Travel to Portugal

Most trips to Portugal start in Lisbon, where yellow trams grind up the hills from the river and a train from Rossio station takes you to the palaces of Sintra. From there the country runs north to Porto and the terraced vineyards of the Douro and south to the cliffs and coves of the Algarve, with Madeira and the Azores far out in the Atlantic.

Our Portugal travel tips are sorted by place and by topic: Lisbon, Sintra and Cascais, Porto and Northern Portugal, the Algarve, Azores and Madeira, Things to Do and See, Where to Eat and Drink and Where to Stay.

Visa and Entry Requirements for Portugal

Portugal is part of the Schengen Area. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland can enter with a passport or national ID card. Travelers from many other countries, including the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, can stay without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen Area. Everyone else needs a Schengen visa before the trip. Check the rules for your nationality on the EU’s official travel portal, and see this guide to the Portugal visa application for the documents a visa application needs.

Your passport must have been issued less than ten years before you arrive and stay valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen Area. Border officers in Portugal can ask to see a return or onward ticket and proof that you have enough money for your stay.

If you arrive from outside the Schengen Area, the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) registers your fingerprints and a facial photo at the first border crossing instead of stamping your passport. Since the system started in October 2025, queues at passport control in Lisbon, Porto and Faro have at times run to more than an hour, and the border police have paused the biometric checks for short periods when waits got too long. Allow extra time on arrival and before your flight home.

ETIAS, the travel authorization for visitors who don’t need a visa, has not started yet. The EU says it will announce the start date several months before launch. Once it runs, it will cost €20 and stay valid for three years or until your passport expires. Apply only on the official EU website, never through agencies that charge extra.

Important Cultural Information

Portuguese is the official language. It sounds quite different from the Portuguese spoken in Brazil, and Brazilian visitors sometimes need a moment to tune in. Most younger people in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve speak good English, while in rural villages a few words of Portuguese go a long way. Start with bom dia (good morning), boa tarde (good afternoon) and obrigado, or obrigada if you are a woman. People appreciate it when you don’t fall back on Spanish.

Portugal is a Catholic country with a church or chapel in every village, and many towns hold processions on their saint’s day. Cover your shoulders and knees when you visit a working church. People eat late by northern European standards, with lunch from about 1 pm and dinner rarely before 8 pm.

Fado, the melancholy song of Lisbon and Coimbra, is on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. In a fado house, the room goes quiet when the singer starts, and talking during a song is considered rude. Here are some of the fado bars in Lisbon.

Money in Portugal

Portugal uses the euro, like 20 other EU countries. Cards and contactless payments work in most hotels, supermarkets, restaurants and shops, and locals pay small amounts by phone with MB Way. Carry some cash for village cafes, markets, kiosks and small family restaurants, some of which take Portuguese cards only.

ATMs belong to the Multibanco network and are found at every bank and in most shopping streets. Use the ones at banks rather than the independent machines in tourist areas, which often charge high fees. When an ATM or card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency, choose euros.

Restaurants often put bread, butter, olives or cheese on the table before you order. This is the couvert, and you pay for whatever you eat, so send it back if you don’t want it. Tipping is not expected, but rounding up or leaving about 5 to 10 percent for good service is common.

Health, Insurance and Emergencies

Call 112 for the police, an ambulance or the fire service anywhere in Portugal. For an illness that is not an emergency, call the SNS 24 health line on 808 24 24 24 on the mainland and press 9 for English. Madeira uses 800 24 24 20 and the Azores 808 24 60 24. Pharmacies (farmácia) are marked with a green cross, and in every town one of them stays open at night on a rota.

Visitors from the EU should bring their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), and UK visitors their GHIC, which cover medically necessary treatment in the state system. Neither replaces travel insurance, as they don’t pay for private clinics, mountain rescue or a flight home. Summers on the mainland are hot and dry, and the risk of wildfires is highest from April to October, so carry water and call 112 if you see a fire.

If you’re looking for travel insurance, we are an affiliate of SafetyWing, a travel medical insurance provider.

Wi-Fi and Internet in Portugal

The three main mobile networks are MEO, Vodafone and NOS, and 4G covers almost the whole mainland and the islands’ towns. You can buy a prepaid SIM card at the airport, in the networks’ own shops and in many supermarkets, or set up an eSIM before you fly. With a SIM card from another EU country you roam at home prices.

Hotels, guesthouses and most cafes have free Wi-Fi. Lisbon and Porto have plenty of coworking spaces if you need a desk for a few days. Use a VPN on public Wi-Fi, like ExpressVPN.

Arrival in Portugal

Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) is the main international gateway and the hub of TAP Air Portugal. It lies about 7 km northeast of the historic center, and the red metro line takes you from the arrivals hall into the city in about 20 minutes. A new Lisbon airport, Luís de Camões, is planned near Alcochete across the Tagus, but it is not expected before the 2030s.

Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) lies about 11 km northwest of the center, and metro line E runs from the terminal into the city. For the Algarve, fly into Faro (FAO), which is a short ride from Faro town and close to Albufeira, Vilamoura and Tavira.

Madeira’s airport (FNC), named after Cristiano Ronaldo, is about 13 km east of Funchal. Strong winds sometimes force flights to divert or turn back, so leave slack in your plans on the way home. In the Azores, João Paulo II Airport (PDL) sits about 2 km from Ponta Delgada on São Miguel, with flights from Lisbon, Porto and Faro and from North America. Check Expedia for flights to Portugal.

Portugal’s only land border is with Spain. Long-distance buses run between Spanish and Portuguese cities, and many travelers drive across. If you arrive by car or want one for the trip, consider Europcar for car hire.

Areas of Portugal

The mainland is about 560 km from north to south, and you can cross it by train in a day. Most first trips combine Lisbon with either Porto or the Algarve, and the regions below are where travelers spend most of their time.

Lisbon

Lisbon spreads over steep hills above the Tagus estuary. Start in Alfama, the oldest quarter, where lanes wind up to the Castle of São Jorge, then walk down to the Baixa and its grid of streets rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake. Our guide on how to understand Lisbon on your first day helps you get your bearings, and these Lisbon neighborhoods show where to base yourself.

West along the river, Belém has the Jerónimos Monastery and the Tower of Belém, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. Read how to buy tickets to the Tower of Belém before you go. For the rest of your days, plan with 24 hours in Lisbon, Lisbon in 2 days and our list of experiences not to miss in Lisbon. Climb to the best viewpoints in Lisbon at sunset, browse Lisbon’s markets, see Lisbon’s lesser-known sights and stay out late with our tips on nightlife in Lisbon. Spring and fall are the most comfortable seasons, as our guide to the best time to visit Lisbon explains.

Sintra and Cascais

Sintra sits in forested hills west of Lisbon, and its palaces and estates form a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape listed in 1995. The colorful Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle on the ridge and the gardens of Quinta da Regaleira are the big three, so start early and buy tickets online. Trains leave Lisbon’s Rossio station for Sintra, and trains from Cais do Sodré follow the coast to Cascais, so you can link the two in one long day. Read our Sintra day trip guide, compare a half-day or full-day Sintra tour, or take a slower day from the Sintra hills to Cascais.

The trails of the Sintra mountains lead past the palaces to viewpoints over the Atlantic. Here is our guide to hiking in Sintra. Cascais is an old fishing town turned seaside resort, and the coast between it and Lisbon has some of the best beaches near Lisbon.

Porto and Northern Portugal

Porto climbs the steep north bank of the Douro River. Its historic center, the double-deck Dom Luís I Bridge and the Serra do Pilar monastery across the river have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Walk down to the Ribeira waterfront, cross the bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia, where the port wine lodges offer cellar tours and tastings, and look out for the tiled churches and murals in the side streets. Here is our guide to Porto street art.

Upstream, the Alto Douro Wine Region, a UNESCO site since 2001, is where the grapes for port grow on terraces cut into the valley sides. You can visit by boat, by car or by train along the river. Read about visiting the Douro wine valley. Further north, Braga and Guimarães are old towns full of churches, and the green Minho region is where vinho verde comes from.

Alentejo and Évora

The Alentejo covers about a third of mainland Portugal between Lisbon and the Algarve, with cork oak plains, whitewashed hill towns, vineyards and a quiet Atlantic coast. Its capital, Évora, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. Inside the town walls you’ll find a Roman temple, the cathedral and the Chapel of Bones. It’s an easy trip by train or bus from Lisbon, so read about a day trip to Évora.

The Algarve

The Algarve is Portugal’s south coast, about 200 km from the Spanish border to Cape St. Vincent. In the west, around Lagos and Sagres, golden cliffs and rock arches frame small coves. The center around Albufeira and Vilamoura has the big resorts, and the east around Faro and Tavira has long sandy islands in the Ria Formosa lagoon. Our tips for the Algarve’s less crowded beaches help you avoid the busiest stretches in summer. In Faro, see the things to do in Faro with kids and what to eat in Faro.

Madeira and the Azores

Madeira lies off the coast of Africa and is green and steep, with mild weather all year. Walkers follow the levadas, old irrigation channels with paths beside them, through the laurel forest, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Non-residents pay a fee for the official PR trails, and every hiker has to book an entry time on the regional SIMplifica portal, so check the current rules before you set out. Funchal, the capital, has gardens, a market hall and a famous New Year’s Eve firework display. Try a glass of Madeira wine and read our guide to poncha in Madeira.

The nine islands of the Azores lie in the middle of the Atlantic, far west of the mainland. São Miguel, the largest, has crater lakes, the hot springs of Furnas and the Gorreana tea plantation. On Pico, vineyards grow inside walls of black lava rock, a UNESCO site since 2004. Whale and dolphin watching boats leave from several islands. Choose an operator that keeps its distance and lets the animals decide how close they come.

Transportation in Portugal

Comboios de Portugal (CP) runs most of the trains. The fastest, the Alfa Pendular, runs at up to 220 km/h between Braga, Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon and Faro, and Intercidades trains cover the same main line and the routes to Évora and other cities. Book both online at cp.pt to choose your seat. Suburban trains link Lisbon with Sintra and Cascais and Porto with Braga and Guimarães. For towns the trains don’t reach, long-distance buses such as Rede Expressos are often faster and cheaper.

In Lisbon, buy a reusable Navegante card at a metro station and load it with single journeys (Zapping) or a 24-hour ticket for the metro, Carris buses and trams. Tram 28 is the classic ride through Alfama and the Baixa, but it fills up with visitors and pickpockets, so ride it early in the morning. Here is how to get around Lisbon, and here are the Lisbon metro maps.

The Elevador da Glória funicular has been closed since a car derailed on 3 September 2025 and killed 16 people. Carris plans to replace it with a new funicular, expected in 2029. In September 2026, the Bica and Lavra funiculars and the Santa Justa lift were still out of service, while the Graça funicular reopened in April 2026. Plan to walk Lisbon’s hills or take a bus or tram instead, and check carris.pt for the current status.

Porto has a light metro whose lines reach the airport, the beaches of Matosinhos and Vila Nova de Gaia. See the Porto metro maps. A car is useful in the Alentejo, the Douro and the western Algarve. Many motorways have electronic tolls with no booths, so ask your rental company how tolls are paid. For a rental car, consider renting a car with Europcar.

Where to Stay in Portugal

You’ll find everything from hostels and apartments to design hotels. Family-run guesthouses, called pensão or residencial, are good value in smaller towns. The Pousadas de Portugal are hotels in converted castles, monasteries and palaces, and the wine estates (quintas) of the Douro and the Alentejo rent out rooms. In the Algarve, many visitors rent a villa with a pool. See our picks of villa rentals in the Algarve, boutique hotels in Lisbon and surf camps in Portugal.

In Lisbon, stay in the Baixa, Chiado or Alfama to walk to most sights, or in Príncipe Real and Cais do Sodré for restaurants and bars. Lisbon charges a tourist tax of €4 per person per night for guests aged 13 and over, for up to seven nights. Porto charges €3 on the same terms, and the city council has proposed raising it. Dozens of other municipalities charge their own tourist tax, and you pay it at your accommodation. Book early for June in Lisbon and Porto and for July and August on the coast.

We recommend searching for accommodation on Booking, Agoda, HostelWorld or Expedia.

What to Eat and Drink in Portugal

Portuguese food is built on fish, pork, olive oil and bread, cooked simply. Dishes to try:

• Pastel de nata – a custard tart in flaky pastry, best warm with cinnamon. Pastéis de Belém and Manteigaria in Lisbon are the best-known bakeries.
• Bacalhau – dried salt cod, cooked in hundreds of ways. Try bacalhau à Brás, shredded with egg, onion and matchstick potatoes.
• Sardinhas assadas – grilled sardines on bread, the smell of Lisbon in June.
• Caldo verde – potato and kale soup with a slice of chouriço.
• Bifana – a pork cutlet in a soft roll, the classic snack at any counter.
• Francesinha – Porto’s heavy sandwich of meats under melted cheese and a beer and tomato sauce.
• Cataplana – seafood stew cooked in a closed copper pan, from the Algarve.
• Alheira – a smoked sausage from the north, usually served with fried egg and fries.

Coffee has its own words. In Lisbon an espresso is a bica, in Porto a cimbalino, and a galão is a milky coffee in a tall glass. Learn how to order coffee in Portugal and read about the art of the galão.

Port is a fortified wine made from Douro grapes and aged in the lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia, from fruity ruby to nutty tawny. Vinho verde is a young, light wine from the Minho in the north, good with seafood on a hot day. In Lisbon, try a shot of ginjinha, a sour cherry liqueur sold at tiny bars near Rossio. To eat well in the capital, here is how to eat like a local in Lisbon and our list of cafes and restaurants in Lisbon.

Things to Do and See in Portugal

• Belém – the Jerónimos Monastery, the Tower of Belém and a warm pastel de nata.
• Alfama and the castle – get lost in Lisbon’s oldest lanes and end the night at a fado house.
• Sintra – Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle and Quinta da Regaleira in the forested hills.
• Porto and the port lodges – the Ribeira waterfront and a cellar tour in Vila Nova de Gaia.
• The Douro Valley – terraced vineyards and wine estates by boat, train or car.
• Évora and the Alentejo – a Roman temple, whitewashed towns and cork oak plains.
• The Algarve coast – cliffs and coves around Lagos and the lagoon islands near Faro and Tavira.
• Coimbra – the old university on the hill, a UNESCO site since 2013.
• Nazaré – in winter, big-wave surfers ride some of the largest waves on record off Praia do Norte.
• Madeira and the Azores – levada walks, crater lakes and whale watching.

The Lisboa Card combines public transport with free or reduced entry to many museums and monuments for 24, 48 or 72 hours, and the Porto Card does the same in Porto for one to four days. Surfers will find waves along the whole west coast.

Festivals in Portugal

Santo António in Lisbon. June is festival month across Portugal, and in Lisbon it peaks on the night of 12 June, the eve of Santo António’s day on 13 June, a city holiday. Every night in June, the old quarters such as Alfama, Mouraria and Graça fill with arraiais, street parties with grills, beer stalls and loud local pop. On 12 June, neighborhood groups parade and dance down the Avenida da Liberdade in the Marchas Populares. People eat grilled sardines on bread and give each other manjericos, small pots of basil with a paper flag and a short verse. Taxis are almost impossible to find that night, and rooms book out early.

Other dates. Porto has its own party for São João on the night of 23 to 24 June, and many towns honor their own saint in the same month. Portugal Day on 10 June marks the death of the poet Luís de Camões. Here is what to know about Dia de Camões. Carnival brings parades in February or March, and Funchal’s fireworks on New Year’s Eve draw cruise ships from all over the Atlantic.

Safety Tips for Portugal

Portugal is a safe country to travel in, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The main risk is petty theft. Pickpockets often work in teams on crowded trams and buses, at busy stops and in the nightlife areas of Lisbon and Porto, so keep your phone and wallet out of reach. Buy your own drinks and keep them in sight, as drink spiking does happen. Police can ask for photo ID, so carry your passport or a copy of it.

At the beach, a red flag means stay out of the water and a yellow flag means you may only paddle at the edge. Rip currents are common on the Atlantic coast. In the Algarve, the cliffs erode and rocks fall, so keep away from the cliff base and edges and obey warning signs, which the authorities enforce with fines. Starting a fire outdoors, even by accident, is a crime, and in the hot months wildfires can close roads at short notice. On Madeira and in the Azores, pick hikes that suit your fitness, tell your hotel where you are going and take care after rain. Read the current FCDO safety advice before you go.