Lisbon is a sun-washed capital of steep miradouros, azulejo-covered facades and a river that feels like the sea. It is compact enough to walk, cheap enough to linger over long lunches, and close enough to Sintra and Cascais for effortless day trips.
Good to know
- Buy a Viva Viagem card and use the metro, trams and ferries; the 28 tram is a tourist ride, not transport.
- Restaurants serve dinner late — 8pm is normal. The bread and olives brought to the table are charged.
- Hills are real: wear shoes with grip, especially on wet calçada pavement.
Eat this
Places the planner can use
Mark places as a must or something to skip. The itinerary is built only from this list; ★ marks the destination’s highlights.
Lisbon's oldest quarter: a maze of lanes below the castle with fado bars and a tiled viewpoint over the river.
Moorish hilltop castle with rampart walks and the widest view of the city and the Tagus.
Dinner-and-fado at a small casa de fado; the music is mournful, the room is candlelit, phones stay away.
Manueline monastery and the riverside tower that marked the departure point of the Age of Discovery. Queue early.
The original custard-tart bakery since 1837 — eat them warm with cinnamon at the counter.
Industrial complex under the 25 de Abril bridge turned into studios, the Ler Devagar bookshop and a Sunday market.
Food hall in the Mercado da Ribeira with counters from the city's best chefs — a good rainy-day lunch.
Sleepy by day, packed by night: tiny bars spilling into the streets, plus the elegant shops and cafés of Chiado.
Forty minutes by train to fairy-tale palaces in misty hills. Book Pena for the first slot and walk down to Quinta da Regaleira.
Seaside town at the end of the coastal train line with small beaches, a cliff walk and grilled fish on the marina.
Five centuries of Portuguese tiles inside a former convent, including a 23-metre panorama of pre-earthquake Lisbon.
The highest viewpoint in the city; bring a drink from the kiosk and watch the castle turn gold.