Lisbon in 6 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
6 Days in Lisbon: The Full City, Slow Day Included
Six days covers Lisbon at a genuinely relaxed pace: the core three days, LX Factory and Principe Real, Parque das Nacoes, and a sixth day built entirely around free viewpoints, a flea market and a cheap ferry ride, no entry fee attached to any of it. If a Sintra or Cascais day trip is more your speed, the Lisbon plus Sintra 6 day itinerary swaps two of these city days for exactly that.
Book these before you go:
- Skip-the-line Jeronimos and Belem Tower tickets , the queue runs long June-August.
- Oceanario de Lisboa tickets , it sells out school-holiday afternoons.
- Central accommodation in Chiado or Principe Real for a six-night stay.
| Day | Focus | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfama and the castle | 75-90 EUR |
| 2 | Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto | 45-50 EUR |
| 3 | Belem | 49-54 EUR |
| 4 | LX Factory, Principe Real, Tile Museum | 30-40 EUR |
| 5 | Parque das Nacoes and the Oceanario | 35-45 EUR |
| 6 | Miradouros, Feira da Ladra, Cacilhas | 20-30 EUR |
Getting around: get a Navegante card (0.50 EUR) and load Zapping credit onto it, metro fares drop to about 1.72 EUR and the same card covers the Cais do Sodre-Cacilhas ferry too.
Where to stay for six nights: Chiado or Principe Real work well as a base, central enough for the city days and close to a metro line for early starts. Budget rooms run roughly 30 to 50 EUR a night, mid-range hotels 80 to 130 EUR.
Day 1: Alfama and the Castle
Sao Jorge Castle at opening, about 15 EUR, then down through Alfama’s alleys on foot. Ride Tram 12E instead of Tram 28 for the same views without the city’s worst pickpocket route. Tasca lunch (bacalhau 10-16 EUR), fado dinner in the evening, watch for the couvert charge on the bill, it’s not free.
Budget: roughly 75-90 EUR.
Day 2: Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto
Praca do Comercio, free. A Brasileira for coffee and a pastel de nata, about 1.30-1.50 EUR. Elevador da Gloria or Bica up into Bairro Alto (3.80 EUR, or free on your card) instead of the climb. Dinner at a tasca, the usual 8-14 EUR.
Budget: roughly 45-50 EUR.
Day 3: Belem
Tram 15E or the train, Belem is a separate district. Jeronimos Monastery is 18 EUR for monastery-only entry (older figures around 10 EUR are stale), closed Mondays. Belem Tower is a different building 10 minutes off, its own ticket, reopened May 2026 after roughly a year closed, timed 30-minute slots capped near 900 a day, around 15 EUR. Current prices are on museusemonumentos.pt . Pasteis de Belem for the original tart is worth the line, Manteigaria in Chiado is arguably just as good without one.
Budget: roughly 49-54 EUR.
Day 4: LX Factory, Principe Real and the Tile Museum
Free morning at LX Factory under the bridge, then Principe Real for a flatter, quieter afternoon after two hilly days. The National Tile Museum is a good low-crowd alternative to another big monument, entry around 5-8 EUR. Ease off the schedule here on purpose.
Budget: roughly 30-40 EUR.
Is the National Tile Museum worth the detour?
Yes, if crowds bother you more than fame. It sits slightly outside the main tourist loop, so entry is 5-8 EUR without a queue, and 500 years of decorative tilework is a genuine Portuguese specialty most first-time visitors skip entirely. Pair it with LX Factory or Principe Real, both nearby, rather than a special trip on its own.
Day 5: Parque das Nacoes and the Oceanario
Oceanario de Lisboa , Europe’s largest indoor aquarium, adult entry around 25 EUR, reached by metro (Red Line, Oriente station). Walk the riverside promenade afterward, flat and free. A different part of the city entirely from the rest of this list, worth it for the change of scenery.
Budget: roughly 35-45 EUR.
Day 6: Miradouros, Feira da Ladra and Cacilhas
Six days in, spend the last one on things that cost nothing or next to it. Miradouro da Senhora do Monte and Miradouro de Santa Luzia are free viewpoints that beat most paid rooftop bars. If your day lands on a Tuesday or Saturday, Feira da Ladra, the flea market on Campo de Santa Clara behind Sao Vicente de Fora, runs best between about 9am and noon before stalls start packing up. In the afternoon, take the ferry from Cais do Sodre across to Cacilhas, covered by your transit card, for a seafood lunch with skyline views at a fraction of central Lisbon prices.
Budget: roughly 20-30 EUR, mostly the Cacilhas lunch.
Is the Cacilhas ferry worth a whole afternoon?
Yes, for the price. The crossing itself runs a few minutes on your existing transit card, and the seafood restaurants lining the Cacilhas waterfront charge noticeably less than equivalent places in central Lisbon for the same view of the city skyline across the water. It’s the cheapest genuinely different afternoon on this entire itinerary.
Where to stay: Chiado or Principe Real for a central, flat base across six days of moving around. Alfama if the hills don’t bother you and you want to be near the castle and fado bars.
Six-day total: figure roughly 255-310 EUR per person for transit, sights and food across the week, not counting accommodation. Book the Belem tickets first, everything on day six is entirely walk-up.