Lisbon travel guide

Lisbon's appeal is that it still feels like a city that locals live in. The trams aren't a tourist attraction, they're how people get to work. The pastéis de nata aren't curated for visitors, they're the breakfast you'll see Portuguese people eating standing up at 8am at the same counter you're at. That contrast — between very-online and very-not — is what makes it the right pick for a 3-to-5-day trip when you don't want to over-plan.

The places below come from real saved trips. They're heavy on Alfama (for the views and the fado), Príncipe Real (for the small dinners and the slow afternoons), and the Time Out Market (for the one meal where everyone in your group can vote on something different and meet at a table). Day-trip to Sintra at least once. Don't try to do Sintra and Cascais on the same day. The hills will end you.

A long weekend is enough. A week gives you Sintra, Cascais, the beaches at Costa da Caparica, and time to learn that Portuguese coffee is excellent and inexplicably underrated.