Portugal in 5 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Five days in Portugal: Lisbon, Sintra and Porto on the Alfa Pendular
Five days buys Lisbon, a Sintra day trip and a proper Porto-plus-Douro leg, all connected by CP train rather than a rental car. Budget roughly EUR 500-750 total for two before lodging, most of it the Alfa Pendular fare and the Douro day out. The standard one-way Lisbon-Porto Alfa Pendular fare sits at EUR 35.70 in tourist class as of January 2026, but booked far enough ahead the same seat can drop to a fraction of that, so buy early rather than at the station. This is a Lisbon-and-Porto trip, not a full country loop; the Algarve needs two more days.
Shorter on time? The 3-day plan covers Lisbon and Sintra alone and nests inside this one. Got a week? The 7-day plan adds the Algarve to the same route. Want to stay in one city instead? See the standalone Porto itinerary for a deeper single-city plan.
| Day | Focus | Getting there | Rough cost for two (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Alfama, Baixa, free miradouros, Tram 28 | On foot, tram or metro | 40-70 |
| Day 2 | Belem: Jeronimos, Belem Tower, Pasteis de Belem | Tram 15E or bus | 70-110 |
| Day 3 | Sintra (Pena Palace), then Cascais | CP Sintra line ~40 min, bus 403, CP Cascais line ~40 min | 90-140 |
| Day 4 | Porto: Ribeira, Livraria Lello, a Gaia port lodge | CP Alfa Pendular ~2h35-3h15 | 140-220 |
| Day 5 | Douro Valley: Pinhao train, a river cruise | Regional/Intercidades train from Porto Campanha | 90-160 |
Book these before you go:
- Pena Palace timed ticket : the on-site office sells out fastest in summer; book the earliest slot you can.
- Livraria Lello ticket-voucher : mandatory paid entry, EUR 10 Silver or EUR 15.95 Gold, credited toward a book you buy inside.
- Your Lisbon hotel : Alfama or Baixa for the first three nights.
- Your Porto hotel : the Ribeira waterfront runs cheaper per night than comparable Lisbon lodging.
- A Douro Valley wine cruise : book ahead in peak season; the Pinhao boats fill up on the same days the scenic train does.
Where to base yourself for five days
Alfama or Baixa for the first half, then the Ribeira for Porto, both walkable cores that put you a short hop from the CP stations. Porto genuinely runs cheaper than Lisbon for equivalent lodging, one of the better reasons to add it rather than stretch a Lisbon-only trip. Lisbon’s tourist tax, EUR 4 per person per night capped at seven nights, applies to your first three nights and gets added at check-in, not shown in the online rate.
Day 1: Alfama, Baixa and the free miradouros
Walk Alfama’s steep lanes to Sao Jorge Castle’s viewpoint, then the three classic miradouros, Senhora do Monte, Portas do Sol and Graca, all free. Tram 28 covers the same hills but is also the city’s best-documented pickpocket run; board at the Martim Moniz terminus for a seat, or take bus 737 to see similar ground with far fewer crowds.
Day 2: Belem’s monasteries and the original custard tart
Jeronimos Monastery runs close to EUR 18 and Belem Tower EUR 8, or the combined Belem Bundle for EUR 21 per person covers both plus an audio guide. Ignore the free-Sunday window; it is reserved for Portugal residents with a citizen card, not visiting tourists. Close at Pasteis de Belem for the original pastel de nata, about EUR 1.50 a tart, made to an 1837 recipe.
Day 3: Sintra’s Pena Palace, then Cascais on the way home
The CP Sintra line runs about 40 minutes from Rossio; Pena Palace costs EUR 20 combined or EUR 14 park-only. Rather than backtrack through Lisbon, take the 403 bus from Sintra straight to Cascais, then the CP Cascais line back into Cais do Sodre, about 40 minutes; same total travel time, one extra coastal town included.
Day 4: Porto, on the Alfa Pendular
The Alfa Pendular covers Lisbon to Porto in roughly 2h35 to 3h15, with 15 or more departures a day; buy the ticket days ahead rather than at the counter, since CP’s advance fares run well under the EUR 35.70 walk-up tourist-class rate. Spend the afternoon on the Ribeira waterfront, free to wander, then Livraria Lello, a paid EUR 10 Silver or EUR 15.95 Gold ticket-voucher credited toward a book, worth ten to fifteen minutes and no more. Close with one port lodge tour in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto proper; Sandeman’s runs from around EUR 23 per person and one tour is plenty, lodge-hopping three in an afternoon adds cost for diminishing insight.
Day 5: the Douro Valley, Porto’s best day trip
The Linha do Douro train follows the river out to Pinhao, one of Portugal’s most scenic rail routes, and a basic Rabelo boat cruise there runs around EUR 30 per person, scaling toward EUR 77 with lunch included. A guided wine-estate tour covers the same ground with tastings built in if you’d rather not manage the train and boat separately. Either way, this is the day that makes the Alfa Pendular fare worth paying, not a rushed half-day add-on.
Is the Alfa Pendular worth the extra euros over the Intercidades?
Usually, yes, for a 5-day trip. Alfa Pendular runs EUR 35.70 tourist class against Intercidades’ EUR 28.05 second class, a EUR 7.65 gap that buys a faster, more comfortable ride with fewer stops. Both prices drop hard with advance purchase, so the real decision is booking early on cp.pt, not which train class to pick at the last minute.
Is 5 days enough to add Porto without rushing?
Yes, just. Two full days in Porto covers the Ribeira, Livraria Lello, one port lodge tour and a genuine Douro Valley day trip, the region’s actual highlight, without cutting Lisbon or Sintra down to compensate. Anyone wanting the Algarve too should move to the 7-day plan rather than squeeze it into this route.
Do you need a car for this 5-day route?
No. CP trains connect every stop, Lisbon to Sintra, Sintra to Cascais, Lisbon to Porto, and Porto to Pinhao, without a rental car at any point. A car would only add parking costs and Portugal’s foreign-road-rules diligence for zero time saved on this specific itinerary.
The one thing to book weeks ahead
Not the hotel, the Alfa Pendular fare. Booking days or weeks out instead of at the station is the single biggest lever on this trip’s cost, often cutting the Lisbon-Porto leg to a fraction of the EUR 35.70 walk-up price.