Porto to Lisbon

I went to Portugal for the first time this year. Honestly, I didn’t know too much about the country. I did know that anyone I’ve ever spoken to who has visited loved the time they spent there. When I started planning my second trip back to Spain, I thought taking about a week for Portugal sounded like a great way for me to finally be able to experience it for myself.

I was blown away. I can’t say enough about the warmth and kindness that the Portuguese people exude. Despite not knowing a word of Portuguese outside of “obrigado”, every restaurant, shop, and Airbnb we visited, I felt…at home. Not to mention those beautiful, Insta-worthy colorful tiles EVERYWHERE! *All the heart eye emojis here.* I’m not too big of a souvenir shopper, outside of the consumable items I bring home. Mostly because I don’t like to have a whole lot of clutter in my house. But, most of the souvenirs from the trip that I did buy came from Portugal. I just couldn’t resist those tiles…

Welcome to my Porto to Lisbon Itinerary! This 5 day itinerary was made for wandering around cities with character filled streets, drinking port, finding incredible vistas, striking up conversations with friendly locals, and food. So. Much. Food. Click the itinerary image to download the free itinerary now!

Follow along with this post and I’ll give you my personal travel tips for this itinerary. Then I’ll do a day-by-day breakdown, meant to be used as a detailed guide to each stop on the itinerary.

Anything marked with *** comes with my highest recommendation!

Travel Tips

If you need to store your luggage in Porto, the São Bento train station is a great spot. There are a good number of lockers available to rent of various sizes, though I recommend getting there early. When we dropped off in the morning, there was plenty of availability, however upon returning in the afternoon, there were no lockers available. Particularly convenient if you’re staying in the area, as we did.
As with most of Europe, train travel in Portugal is great. Porto to Lisbon will take 3 hours and about €12. I recommend buying tickets in advance, which is easy to do at the Comboios de Portugal website.
In Lisbon, the Tower of Belém makes for a beautiful morning visit. It is possible to use public transportation, as there’s a tram that runs to the Monastery. However, as a group of 4, I usually find an Uber is more cost effective than 4 tickets on public transportation, which is what we opted for.
In Portugal, many restaurants will put bread and other snacks on the table when you sit down. These aren’t free! They will charge you for each thing you take, to include the butter packets you open for the bread! We had been fooled by this once, but luckily the next day the waiter at our lunch spot recognized us as tourists and explained what was happening before we opened anything. We appreciated his forthcoming honesty, instead of trying to take advantage of tourists…which is something that can unfortunately happen anywhere.
For a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon, I recommend getting on an early train, especially on the weekends, as this is very popular spot. We opted for the 9:00 am train and were in Sintra by 9:40. Perfect timing, as the Pena Palace opened at 10:00. There are two very convenient tourist busses in Sintra that, for a flat rate, allow hop-on, hop-off access to popular spots in Sintra. This is a great option for a group of 2 who plan on making multiple stops, but once again, as a group of 4, we found that Uber was more cost effective.
Try striking up conversations with locals, if able. This rings especially true in Portugal. From dinner companions to Uber drivers, I had some of the best conversations during this trip. To me, travel is all about connection. And in my experience, our Portuguese hosts were more than willing to connect with us, too.
I always say, if you can, the Christmas season is an incredible time to travel. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere (where it’s winter), the crowds are much more manageable and you have the added bonus of seeing all the beautiful Christmas decorations! In Portugal, these decorations were up until almost mid-January! Giving us plenty of time to enjoy.

Day-to-Day

DAY ONE: Porto

***BREAKAST: DAMA PE DE CABRA*** – You remember that Portuguese warmth I mentioned earlier? Well, this meal kicked it off for us. This is a smaller restaurant, run by a husband and wife team who I can only imagine are the most hospitable people in all of Porto. You have to knock on the door to be let in, but don’t let that make you feel unsure! Soon, you’ll be swept inside and shown to a table, and, lucky for us, greeted in perfect English. The owners are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. They made us feel so welcome and it seemed they were genuinely happy to have us in their restaurant. Everything is made in house. We all went with the breakfast special and were treated to freshly baked traditional Portuguese bread, eggs, jams, the best orange juice I’ve ever had, coffee and tea.

Let’s go back to that jam for a second — if they have the apple walnut jam, GET IT. And then buy some to take home. Also, I know from personal experience, it’s a great addition to a charcuterie board and one jar is not enough!

***PORT TASTING ALONG THE DOURO RIVER*** – Does anyone go to Portugal without trying port?? Port is a fortified Portuguese wine and is often sweeter, making it a great dessert wine. The various ages you’ll find are referring to the length of time the port was aged in barrels. Naturally, the longer the aging process, the higher the price! Because it’s so sweet, it’s tough for me to drink on an empty stomach. I would definitely recommend pairing with cheese when possible!

A walk across the Luis I Bridge will bring you to a great assortment of port tasting rooms (and give you some incredible views of the Ribeira along the way). Most don’t require a reservation. Just walk in and enjoy! I recommend wandering off the main strip and trying spots along the back streets. We visited Piano Douro Valley, where we paired our ports with various local cheeses, and Caves Vasconcellos, a smaller operation with a location right by the river. You’d be hard pressed to find these ports outside of Porto, so we snagged a 30 year bottle to take home from. (Side note, when we later opened this bottle at home, I told Josh, we should try to stretch it out over a few days — 30 year port isn’t cheap! We then went on to consume the entire thing in one cheese sitting — 30 year port is delicious!)

THE YEATMAN – Great for snacks, drinks, and views. I imagine this would be an incredible spot to lay your head at night, but if you don’t want to shell out that kind of cash, definitely stop by to enjoy the extensive wine list and views from the outdoor dining terrace. Best time is late afternoon, with the river and Ribeira bathed in soft, golden light.

MANTEIGARIA – A great spot that sells one thing: pastéis de nata… Portuguese egg tarts! They also offer port here which, can confirm, makes a great pairing with the pastry!

DINNER: CERVEJARIA BRASAO – This is a great spot for trying the francesinha sandwich. Fair warning: They are big! Josh and I shared a sandwich and it was more than enough. Definitely worth every single delicious bite. (Though I was glad for climbing the hills of Porto all day!!)

STAY: AIRBNB ON RUA DAS FLORES – Very centrally located and surrounded by restaurants, bars, and shopping. São Bento train station is only a few minutes walk away. Easy walking distance to almost everything on the itinerary in Porto. Click here to see the full listing for our Porto Airbnb.

DAY TWO: Porto

***BREAKFAST: O DIPLOMATA*** – Fantastic brunch spot, especially if you’re a pancake lover! It’s a really cute spot with great service and delicious food. And it gets busy! Also, don’t be shy about building your own pancake. You’re only limited by your imagination here! Our friend went with pancakes piled with M&Ms…and a few strawberries. For health, I guess.

LIVARIA LELLO – Known as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. If that’s not enough to justify it as a tourist draw, it was also frequented by JK Rowling when she was living in Porto and working on the Harry Potter series, finding inspiration for the books from the bookstore itself.

Try to go early or later in the day. Pick an off-peak time, as it does get very busy. You’ll have to go a little ways down the street from the bookstore to purchase a ticket first, but the cost of the ticket will come off any purchase you make in the store. Livaria Lello has their own beautiful editions of multiple books, which I found made a great souvenir.

CLERIGOS CHURCH & TOWER – For a modest entry fee, you’re able to explore the entire church and climb to the top of the attached tower. You’ll have some great views of Porto and the Porto Cathedral in the distance.

MAJESTIC CAFE – Great spot for afternoon tea service. Especially great as it includes pastéis de nata! Busy spot, but after a brief wait we were seated and enjoyed a delightful spread. They also have a full menu for the non-afternoon tea fans. (My husband is one of those haha.)

MERCADO DO BOLHAO – Local market stocked with produce, meats, made-to-order items, and some great food souvenirs. We picked up some breakfast items and some sandwiches we planned to have for lunch on the train the next day. Quick, easy, delicious and low cost! I also snagged a few small jars of local jams that were made with port. I’m always on the hunt for small gifts like this I can bring home to friends.

***COLOSSUS CRAFT BREWERY*** – Great spot for craft, local beer. And, per the usual, employed by friendly staff! Pro tip: if you’re curious about how much to budget for a city, look at the price of a beer. It’s such a great indicator of how expensive (or inexpensive) a city is going to be. (For the record, Porto is a refreshingly affordable city to visit.) The beer at Colossus is great and the environment even better. Once the guy working there found out he was in the company of a couple fellow metalheads, the conversation flowed as much as the beer did! (I’ll give you one guess as to what category I fall under haha.)

Beer and music. The great unifiers of humanity.

***DINNER: BRICK*** – I normally would never choose to repeat a restaurant during a trip (there are always so many new spots to choose from!!). With that said, I would eat at Brick again, and again, and again. Incredibly fresh, healthy, flavorful food with beautiful presentation and a seating style that encourages conversation with new friends. Perfect for a long dinner, trying everything you can over multiple glasses of wine. One of the best meals of the trip.

As we continued to praise each dish that came out, along with the wine we were enjoying, two Portuguese gentlemen across the table from us struck up a conversation. Over the next hour, we ate, drank, shared stories, talked about what it was like to be Portuguese (and American), and laughed A LOT. Turns out one guy was a former military pilot and the other was a well known standup comedian in Portugal. They both had some great stories to share! At the end of the night, our new friends bought us a bottle of wine that they loved so we could take it back to enjoy later at our Airbnb. Have I mentioned how amazing the Portuguese people are?

Reservations strongly recommended.

DAY THREE: Porto to Lisbon

WANDER. RAMBLE. ROAM. – Have a late breakfast and explore the beautiful streets of Porto. Stop by the Porto Cathedral to see it up close.

SAO BENTO TRAIN STATION – A beautiful train station worth visiting even if you aren’t traveling by rail. You’ll leave from this station if you’re heading down to Lisbon via train.

DINNER: MERCADO DA RIBEIRA – A great spot for dinner with multiple restaurant stalls and food vendors to choose from. There’s also a great wine shop inside that has extremely helpful employees if you’re wanting to find some wine to have at your Airbnb or hotel.

STAY: AIRBNB IN BAIRRO ALTO NEIGHBORHOOD – Walkable and convenient location to top sights and restaurants. Lots of shopping and dining available. Minutes from Rossio station. Click here to see where we stayed in Lisbon.

DAY FOUR: Lisbon

TOWER OF BELEM – Medieval tower that was used for defense purposes that today you can tour and enjoy views from of the Tagus River. Can get crowded, and they only let a certain number of people in at a time. Buy tickets in advance if possible. Plan to stay here for about an hour.

LUNCH: RUA DE BELEM – After leaving the tower, walk by the impressive Jerónimos Monastery on your way to grab lunch along Rua de Belém. There are many restaurants to choose from along this popular street. Pop into any spot that looks good to you.

CASTELO DE SAO JORGE – An 11th century Moorish hilltop castle. Plan to spend a couple hours wandering around the grounds, taking pictures, and enjoying the hilltop views. We even saw peacocks hanging around in the trees! Great spot to watch the sunset.

***DINNER: RESTAURANTE 100 MANEIRAS*** – If you’re looking for the ultimate fine dining experience on your trip to Lisbon, this is it. An incredible experience savored through 17 courses and wine pairings.

The chef was born in Bosnia and he lived through the Bosnian war in the early 90s. Soon after, he left and made a life in Portugal. The menu at this restaurant tells his life story through 17 unbelievable courses. Paired with incredible wines and cocktails, this is a meal I’ll be remembering for a long time to come. Come prepared to spend money!

Click here for my full review of this restaurant.

DAY FIVE: Sintra

Sintra was the resort town of Portuguese royalty. It is only a quick, 40-minute train ride from Lisbon, making it an excellent day trip from the city. Take an early train to enjoy as much as you can. Sintra is very popular (especially in the warmer months) and the attractions will get crowded! Look to see if you can buy tickets in advance to the attractions that interest you.

***PARK AND NATIONAL PALACE OF PENA*** – Whimsical, 19th-century palace with extensive grounds. Buy your tickets in advance and get there right when it opens. We were able to wander the palace for about an hour before it became very crowded.

After leaving the palace, walk the grounds and take the 30-minute trail up to Cruz Alta, or High Cross. Enjoy beautiful vistas of the surrounding forests and the Atlantic Ocean.

LUNCH: BACALHAU NA VILA – Head back to the town center to get lunch. We went to Bacalhau na Vila, on a beautiful little street serving up one of Portugal’s best known foods…codfish! More good food, more good wine!

QUINTA DA REGALEIRA – Quintas are the regal country homes of the Portuguese elite. This quinta was an easy walk from the town center and took “whimsy” to a new level! Plan for about two hours to wander around the trails of the UNESCO protected 4 acre estate, the caves, and the Initiation Well. Though, don’t be too surprised if you don’t get too far down the steps of the latter — it is VERY popular.

DINNER: MINIBAR – Good food in a trendy spot. They offer a decent tasting menu of about 5 courses. A good spot to eat dinner with friends.

And that’s how to spend five days in Portugal! I hope you’re inspired to plan your own trip to this incredible country. As always, reach out on my contact page if I can help at all!