Lisbon takes two days. Then come Sintra and the coast.
Which Sintra day trip actually gets you inside Pena. What an evening on the Tagus costs. Whether Fátima and Nazaré fit into one day out. Reviews of every tour you can book in Lisbon and the belt around it.
The line most first weeks in Lisbon follow.
The hill at Sintra, the old town on foot, the cloister at Belém, an evening on the river and a fado room after dark.
- 1The Sintra dayLisbon: Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca & CascaisPena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca and Cascais in one loop.from $23
- 2The old townBest of Lisbon Walking Tour: Rossio, Chiado & AlfamaRossio down to Alfama on foot, the only way the hills make sense.from $23
- 3BelémLisbon: Jerónimos Monastery Entrance TicketTimed entry to the Jerónimos cloister, ten minutes from the tarts.from $21
- 4On the waterLisbon: Sunset Cruise with Welcome Drink and SnacksOut past the bridge as the light comes off the Tagus.from $35
- 5After darkLisbon: Live Fado Show with Port Wine in Historic CenterFado sung close up, with a glass of port in front of you.from $17
Sintra in a day: palace tickets, a small group, or your own driver.
Three ways up the same hill. Pena and Regaleira both run on timed entry, the road out to Cabo da Roca is where the day gets long, and how you travel decides how much of it you actually get inside.
Lisbon, the Sintra hill, the coast, and four day trips inland.
The city sits in the middle of all of it. Sintra is forty minutes up the hill, Cascais the same along the water, and Arrábida, the Silver Coast, Fátima and Évora are each one day out and back.
The Tagus is wide enough to lose the city on.
Lisbon reads differently from a deck: the whole waterfront at once, the bridge overhead, the light going orange off Belém. Sailboats and catamarans leave from Doca de Belém and Cais do Sodré, and the dolphins are an hour south in the Sado estuary.
Lisbon: the hills before eleven, the river after six.
Everything in Lisbon →
Walk Alfama while the calçada is still in shade, take the 28 out of rush hour, and keep Belém for the afternoon when the tarts come out of the oven. These three carry more travellers than anything else in the city.
Alfama, downhill and early
The old town survived the 1755 earthquake, so the lanes still run the way they did — too narrow for a bus and mostly stairs. Start at the castle and walk down; doing it the other way is a workout nobody enjoys.
Belém, with the cloister booked
Jerónimos, the tower and the Padrão sit within a mile of each other, and the queue for the cloister is the one that eats an afternoon. Book the entry slot, then join the other queue for the custard tarts.
A tuk-tuk up the seven hills
They look like a tourist trap and they solve a real problem: Lisbon is built on hills that punish an afternoon on foot. Two or three miradouros, the castle road and Alfama, without arriving at any of them out of breath.
Three things that only happen in Lisbon.
Trams and river views exist everywhere. A hill route worked by 1930s wooden cars, a music sung in back rooms since the 1820s, and a spiral well cut nine turns into a garden do not.
The Tram Up the Hill
The Remodelado cars from the 1930s still work the 28 because nothing newer fits the corners. It climbs from Martim Moniz through Graça and Alfama to Estrela with the brakes squealing the whole way, and the window seats go early. Ride it before nine, or accept that you will be standing.
- 1Lisbon: 72/96-Hour Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, Tram & Boat Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 2,170 reviews
- 2Lisbon: 3-in-1 Hop-On Hop-Off Bus and Tram Tours★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 1,537 reviews
- 3Lisbon: Tram 28 Entry Ticket & Audio Guide with 24-Hour Pass★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 930 reviews
A Fado Room After Dark
Fado came out of the Alfama and Mouraria back streets in the 1820s and is still sung in rooms that seat forty. One voice, a Portuguese guitar behind it, the lights down and nobody talking while it runs. Dinner comes first; the singing starts late and goes in sets, with a break between each.
- 1Lisbon: Live Fado Show with Port Wine in Historic Center★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 4,166 reviews
- 2Lisbon: Fado Show and Portuguese Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,531 reviews
- 3Lisbon: Fado Show with Wine in a Historic Venue★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,294 reviews
The Initiation Well
A spiral staircase drops nine turns into the ground at Quinta da Regaleira, lit only from the mouth, and comes out through a tunnel beside the lake. It was never a well. The garden above it is full of the same coded stonework, built in 1910 by a millionaire with an interest in the Templars.
- 1Lisbon: Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca & Cascais★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 19,656 reviews
- 2Quinta da Regaleira Skip-the-Ticket-Line Entry & Audioguide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 3,316 reviews
- 3Guided Tour to Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca and Cascais★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,978 reviews
The most-booked days out in Lisbon.
Every Lisbon tour review →The tours more travellers take than anything else here, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Lisbon City Center Tour – The Unmissable Lisbon
Explore Lisbon’s central streets, churches, squares, and secret lanes on a flexible 2.5-hour pay-what-you-wish walking tour.
From · $3
Read our review →
2
Lisbon: Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca & Cascais
from $23
3
Sintra: Pena Palace and Park Entrance Ticket
from $11
4
Lisbon: Jerónimos Monastery Entrance Ticket
from $21
5
Lisbon: History, Stories and Lifestyle Walking Tour
from $29
6
Lisbon: Sunset Boat Party Cruise with DJ and Open Bar
from $27
7
Lisbon: Pena Palace, Sintra, Cabo da Roca, & Cascais Daytrip
from $91
8
Lisbon: Oceanário de Lisboa Entrance Ticket
from $29
What a day out from Lisbon actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. A good number of the best days here come in under the price of dinner in Chiado.
Old-town walks, palace and monastery tickets, tram rides and the short river cruises.
The full days: the Sintra loop, Fátima and the Silver Coast, Arrábida wine, a day under sail.
Private drivers, chartered boats and the food days that run to five hours.
Four Lisbon bookings that will not wait.
Most of this city can be arranged over breakfast. These four run on timed gates, boat seasons and sailing lists that take no interest in when you land.
- 01Sintra: Pena Palace and Park Entrance TicketPena admits visitors in half-hour slots with a cap on each one. In summer the morning slots go weeks ahead.
- 02Lisbon: Jerónimos Monastery Entrance TicketThe cloister is timed as well, and the queue for same-day tickets is the longest in Belém.
- 03Lisbon: Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca & CascaisRegaleira sells timed entry too, and the well is a single-file staircase — late slots stack up behind each other.
- 04Peniche: Berlengas Island Trip, Hiking and Cave TourThe Berlengas boats only run in season, and the island takes a capped number of visitors a day.
Lisbon in the rain is a tiled room and a long lunch.
Winter here is mild and wet, and wet calçada on a hill is genuinely slippery. The answer is indoors and sitting down: the tile museum, a cooking bench, a cellar across the river in Setúbal, and fado once it goes dark.
By place — the city and the belt around it
By kind of day — river, hill, table or road
Alfama, Belém, Sintra, Cascais: the run almost everybody does first.
The newest Lisbon tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Jeronimos Monastery Guided Tour – Small Groups – Tickets Included
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Sintra/Lisbon: Sintra & Quinta da Regaleira Tour with Ticket
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Half day Spa Water Therapy experience at THE SPA at Corinthia Lisbon
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Lisbon: Private Christmas Lights Tour by Eco Tuk Tuk
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Private Tour Romantic Sintra, Cabo da Roca & Cascais
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Dolphin Watching at the Arrabida (Lisbon region)
Read our review →
Arrábida – Sesimbra: Eco-Friendly Beginner’s Scuba Diving
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Private Romantic cruise with sparkling wine- 2-Hour- Lisbon
Read our review →
Lisbon to Porto with stop Aveiro-Fátima-Coimbra-Tomar-Nazaré-Óbidos
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