How To Spend a Weekend in Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is the beautiful capital of Portugal. It’s the second oldest city in Europe and is filled to the brim with colour and secrets. Luckily, flights are straightforward and cheap to get if you feel like visiting – which I highly suggest you do. Ideally, you should spend at least 2 weeks in Portugal to get a taste of the amazing country, but Lisbon is a great place for a weekend trip, so read on for how to spend a weekend in Lisbon!

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Transport in Lisbon:

What is transport in Lisbon like? Lisbon has a straightforward transport system, which makes it the perfect destination if you’re travelling solo for the first time or if it’s your first time abroad.

The metro costs €1.50 for an hour’s ticket. However, the first time you use it, it will cost €2, as you are paying for the card, which is reloadable. It costs €6.40 for a 24-hour pass.

There is also the option to purchase a ‘Lisboa Card‘. This card includes free transport for the duration of its validity, free entry to most of Lisbon’s museums and attractions, discounts, a free guide book and free travel to Sintra and Cascais. Prices start as little as €20 for 24-hours use.

Personally, I would only consider the Lisboa Card if I wasn’t travelling on a budget. I found that the best option was the 24-hour metro pass. Luckily, the good thing about Lisbon is that a lot of it is within walking distance. Before I visited, I had heard that there were a lot of hills and that travelling via tram/metro is the best way; however, whilst there were hills, I didn’t find them too hard to walk up. I visited in January, though, so it’s probably way worse in the Summer with the heat!

Transport includes the metro, trams, and funiculars with all of these passes.

Things To Do in Lisbon:

What are some things to do in Lisbon? Lisbon has plenty of great things to do! Here are some of the best:

• Explore the old city – Alfama. This is one of the most fun places in Lisbon to explore. There are many roads and paths to immerse yourself in and get lost with. Be warned – it is quite steep, and the roads and paths are narrow in some places. There are a huge variety of shops selling traditional hand-made Portuguese tiles, bakeries, and plenty of restaurants.

• Relax on boat cruise around Lisbon. There are many boat cruises on offer around Lisbon’s harbour to suit anyone’s needs. Fortunately, they are all reasonably priced too! The cheapest boat ride I found was £16, for 2 hours and included drinks and some snacks. Many companies also offer sunset cruises, which are stunning! If you feel like going on a boat tour, there are lots to choose from via Airbnb experiences, or, you could just wing it and buy one on the day!

• Learn about history at the Museum of Lisbon – Roman Theatre. Located in Alfama, I stumbled upon this wonderful museum by complete chance, and I’m glad I did. It cost me €1.50 to go in, but to view the remains of the Roman Theatre is free. It’s a very open, modern-looking museum with an amazing view of Lisbon when you go outside.

• Look at the view from Santa Justa Lift…for free! Usually, many people buy a ticket and queue for ages just to ride up the Santa Justa lift for the view. However, there is another way to the top, with no queues and no fee. To get there, you have to find the restaurant called Bellalisa Elevador, then walk through to the terrace outside. You will then be able to walk onto the bridge and be awed by the view.

• Visit some Miradouros. These are scenic viewpoints around Lisbon, which make for amazing places to eat, relax and just enjoy the view. There are often people playing music and just vibing. In the free map I’ve made for you below, I’ve included some of the best miradouros.

• Read a book from the oldest bookshop in the world – Livraria Bertrand. The bookshop first opened in 1732, and now has a wide range of books to suit everyone’s tastes. They even have books in English, if you’re looking for something to read for the plane journey home.

Food in Lisbon:

Where are the best places to eat in Lisbon? Here are some of the best cheap eats in Lisbon, but there are plenty of amazing restaurants in Lisbon with a view that you should also consider:

• Pastel De Nata’s are one of Portugal’s most well-known foods. It is an egg custard tart dusted with cinnamon – and it tastes heavenly. If you only want to try one, then I suggest you buy one from Auchan, as they are usually the cheapest in there. I went to a bakery and ended up having to buy a box of 5 for £5! They were nice, don’t get me wrong, but I had to finish them all within 2 days, which wasn’t so fun as I wanted to try other foods!

• Grill N Chill Lisbon is located near Arrios metro. It’s Nepalese food but was really cheap and very tasty. For instance, I ordered vegetable chow mein, which cost £3, and was as big as Wagamama’s portions which are usually 3x the price! I also had tasty Momo – but it was so spicy!!!

• Kumar Churrasqueira Lisboa has a big menu on offer at a fixed price of €8-€10 for a 3-course meal. They have vegetarian options also, which tasted great. Not only that, but the waiter we had was very nice and friendly and also from where I study in the UK which was unexpected! They are located about a 20-minute walk from the centre of Lisbon.

• OoLaLa has some of the tastiest waffles at such a great price – and they’re fun to eat too 😉 The ladies that served us were very friendly and kind, and the interior was brilliant. They are located in the centre of Lisbon, so they are very easy to get to!

• Maca Verde is located near the bottom of Alfama, and very affordable traditional Portugese food on offer. Be sure to check the opening times, as we didn’t and it was closed! Next time I’m in Lisbon, I will defiently go here though!

Instagramable Spots:

Click here to get all the best Instagram spots of Lisbon!

Top Tips:

• In some shops, there is a minimum card spend, so make sure you have some euros on you! There were a few times when I really wanted a drink but couldn’t buy one because the shop had a minimum 5 euro spend, and there was nothing else I needed.

• Some shops only take Portuguese cards. Another annoying thing was that some shops would only take Portuguese cards, even though I use a Revolut card which is international. So again, I would advise you to have some cash on you, as it happened to me in a restaurant one time.

• You might be offered drugs in public. We were offered twice in one day, in a busy public area of Lisbon, and one time the guy even pulled it out to show us as we were walking past. Just say “no thanks” and keep on walking.

• There are lots of people selling sunglasses. In the popular tourist attractions, there are a few people that will come up to you and try and sell you sunglasses, which is similar in every city. I don’t know the prices, but you’re probably better off bringing your own, so they won’t hassle you.

• There are lots of Tuk Tuk Tours in Lisbon. When we walked past someone, we heard that it’s €1 per minute, which seems reasonable, but this will add up fast!

Free Map of Lisbon:

Click here to get a free map of Lisbon!

Have you ever been to Lisbon? What did you like? What did you dislike? If you liked this post, you might also like:

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• 20+ Best Lisbon Instagram Captions You NEED to Know!

*Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning I get paid some commission if you buy through them – at no extra cost to you 😉