The Beira Alta Line

In the last two weeks of June 1940, refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe came over the Spanish border at Vilar Formoso, by car and by train. Many carried visas that the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, had issued against his government's orders. Vilar Formoso was their first stop in Portugal, and from there many were sent along the Beira Alta line to spa and seaside towns, Luso among them, to live under fixed residence until a ship, a seaplane or later an aircraft could take them on from Lisbon. Two goods warehouses beside the frontier station now hold their memorial.

The line opened in 1882 as Portugal's international route to Spain. It starts at Pampilhosa, near Coimbra, climbs past the Buçaco hills, crosses the Dão and follows the upper Mondego to Guarda, then runs out across the plateau to the border. It closed in April 2022 to be rebuilt and has run in full again since 28 September 2025. Three Intercidades a day run from Lisbon to Guarda in about 4¼ hours, and regional trains go on to Vilar Formoso.

The Intercidades leaves Lisboa Santa Apolónia, calls at Oriente, and runs up the main line through Santarém and Entroncamento to Coimbra-B. Eleven minutes later it reaches Pampilhosa, the junction where the Beira Alta line begins and the train turns inland.

The Buçaco hills

Pampilhosa was chosen as the starting point because it stands higher than the alternatives, and the line had a long climb ahead, beginning with the hills of Buçaco. It winds up past Luso, the spa town on the edge of the walled Buçaco forest, and crosses the valley at Várzeas on a tall steel viaduct. The line's first iron bridges were built by the Eiffel company in 1881–82 and replaced from 1953. The Intercidades does not stop at Luso-Buçaco; the regional trains from Coimbra do.

The Dão and the Mondego

Beyond Mortágua the line reaches Santa Comba Dão, where it crosses the river that gives the town its name. The metre-gauge Dão line to Viseu once left from here; its trackbed is now the Ecopista do Dão, a path for walkers and cyclists. The train runs on through Carregal do Sal, whose municipality takes in Cabanas de Viriato, the village where Aristides de Sousa Mendes was born and where his family house, the Casa do Passal, opened as a museum in 2024. Then come Nelas and Mangualde. Past Mangualde the line climbs to the upper Mondego and follows the river by Fornos de Algodres to Celorico da Beira, with the Serra da Estrela to the south.

Guarda and the border

Guarda, the highest city in mainland Portugal, is where the Intercidades ends and where the Beira Alta meets the Beira Baixa line. Two regional trains a day each way run on across the plateau to Vilar Formoso, 40 minutes and seven halts further. No passenger train crosses into Spain today. The international Sud Express and Lusitânia, which used this line, were suspended in March 2020, and CP's trains now end at the frontier station.

In 1940 that station was the way in for the refugees. Not everyone was let through: in November 1940 a train carrying about 300 Jewish refugees from Luxembourg was refused entry and held at Vilar Formoso for about a week.

The rebuild

The whole line closed on 19 April 2022 for modernisation, with buses in place of trains. It reopened in stages, Guarda to Celorico da Beira in November 2024, Celorico to Mangualde in April 2025, and Pampilhosa to Mangualde on 28 September 2025. Infraestruturas de Portugal rebuilt about 190 km of it with new alignments, electronic signalling and loops long enough for 750-metre freight trains, and removed every level crossing. A new 3.2 km chord at Mealhada, opened the same day, joins the main line directly to the Beira Alta.

On board

The Intercidades has 1st- and 2nd-class carriages, a bar carriage, free Wi-Fi and spaces for bicycles. Seats are reserved with the ticket.

Three Intercidades a day each way run between Lisbon and Guarda by the Beira Alta line, every day of the week, in about 4¼ hours. Seats are reserved, and tickets are sold on cp.pt, in the CP app and at stations.

Lisbon to Guarda

Guarda to Lisbon

Every train also calls at Lisboa Oriente, Vila Franca de Xira, Santarém, Entroncamento, Fátima, Caxarias, Pombal, Alfarelos, Pampilhosa, Mortágua, Carregal do Sal, Nelas, Fornos de Algodres and Vila Franca das Naves; IC 517 and IC 519 call at Gouveia too.

On to Vilar Formoso, and the regionals

Regional trains run between Guarda and Vilar Formoso twice a day each way, in 40 minutes: from Guarda at 11:49 and 19:10, and back from Vilar Formoso at 06:16 and 15:55. IC 511 connects into the 11:49. Regionals between Coimbra-B and Guarda stop at every station, including Luso-Buçaco: from Coimbra-B at 13:00, 16:30 and 18:27, and from Guarda at 05:05, 10:09 and 16:46.

As of October 2026, from CP's journey planner and train timetables on cp.pt (opens in a new tab), read for 23 October and 5 and 8 November 2026.

The Intercidades is an ordinary CP train, so the ticket is an ordinary point-to-point fare, bought from CP online, in the app or at the station, with the seat reserved on it. Lisbon to Guarda costs €23.65 in 2nd class and €32.85 in 1st; through to Vilar Formoso, with the change at Guarda, it is €25.40 and €34.60.

CP sells Promo fares in advance, from €11.00 for Lisbon to Guarda on some departures, but they cannot be refunded. Regional tickets are cheap: Coimbra-B to Luso-Buçaco is €2.85. From CP's own pages, in euros, as of October 2026.

Interrail and Eurail passes cover the Intercidades and CP's regional trains. On the Intercidades a reservation is compulsory: it costs €5 and can only be bought in Portugal, from CP. The regionals on to Vilar Formoso and to Luso-Buçaco need no reservation.

For this journey alone, a pass is not worth buying. The full fare from Lisbon to Guarda is €23.65, and an advance fare can be less. A pass pays when the Beira Alta is one leg of a longer trip through Portugal or across Europe.

Checked October 2026 against interrail.com (opens in a new tab) and its reservation fees (opens in a new tab).

The line is easy to break: a forest and a palace near its start, a castle town at its top, and at the frontier a memorial and a star-shaped fortress.

Lisbon to Guarda fits into a morning, but the forest at Buçaco deserves a night, in the palace at its heart.

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