Sintra, Belém, Alfama — which Lisbon day first?
Which Sintra trip actually gets you inside Pena. Whether tram 28 is worth the queue at Martim Moniz. What an evening on the Tagus costs. Every tour in and around Lisbon, reviewed and ranked.
Sintra is forty minutes from Lisbon and a full day once you are there.
All 368 Sintra day trips →Pena, Regaleira, the Moorish castle and the cliff at Cabo da Roca do not fit into an afternoon, and the hill traffic decides the rest. These three shapes of Sintra day differ on how many stops you take, how much queueing you inherit and whether you see the coast at all.
Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca and Cascais
One loop out of Lisbon and back down the coast road: the palace on the hill, the gardens below it, the westernmost cliff in Europe and a late lunch in Cascais.
Pena with the entry slot already booked
Pena admits visitors in timed waves and turns away anyone without a slot. Going with the ticket in hand is the difference between the terraces at ten and the terraces at two.
Regaleira’s gardens and the initiation well
A millionaire’s folly of grottoes, towers and a spiral well you walk down into. Less famous than Pena, half the crowd, and the Sintra stop people talk about afterwards.
The tours more travellers take than anything else in Lisbon.
Every review →Ranked by how many travellers have actually been and rated it — what this city really books, in order.
1
Lisbon City Center Tour – The Unmissable Lisbon
Walk central Lisbon on a small-group route with stories, free church stops, Santa Justa views, and an end at Praça do Comércio.
From · $3.62
Read our review →2
Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca & Cascais
from $23
3
Lisbon Card: 24, 48, or 72-Hour Pass
from $36
4
Jerónimos Monastery Entrance Ticket
from $21
5
History, Stories and Lifestyle Walking Tour
from $29
6
Sunset Boat Party Cruise with DJ and Open Bar
from $27
7
Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca, and Cascais
from $21
8
Oceanário de Lisboa Entrance Ticket
from $29
The days most Lisbon trips are built around.
Sintra and its palaces, Belém and its monastery, a tuk-tuk up the hills, a fado room in Alfama, the big wave at Nazaré and an evening out on the river. Book the right version of each.
Belém is Lisbon’s other city, six kilometres downriver.
The monastery the spice money paid for, the tower that watched the ships out, and a pastry shop working to the same recipe since 1837. Tram 15E gets you there in half an hour; the queues decide everything after that.
All 97 Belém tours →
What a day out in Lisbon actually costs.
Every tour on the site sorted by price. A morning walk through Alfama and a private day with a driver are the same city and a completely different budget.
Walking mornings, entry tickets, tastings and the short tuk-tuk circuits — the everyday best of the city.
The standard Lisbon day: Sintra by coach, a fado night with dinner, an afternoon on the water, a food walk through Alfama.
Private drivers, small-group Sintra, sailing charters and the day trips that cross half the country and back.
Fado is not a floor show, and Alfama knows it.
The good houses seat a few dozen people, drop the lights and stop serving while the singer works. Some feed you first, some pour a glass of port and leave it at that. Both go weeks ahead for Friday and Saturday.
Tram 28 is a working tram, not a sightseeing ride.
It leaves Martim Moniz already full, grinds up through Graça and Alfama with everyone else’s commuters aboard, and is the most picked pocket in Portugal. Every other way up the hill — tuk-tuk, sidecar, open-top bus — exists because of that.
- 1True 4Hour Private Tuk Tuk Tour: Discover Lisbon with a Local!from $108.84
- 2Private Guided Tuk-Tuk Tour with Hotel Pickupfrom $153
- 3Private Lisbon Sightseeing Tuk-Tuk Tour: Alfama, Belém & Morefrom $52.21
Three things Lisbon does that nowhere else does the same way.
A custard tart with a monastery recipe, a sung form of grief, and a wooden tram from the thirties. Every city has viewpoints; these three belong to this one.
The Pastel de Nata
The recipe left the Jerónimos monastery in 1834, when the religious orders were dissolved and the monks sold it to the sugar refinery next door. That shop is still there, still baking to a recipe only a few people are ever shown, and the argument over who does the best tart in the city is a genuine local sport. The workshops put you behind the bench with the pastry.
- 1Pastel de Nata Baking Class★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 2,106 reviews
- 2Pastel de Nata Masterclass at a Real Bakery in Downtown Lisbon★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 491 reviews
- 3Pastel de Nata Pastry Class: Bake and Enjoy Your Own Treats★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 485 reviews
The Fado House
Fado came out of the Alfama and Mouraria lanes in the 1820s and went onto the UNESCO heritage list in 2011. A fado house runs in sets: the room goes dark, the Portuguese guitar starts, and nobody eats or talks until the singer finishes. Book the small rooms — the big ones have microphones and a set menu.
- 1Live Fado Show with Port Wine at Lisboa em Fado★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 5,097 reviews
- 2Fado Show and Wine inside Medieval Walls★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 3,819 reviews
- 3Fado Show and Portuguese Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,531 reviews
The Remodelado Tram
The little wooden Remodelado cars have been hauling up to Graça since the 1930s, kept in service because nothing modern fits the corners. They are the cheapest lesson in how steep this city is, and the busiest pickpocket route in the country — which is why so many visitors end up riding a chartered one instead.
- 1Tram 28 Entry Ticket & Audio Guide with 24-Hour Pass★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 930 reviews
- 2Hills Red Tram Tour by Tram 28 Route 24-Hour Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 874 reviews
- 3Tuk Tuk Tour in Lisbon’s Old Town – Tram 28★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 215 reviews
Out of town — and how far each one really is
Sintra368 tours
Cascais260 tours
Arrábida & Setúbal53 tours
Óbidos126 tours- Nazaré120 tours
Fátima150 tours
Évora39 tours
Tomar32 tours- Every day trip out of Lisbon →
Book these before you land in Lisbon.
Most of this city can wait until you are standing in it. These cannot: they run on timed entry slots, rooms that seat forty and boats that take twelve.
- 01Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo da Roca & CascaisPena admits visitors in timed waves and turns away anyone without a slot. The morning waves go first.
- 02Jerónimos Monastery Entrance TicketThe monastery caps how many people are inside at once. The queue along the front is the people who did not pre-book.
- 03Live Fado Show with Port Wine at Lisboa em FadoThe rooms worth sitting in seat a few dozen, and Friday and Saturday are gone weeks ahead.
- 04Sunset Boat Party Cruise with DJ and Open BarSunset sailings run once a day and the small boats take twelve. Through the summer they go days in advance.
Lisbon rain is a winter thing, and it cancels almost nothing.
The wet months are November to March, and the showers come through fast and hard rather than settling in for the day. The best answers are indoors and worth doing in any weather: a tiled cloister, a cooking bench, a tasting cellar, a fado room. In summer the problem reverses — the afternoon nortada can put the small sailing boats back on the quay.
The newest Lisbon reviews.
All recent →
Private Highlights Tuk-Tuk Tour with Tapas and Wine
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Estoril, Cascais or Sintra Private Transfer to Lisbon
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Treasures of Lisboa : Alfama Food Tour with 18 Tastings
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Seixal Sailing Cruise – Lunch in a typical restaurant
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Nature, Wines and Ceramic Tiles: Private Tour
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Private food tour gastronomy in lisbon with Ten tastings
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Shore Excursion, from cruise ship to Sintra, Pena Palace, Cascais
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Algarve Private Tour from Lisbon with Boat Ride
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