Lisbon

Lisbon is built on hills and the two things visitors underestimate are the walking and the queues at Belém. Almost everything else here is relaxed — this is a city where turning up on the day usually works.

This page compares live ticket prices and availability for Lisbon attractions across our booking partners.

When to visit Lisbon

March to June and September to October are the best windows. Warm, sunny, and the light Lisbon is famous for is at its best.

July and August are hot and busy. The city fills with cruise passengers and the queues at Belém become genuinely long.

November to February is mild by European standards — rarely below 10°C — but wetter. Quiet, cheap, and the miradouros are yours alone.

June brings the Santo António festivals, when the Alfama district fills with grilled sardines and street parties. Worth planning around if the dates line up.

Belém — the two monuments

Belém sits several kilometres west of the centre and holds two ticketed sites plus one very famous bakery.

Jerónimos Monastery is the bigger draw. The church is free; the cloisters, which are the reason to come, are ticketed. Queues here are the longest in Lisbon and regularly exceed an hour in summer. Booking a timed ticket avoids it entirely.

Belém Tower is smaller, on the water, and has a narrow spiral staircase with one-way traffic control — meaning you can wait a while inside. Ticketed and capacity-limited.

Pastéis de Belém, the original custard tart bakery, has two queues: one for takeaway, one for the sit-down room inside. The inside room is usually faster and the tarts arrive warm.

Closed Mondays: both monuments.

Trams and the 28

Tram 28 is the famous one, running from Martim Moniz through Alfama and up to Estrela on original wooden trams.

It is also extremely crowded and a known pickpocket target. Boarding at Martim Moniz means a long queue; boarding mid-route means standing.

Going early — before 9am — is the difference between an experience and an ordeal.

The Santa Justa Lift connects the Baixa to the Carmo area and has a viewing platform on top. The queue is long and the same view is available for free by walking up through Carmo Square from the other side.

Sintra

Sintra is a half-hour train ride from Rossio station and the most common day trip from Lisbon.

Pena Palace is the headline sight — the colourful hilltop palace. It requires a timed ticket and the palace interior sells out ahead in season. The park around it is a separate, cheaper ticket.

Quinta da Regaleira with its initiation well is the other major draw and is easier to get into.

Doing both properly is a full day. Trying to add the Moorish Castle as well is ambitious.

The hills between the station and the palaces are steep. Buses run, and they get crowded.

Booking ahead vs walking up

Getting around

The metro is efficient and covers the centre and both airports. A rechargeable Viva Viagem card works on metro, trams, buses and the ferries.

Lisbon’s hills are steeper than they look on a map. The funiculars — Glória, Bica, Lavra — exist for good reason and are covered by the transport card.

Cobblestone pavements are beautiful and genuinely slippery when wet. Footwear matters.

Ubers and taxis are cheap relative to Western Europe and worth it for the uphill legs.

A first-timer’s three days

Day one — the centre. Baixa and Chiado in the morning, Alfama in the afternoon, São Jorge Castle at sunset, fado in the evening.

Day two — Belém. Early tram or bus west, Jerónimos, Belém Tower, custard tarts, and the LX Factory on the way back.

Day three — Sintra. Early train, Pena Palace with a morning slot, Quinta da Regaleira after lunch, back to Lisbon for dinner.