Things to do in Lisbon

Citorah PickSight · Baixa / Chiado

Praça do Comércio

Citorah says Start flat in Baixa — the grid downtown, Praça do Comércio on the river, the Rua Augusta arch.

Citorah PickSight · Baixa / Chiado

Rua Augusta arch

Citorah says Start flat in Baixa — the grid downtown, Praça do Comércio on the river, the Rua Augusta arch.

Citorah PickSight · Alfama

Castelo de São Jorge

Citorah says The Castelo de São Jorge, the cathedral, and the miradouros (Portas do Sol, Santa Luzia) for the rooftop views.

Citorah PickSight · Belém

Jerónimos Monastery

Citorah says The Jerónimos Monastery (book ahead), the Belém Tower, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos.

Citorah PickSight · Belém

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

Citorah says The Jerónimos Monastery (book ahead), the Belém Tower, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos.

Citorah PickSight

Pena Palace

Citorah says Pick two palaces, not all of them — Pena plus Regaleira is the strongest pair.

Citorah PickSight

Moorish Castle

Citorah says A hill town of palaces and gardens — Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle, Quinta da Regaleira.

Citorah PickSight

LX Factory

Citorah says A second day trip — Cascais (by train from Cais do Sodré, a seaside town with beaches) — or a slower Lisbon day: the LX Factory, the Tuesday/Saturday Feira da Ladra flea market in Alfama, a second tasca lunch.

Citorah PickSight

Quinta da Regaleira

Citorah says From Pena, walk down to Quinta da Regaleira (€15 entry, the initiation well is the only piece of Sintra that nobody manages to make look ordinary in a photograph) or take the 434 to the Moorish Castle ramparts.

Citorah PickSight

Boca do Inferno

Citorah says Twenty minutes brings you to Boca do Inferno, the cliff cleft where the Atlantic punches into the rock — go for low tide if you want to see the chamber, ignore at high tide when it's just a wet hole.

Citorah PickSight

Capela dos Ossos

Citorah says Be there at opening because for the first fifteen minutes you have the 5,000-skeleton chapel essentially to yourself, and that's the only way to do it — the entrance inscription is "Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos" (we bones here are waiting for yours) and you don't want a German tour group reading it over your shoulder.

Citorah PickSight

Templo Romano

Citorah says From the chapel, walk five minutes up to the Templo Romano (the 1st-century Roman temple, free, in a square)

Citorah PickSight

Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara

Citorah says Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara — top of the Glória funicular, a formal garden viewpoint over the castle and Baixa, with a kiosk.

Citorah PickSight

Miradouro de Santa Catarina

Citorah says Miradouro de Santa Catarina — the young, loose, sit-on-the-wall sunset spot, kiosk included.

Citorah PickSight

Miradouro da Graça

Citorah says Miradouro da Graça (Sophia de Mello Breyner) — a pine-shaded terrace with a kiosk and a wide castle view, calmer than the central ones.

Citorah PickSight · Alfama

Portas do Sol

Citorah says Portas do Sol — the postcard view over Alfama's rooftops to the river, kiosk on the terrace.

Citorah PickSight · Alfama

Sé Cathedral

Citorah says The Sé Cathedral sits at its western edge; Castelo de São Jorge at its top; Fado houses (the city's traditional mournful music) are scattered through it.

Citorah PickSight · Alfama

Santa Luzia

Citorah says Tram 28 runs through it, stopping at the Sé and at the Santa Luzia and Portas do Sol viewpoints (miradouros).

Citorah PickSight · Belém

Tower of Belém

Citorah says Belém, west of the centre, is where the Jerónimos Monastery, the Tower of Belém and the MAAT museum are.

Citorah PickMuseum · Belém

MAAT

Citorah says The MAAT museum on the riverfront if you want more.

Citorah PickDay trip

Sintra

Citorah says Sintra is worth it once. Pena Palace from the inside is not — the park, Regaleira's well, and the Moorish Castle ramparts beat the interior on every measure except "I want to see the yellow-and-red bit from the postcard". Buy the park-only ticket if you're tight on time.

Citorah PickDay trip

Setúbal

Citorah says Setúbal is the day trip Lisbon residents take when they want a real meal. It's a working port forty kilometres south of the city, the choco frito (fried cuttlefish) capital of Portugal, and the gateway to the Sado estuary's resident pod of bottlenose dolphins. Nothing about it looks like a film set.

Citorah PickDay trip

Évora

Best for staying a full week in Lisbon

Citorah says Évora is the longest day on this list and also the one you'll keep thinking about. It's the capital of the Alentejo, a UNESCO-listed walled city with a Roman temple in the middle of it, a chapel decorated with the bones of 5,000 monks, and a wine region that produces the reds you've been drinking all week and not paying attention to.

Citorah PickDay trip

Cascais

Best for the coast walk and the lunch

Citorah says Cascais is what Lisbon does on a Sunday — sea air, grilled fish, the people from Chiado walking a dog along the seafront.

Citorah PickDay trip

Ericeira

Best for the cliffs and the cuttlefish

Citorah says Ericeira is a fishing town that became a World Surf Reserve in 2011 — Europe's first — and a weekend escape for the Lisbon design crowd. Whitewashed houses on a cliff, cobbled streets that drop into the Atlantic, seven serious surf breaks within five kilometres of town.

Citorah PickDay trip

Óbidos

Citorah says Óbidos is a walled village an hour north of Lisbon — Moorish castle, whitewashed houses with blue and yellow trim, bougainvillea over every gate, a cherry liqueur called ginja served in an edible dark-chocolate cup.

Citorah PickDay trip

Arrábida

Citorah says Arrábida is the closest thing to a Croatian cove on the Atlantic coast of Portugal — a limestone ridge that drops into a sheltered bay south of Setúbal, turquoise water (because the headland blocks the Atlantic swell), pine forest behind the beach.

Citorah PickDay trip

Azenhas do Mar

Citorah says Azenhas do Mar in particular is the photogenic clifftop village Cabo da Roca isn't.

Citorah PickPark

Pena Park

Citorah says Walk the Pena Park loop counter-clockwise: start at Cruz Alta (the highest point in the park, 528m, the view nobody photographs because the tour groups don't make it up there), down past the Chalet of the Countess of Edla, then arrive at the palace itself just as the 10am tour buses are still queuing to enter.

Citorah PickBeach

Praia do Guincho

Citorah says Keep going west and the coast opens up to Praia do Guincho, the wind-blown Atlantic beach where the On Her Majesty's Secret Service opening sequence was filmed; the wind is constant, the surf is serious, the water is cold even in August.

Citorah PickBeach

Tróia

Citorah says If you're skipping the boat, take the ferry across to Tróia (€7 return, runs every 30-60 minutes, 20-minute crossing) and walk the empty Atlantic-side beach for the afternoon.

Citorah PickBeach

Ribeira d'Ilhas

Citorah says The wave at Ribeira d'Ilhas, about three kilometres north, is the one the World Surf League visits each October.

Citorah PickBeach

Praia dos Pescadores

Citorah says Or just sit on the Praia dos Pescadores terrace with a beer and watch the boats come in.

Citorah PickBeach

Portinho da Arrábida

Citorah says Portinho da Arrábida (the cove, with the limestone cliff behind it) and Praia do Creiro (broader, more swimmable, less photogenic) are further along the coast road: check how to reach them before you go, because summer access rules change year to year.

Citorah PickBeach

Praia do Creiro

Citorah says Portinho da Arrábida (the cove, with the limestone cliff behind it) and Praia do Creiro (broader, more swimmable, less photogenic) are further along the coast road: check how to reach them before you go, because summer access rules change year to year.

Citorah PickBeach

Praia da Adraga

Citorah says If you're already in Sintra and want the Atlantic cliff hit, take bus 1254 from Portela de Sintra to Azenhas do Mar, or the 1624 to Almoçageme and walk down (about 2 km) to Praia da Adraga — same Atlantic drama, actual restaurants on the clifftop, a fraction of the people.

Citorah PickVenue

Titanic Sur Mer

Citorah says The Cais do Sodré / Santos riverfront holds a rotating set of mid-size venues — Titanic Sur Mer among them — running live music and club nights. Lineup-led; check what's on.