Memory Tickets

Portugal

Best apps for traveling in Portugal

Apps worth installing before a trip to Portugal: trains, Lisbon and Porto transit, rides, food, tolls, parking, translation, mobile data and memories.

Updated · 4 min read

A yellow number 28 tram on a cobbled street in Lisbon

Portugal is easy to travel with a phone, as long as the right apps are on it before you land. This is the short list: what each app is for, and the one thing worth knowing about it. None of these are sponsored. Crossing over to Spain too? We have the same list for Spain, and one for Italy.

Trains and buses

  • CP: the national rail operator. Its app sells tickets for the fast Alfa Pendular, Intercidades and regional trains up to 60 days ahead, lets you pick a seat, and works without an account. Lisbon to Porto is the classic trip.
  • Rede Expressos and FlixBus: long-distance coaches. Useful for towns off the rail lines.

Lisbon and Porto

  • Google Maps: transit directions work in both cities. Download offline maps before you go: the old quarters are steep, narrow and easy to get lost in.
  • Citymapper: covers Lisbon and Porto, including metro, buses, trams, urban trains and the ferries across the river in Lisbon.

In Lisbon you can tap a contactless bank card or your phone at the metro gates instead of buying a ticket, and on Carris buses and trams, including the famous tram 28, you can tap to pay on board. In Porto, contactless works at the validators of many metro stations, including the airport and the city center. For a few busy days of sightseeing in Porto, the Andante Tour pass (24 or 72 hours) is the simpler option.

Taxis and rides

Uber and Bolt both work in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve, and Bolt is often a little cheaper. FREENOW is a useful backup, especially outside the big cities, where there are fewer drivers on any one app.

Food

  • TheFork: book restaurant tables in a couple of taps. Many restaurants on it offer a discount when you book through the app.
  • Too Good To Go: bakeries, cafés and shops sell unsold food at the end of the day for a fraction of the price.
  • Uber Eats, Bolt Food and Glovo: food delivery in the bigger cities.
  • Google Translate: point the camera at a menu to translate it. Choose Portuguese (Portugal), not Brazil, and download it for offline use before you go.

The bread, olives, butter or cheese that arrive at the table before you order are the couvert, and they are not free. If you do not want them, say so and they will be taken away. By law you only pay for what you ordered.

Driving, tolls and parking

Many Portuguese motorways have no toll booths at all: cameras read the plate, and you pay electronically. A car rented in Portugal normally comes with a Via Verde device, and the tolls show up on your rental bill. If you drive in from Spain in your own car, stop at an EasyToll point at the border and link your bank card to your number plate.

  • ePark: Lisbon's city app for paying street parking from your phone, so you pay only for the time you actually park. Via Verde Estacionar also works there.

Mobile data

If your phone plan is from the EU, roaming in Portugal costs the same as at home. From the US and elsewhere, an eSIM app like Airalo or Saily lets you buy a data plan before you land, often for less than your carrier's international pass. Check first that your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked.

Paying

Cards, contactless and phone payments work almost everywhere. For cash, use ATMs with the blue and white MB (Multibanco) logo. The standalone blue and yellow Euronet machines in tourist areas charge a fee on top. When any machine offers to charge you in your home currency instead of euros, say no and pay in euros: the "convenient" conversion comes with a worse rate.

Big sights

  • Pena Palace in Sintra: entry to the palace is for a booked date and time, sold online on the official Parques de Sintra website. Arrive after your slot and you will not get in, so leave time for the climb up the hill.
  • Livraria Lello in Porto: the famous bookshop charges for entry, but the ticket works as a voucher off a book you buy there. You can buy it online before you go.

Keeping the trip

  • Memory Tickets (ours): one photo from each day of the trip becomes a keepsake ticket with a title, a place, a date and one line about why it was worth keeping. A week in Portugal becomes seven tickets instead of 600 photos you never open again. Free on iPhone, works offline, and your photos stay on your phone.

For ways to remember the trip that need no app at all, see how to remember your trips.

The short version

Before you fly: CP for trains, Google Maps with offline maps, Uber or Bolt, TheFork, Google Translate with Portuguese (Portugal) downloaded, an eSIM if you are not on an EU plan, the Pena Palace ticket booked ahead, and one app to keep the days from blurring together. In Lisbon, your contactless card is your metro ticket.