Lisbon + Sintra in 5 Days on a Budget
Five Days in Lisbon: The City, The Palace, The Coast and the Water
Five days is enough room to stop rationing yourself. You still get two city days and Sintra, but now there’s space for two coastal day trips instead of one, and the second, Setubal and the Arrabida coast, sees a fraction of the tourists that Sintra and Cascais do. Give the city its two days first, see the Lisbon city guide for what to prioritise.
Book these before you go:
- Pena Palace timed entry for day three.
- A Setubal dolphin-watching tour , boats fill before the walk-up crowd realises.
- Central accommodation in Chiado or Principe Real for a five-night stay.
| Day | Focus | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baixa and Alfama | 25-30 EUR |
| 2 | Belem and the castle | 60-65 EUR |
| 3 | Sintra | 44-50 EUR |
| 4 | Cascais and Estoril | 30-35 EUR |
| 5 | Setubal and the Arrabida coast | 64-70 EUR |
| Trip | Distance from Lisbon | Travel time | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sintra (from Rossio) | ~28 km | ~40 min by train | 2.45 EUR one-way |
| Cascais (from Cais do Sodre) | ~30 km | ~40 min by train | 2.25-2.45 EUR one-way |
| Setubal (from Roma-Areeiro) | ~45 km | under 1hr by train | ~4.50 EUR one-way |
Getting in and getting around. The Metro Red Line gets you from the airport into Baixa in about twenty five to thirty minutes, one change at Alameda or Sao Sebastiao; there is no Aerobus anymore, it stopped in 2022 regardless of what an old blog post tells you. A 0.50 EUR Navegante card loaded with Zapping credit runs each ride at roughly 1.70 EUR, and it carries over to every day trip on this list, Sintra, Cascais and Setubal included.
Where to stay for five nights. Chiado or Principe Real make better bases than Alfama for a stay this length; you’ll be doing enough hill climbing on the sightseeing days without adding it to your daily commute back to bed. Expect roughly 30 to 50 EUR a night for a solid budget guesthouse room in either, 80 to 130 EUR for a comfortable mid-range hotel.
Day 1: first look at the city. Spend the afternoon walking Baixa down to Praca do Comercio and up into Alfama; wear shoes with real grip, the calcada cobbles are more slippery than they look. Tram 28 gets the photos but also the pickpockets, worst between Martim Moniz and Se; Tram 12E gets you nearly the same views with far less risk to your wallet. Dinner at a genuine tasca, 8 to 14 EUR for a main, and watch for the couvert, the bread and olives that land on your table uninvited.
Budget: roughly 25-30 EUR.
Day 2: Belem, properly separated. Jeronimos Monastery is 18 EUR for monastery-only entry (older write-ups still quote around 10 EUR; that price is stale); a combined ticket with Belem Tower runs 33 EUR, no real saving over two single tickets. Current hours are on museusemonumentos.pt . Eat the original pastel de nata warm at Pasteis de Belem, queue and all; if you’d rather not wait, Manteigaria in Chiado is arguably the more reliable version day to day. Fit in Sao Jorge Castle too if you can, about 15 EUR, ideally before midday when the tour groups arrive.
Budget: roughly 60-65 EUR.
Day 3: Sintra, ticket booked ahead. The Rossio-to-Sintra train takes about forty minutes each way, 2.45 EUR each way; Rossio is a different station entirely from the one you’ll use for Cascais on day four. Book Pena Palace’s timed entry online at parquesdesintra.pt well in advance; in peak season, roughly Easter through October, walking up without one costs you hours in line or a sold-out day. Palace and park together run about 20 EUR, the park alone about 14, and Bus 434 covers the station-to-gate stretch for 7.10 EUR round-trip, or a 13.50 EUR day pass if you want to hop on and off more than once. This single booking matters more than anything else on this list.
Budget: roughly 44-50 EUR.
Is Setubal worth it compared to a second Sintra day?
For most visitors, yes, precisely because it’s different rather than more of the same. A second day in Sintra means a second palace queue; a day in Setubal means dolphins on the Sado estuary and wine country with almost no other tourists. If fairy-tale architecture is the priority, skip Setubal and slow down in Sintra instead.
Day 4: Cascais and Estoril. A separate train line from Cais do Sodre station gets you to Cascais in about forty minutes, roughly 2.25-2.45 EUR each way on the same Zapping-loaded card you’ve been using all trip. Cascais has an actual working harbour and a walkable old town; Estoril, one stop before it, adds a casino and a longer seafront walk if you want more coastline. Lunch on fresh fish here tends to run cheaper than the equivalent plate back in central Lisbon.
Budget: roughly 30-35 EUR.
Day 5: Setubal and the Arrabida coast. This is the day trip most visitors never make it to, and it’s worth the extra effort. A Fertagus train from Roma-Areeiro station gets you to Setubal in under an hour for about 4.50 EUR one way, no advance booking required for the train itself. Dolphin-watching boat tours out on the Sado estuary run around 40 EUR for a two-and-a-half-hour trip, with morning and afternoon departures, and it’s worth booking a slot ahead since boats fill up faster than the walk-up crowd expects. If dolphins aren’t the priority, the Arrabida hills nearby produce some of the country’s better wine; the Azeitao area around Setubal has run vineyards for generations, and a tasting at a producer like Jose Maria da Fonseca costs a fraction of what a Douro Valley trip would run you, with none of the travel time. A short ferry across to Troia gets you onto a stretch of sand dune beach that never gets Cascais-level crowded.
Budget: train ~9 EUR return, dolphin tour ~40 EUR, wine tasting and lunch ~15-20 EUR. Total roughly 64-70 EUR.
One festival worth planning around. If your five days land on June 12-13, 2026, that’s Santo Antonio, Lisbon’s biggest street festival: grilled sardines on every corner, marchas populares parades down Avenida da Liberdade, and Alfama packed well past midnight. Book accommodation and any restaurant reservations early since the whole town fills up around it.
Before you go. April through June and September through October are the weather sweet spot; July and August push past 30C with the year’s longest queues at Sintra and Belem. Pack proper flat shoes with real grip for the whole trip, not just Alfama; between the calcada cobbles in the centre and the uneven cobbled lanes in Sintra, sandals or thin soles will wear you out faster than the walking itself does.
Five-day total: figure roughly 225-250 EUR per person for transit, sights and food across the five days, not counting accommodation. If you only remember one thing, keep the Navegante card topped up with Zapping credit rather than buying single tickets each morning.