage at high-speed.

For those in the UK… go and find a service with Mark III/Mark II stock and ride it at high-speed. You’ll know exactly what i mean. If you’re in France, CoRail stock is easy to find still. For others… it’s a very classic train experience.

Not a bad experience. Just classic. Maybe I’m too used to Electrical Multiple Units that tilt Diesel Multiple Units that tilt/don’t tilt

There was an on-board trolley service, as well as a counter service on the train.

Frequent ticket checks were carried out as well – and people were moved around. So if you do buy a ticket on CP Rail, ensure you’re sat in the seat that you’ve booked.

a train tracks and a bridge

a field with trees and a cloudy sky

Soon, the coast came into view – a sign we were closing in on Porto.

a road leading to a house

Three hours doesn’t sound a lot – but by the end of the journey, I was approaching my limits. With the train delayed into Porto Campanhã, our Intercidades was about 10 minutes late – not big in the grand scale of things, but enough.

a door with a handle and a handle on a train
At the exit. Turn the handle to exit… and watch your step.

Overall: A classic rail journey, by Comboios de Portgual with classic features. Whilst some on-board amenities were awful (such as the bad WiFi), the journey itself was comfortable with a spacious seat. It’s a good way to travel between Lisbon and Porto – but 3 hours might seem a bit too long for some at some of the speeds this train goes. If you want to save some minutes, take the Comboios de Portugal Alfa Pendular service. But be prepared to pay a lot more.

With both of us out of the station, food was a priority. We found a cafe over the road the station as we plotted our way to Porto Airport.

With a couple of espresso and chorizo bakes coming in at €4.40, it was a good break.

a plate of food on a table
This was not going to bankrupt me in any way shape or form.

Light rail would set us back some odd pricing scheme that seemed to elude both of us – about €7 for the trip from where we were to.  A Uber was pricing up around €30… and MyTaxi… between €7.50 and €15. We took the joint decision of MyTaxi.

With a MyTaxi called, we headed out of the cafe, and into a straight into a cab to the airport.

inside a car with a person in the front seat
Another day, another MyTaxi.

A 30 minute ride later from the West of Porto, we arrived at the Airport, with the fare coming to €15 on the nose (discounted by 50% from the metered fare). Neither of us were complaining as Adam kindly paid.

With everything intact – we headed into the airport.

Next: Around Porto Airport and the Porto Airport lounge.

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Comments

  1. Adam says

    I resent the suggestion that me travelling first class is by any means unusual 😉

  2. George says

    Oh my. So many memories. I lived in Porto, near Estádio do Dragão stadium. So Campanhã was a familiar place for me.
    As for the train: Alfa Pendular all the way from Lisbon to Porto. 🙂 I think once I paid 30 euros for a one way ticket.
    And chouriço bread…I love them! lol

  3. CraigTPA says

    I love trains, and wish I had more opportunities to take them, particularly overnight – I don’t sleep well on planes, even in a full-flat bed, but sleep fantastically on trains. On the other hand, I’m seeing flights LIS-OPO as low as €10 one-way, and saving time and money is always good.

    OTOOH,, don’t know how much it would have cost to get to LIS, that could kill the € advantage of the plane.

    It’d also depend on how scenic the ride is – I’ve seen reports on train trips in Switzerland that I’d pay more to take just for the views. This look sort of “meh”, not the Alps but not the view of cities’ backsides and under bellies you get so often on Amtrak.

    And those curtains are awful.

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