Getting from Lisbon to Seville (and return)
· Updated · BootsnAll
Lisbon and Seville are about 460 km apart, in two countries that share the Iberian peninsula and, famously, do not share a decent railway. This journey is the clearest demonstration of that.
Take the bus. Genuinely.
This is unusual advice from us and it is correct here. The coach is the fastest, cheapest and most sensible surface option.
ALSA runs a large number of services between the two cities, and FlixBus runs several a day. Journey times run from about six and a half to eight hours depending on the routing, and fares start around 20 euros if you book ahead.
The buses are modern, air conditioned and comfortable, and they cross the border without ceremony because both countries are in Schengen.
Note that Portugal and Spain are in different time zones. Spain is an hour ahead. Every year people miss the return bus because of this.
Why not the train
Because there is no direct one, and there has not been for years.
Doing it by rail means changing, usually more than once, and it takes somewhere around eleven and a half hours for a journey the bus does in seven. It also costs more.
The Iberian rail network was built inward from two capitals rather than across the peninsula, and the cross-border links have never been a priority for either country. There is regular talk of improving this. There is not much track.
If you want to travel by rail in this part of the world, do Lisbon to Porto or Seville to Madrid, both of which are quick and good. Do not do Lisbon to Seville.
Flying
About an hour in the air, but the flights are not frequent and often connect through Madrid or Lisbon, which turns an hour into most of a day.
Once you add two airports to a seven hour bus ride, flying saves you rather less than the timetable suggests. On this route the bus usually wins on total door-to-door time as well as on money.
Driving
About five hours on the A2 and A49, over the Guadiana into Spain. The motorways are good and the tolls in Portugal are electronic, which is worth understanding before you rent: many Portuguese motorways have no toll booths at all and bill through a transponder, and the rental company's charge for that is often worse than the tolls.
A car is worth it if you stop, and there is a good reason to. The route passes close to the Alentejo, which is the emptiest and least visited part of Portugal, and Évora, a walled Roman and medieval town with a chapel lined in human bones, is barely off the road.
Making a route of it
Rather than shuttling directly, consider going down through the Algarve, crossing at Vila Real de Santo António, and coming into Spain through Huelva. It takes longer and it gives you a coastline rather than a motorway.