Lisbon in Two Days: A Realistic Itinerary

Day 1

1. 09:00Tram 28 · about 52 min

2. Walk · 1.3 km · about 22 min

   10:14Praça do Comércio · about 35 min

3. Walk · 0.5 km · about 13 min

   11:02Lisbon Cathedral · about 40 min

4. Walk · 1.2 km · about 21 min

   12:03National Pantheon · about 52 min

5. 12:55Lunch break · about 60 min

6. Walk · 1.7 km · about 28 min

   14:23Carmo Convent · about 52 min

7. Walk · 0.2 km · about 9 min

   15:24Rossio · about 29 min

8. Walk · 0.9 km · about 18 min

   16:11Alfama · about 104 min

Day 2

1. 09:30Belém Tower · about 52 min

2. Walk · 1.2 km · about 21 min

   10:43Padrão dos Descobrimentos · about 46 min

3. Walk · 0.6 km · about 14 min

   11:43Jerónimos Monastery · about 100 min

4. 13:23Lunch break · about 60 min

5. Public transport (planner estimate) · 5.5 km · about 27 min

   14:50Estrela Basilica & Garden · about 58 min

6. Public transport (planner estimate) · 3.0 km · about 21 min

   16:09São Jorge Castle · about 92 min

09:00–09:52 — Tram 28. The 1930s yellow trams that grind up through Graça, Alfama and Estrela on rails barely wider than the street. Ride it as transport early in the morning; by mid-morning the queue at Martim Moniz is longer than the journey.

10:14–10:49 — Praça do Comércio. The vast arcaded square where the royal palace stood until the 1755 earthquake, open on one side to the river. The yellow arcades and the marble steps down into the Tagus are the city's formal front door. It is a public open-air space with no ticket and no closing day.

11:02–11:42 — Lisbon Cathedral. A fortress-like Romanesque cathedral from the 12th century, built on the site of the main mosque after the Christian conquest. The nave is plain and dark; the cloister excavations, with Roman and Moorish layers exposed, are the surprise. Verified opening hours: November to April Monday to Saturday 10:00–18:00. May to October from 09:30, closing at 19:00 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Closed to visits on Sundays and holy days, when services take priority.

12:03–12:55 — National Pantheon. The church of Santa Engrácia took so long to finish, from 1682 to 1966, that 'obras de Santa Engrácia' is Portuguese for a job that never ends. Inside are the tombs of national figures including Amália Rodrigues; the dome terrace looks straight over the river. Verified opening hours: October to March Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–17:00; April to September Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30). Closed on Mondays, 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 13 June and 25 December.

12:55–13:55 — Lunch. The planner reserves time to eat right after National Pantheon, so the afternoon continues from where the morning ended instead of detouring for food.

14:23–15:15 — Carmo Convent. The Gothic church whose roof fell in during the 1755 earthquake and was deliberately never replaced. The nave arches stand open to the sky; the apse holds a small archaeological museum with Peruvian mummies among its odder pieces. Verified opening hours: Monday to Saturday: November to April 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:40); May to October 10:00–19:00 (last entry 18:40). Closed on Sundays, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.

15:24–15:53 — Rossio. Lisbon's main square since the Middle Ages, paved in the wave-patterned black-and-white calçada that the city later copied all over the world. The neo-Manueline Rossio station on its western corner is worth the detour inside. It is a public open-air space with no ticket and no closing day.

16:11–17:55 — Alfama. The oldest quarter, the one part of Lisbon the 1755 earthquake left largely standing: a tangle of stairways, laundry lines and tiny squares falling from the castle to the river. Get lost on purpose; every downhill lane ends at the water eventually. It is a public open-air space with no ticket and no closing day.

09:30–10:22 — Belém Tower. The 16th-century fortress that once guarded the mouth of the Tagus, now standing at the water's edge after the river moved. The outside is the photograph; inside is a narrow spiral staircase on a one-way timer, and the rooms themselves are small and mostly bare. Verified opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 09:30–17:30. Closed on Mondays, 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 13 June and 25 December.

10:43–11:29 — Padrão dos Descobrimentos. A 52-metre monument shaped like a caravel's prow, with Henry the Navigator leading a file of explorers towards the river. A lift goes to the top for a view down onto the giant compass rose in the pavement and across to Belém Tower. Verified opening hours: October to February daily 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30); March to September daily 10:00–19:00 (last entry 18:30).

11:43–13:23 — Jerónimos Monastery. The finest Manueline building in Portugal, paid for with the spice trade and finished with rope, coral and sea-creature carving in pale limestone. The church, with Vasco da Gama's tomb, is free; the double-storey cloister is the ticketed part and the real reason to come. Verified opening hours: Cloister Tuesday to Sunday 09:30–17:30 (last entry 17:00). Church Tuesday to Saturday 10:30–17:00; Sundays and religious holidays 14:00–17:00. Closed on Mondays, 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 13 June and 25 December. The church is free; the cloister is ticketed. Official ceremonies can close the monastery at short notice.

13:23–14:23 — Lunch. The planner reserves time to eat right after Jerónimos Monastery, so the afternoon continues from where the morning ended instead of detouring for food.

14:50–15:48 — Estrela Basilica & Garden. A white late-baroque basilica with a dome you can climb onto, facing a romantic garden with a duck pond, a bandstand and a kiosk café. Tram 28 ends just beyond it, which makes it a calm finish to the ride.

16:09–17:41 — São Jorge Castle. Moorish walls and a hilltop terrace with the widest view in the centre: the Baixa grid, the river and the bridge laid out below. The castle itself is mostly ramparts and gardens; you come for the walls and the panorama. Verified opening hours: 1 November to end of February daily 09:00–18:00 (last admission 17:30); 1 March to 31 October daily 09:00–21:00 (last admission 20:30). Wall-walks and towers close at 17:30 in winter and may close from 18:00 in summer depending on daylight. The castle museum is temporarily closed while the toilet facilities are upgraded.

Day 1 reaches Lisbon Cathedral at 11:02, after it opens at 10:00, so there is no waiting at the door.

Day 1 covers about 5.8 km on foot, with no public transport needed.

Day 2 reaches Belém Tower at 09:00 and waits 30 minutes for it to open at 09:30; the wait is built into the plan.

Day 2 covers about 1.8 km on foot and 2 public-transport hops (about 8.5 km), used only where walking would cost more time than it saves.

Times come from the planner's visit-length model: every stop starts from its typical duration, is adjusted for a couple at a balanced pace, and every walk gets a small buffer. The day runs from 09:00 to 17:55.

The longest stops are Jerónimos Monastery (100 minutes) and São Jorge Castle (92 minutes). If a stop takes longer than planned, the planner in the app reschedules the rest of the day around it.

To keep the day realistic, the planner left out 3 further candidates rather than squeezing them in at a run.

Your day falls on a closing day. Lisbon Cathedral is closed on Sundays; our guide to what is open in Lisbon on a Monday has a full alternative route.

It rains. Praça do Comércio, National Pantheon and Carmo Convent are largely outdoors. Rain-safe alternatives in MEVAYA's Lisbon data include Jerónimos Monastery and Fado in the Alfama.

You are travelling with children. Switch the party to "family" in the planner and it keeps walks shorter (it caps a single walking leg at about 1.1 km) and favours family-friendly stops such as Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara and Lisbon Oceanarium.

You start late. Planned with an 11:00 start, the planner drops Tram 28, Lisbon Cathedral, National Pantheon, Carmo Convent, Rossio and Alfama and keeps the rest of this route.

Mobility is limited. Tram 28: NOT wheelchair accessible: the historic trams have high steps and narrow aisles. Praça do Comércio: Level and paved; fully accessible. Choose "step-free" in the planner and it filters out stops known to be inaccessible.

Built by the MEVAYA planner from MEVAYA's curated Lisbon data. Opening hours were checked against official and independent sources in October 2026; the route, times and durations are the planner's own output, not estimates written by hand.