Barcelona to Lisbon distance

Barcelona to Lisbon by road

The fastest driving route is 1,245 km (774 mi) long and takes about 13 hr 25 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on the A-5 (397 km), the A-2 (312 km), and the AP-2 (214 km).

Of the 1,245 km, 1,029 km are in Spain and 213 km are in Portugal. That’s an average of 93 km/h (58 mph). Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) recommends a break every two hours or 200 km: with 6 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 15 hr 25 min. At about 8 hours behind the wheel a day, it’s a 2-day drive. The time is OSRM’s estimate with OpenStreetMap data: no traffic and speeds somewhat below the limits, so real trips can differ.

Straight-line distance and bearing

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Barcelona and Lisbon are 1,010 km (627 mi) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 23% longer: for every 100 km in a straight line you drive 123. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 34 Spain–Europe driving pairs in this series, it ranks 23rd for detour (the average is 31%).

From Barcelona, Lisbon lies to the west (bearing 257°), and from Lisbon, Barcelona lies to the east. The straight line reaches Lisbon on a bearing of 249°: on a sphere the bearing keeps changing along the way, which is why the shortest route looks slightly curved on a flat map.

Halfway between Barcelona and Lisbon

Halfway along the straight line, 505 km (314 mi) from each city, is the point 40.1925° N, 3.5965° W. It falls near San Martín de la Vega (Madrid, pop. 21,010), 2.9 km away.

By road, the halfway point is 623 km (387 mi) from each city, near Madrid (pop. 3,506,730), 6.3 km away. The two midpoints are 20.3 km apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time difference and flight

Lisbon is 1 hour behind Barcelona all year (Western European Time versus Central European Time): when it’s 12:00 in Barcelona, it’s 11:00 in Lisbon.

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 45 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 1,010 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight.

The two cities

Barcelona has 1.7 million people (INE population register, January 1, 2025) and Lisbon 517,802 people (GeoNames).