Lisbon, Portugal

Seven hills, tiled facades, pastel de nata, and surf beaches 30 minutes away. Affordable and sunny nearly year-round.

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Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	14°	9°	70 mm
Feb	15°	9°	53 mm
Mar	17°	11°	57 mm	prime
Apr	19°	12°	53 mm	prime
May	21°	14°	38 mm	prime
Jun	24°	17°	13 mm	prime
Jul	26°	18°	3 mm
Aug	27°	19°	4 mm
Sep	25°	18°	34 mm	prime
Oct	22°	16°	80 mm	prime
Nov	17°	12°	86 mm
Dec	15°	10°	87 mm

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Premium level. Typically around $110 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cards everywhere, contactless standard. Tipping is light and optional, usually rounding the bill up.
money · editorial
The calcada paving is polished limestone and lethal in the rain. Bring shoes with grip. The famous hillside tram is a pickpocket-crowded tourist queue rather than transport; the parallel walk up is often quicker.
know before · editorial
August, when the heat sits in the streets and the city fills. The saint festivals in June are wonderful and impossible to sleep through in Alfama.
when not to go · editorial
Baixa is flat, central and touristed. Alfama is the old maze with the stairs and the fado. Chiado and Bairro Alto mix shops by day with noise at night. Principe Real is calmer and residential. Belem is out of the way. Cascais is a seaside town on the train line.
where to stay · editorial
Metro, trams, and walking up hills. The funiculars exist because the gradients are serious. Sintra, Cascais and the surf beaches are all reachable by suburban train. A car is a burden: the old streets are narrow and parking is a sport.
getting around · editorial
The airport is inside the city, with a metro line that puts you in the centre in about twenty minutes. Trains from Porto and the Algarve arrive at stations on the metro.
getting there · editorial

Torre de Belém
At low tide it stands on land; at high tide, in the water. No telling which you will get.
Jerónimos Monastery
The cloister is the reason. The facade is only the invitation.
Elevador de Santa Justa
Iron, built in 1902 by a pupil of Eiffel. The queue is long; the view from the street above is free.
Miradouro da Senhora do Monte
The highest of the viewpoints. Go late in the afternoon and take something to drink.
Praça do Comércio
Open to the Tagus. Sit on the stone steps down to the water.
São Jorge Castle
Eleven towers and a 360-degree view. Walk up; tram 28 is always full.

Eat a hot pastel de nata with cinnamon, standing at the counter
A pastel de nata still warm
Cinnamon on top, eaten standing up. Cold does not count.
A bifana at the counter
Bread, pork, mustard. A lunch for two euros fifty.
Ginjinha in a small chocolate cup
One mouthful, on the pavement, beside strangers.

Hear fado in a small house in Alfama after 10pm
Fado in a house in Alfama
When it starts, everyone goes quiet. If they do not, leave and find another.
Tram 28 from end to end
Go early in the morning, standing at the back, holding on tight.

Belém to Cais do Sodré along the river
Seven kilometres of pavement beside the Tagus, with the sun side-on the whole way.