The answer
Take the Red Line metro from the station outside Terminal 1 arrivals — €1.90 on a Carris/Metro ticket, or €1.72 if you load zapping credit onto a €0.50 navegante card. It runs 06:30–01:00, with about 6 minutes to Oriente, 15 to Alameda and 18 to Saldanha.
Lisbon is the rare capital whose airport station carries no surcharge: the fare is the same as any other ride in the city, and the Red Line is step-free end to end, so luggage is not a problem.
Arriving after 01:00? There is no night metro — Carris night buses serve the airport at the same €1.90 fare, otherwise it is a taxi.
Departing from Terminal 2? No metro or bus goes there: all public transport is at Terminal 1, then the free inter-terminal shuttle.
⚠️ The traps (walk past these)
The Aerobus that every older guide recommends does not exist
Lisbon's dedicated airport shuttle was withdrawn and the airport's own transport page now lists only the metro, Carris network buses (705, 744, 208), the free inter-terminal shuttle, trains and taxis. Arriving with a printout that says 'take the Aerobus' leaves you looking for a stop that is not there.
Do this: take the Red Line from outside Terminal 1 arrivals, or a Carris bus from the same kerb
Terminal 2 has no metro, no bus and no taxi rank of its own
T2 is a departures-only satellite for Eurowings, Norwegian, Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air — every arrival, including theirs, comes into Terminal 1. The free shuttle runs every 12 minutes from the departures kerb of each terminal, 03:30–00:30, and takes about 3 minutes; T2 is shut between 00:30 and 03:30 and the two buildings are not walkable. easyJet, low-cost or not, departs from Terminal 1.
Do this: check which terminal your flight leaves from, and add 30 minutes to your margin if it is T2
Paying the driver costs €0.40 more for the same ride
A Carris bus fare bought on board is €2.30 against €1.90 prepaid, and a tram on board is €3.30. The same network ticket loaded on a navegante card is €1.90, or €1.72 charged as zapping credit.
Do this: buy the €0.50 navegante card and load zapping credit at the metro machines before you board anything
The new fixed taxi prices only bind the taxis that signed up
The €16/€19 (and €20/€23 at night, weekends and holidays) prices from 15 October 2026 are protocol prices set by the Lisbon Tourism Association and accepted voluntarily by the taxi associations that joined — they are not municipal tariffs. A taxi outside the protocol still charges the meter.
Do this: ask for the protocol price for your zone before you get in, and if the driver says there isn't one, take the meter or the next car
Unlicensed drivers work the arrivals hall
Men offering 'taxi, taxi' inside arrivals at Terminal 1 are not the rank: the licensed rank is outside, and the TVDE pick-up point for Uber and Bolt is somewhere else again. The price quoted inside is always above the meter.
Do this: walk out to the official rank or order through the app, and never follow someone who approaches you at the baggage belt