LISBON · PORTUGAL
Tiles, trams and the light off the Tagus.
The old town and the castle hill, Belém and its monastery, fado nights in Alfama, the palaces of Sintra and the long days north. Lisbon, and everything within a day of it.
Only here
You can only do these in Lisbon.
Rooftop bars and river cruises turn up on every city break. The wooden trams, the fado houses and the original pastéis de nata belong to Lisbon alone.
The yellow eléctrico
Tram 28 Through the Old Town
The little yellow Remodelado trams have climbed Lisbon’s hills since the 1930s, and the number 28 is the famous one. A rattling wooden carriage grinds up through Graça, Alfama and the Baixa, close enough to touch the tiled façades and the washing lines. Locals still ride it to work; everyone else rides it for the route.
- 1 Lisbon: Tram 28 Entry Ticket & Audio Guide with 24-Hour Pass
- 2 Lisbon: Hills Red Tram Tour by Tram 28 Route 24-Hour Ticket
- 3 Lisbon Tram No. 28 Ride & Walking Tour
Born in Alfama
A Fado Night in Alfama
Fado grew out of the taverns of Alfama and Mouraria in the 1800s, a song built around saudade, the Portuguese ache for something lost, and UNESCO lists it as intangible heritage. In a small fado house, over dinner, one voice and a pear-shaped guitarra fill the room, and nobody dares speak until it ends.
- 1 Lisbon: Live Fado Show with Port Wine in Historic Center
- 2 Lisbon: Fado Show and Portuguese Dinner
- 3 Lisbon: Fado Show with Wine in a Historic Venue
A Belém secret
Bake Your Own Pastéis de Nata
The pastel de nata was perfected by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, and the original recipe is still a guarded Belém secret. In a baking class you roll the flaky pastry, fill the custard and pull the tarts out scorched and warm, the way they are meant to be eaten, under a dusting of cinnamon.
- 1 Lisbon: Pastel de Nata Baking Class
- 2 Lisbon: Traditional Portuguese Cooking Class
- 3 Pastel de Nata Masterclass at a Real Bakery in Downtown Lisbon
Start here
If you only book one thing in Lisbon.
More travellers build their trip around this one than anything else in the city.
The classics
Lisbon's Most Popular Tours
The palaces of Sintra, the Tagus at sunset, a tuk-tuk up to the castle and the tiled lanes of Alfama. The days most people come to Lisbon for.
Where to begin
The experiences a Lisbon trip is built around.
Sintra and its palaces, the river by boat, the food and the fado, and the long day trips north. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The big day trip
How to do Sintra.
A 40-minute train from the city, and a real puzzle once you arrive: timed palace tickets, a steep wooded hill and crowds by mid-morning. Three ways to do it, depending on your time and your patience for logistics.
Petiscos & pastéis
The city eats late, and eats well.
Lisbon food is tinned fish done properly, charcoal-grilled sardines in June, a bifana from a stand-up counter and custard tarts still warm from the oven. Food tours work the old-town tascas and the Time Out Market; a baking class hands you the pastel de nata recipe the monks of Belém kept to themselves.
Read the guide: the best food tours in Lisbon →The river
Where the city meets the sea.
The Tagus runs so wide here it reads like open sea, and Lisbon tips down its seven hills to meet it. Sailboats and old wooden vessels slip out under the red 25 de Abril bridge, best of all as the sun drops behind it and the whole estuary turns to copper.
River & sunset cruises →Fado
The sound of the city, after dark.
When the lanes of Alfama empty out, the fado houses fill up. Over a long dinner a single voice and a pear-shaped guitarra work through the old songs of longing and the sea, the lights low and the room silent between numbers. Almost everywhere worth going asks you to book ahead.
- 1 Lisbon: Live Fado Show with Port Wine in Historic Center
- 2 Lisbon: Fado Show and Portuguese Dinner
- 3 Lisbon: Fado Show with Wine in a Historic Venue
On three wheels
The seven hills, the easy way up.
Lisbon is built on hills steep enough to need funiculars, so the little electric tuk-tuks have taken over the climb. A driver who knows the lanes runs you up to the castle, through the maze of Alfama and out to the miradouros, stopping wherever the view or the tiles are worth it, on streets no coach could ever fit.
See all 181 tuk-tuk tours →By place
The city, and the days beyond it.
Alfama for the trams and the miradouros. Belém for the monuments and the first custard tarts. Sintra for the palaces in the hills. The Tagus for the water, and Óbidos and the north for the long day out.
By activity
However you like to see a city.
Tuk-tuk if the hills are too much. Tram 28 for the classic ride. On foot for Alfama, by bike for the riverside, by boat for the sunset. Fado and a long dinner for the night.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
New to the city? Three days that take in the old town, Belém and the palaces of Sintra at an easy pace.
Just added