The Perfect 3 Days in Lisbon + Sintra | Portugal Travel Guide

We started our trip to Portugal in Porto, and next up on our itinerary was Lisbon! We were very excited to visit Lisbon because we have heard such great things about the city. We visited in the beginning of February and the weather was very sunny and fairly warm! It felt like Spring even though it was Winter.

The city has that European charm that you think of when you think of cities in Europe — like cobblestone streets, narrow alleyways, and liveliness around every corner. We truly enjoyed Lisbon and thought it really lived up to the hype, and visiting the palaces of Sintra was just the topping on the cake. Keep on reading to see how to spend the most perfect 3 days in Lisbon!

How to Get Around Lisbon

two girls standing in front of lisbon tram 28 — *Lisbon’s famous yellow Tram 28*

We highly recommend walking to get around the city. Uber works there, but it’s very uphill/downhill and some of the streets are too narrow for cars to even drive through (like in the Alfama neighborhood). If you are comfortable walking up and down hill a ton, then walking is definitely the best way to get from place to place. You can also take the famous Lisbon yellow trams to get around the city as well. We never took them because we just walked everywhere, but if you wanted to, we saw them all over the city.

Where to Stay in Lisbon

girl standing on balcony in Alfama lisbon — *Alfama, Lisbon*

We stayed at a vacation rental in Alfama. We loved the neighborhood a lot but we did have to carry our luggage up and down hills and stairs LOL. But the area was beautiful and very quaint/charming. If you don’t want to lug your bags up and down stairs, we would recommend staying anywhere along the Tagus river because it is flat over there!

Find other Lisbon accommodations here on Expedia!

Best Things to do in Lisbon

Visit the Arco Da Rua Augusta - A big, beautiful arch that leads to Lisbon’s main square Praça do Comércio. The arch was built to commemorate the city after an earthquake in 1755.
Explore the Alfama neighborhood - A really cute neighborhood in Lisbon known for it’s steep, cobblestone streets. There are lots of amazing viewpoints or Miradouros in Alfama, and our favorite spot in all of Lisbon was Miradouro de Santa Luzia all the way at the top of Alfama. Here you can also see the famous yellow 28 Tram go by!
Visit The oldest bookstore in the WORLD, The Bertrand bookstore - We actually didn’t realize this existed and we accidentally walked in! The Bertrand bookstore is the oldest bookstore in the world and opened in 1792. It has the Guinness Book of World Records for the oldest bookstore still in activity!
Take a stroll on Lisbon’s Pink Street - Yes, the street is pink! It used to be the red light district of Lisbon and is still an area now with lots of bars and nightlife. It’s a great spot to snap a picture and a cute area to walk around.
Grab a bite at Time Out Market Lisbon/Mercado da Ribeira - Time Out Markets can be found all over the world, but the one is Lisbon is pretty famous! Inside you can find a bunch of different local vendors for food, dessert, & drinks, and it’s a cute spot to hang for a bit and grab something to eat. The best thing about the Time Out Market is you can try a bunch of different dishes from the local vendors at an affordable price!
Walk around LX Factory - LX Factory is a hip & trendy industrial complex about 20 minutes outside Lisbon’s city center. There is an epic bookstore there called Ler Devagar, as well as a bunch of other shops & restaurants. We actually got tattoos here at Queen of Hearts Tattoo and they were amazing!
Check out of other cool Lisbon landmarks like the Santa Justa Lift, Elevator de Bica, Castelo de S. Jorge, & Belem Tower.

Find more Lisbon activities & tours on Expedia!

Day Trip to Sintra

One thing you have to do if you have the time is do a day trip from Lisbon to Sintra. Sintra is a charming Portuguese town known for it’s grand palaces, castles, and 19th century romantic architecture. It’s very easy to get to Sintra by train, it takes about 45 minutes and leaves every hour from the Rossio station and costs only €5 per person round trip.

Each palace or castle costs an additional fee to enter, and the 434 hop on, hop off bus stops at the train station as well as all the palaces. I believe the bus was €11 for the day. The bus can get crowded and there are not always seats, also the roads are very windy and up/down hill so just be prepared.

The palaces we went to in Sintra were The Moorish Castle & Pena Palace. There are more you can go to inside Sintra if you have the time, but Pena Palace is the most beautiful and most iconic/famous one. Sintra had some of the most beautiful, ornate castles we’ve ever seen and we definitely think it’s worth going to if you have the time!

Book your Sintra day trip with Expedia here!

Where to Eat & Drink in Lisbon

Dear Breakfast
Veganata (where you can try a vegan version of the famous pastel de nata!)
Machibambo
Ao 26 Vegan Food Project
Time Out Market Lisboa
Bar 106 (oldest gay bar in Lisbon!)
The Green Affair
DaTerra

If you want to see everything we did in Lisbon & Sintra first hand, and get more information from our trip, make sure you watch our Lisbon & Sintra vlog below!

Some links on this post are affiliate links of which we receive a small commission, but the price is the same for you.