Fly open-jawBook flights into Lisbon and out of Porto; a return to Lisbon costs most of a day. Book the Wednesday train early.
Hours, prices, timetables and coordinates are from general knowledge; re-check them on the official sites before you go.
Five days: Alfama and the castle, Belém and the tile museum, the train north with the Ribeira and a port lodge, Porto's old town, and the stock exchange before the flight.
Land at 9:00, a taxi to Chiado. The castle on its hill, Alfama's lanes on the way down, and dinner with fado.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →about €15–20
A taxi or ride app, 25 minutes. Leave the bags and have a bica, a short espresso, at A Brasileira, the 1905 café with Fernando Pessoa in bronze at a table outside.
A Moorish castle taken by Portugal's first king in 1147, on Lisbon's highest hill, with walls to walk and the city below.
about €15 eachday's highlight
Tram 28 from the Baixa, or a 25-minute climb. Walk the walls for the river and the roofs. Open on Mondays, when many museums are not. An hour and a half.
€15–25 each
A prato do dia, dish of the day, in a tasca below the castle.
Lisbon's oldest quarter, spared by the 1755 earthquake, and its viewpoint framed by tiled panels and a pergola.
freesteep
From the viewpoint, lose yourselves down the stairways towards the Sé cathedral and the river. Back to the hotel to rest.
Fado is Lisbon's song of longing, sung to two guitars; a fado house serves dinner and goes quiet for each set.
€40–60 eachbook
Book a table in Alfama a day ahead. The small houses where the waiters also sing cost less.
Jerónimos at opening and the custard tarts, lunch at the Time Out Market, the tile museum in a convent, and sunset in Bairro Alto.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →A monastery of white limestone begun in 1501 on the spice trade's money, with a cloister carved with ropes and sea creatures; Vasco da Gama lies in its church.
about €18 eachday's highlightbook a time
Tram 15 from Cais do Sodré, 20 minutes. The opening slot avoids the tour groups. The church is free. An hour.
The bakery that has made custard tarts to the monastery's recipe since 1837; Belém Tower, a fortress of 1519, stands in the river ten minutes away.
about €1.50 a tart
Eat them warm in the tiled back rooms. Then walk to see the tower from the bank.
Lisbon's 1892 market hall at Cais do Sodré, half of it now stalls by the city's chefs around long shared tables.
€15–25 each
Tram 15 back, 20 minutes. Busy at one; find seats before you order.
Five centuries of Portuguese azulejos in a 16th-century convent: a 23-metre panorama of Lisbon before the earthquake, and a gilded baroque chapel.
about €8 each
A taxi, 10 minutes, about €7. Upstairs, the panorama of the city in blue-and-white tiles runs a whole wall. Closed Mondays. An hour and a half.
A garden terrace at the top of the Glória funicular, looking across the Baixa to the castle.
free
Sunset in late March is about 19:45. Dinner in Bairro Alto below, from 20:00.
The 9:39 train from Santa Apolónia, three hours. Lunch in Porto, the Ribeira, the bridge's upper deck, a port tasting in Gaia and sunset from the Jardim do Morro.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →€30–45 eachreserved seats
The Alfa Pendular, about 2 hours 50 to Campanhã; then any train to São Bento, five minutes. Sit on the left for the sea after Aveiro.
€15–25 each
Look up in the station hall: 20,000 tiles of battles and country life. Bags at the hotel, lunch nearby.
Porto's riverfront of tall coloured houses, and the two-deck iron bridge of 1886 above it.
freeday's highlight
Along the quay, then up the steps to the upper deck and across to the Serra do Pilar terrace: the classic view of Porto. Down to the Gaia side on foot or by cable car.
Port has aged in barrels in Gaia's lodges for 300 years; the old houses give tours and tastings.
€20–35 eachbook
Graham's, up the hill, has a terrace over the river; Sandeman and Cálem are on the quay. An hour, three wines.
A small hillside garden at the Gaia end of the bridge, where Porto watches the sun set over the Ribeira.
free
Sunset about 19:50. Cross back over the upper deck, then down to the Ribeira for dinner.
Livraria Lello at opening, the Clérigos tower, the cathedral terrace, the Bolhão market, and the evening tram to the sea at Foz.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →A bookshop of 1906 with a carved ceiling and a red forked staircase.
€10–15 each, off a bookbook a time
Book the first entry; the ticket price comes off any book you buy.
A baroque bell tower of 1763, 75 metres high, with a gallery over the whole city after 225 steps.
about €10 eachday's highlight
Two minutes from Lello. From the top: the river, Gaia's lodges, the cathedral on its rock.
A fortress-like cathedral of the 12th century on Porto's highest point, with a tiled gothic cloister.
cloister about €3
The terrace in front looks over the roofs. The cloister's tiles show the Song of Songs.
Porto's covered market of 1914, restored in 2022, with counters serving lunch.
€15–20 each
Then the Capela das Almas, its walls covered outside in blue tiles, two minutes up the street, and Café Majestic's mirrored room for coffee.
Where the Douro meets the Atlantic: a promenade, lighthouses on the breakwater and fish restaurants.
about €6 each way
The old tram runs along the river from near São Francisco, 25 minutes. Walk to the Felgueiras lighthouse; dinner by the sea, a taxi back.
A guided tour of the Palácio da Bolsa and its Arab Room, the gilded church of São Francisco next door, a long lunch, and the airport at 16:00.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →Porto's 19th-century stock exchange, shown on guided tours only, ending in the Arab Room, a ballroom painted and gilded in the style of the Alhambra.
about €15 eachday's highlightbook a time
Tours in English run every half hour or so and last 45 minutes. The Arab Room is the reason to go.
A gothic church whose inside was covered in the 18th century with carved wood and some 300 kilos of gold leaf.
about €10 each
Next door to the Bolsa. No photos inside. The catacombs under the museum are part of the ticket.
€25–40 each
Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá, salt cod baked with potatoes and eggs, or grilled octopus, one street back from the Ribeira.
metro €2.50 or taxi about €25
Bags from the hotel; metro line E from Trindade, 35 minutes, or a taxi. At the airport by 16:00 for the 18:00 flight.
The Alfa Pendular and Intercidades leave Santa Apolónia and Oriente every hour or two, about 3 hours, with reserved seats. Book on cp.pt or the CP app; early fares are cheaper. In Lisbon, the Viva Viagem card pays for metro and trams; in Porto, the Andante card.
Lunch from 12:30, dinner from 19:30. Bread, olives and cheese put on the table are charged if eaten; send them back if you do not want them. Tip by rounding up, 5–10%.
Cards work almost everywhere. Keep €40 in cash for small tascas and markets. Use Multibanco ATMs; avoid Euronet.
For two, 5 days and 4 nights: rooms, the train, tickets, food and a buffer. Flights are not included.
| Item | Economy | Comfort | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel in Lisbon, 2 nights | €200 | €340 | March prices |
| Hotel in Porto, 2 nights | €180 | €300 | |
| City taxes | €16 | €16 | |
| Lisbon–Porto train | €60 | €90 | |
| Taxis, metro and trams | €70 | €100 | |
| Castle, Jerónimos, tile museum, Lello, Clérigos, Bolsa, São Francisco | €170 | €170 | About €85 each |
| Fado dinner and port lodge | €140 | €190 | |
| Lunches | €150 | €220 | 5 lunches for two |
| Dinners | €180 | €260 | 3 dinners for two besides the fado |
| Coffee and pastries | €40 | €60 | |
| Buffer | €80 | €150 | |
| Total | €1,286 | €1,896 |
Realistic figure: About €1,450–1,650 for two, without flights
Cards work almost everywhere. Keep €40 in cash.
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