Lisbon · Portugal
Lisbon
A practical guide to Lisbon in 3 days: Chiado, the Baixa and Alfama, Belém, the castle and the viewpoints, with the Lisboa Card, what to book, where to eat, how to get around the hills and which traps to avoid.
Three days are enough for the essentials if you walk a lot, pair Belém and the castle on the same day with the Lisboa Card, and leave the nighttime climbs to Uber instead of Tram 28.
You walk Lisbon, even when it hurts. It is a city of hills above the Tagus, with a center rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, medieval neighborhoods that survived it and a free viewpoint on almost every summit. We gave it three days and a morning, Sintra included, before moving on by train to Porto.
Our experience
We landed on Monday, May 11, at 8:20 and, after dropping our bags in Chiado, went out walking. Day 2 ran from top to bottom, about 8 kilometers: Chiado, Bairro Alto, Rossio, the Carmo, the Baixa, the Sé and Alfama, with a sunset dinner at Santa Luzia. Nothing had a fixed time before dinner, in case the airport held us up.
Day 3 was the longest, about 10 kilometers: Belém in the morning, lunch in Mouraria, the castle, two viewpoints, a rest at the hotel and fado in Alfama until midnight. On day 4 we took a tour to Sintra, Cabo da Roca and Cascais and got back in time for our last sunset, at Santa Catarina. On the morning of day 5 we caught the 9:00 Alfa Pendular.
How to plan the days
Our rule: one area per day, never backtracking. You see the center by walking downhill. Start at the top, in Chiado and Bairro Alto, go down to Rossio, climb back up to the Convento do Carmo before noon, when the light comes through the arches, and leave through its terrace to the Santa Justa viewpoint. From there, Rua Augusta takes you to the arch and Praça do Comércio. After lunch, the Sé and Alfama.
Belém goes on its own day, and early: the groups arrive from 11:00 and its monuments close on Mondays. At 9:40 we were at Pastéis de Belém and at 10:05 at the Jerónimos Monastery. Then the river westward: the lighthouse, the Padrão and the Belém Tower, which was still under restoration. From there, by Uber, to the Castelo de São Jorge in the afternoon light, and to the Graça and Senhora do Monte viewpoints just above it.
Sintra deserves a day of its own. We cover it in our guides to Sintra and Cascais.
What to eat and where
Custard tarts, twice: at Manteigaria in Chiado, fresh from the oven for €1.50 and eaten standing at the counter, and at Pastéis de Belém, the original 1837 recipe, sitting inside before 10:00.
For a cheap lunch, the bifana and the sandes de leitão (suckling pig sandwich) at Nova Pombalina in the Baixa, standing up and cash only (€5 to €10). In Mouraria, Zé da Mouraria serves a bacalhau à minhota big enough for two. It has about 16 seats, takes no reservations, opens only at lunchtime and only takes cash. We got there at 13:45, when the first wave clears out; if it is full, O Velho Eurico is two minutes away.
For dinners we chose a view or music: Farol de Santa Luzia, with a terrace table at 18:00 (€25 to €40 per person), and Mesa de Frades, a fado house in a former chapel in Alfama (€70 per person with dinner and drinks). On the last night, cheese and vinho verde at Noobai. Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau splits opinions: its cheese-filled codfish cake is a 2015 invention and costs almost double what a tasca charges.
Getting around Lisbon
Almost everything is on foot, but every climb counts: we used Uber for the long hills and to get back at night, for about €5 to €7. You reach Belém on the Cascais line train from Cais do Sodré: 7 minutes, free with the Lisboa Card. Bus 737 climbs to the castle from Praça da Figueira. The blue metro line, to São Sebastião, leaves you five minutes from the meeting point for the Sintra tours.
In 2026 neither the Santa Justa elevator nor the Glória funicular is running; the funicular has been suspended since the September 2025 derailment. To get to Santa Apolónia with luggage, take an Uber: from Chiado it is 2.7 km of hills, for about €8 to €10.
A bit of history
The castle hill has been inhabited for about 2,800 years: Phoenicians, Romans, who called it Olisipo, Visigoths and, from 711, Muslims. Afonso Henriques took it in 1147 with the help of Crusaders, and in 1255 Lisbon became the capital. With Vasco da Gama’s sea route to India it was for a time the richest city in Europe; a 5% tax on spices paid for the Jerónimos.
On November 1, 1755, All Saints’ Day, an earthquake of magnitude close to 9, a tsunami and five days of fires destroyed most of the city. The Marquis of Pombal rebuilt the Baixa on a grid, one of the first earthquake-resistant city plans in the world. And on April 25, 1974, in the barracks next to the Carmo, the dictatorship’s government surrendered in the Carnation Revolution.
What we skipped and why
Tram 28, because of the pickpockets; the Time Out Market, because of the prices; the Lisbon Story Centre and the Padrão exhibition, which our notes rated as skippable; the MAAT, closed on Tuesdays; and the National Tile Museum, under renovation until mid-2026.
What to see, in order
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Chiado and Bairro Alto
The best starting point. The Church of São Roque looks plain outside and hides a chapel built in Rome in 1742 with lapis lazuli and amethyst. Five minutes away, the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint has a tile map naming everything you see.
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Rossio and Largo de São Domingos
The square with the wave-patterned cobblestones, laid by hand in 1848. On the corner, A Ginjinha has poured a shot of sour-cherry liqueur since 1840, for about €1.50, cash only.
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The Convento do Carmo
The Gothic church the 1755 earthquake left roofless, now an archaeological museum. It costs €7, or €5 with the Lisboa Card. On the way out, its terrace takes you to the Santa Justa elevator viewpoint for free.
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The Baixa and Praça do Comércio
The grid the Marquis of Pombal built after 1755. Rua Augusta ends at the arch, with a rooftop that is free with the Lisboa Card (€4.50 without it), and the square opens onto the Tagus at the Cais das Colunas steps.
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The Sé and Alfama
The 1147 cathedral looks like a fortress; the cloister costs about €4. Alfama survived the earthquake: wander the Escadinhas de São Miguel without a map and climb to the Santo Estêvão, Santa Luzia and Portas do Sol viewpoints.
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Belém
Seven minutes by train from Cais do Sodré. Pastéis de Belém, the Jerónimos Monastery, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos with its 50-meter compass rose, and the Belém Tower, which in May 2026 was still closed and covered in scaffolding.
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Castelo de São Jorge and Mouraria
The highest hill and the widest view of the city, free with the Lisboa Card. Below it is Mouraria, the old Moorish quarter where fado was born and where we had salt cod for lunch.
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Graça and Senhora do Monte
Two free viewpoints a few minutes from the castle. Graça has pines, shade and a kiosk; Senhora do Monte is the highest in Lisbon and the only one where you see both bridges and Cristo Rei at once.
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The Santa Catarina viewpoint
It faces west, toward the Tagus and the 25 de Abril Bridge, so here you really do watch the sun go down over the river. The Noobai terrace does not take reservations: get there before 18:30.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- Activate the Lisboa Card on first use and plan for the 48 hours to cover your days with the most tickets. It is not a fast pass: you get in free, but you stand in the same line. What beats the line at the Jerónimos is arriving between 9:30 and 10:00 on a weekday.
- Check closing days before you plan: the Jerónimos and the Belém Tower close on Mondays, the Carmo on Sundays and the MAAT on Tuesdays. On Mondays from April to September, the Church of São Roque only opens from 13:00 to 19:00.
- The Santa Justa elevator is closed, but you can reach its viewpoint for free from the Convento do Carmo terrace. Do not join the line at the bottom, on Rua do Ouro.
- The viewpoints do not all face the same way. São Pedro de Alcântara and Graça face east and shine during the day; to watch the sun set over the river, go to Santa Catarina.
- In the tascas, the bread, olives and cheese that land on the table are charged. If you do not want them, say "não, obrigado" before you touch them.
- The castle's camera obscura only runs from 11:00 to 13:00. If you go up in the afternoon, do not count on it.
Do
- Wear shoes with grippy soles: the calçada is slippery, especially on the downhill stretches in Alfama.
- Carry small bills and coins: Nova Pombalina, Zé da Mouraria and A Ginjinha do not take cards.
- Call an Uber for long climbs and for getting back at night. Within the center it costs €5 to €7.
- Sit inside at Pastéis de Belém: the line on the street is for takeaway only.
- Keep your bag in front in Rossio, the Baixa and Belém, and near Tram 28 stops.
Don’t
- Do not ride Tram 28: it passes through the same neighborhoods you can walk, and it is the number one pickpocket zone.
- Do not buy anything from people offering hash or cocaine in Rossio, the Baixa or Bairro Alto: it is almost always oregano or flour, and sometimes it is a distraction to rob you.
- Do not sign clipboard petitions or accept sprigs of rosemary: they are the opening to ask you for money or to rob you.
- Do not have lunch at the Time Out Market: it is an expensive food court, and a bifana in the Baixa costs a fraction.
- Do not buy tickets from strangers outside the Jerónimos or the Belém Tower.
- Do not withdraw cash at Euronet ATMs, which charge high fees. Use Multibanco machines.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do I need in Lisbon?
Three days work well: one for Chiado, the Baixa and Alfama, one for Belém and the castle, and one for Sintra. We added the morning of a fourth day to catch the train to Porto.
Is the Lisboa Card worth it?
For us, yes. We paid €48.45 per person online for the 48-hour card, and the Belém-and-castle day alone saved us about €43 per person, not counting transport. If you are not going inside the monuments, it does not pay off.
How do I get from the airport to the center?
By taxi (€15 to €20) or Uber (€10 to €15), about 25 minutes to Chiado. If you are coming from the United States, non-Schengen passport control adds 15 to 30 minutes. You pick up the Lisboa Card at the Ask Me Lisboa desk in arrivals, open from 7:00 to 22:00.
Where should I stay in Lisbon?
We stayed in Chiado because it sits in the middle: Bairro Alto above, the Baixa below, Alfama 15 minutes on foot, and Cais do Sodré, with the train to Belém and Cascais, 10 minutes away. Alfama has more neighborhood charm, but its hills wear on you at the end of the day.
Is Lisbon safe?
Yes, as long as you watch for pickpockets on Tram 28 and in Rossio, the Baixa and Belém. The fake-drug sellers are persistent, not aggressive: a "não, obrigado" and walking on is enough.
What should I eat in Lisbon?
A custard tart at Manteigaria or Pastéis de Belém, a bifana in the Baixa, bacalhau à minhota at a tasca, grilled fish of the day and a shot of ginjinha. For dinner with fado, a small house in Alfama.