What there is to see in Portugal comes in three layers: Lisbon, Porto and the small towns in between. The two big cities are about two hours fifty by high-speed train. So rather than memorising sights, decide the order in which you walk them and the itinerary falls into place at once.
This article lays out the classic fifteen spots split six in Lisbon, five in Porto and four in the towns around, with entry fees, timings and where to walk next. From any one of them you can go straight into the deeper guide.
Note: all prices and opening hours were checked in July 2026. Confirm anything that may have changed on the official sites
Get the geography first — the sights run in a line along the river
- Lisbon — seven hills on the north bank of the Tagus. Belem in the west (the World Heritage of the age of discovery), Baixa in the centre (rebuilt on a grid after the earthquake), Alfama in the east (a medieval maze). West to east is the basic line of travel
- Porto — a city on a slope at the mouth of the Douro. From Sao Bento station on the hill you go down to the river and cross the Dom Luis I bridge to Gaia on the far side, where the port lodges are: one line, almost all downhill
- The towns in between — Sintra in the hills, the walled village of Obidos, Nazare on the Atlantic, the university town of Coimbra. All within 40 minutes to two hours of Lisbon
Six in Lisbon — from Belem up to the hill
The Jeronimos Monastery — World Heritage built on the spice trade
The masterpiece of Manueline architecture. Built with the wealth the sea route to India brought back, with ropes and shells and other motifs of the sea carved into the stone. The tombs of Vasco da Gama and Camoes stand side by side: a hall of memory of the age of discovery. Entry €18 (the church itself is free), opening 09:30 (the church from 10:30; last admission 17:00), closed Mondays. The cloister fills with coach groups before noon, so going in right at opening is the rule. About 25 minutes from Praca da Figueira on tram 15E. For how to read the history, go to walking the age of discovery.
The Monument to the Discoveries — the Belem sight that opens on Mondays
A stone monument raised in 1960 for the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. Behind Henry stand Vasco da Gama, Magellan and Francis Xavier. Viewing deck plus exhibition is €10 for adults, 10:00–19:00 from March to September and 10:00–18:00 from October to February, essentially open all year. Its strength is that unlike the Jeronimos Monastery and Belem Tower, which close on Mondays, this one opens. Five minutes on foot along the river from the monastery.
Belem Tower — the gate of departure, now on timed entry
A defensive fort built around 1515 and the gate from which ships left for India, Brazil and Japan. Entry €15, Tuesday to Sunday 09:30–17:30, closed Mondays. It reopened at the end of May 2026 after restoration and now runs on timed entry slots with a daily cap, so booking ahead is the safe move (as of July 2026). Fifteen minutes on foot from the monument. Finish at Pasteis de Belem, working from much the same recipe since 1837; the queue moves faster than it looks.
Praca do Comercio and the Santa Justa Lift — a city designed after an earthquake
On 1 November 1755 an earthquake estimated at magnitude 8.5, with tsunami and fire, destroyed 85% of the city centre. The Marquis of Pombal’s reconstruction plan is the grid of today’s Baixa, and Praca do Comercio stands where the royal palace stood before the disaster. Walk north and you reach the iron Santa Justa Lift, opened in 1902. The wait is long, so going up on foot from Largo do Carmo behind it puts you on the viewing deck without queueing. Start from Terreiro do Paco metro station.
Sao Jorge Castle — a hill with 1,500 years in layers
A hill where the Moors built a fortress on Roman walls and which became a royal palace after the Reconquista. Entry €17. Go up on the first tram 28 of the morning and walk back down through the alleys of Alfama, and the descent runs straight into the next stretch of walking. How to work the three areas is in the Lisbon 3-day itinerary.
Alfama and tram 28 — the neighbourhood itself is the sight
The medieval maze that escaped the earthquake, and the home of fado. Partway up the slope is the Fado Museum (€5, Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, closed Mondays), and on the hill the monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora (€8, daily 10:00–18:00) with its overwhelming tiled cloister. Tram 28 runs the length of the area from Martim Moniz to Campo de Ourique as a moving viewing seat: about 40 to 60 minutes end to end, every 10 to 15 minutes in the day. The fare is €1.72 a ride on a Zapping card (€3.30 bought on board), and the 24-hour ticket at €7.25 pays on a day with four or more rides.
⚠ The trapTram 28 is a route where pickpockets concentrate. Hold bags in front of you and never put a wallet in a back pocket. Board at the terminus early in the morning (first tram to about 9) or after late afternoon and you will get a seat. How to ride it is in the complete tram 28 guide, the methods and how to avoid them in safety and scams, and choosing a fado house for the evening in a night of fado.
Five in Porto — from the station to the river, and across it
Sao Bento station — a concourse under about 20,000 tiles
Some 20,000 blue azulejos cover the concourse of this early-twentieth-century station, depicting scenes from Portuguese history. Called by some the most beautiful station in the world, it is Porto’s foremost tile sight, and around 9 a.m., before it fills, is the window. This is the starting point of a Porto visit. For reading the tiles, go to the complete azulejo guide.
Clerigos Tower — 76 metres as the city’s measuring stick
Seventy-six metres high, and the symbol of Porto. About 240 steps, roughly 15 minutes, and from the top you take in the Ribeira district and the Douro at once. It is worth climbing first, to get the structure of the city into your head. Five minutes on foot from Sao Bento station.
Livraria Lello — a neo-Gothic bookshop on advance booking
The bookshop where J. K. Rowling is said to have found ideas for Harry Potter during her time in Porto. Entry is by advance booking only, ticket €10, redeemable against a book purchase. It is two minutes on foot from Clerigos Tower, so pairing the two is the standard move.
The Ribeira and the Dom Luis I Bridge — a World Heritage riverbank
The core of the historic centre, listed in 1996. From an old town of colourful buildings stacked up the slope you can walk across the upper deck of the Dom Luis I Bridge (completed 1886, designed by Theophile Seyrig, a pupil of Eiffel) to the far side. To see the structure of the city from the water, take the six-bridges Douro cruise (about 50 minutes, €18–20, varying by pier). The route is in the Porto 2-day itinerary.
The port lodges of Gaia — why the cellars are on the other bank
Port is a fortified wine made by adding brandy to Douro valley wine mid-fermentation. Its ageing cellars are concentrated in Vila Nova de Gaia on the far bank, and because the British ran the trade, houses such as Taylor’s, Graham’s and Sandeman stand in a row. A tour plus tasting runs 45 minutes to an hour and typically €20–30 (Taylor’s from €25, Sandeman from €22). One or two lodges properly beats a crawl. How to choose between the styles is in the complete port wine guide.
Four further afield — a hill, a wall, a giant wave and a library
Pena Palace and the Castle of the Moors (Sintra) — two eras stacked on one hill
Pena Palace is the representative work of nineteenth-century romanticism, built by Ferdinand II on the ruins of a medieval monastery. Palace and park €20, gates at 09:30, and the interior runs on timed entry in 30-minute slots — arrive late and you do not get in. From around 11 the flow stalls with coach groups, so from opening to 10:30 is the golden window. From there it is fifteen minutes on foot to the Castle of the Moors (€12) from the 10th to 12th century. The point is less the architecture than walking the wall that crawls along the ridge: about 1.5 km, roughly 60 minutes end to end, and on a clear day you can see as far as Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of continental Europe.
Getting there: about 40 minutes from Rossio station in Lisbon, €2.55 one way, then bus 434 from Sintra station (a loop; 24-hour pass €13.50) to the top. Covering all three palaces in a day is physically impossible, so narrowing to two is the right answer (the best shape for a day in Sintra).
The walls of Obidos — a whole village inside a wall, the “queens’ town”
A white village given to successive queens. The thing to do is walk on top of the wall: free, about 1.5 km around, roughly an hour. Long stretches have no handrail and the walkway is narrow, so watch your footing. The local ginjinha comes in an edible chocolate cup at around €1.5 a shot. From Campo Grande in Lisbon, the Rapida Verde express bus takes about an hour, reckon €9.45 one way (about 26 services on weekdays, about 16 at weekends and holidays), arriving just below the Porta da Vila gate. Check the times of the return services as soon as you arrive (Obidos day-trip guide).
Sitio in Nazare — on a cliff above some of the largest waves in the world
A submarine canyon off Nazare concentrates the Atlantic swell onto a single point and produces abnormally high waves. The vantage point is Sitio, the old town on the clifftop. From the town below, the funicular costs €2.50 one way, €4 return (roughly every 15 minutes), and out on the headland the Sao Miguel Arcanjo fort (lighthouse) is €2 and houses a big-wave exhibition. From Sete Rios in Lisbon, Rede Expressos takes about an hour 45 to two hours, reckon €7–13 one way. It is close to Obidos, and many people combine the two in a day.
🧭 Note from the groundThe giant waves do not appear every day, even in season. They happen only on days when a large swell comes in. If you want them, go in autumn or winter (roughly October to March), watch the surf forecast and decide the day once you are there. Fixing the date in advance and drawing a blank is the commonest failure at Nazare (Nazare day-trip guide).
Coimbra University and the Joanina Library — World Heritage you can stop off at
Founded in 1290, one of the oldest universities in Europe. The highlight is the eighteenth-century baroque Joanina Library, known among other things for keeping bats to protect the books from insects. A combined adult ticket at €16.50 covers the library, the old palace, the chapel and the museums; the library itself runs on timed entry (roughly 20-minute slots, with a cap) and last admission is 17:40.
It sits on the main line between Lisbon and Porto, so half a day as a stop-off on the way through is the most efficient use. Long-distance trains arrive at Coimbra-B out of town; one local stop further on is Coimbra-A in the centre. Leaving big bags at the hotel and getting off light is the safe way to do it (the complete Coimbra guide).
By length of stay — how far these fifteen get you
- 3 days — Lisbon only: Belem, Baixa-Chiado and Alfama, one area a day. Moving west to east means one transfer a day (Lisbon 3-day itinerary)
- 4 to 5 days — Lisbon plus day trips: Sintra first. With another day, there is also the option of combining Obidos and Nazare into one
- 7 days — Lisbon plus Porto: put in the two-hour-fifty run north on the Alfa Pendular (1st class from €34, 2nd from €24) and give each city three nights. Getting off at Coimbra on the way is possible too (Portugal in 7 days / the complete rail booking guide)
- 10 days — pair it with Spain: Spain and Portugal in 10 days. If you cannot decide between the countries, start from Spain or Portugal?
Three things to settle before you go
- Timing — the best balance of climate and price is spring (April to June) and autumn (September to October). But the giant waves at Nazare are an autumn-to-winter thing, so the best month changes with what you are after (best season and budget)
- Bookings and closing days — Pena Palace, Belem Tower and the Joanina Library run on timed slots, and Livraria Lello is advance booking only. Lock those first and fit the rest around them and nothing collapses. The Jeronimos Monastery and Belem Tower close on Mondays, so on a Monday switch to the Monument to the Discoveries and the Alfama side (tours compared)
- Footwear and valuables — cobbles and slopes are constant, so comfortable shoes are essential. Tram 28, the viewpoints and the lift queues are where pickpockets concentrate (safety and scams / for accommodation, where to stay in Lisbon)
For anything with a timed slot, do a final check on the official site before you go. The shape of the country as a whole is set out in the Portugal travel guide.
