3 Days in Lisbon: Itinerary Ideas

Three days is enough for Lisbon if you accept that you are not going to see all of it. The city is built on seven hills above the Tagus, it was flattened by an earthquake in 1755 and rebuilt on a grid in the middle while the old quarters survived on the slopes, and walking it is harder work than the map suggests.

Here is a shape that works, with the practical things that have changed.

Before you arrive: two bookings

Book the Jerónimos Monastery in advance with a timed entry. The queue without one, in season, is the worst in the city.

And if Sintra is on your list, book Pena Palace online through Parques de Sintra before you leave home. It sells interior entry in 30 minute slots, it sells out almost daily from April to October, and arriving late for your slot means no entry and no refund.

Also get a Viva Viagem card at the first metro station. It is a rechargeable card that works on metro, trams, buses, funiculars and the trains to Sintra and Cascais, and it saves both money and queueing.

Day one: the middle and the Alfama

Start in the Baixa, the grid rebuilt after the earthquake, and walk up through Rossio and the Praça do Comércio on the river.

Then the Alfama, the district that survived 1755, which is a knot of lanes going up the hill to the Castelo de São Jorge. Get lost in it deliberately; that is the only way to see it. The castle has the view and is worth the climb for that rather than for the castle.

In the evening, fado. Be selective: the Alfama is full of restaurants selling a set menu and a floor show. Look for the smaller places that put the music first, and expect to pay a cover.

Day two: Belém

Tram 15 or the train west along the river. Belém is where the ships left for the Indies and where Portugal spent the money they brought back.

The Jerónimos Monastery, with your booked ticket, and the Torre de Belém, both UNESCO sites. The Museu Nacional dos Coches, whose royal carriage collection is the best anywhere, now split between a 2015 building by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and the old royal riding school opposite.

And pastéis de nata at Pastéis de Belém, where they have used the same monastery recipe since 1837. Go inside and sit down; most visitors queue at the takeaway window without realising there are several hundred seats behind it.

Everything in Belém closes on Mondays. Do not plan this day for one.

Day three: your choice

Either Sintra, which is 40 minutes by train from Rossio and needs the whole day, or stay in the city and do the things day-trippers skip.

If you stay: the Gulbenkian, one of the great private collections in Europe assembled by an oil magnate, and almost empty compared with everything in Belém. The LX Factory, a converted industrial site under the bridge. The Miradouro viewpoints, of which Senhora do Monte is the best and least crowded. And the 28 tram, which is the picturesque wooden one, ridden early in the morning before it becomes a pickpocket convention.

Practical

The hills are real. Trainers, not fashion shoes, and use the funiculars, which your Viva Viagem covers.

Lisbon charges a tourist tax per person per night, collected at your accommodation rather than in the booking price.

August is hot and full. May, June, September and October are better in every respect.

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