Introduction

For my first long weekend of the school year, I decided to plan a trip to Lisbon (Lisboa), Portugal. (Okay, well, given my job I already have “long”/three day weekends, but this was a four day weekend!) I wanted to go somewhere that would be slightly too inconvenient to travel to during a normal weekend that also would not break the bank. Enter Portugal. The more I researched the country and its capital city, the more I realized that they were absolutely deserving of more than one night, despite the number of “One Day in Lisbon” itineraries I could find online.

Itinerary

I will note that my mode of transportation (overnight bus, the first departing Friday night and the second departing Monday night) was heavily influenced by the fact that it was holiday weekend and flights to…anywhere were insane.

Day 1 (Saturday): A Little Bit of Everything

If arriving in the early morning (a là overnight bus)

30 minutes: Uber from the bus station to accommodations.

• While in Madrid we have multiple ride-sharing apps such as Uber, Cabify, and FREE NOW, it seems that in Lisboa, Uber is the only option. It is always so interesting to see how different countries have handled the rise of Uber; some have maintained competition while others have fully embraced it.

15 minutes: walk or Uber to a miradouro.

• You could potentially go straight to a viewpoint from the station, but 1) it is nice to drop off all of your baggage and 2) my friends and I arrived over an hour before sunrise, so waiting there would not have been ideal.

30 minutes: watch the sunrise.

• My friend and I went to Miradouro de Santa Luzia since I read that it was one of the best places to take in the sunrise. And, luckily, it was relatively close to our hostel. It certainly did not disappoint. I think this was the first intentional/sit-and-watch sunrise I have ever experienced!

30 minutes: take Tram 28 back to accommodations.

• I really enjoyed this ride because it was completely empty.

If arriving at a more reasonable hour (aka 9:30am)

30 minutes: breakfast.

1 hour: walk to and take in Praça do Comercio.

• I also took this opportunity to pick up my Lisboa Card at the information center located in the plaza. If you plan on taking public transportation or are interested in the museums covered by their offerings, I would highly recommend purchasing one. For the weekend, I purchased the 72-hour pass. Even though what I would have spent did not quite reach the amount I paid, the convenience factor and time saved definitely made the purchase worth it in my eyes. If you are an adult and therefore have to pay adult admission prices, it is a no brainer.
• When in the praça, walk all the way towards the water and look to your right. There is a mini beach!

45 minutes: bus ride from Praça de Comercio to Belém.

• A great way to see the city! But yes, you could probably use another mode of transportation to get there faster or if you did not bring coins or small bills.

30 minutes: walk along water to see Padrão dos Descobrimentos and Torre de Belém.

• I personally did not find a need to go inside either. If you do feel the desire to do so, I would probably add another 30 minutes to this itinerary item.

1 hour: Mosteiro dos Jeronimos.

• It is Portugal’s most-visited attraction for a reason. The architecture is stunning and even with a healthy number of tourists, it felt so calm.

1 hour: lunch.

• My friends and I wanted something on a faster side, so we went to Pao Pao Queijo Queijo, right in Belém. It is reasonably priced and delicious. Between all of their sandwich, wrap, salad, and combo plate options, there are over 100 items to choose from. So, if you see a line, do not let that deter you – you will need that time to decide what to order!

15 minutes: Pasteis de Belém.

• When in Lisboa, the only excuse to not trying a pasteis de nata is if you have an allergy. I normally try to avoid dairy, and am not a sweets person in general, but this was one of the best things I have eaten in a long time.
• TIP: go in the afternoon as a post-lunch dessert like my friends and I did. It is normally eaten for breakfast, so even though this is the most famous place (and rightfully so) to buy a pasteis de nata, there was no line!
• Low risk, high reward: you can buy one for a euro and some change.

1.5 hours: “independent exploration time.”

• This is likely going to be a common theme in my itineraries. Unless you are traveling with clones of yourself, you are bound to want to prioritize different things than your friends.
• I personally visited the Museu dos Coches and the art exhibition portion of the Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Technologia (MAAT) by myself. These are two museums covered by the Lisboa Card. By MAAT, there is a great lookout point where you can see the Ponte 25 de Abril up close-ish.
• One subgroup of friends went to the Museu Coleção Berardo, a contemporary art museum, while the last subgroup of friends checked out the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia.

15 minutes: transport to LX Factory.

• I took a tram while one subgroup of friends walked and the other took an Uber.

2 hours: LX Factory.

• I must have looked at a dozen sample itineraries while preparing for this trip, but only one really stressed the importance of visiting LX Factory. Maybe it does not paint a “traditional” picture of Lisboa (it honestly reminded me of Brooklyn), but it has some trendy, unique stores. Personal favorites included the vintage/thrift shops and massive bookstore.
• TIP: try a slice of chocolate cake at Landeau before leaving. Soft, moussey, and not-too-sweet.

2 hours: refresh time.

2.5 hours: dinner.

• We took this opportunity to try traditional Portuguese food, such as bacalhau à brás.

2 hours: wander around or bar hop at Bairro Alto.

• If you want to know where the nightlife of Lisboa is, look no further. This entire chunk of the city is lined with restaurants, bars, and small clubs. There are people inside and even more people outside. A few friends and I technically only spent an hour here wandering around and pushing our way through the crowds because we were too tired for a drink, but even that was still fascinating.

Day 2 (Sunday): The Ultimate Day Trip

I started the first item at 9am, while some friends who were recovering from the previous night started their day at 11am and did not do the latter two activities in Sintra.

30 minutes: breakfast.

20 minutes: get to train station.

45 minutes: train from Lisboa Rossio to Sintra.

• TIP: if you do not have a Lisboa card, you might want to get there 20-30 minutes before your desired departure time, because the ticket line can get long. Even if you do have a Lisboa card, you might want to get there 10 minutes early so that you can get seats together with your group on the train.

1.5 hours: walk to Sintra historic city center.

• Once you’re there, explore the streets! There are a bunch of cute shops and cafés. This is also where the National Palace of Sintra is. I’ve read lots of reviews saying it’s not 100% worth it to go inside, but this way, you can at least get a view of the outside.

30 minutes: ride to Palácio da Pena.

• TIP: if possible, take a tuk-tuk. You feel like you are in a real-life version of Mario Kart racing up the streets; in fact, my friends’ tuk-tuk driver actually pretended they were in a Mario Kart race, which I think is adorable.

2 hours: Palácio da Pena.

• So colorful, so cool, and so crowded (at least if you are a part of the pre-lunch crowd).
• I recommend buying your ticket online in advance. However, it does require a bit of planning, as you have to specify what time interval you would like to tour the interior of the palace (at least at the time that this article was posted). We bought ours on the train ride over.

30 minutes: picnic lunch on Pena Palace grounds.

• We bought bocadillos (baguette sandwiches) and some pastries while in the historic city center. The palace itself sells pastries as well.

15 minutes: walk from Pena Palace to Castelo dos Mouros.

• Thankfully, it’s quite straightforward. Refer to your favorite maps app if the signage or streets confuse you.

45 minutes: Castelo dos Mouros.

• Also known as “The Great Wall of Portugal”. Since I am unsure if I will ever get the chance to visit the Great Wall of China, I had to go.
• Me being me, I of course wanted to climb up to the highest points of the wall, which is either endpoint. But the left endpoint was simply not worth it – my friends and I were attacked by giant swarms of flies! I am not sure if they are there all the time, because no one warned us at all. It was literally a nightmare scenario, and I can’t believe I survived. Flies. Were. Everywhere. On the ground, in the air. Everywhere.

30 minutes: ride to Monserrate from the Castelo.

• We also took a tuk-tuk for this leg.

1.5 hours: Monserrate.

• This was honestly probably my favorite place I visited in Sintra. It is usually only on itineraries for if you are spending more than one day in Sintra, but I am so happy that I was able to fit it in. I think it might be because it is a lot further away than the other attractions.
• We were here during golden hour, right before closing, which I would highly recommend.

45 minutes: ride to Cascais from Monserrate.

• Bless our Uber driver for coming out all that way for us!

1 hour: watch sunset in Cascais.

• As soon as the Uber driver dropped us off near Praia da Rainha, we sprinted to the sand. And then had a fun sunset photoshoot.

2 hours: dinner.

• There are lots of great options around the beaches.

1 hour: train back to Lisboa Cais do Sodre.

• Note that this is a different train station than the one that we left from in the morning, but both are centrally located.

Day 3 (Monday): Lazy Day in Lisboa

I started the first item at 10am and ended around 7:30pm.

1.5 hours: breakfast and check out.

45 minutes: walk to Pink Street, stopping at stores along the way.

15 minutes: Pink Street.

• It really is just a street that has been painted pink. But I suppose there is also an array of rainbow umbrellas that are above the street. Very Instagram friendly during the day.

30 minutes: bus to Alfama.

1.5 hours: wander around Alfama.

• Of course I would get around to this eventually! Alfama is a special neighborhood, because it is one of the few parts of Lisboa untouched by natural disaster over thse past few centuries, meaning its buildings are as old, full of character, and as authentic as it gets. It is virtually on every recommended itinerary.
• I did this while simultaneously trying to find a place to eat at, which truthfully made the exploration experience a little stressful since places were full. I would recommend either making sure you’re not hangry or making a reservation in advance.

1.5 hours: lunch in Alfama.

15 minutes: walk to Miradouro do Senhora Monte.

• Get ready for a little bit of an uphill walk!

30 minutes: Miradouro do Senhora Monte.

• This is the highest miradouro in the city, and it gives you sweeping views of Lisboa. I have read that it is also the best place to watch the sunset. Maybe you’ll also get to listen to a performer!

30 minutes: take Tram 28.

• Monday afternoon is also a good time to go. It was definitely full, but not as jam-packed as I saw it being on the weekend.

1 hour: Elevador de Santa Justa.

• This is something that I went on mainly because I had access to the Lisboa Card. It is quite expensive otherwise. It leads to some cool views of the city that are different from the miradouros because here, you are right in the center of it all.

1 hour: wander around Chiado.

• Definitely a more commercialized area with popular European stores like Pull & Bear, Tezenis, Muji, etc. Even so, I enjoyed popping in and also listening to street performers and general hustle and bustle of the area.
• I even found a roasted chestnut cart! I bought half a dozen for 50 cents to have as a snack. My family always makes these around Christmas time, so it was a nice reminder of home :).

Closing Remarks

I was in Lisboa for 3 days and 2 nights, and I believe this is the minimum amount of time one should spend here. In this time, I was able to explore the main neighborhoods and attractions, check out the nightlife, and make my way out to some nearby cities. If I ever come back, I would love to make a visit to the Museu Nacional de Azulejo, but since I was able to see these traditional azulejos (tiles) by walking around the city, it is certainly not the end of the world if I am unable to return to Lisboa.

While I feel that the main value of my sample itineraries comes from sharing the amount of time each attraction took as opposed to the exact order of events, I do feel like Saturday flowed especially well. Belém is located out west, so throughout the day we continued further and further east until we came back to the city center.

October was also a fantastic time to go. It is still super warm during the day, does not get too chilly at night, and there are fewer tourists than there are during the summer months.

A few other things to note: almost all museums are closed on Mondays and nightlife does not exist on Sundays. Perhaps this is common sense, but I was quite surprised how little there was.

Note: views are my own and do not reflect those of The Fulbright Program or La Comisión Fulbright de España.