This post covers hop on hop off Lisbon bus tours, including route maps, company comparisons, and where to find deals and discounts.
PROS AND CONS
Although most visitors will appreciate the value a hop-on-hop-off bus tour provides, this service isn’t going to be perfect for everyone.
If you’re trying to decide whether or not to get a ticket, here are a few things to consider before making a purchase.
Pros
Explore at your own Speed
Although the tours themselves usually last around 1-2 hours, your ticket is good for anywhere from 24-72 hours, so you can jump off and explore various landmarks at any given time.
When you’re done looking around, just hop back on the bus and continue the tour!
Good City Overview
If you don’t have much time or you want to learn some basic information about Lisbon, such tours are an excellent way to find out where all the major landmarks are located and some historic details about the city.
Great Way to Get Around
If you’re not familiar with Lisbon and you don’t know where all the major sites are located, this is a great way to get around with ease.
Hop-on-hop off bus tours make stops at the most notable landmarks, so you can actually use this service as another type of transportation.
Cons
Inefficient Way to See the City
If you don’t have a lot of time, you won’t be able to hop on or off at your leisure and take an entire day to discover the city.
If you’re looking for a more efficient option, there are free walking tours, bike tours and other services that only take 1-2 hours to enjoy.
Lack of Guaranteed Seating
Although you can always pay for a seat by the window on a fully guided bus tour, hop-on-hop-off bus tours only provide first-come, first-served seating.
If it’s an especially busy period of the year, you might not always find a good place to sit!
Not Too Extensive
Hop on Hop off bus tours provide a great basic overview of the city, but if you’re looking for something that dives a bit deeper into the history of Lisbon, you might want to consider another type of tour.
Now that you have thought about whether or not one of those Hop on Hop of bus tours are worth it for you, here is some information about the most popular options.
LISBON SIGHTSEEING (GREY LINE)
Much like their competitors, this company is also well known around the world for providing excellent Hop on Hop off bus tours wherever they go.
In Lisbon, they offer over 40 different stops spread across 4 different lines, with several landmarks included such as Jeronimos Monastery, Belem Tower, Lisbon Cathedral, Lisbon Zoo, the Oceanarium, and much more.
Their audio guide is provided in the following 11 languages: English, Portuguese, Basque, Dutch, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Greek, Chinese and Russian.
Although tickets are available for 24 or 48-hours at a time, you can also get a 72-hour ticket as part of a combo package. We will cover this option in our discounts section.
The 24-hour ticket only includes one tour line, so if you want more tour lines you’ll need to purchase at least a 48hour ticket.
- 24-Hour Ticket (1 Line): €20/Adults | €10/Children
- 48-Hour Ticket (2 Lines): €24/Adults | €12/Children
- Can be purchased in the following combos:
- Belém and Oriente Lines.
- Belém and Castle Lines.
- Belém and Cascais Lines.
- Can be purchased in the following combos:
- 48-Hour Ticket (3 Lines): €28/Adults | €14/Children
- Can be purchased in the following combos:
- Belém, Oriente and Castle Lines.
- Belém, Oriente and Cascais Lines.
- Belém, Castle, and Cascais Lines.
- Can be purchased in the following combos:
- 48-Hour Ticket (4 Lines): €32/Adults | €16/Children
- Includes all 4 Lines.
Purchase Lisbon Sightseeing Hop on Hop off Bus Tour Tickets.
Tickets for this bus tour are included with at least one Lisbon tourist pass. We will cover this deal in our discounts section below.
As you may have noticed, tickets for this bus tour are a bit different from similar services in this city. Lisbon Sightseeing allows you to pay for only the routes you want to take.
While this is nice, it also means you have to do a little research to determine which lines are of interest. Thankfully, we have a breakdown of each route below.
Tour Routes
The main route provided by Lisbon Sightseeing is their Castle Line. This route includes 13 stops such as St. George’s Castle, Portas do Sol, Lisbon Cathedral, St. Anthony Church and more.
You can expect buses every 30 minutes from 9:30 am - 6 pm during the summer and from 10 am - 5 pm in the winter.
The Belém Line is only available with 48-hour tickets and it includes 21 stops like the Tower of Belém, Jeronimos Monastery, and several popular museums.
Buses run every 25 minutes from 9 am - 7 pm in the summer and every 30 minutes from 9:30 am - 5 pm throughout the winter.
The Oriente Line is perhaps the most family-friendly with 19 stops including the Lisbon Zoo, Oceanarium, Casino, and Botanical Garden.
Buses only service this line once every 45 minutes from 9:15 am - 6 pm in summer and every hour from 10:15 am - 5:15 pm in winter.
Finally, the Cascais Line and it has 10 stops covering historic sites and areas like Cascais Bay, Guincho beach, Jeronimos Monastery, and attractions such as the National Archaeology Museum, the Naval Museum, and more.
This line is only available once an hour from 10:15 am - 5:15 pm in the summer and twice a day at 10 am and 3 pm during the winter.
YELLOW BUS TOURS
If you’re looking for an alternative to the other services in Lisbon, this company offers some bus tours in addition to their boat tours and even tram tours.
Yellow Bus Tours currently offers 30 different stops spread across 3 different lines, and they have several combo tickets which include multiple routes.
Their audio guide is available in the following 11 languages: English, Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese.
All 3 different routes are available separately, or you can purchase a combo ticket with multiple lines included. You can also get combo packages with tram and boat tours, which we will cover in our discounts section.
Individual tickets are available for 24 hours, but if you want multiple routes, you can get a combo ticket for 48 hours.
Each ticket includes access to Carris Lisbon public trams, an Aerobus Airport transfer, and access to the Santa Justa Lift and traditional funiculars.
Ticket holders will also receive a discount package with additional deals on tickets to monuments, museums and leisure activities.
- 24-Hour Belém Hop on Hop off Bus Tour
- €20/Adults | €15/Children
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
- 24-Hour Modern Lisbon Hop on Hop off Bus Tour
- €20/Adults | €15/Children
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
- 48-Hour Belém & Modern Lisbon Hop on Hop off Bus Tour
- €25/Adults | €18.75/Youth | €12.50/Children
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
If you’re looking to save a little extra money on this Hop on Hop off bus tour, there is a tourist pass which includes discounts on most Yellow Bus Tours services. Check our discount section for more details.
No matter how you look at it, Yellow Bus Tours arguably offers one of the best deals when it comes to Hop on Hop off bus tours.
Their routes might not be as extensive as Lisbon Sightseeing, but they do make stops at all the major sites in the city.
Tour Routes
The Belém Line has a total of 16 stops including popular attractions like the Lisbon Zoo, the Belém Tower, Basílica da Estrela, Praça da Figueira, and many more.
This route will take about 1-½ hours to complete and stops are made every 15 minutes in the summer from 9 am - 7 pm, and every 20 minutes in the winter from 9 am - 5:30 pm.
The Modern Lisbon Line has 12 stops including locations such as the Oceanarium, Praça da Figueira, Campo Pequeno, and more.
This route also takes roughly 1-½ hours to finish, and the buses run every 20 minutes during the summer from 9:20 am - 7 pm, and every 30 minutes throughout the winter from 9:15 am - 5:45 pm.
Finally, the Monumental Line only has 6 stops, but they are pretty notable locations including the Jeronimos Monastery, Pilar 7, the Navy Museum, the National Coaches (as in horse-drawn carriages) Museum, and others.
Unlike other routes, this one only takes about 50 minutes to complete and stops are made every 60 minutes from 10:40 am - 5:40 pm all year long.
CITY SIGHTSEEING
With a reputation for providing extensive service all over the globe, this company might be one of the most recognizable out of all the options in this post.
Their Lisbon bus tour provides 22 stops spread across 2 routes, including locations such as Belém Tower, Marquês de Pombal, Torre Vasco da Gama, and many more.
Each route takes about 60-90 minutes to complete.
The audio guide provided is available in the following 11 languages: English, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.
Tickets are available for 24 or 48 hours at a time, and it costs less per day to get the longer ticket.
- 24-Hour Ticket: €22/Adults | €11/Children
- 48-Hour Ticket: €25/Adults | €12.50/Children
Purchase City Sightseeing Hop on Hop off Bus Tour Tickets.
NOTE: This tour is not currently available as of May 2022.
The only problem with this service is that it doesn’t include any additional activities, attractions, or tours.
That said, it should be noted that even if you’re unsure, you can still purchase tickets without fear and return them up to 24 hours before they are activated for a full refund.
Tour Routes
There are two routes offered by this hop on hop off bus tour: the Blue Line and Red Line. Both will take about 90 minutes to complete, and both make stops every 30 minutes.
The Blue Line makes 19 stops including popular family-friendly locations like the Zoo and the Oceanarium. Buses run from 9:45 am - 4:45 pm each day.
The Red Line makes 15 stops with many historic sites included such as the Belém Tower, Marquês de Pombal Square, Cais do Sodré, and more. Buses run from 9:30 am - 5 pm each day.
DEALS AND DISCOUNTS
This section provides information about all the different ways you can save money on Lisbon hop on hop off bus tours, including details about tourist passes and combo packages.
Tourist Passes
There are currently two tourist passes available in Lisbon, and each one includes a deal for at least one bus tour in addition to other activities and attractions.
Depending on which pass you choose and how you use it, you should be able to save at least 20% - 40% off general admission prices.
The Lisbon Day Pass includes a 72-hour Yellow Bus ticket which includes all four lines, as well as access to tramcars and boats.
This is notable because it's a great way to get around the city with access to almost every type of public transportation.
Here are some of the other tours, museums and historic locations you can visit with Lisbon tourist passes:
- Belém Tower | €6
- Jerónimos Monastery | €10
- Pilar7 Bridge Experience | €6
- National Coach Museum | €8
- Batalha Monastery | €6
- Alcobaça Monastery | €6
- LISBOA Story Centre | €7
- Tomar Convent of Christ | €6
- Mafra National Palace | €6
- And more!
For even more information about these services and options to purchase, please read our broader post covering Lisbon discount passes.
Combo Packages
Some of the major Lisbon Hop on Hop off bus tours provide combo deals which include other activities and attractions, allowing you to pay one flat price for 2-3 services and save money on all of them.
Lisbon Sightseeing
48 Hour Hop on Hop off Bus Tour + River Cruise
- Castle Line + 2-Hour Cruise on the River
- €34/Adults | €17/Children
- Belém, Oriente, Castle, or Cascais Line (pick 2) + 2-Hour Cruise on the River
- €38/Adults | €19/Children
- Belém, Oriente, Castle, or Cascais Line (pick 3) + 2-Hour Cruise on the River
- €42/Adults | €21/Children
72 Hour Hop on Hop off Bus Tour (All 4 Lines) + River Cruise
- Belém, Oriente, Castle, & Cascais Lines + 2-Hour Cruise on the River
- €46/Adults | €23/Children
Yellow Bus Tour
4-in-1 48-Hour Hop on Hop off Bus and Tram Tours
- Belém, Modern, Lisbon, & Monument Lines
- Lisbon Historic Tram Tour
- €35/Adults | €26.25/Youth | €17.50/Children
4-in-1 72-Hour Hop on Hop off Bus, Tram, and Boat Tours
- Belém, Modern, Lisbon, & Monument Lines
- Lisbon Historic Tram Tour
- Yellow Boat Tour Ticket
- €45/Adults | €33.75/Youth | €22.50/Children
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