What to do in Lisbon for 3 days
A practical three-day guide to Lisbon that respects the hills, the trams and the fact that you can't walk uphill in the midday sun.
By the DoInDays editors
Lisbon is the city that teaches you why order matters. It's built on hills, strung along a river, and stitched together by trams that climb gradients your legs won't forgive. A three-day plan that ignores the geography is a plan that falls apart by lunch on day one. This is a sequence that works with the hills rather than against them — roughly how you'd actually walk Lisbon, with the crowds accounted for rather than wished away.
Day 1: settle, then the Alfama
Arrive, check in at 14:00, and don't fight the city on your first afternoon. At 17:30 head into Alfama, the oldest quarter, while the excursion buses have left and the light turns the tiled facades gold. Walk down toward the river rather than up — Lisbon's steepest streets are easier descending than climbing — and let the Tagus be your compass. End the first evening at a tasca in a side street, eating bacalhau at a table you didn't book, and one small thing after dinner: the Praça do Comércio at night, lit and almost empty, is a two-minute walk from most of the center.
Day 2: Belém, then Bairro Alto
Spend the morning in Belém, the riverside quarter where the Age of Discoveries is commemorated. The Jerónimos Monastery, the Belém Tower and the original pastel de nata bakery are all within a flat fifteen-minute walk of each other — this is the one day you use the tram west, because Belém is a deliberate trip out rather than a neighborhood you wander into. Go early: the monastery queue is the one reservation worth making. Come back to the center for lunch, then spend the afternoon in Bairro Alto and Chiado as the light softens, ending at a viewpoint — the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara — for the city across the valley at golden hour.
Your third day forks. If you want another Lisbon, take the metro east to the Parque das Nações quarter and the Oceanarium, then walk the riverside promenade back toward the old city — modern, flat, and a complete contrast to the hills. If you'd rather trade a city day for a fairytale one, take the 40-minute train to Sintra and its hillside palaces, but go at 8 a.m. and accept that Sintra is now crowded; the reward is worth it only if you beat the buses. Either way, keep your last evening slow: a final dinner, a last tram ride home, and an early night, because the morning is checkout and the road to the airport.
Practical notes that actually matter
- Buy a 24-hour public transport pass at a metro station, not on the tram. It covers the famous number 28, the elevators, the metro and the Belém route — and you won't fumble for change on a crowded platform.
- Eat lunch early (12:00) or late (14:00). The 13:00 rush at central tascas is the one queue you can't beat by being clever.
- The hills are real. If a walking route looks flat on a tourist map, check the contour lines — Lisbon maps routinely flatten what your calves won't.
- Tipping is modest and never expected; round up or leave a couple of euros. Locals don't tip percentages.
How many days, and when
Three days is the honest minimum: one for Alfama, one for Belém and the heights, one for the east or Sintra. Two days works if you skip Sintra and stay central. Lisbon is mild nearly year-round, but September and October give you warm sea, empty trams and the city at its most lived-in. If you want all of this laid out hour by hour, with the walking distances and tram routes already worked out, that's what our itinerary planner is for.