Although we visited Portugal about six years ago. The memory of it is still fresh in my mind.
I have broken down our 15 days itinerary into parts so that people can pick and chose what suits them the most.
Here is Part I – Lisbon
3 Nights in Lisbon
Day 1: Arrive at Lisbon. Day at leisure.
Day 2 : Full day at Downtown Lisbon.
Day 3 : Visit Belem Tower, Monument of Discoveries and Jerónimos Monastery
Day 4: Day trip to Evora (Optional)
Day 1: Lisbon
Firstly, take it in!
The city’s air, beauty, charm. Its just gorgous. Now that that’s out of way, let me take you through the itinerary.
Upon arrival, we recommend you relax and unwind before exploring. Go to a café or a good diner to enjoy a good Portugues Meal. Here are some of the good localities.
Baixa, Chiado, Belém. We will cover more about it in detail.
Day 2: Lisbon – Downtown Lisbon
Chiado district, Alfama, Santa Justa, Barrio Alto these are the places that you will be covering when we say - visit Downtown Lisbon. Praça Luís de Camões in Chidado is a lively square.
Hop onto the popular Tram 28 which takes you through the historic places and landmarks.
Later proceed for Alfama District. We can bet this is something you have seen in all the photographs. The whitewashed houses and the brown roofs make it look very picturesque from atop. Here you must visit Lisbon Cathedral that dates back to 12th century. There are a couple of view points from where you can get the best shots! There are many good restaurants and bars around for grabbing a quick bite.
Don’t forget to go to The Santa Justa Lift. Its also called Carmo Lift, is an elevator, or lift, in the civil parish of Santa Justa, in the historic center of Lisbon, Portugal. Situated at the end of Rua de Santa Justa, it connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo
Later proceed for Praça do Comércio which is one the landmarks or main suares. This square overlooks the river. (Tagus River)
Later proceed for Barrio Alto which is a popular neighborhood for it’s nightlife and call it a day!
Day 3: Lisbon - Belem Tower, Monument of Discoveries, Jerónimos Monastery.
Start your day with a hearty breakfast and head for one of the most iconic monuments of Lisbon. Belem Tower! It served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. This tower symbolizes Portugal's colonial power in early modern Europe. We highly recommend you must visit the interiors of Belem Tower as well.
Follow this with The Jerónimos Monastery. Its just a 5 mins walk from Belem Tower. Jeronimos Monastery is a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus river. In 1880 the remains of Vasco da Gama and the poet, Luís de Camões, were transferred to the Jerónimos Monastery.
If time permits, you can visit visit the Maritime Museum and the National Archaeological Museum.
Each of these monuments take approx 2-3 hrs to cover, hence we do not recommend visiting any more places this day.
You will spot many sailing boats at the river and boat rides/ river cruises is among the popular activities here.
Day 4: Lisbon – Evora – Lisbon
This day trip takes about 8 hours in totality. One-way drive to Evora takes approx. 1.5 hrs. This ancient city is known for the finest Gothic Sculptures and architecture. Evora is a museum-city with roots dating back to roman times.
The most important monument that you will see here is Cathedral of Evora. It is the largest medieval cathedral in Portugal and has no match in the rest of the country. The Cathedral of Evora “protects” the city from the highest part of town.
Followed by Roman Temple of Évora. Now you may feel like you are in a Roman Empire. And rightly so. This temple dates back approx. 2000 years and it was built during the reign of Caesar Augustus.
Church of St Francis – Most commonly known as the chapel of bones. Carefully-arranged skulls and bones of about 5000 people cover walls and columns, as 17th-century monks decided to display them. It’s a rather artistic creation, forming decorative patterns, but it arose out of necessity, not for the sake of art. The city’s graveyards were just too overcrowded at the time, so skeletons were exhumed so new bodies could take their place.
Apart from monument visits, we highly recommend you taste Authentic Cuisine from Alentejo region at Evora.
Return to Lisbon after the day trip.
From here you can either go to southern portugal or northern portugal for continuing your itinerary.
P.S. There are a lot of places in Lisbon that you can not cover in limited days. Reach out to me for more suggestions and I will tailormade a programme epending on the number of days at hand.
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