Lisbon Travel Guide: Alfama, Belém & Tram 28

Lisbon is one of those cities that got fashionable without losing the things that made people fall for it in the first place. The light is still golden, the trams still rattle up impossible hills, the tiled facades are still peeling in the most photogenic way, and a coffee and a custard tart still cost less than they should. It has changed, and there are more tourists than there used to be, but it still feels like a real city and not a theme park.

This guide is for first-timers. It covers the neighborhoods worth your time, Alfama and Belém above all, the tram everyone wants to ride and how to do it without hating it, what to eat and drink, how to deal with a city built on hills, and two day trips that are worth the train ticket.

Why Lisbon Works for First-Timers

Lisbon is compact, cheap by Western European standards, safe, and easy to get around, and almost everyone speaks some English. The food is excellent and the sun shines most of the year. It is also an easy place to slow down: the city rewards wandering, and you don't need to plan every hour.

The one thing to know before you arrive is that it is built on seven hills, and the hills are steep. Google Maps will tell you that a place is ten minutes away, and it will not tell you that seven of those are uphill. The city's answer to this is a network of trams, funiculars and public elevators, all of which are part of the experience.

Three days is a good first visit, with a fourth if you want to add Sintra. The city's history is dramatic: the 1755 earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires, destroyed most of the center, and what you walk through in the Baixa district today is a planned grid rebuilt afterward. The parts that survived, mainly Alfama, are the oldest and most atmospheric.

Alfama: The Oldest Neighborhood and How to Walk It

Alfama is the Lisbon of postcards: a tangle of narrow lanes, laundry hanging from windows, tiled houses, tiny squares and churches around every corner. It survived the earthquake because it is built on solid rock, and it has kept the medieval street plan from the Moorish period. It is easy to get lost here, and that is the point.

The best way to walk it is downhill. Start at the top and work your way down toward the river:

Castelo de São Jorge. The Moorish castle on the hilltop has the best panoramic view of the city, and it is worth going up early in the morning before the tour groups. You can also see archaeological remains from the Iron Age here.
Miradouro das Portas do Sol and Miradouro de Santa Luzia. Two viewpoints next to each other, looking out over the red roofs and the river. Both have cafés with terraces. Go for a coffee, not a meal.
Sé de Lisboa. The cathedral, begun in 1147 after the Christians took the city from the Moors, is a solid, fortress-like Romanesque church. Look at how it survived the earthquake when so much else didn't.
Feira da Ladra. The flea market at Campo de Santa Clara, held on Tuesdays and Saturdays, is a good place for old tiles, vinyl and odd bits of Lisbon history.
The lanes in between. Put your phone away for an hour and follow the streets downhill. You will find small shops, tiny tascas and people who have lived here for decades.

A note on fado. Fado, the melancholy Portuguese song tradition recognized by UNESCO in 2011, was born in these streets, and Alfama is where to hear it. The trick is telling a real fado night from a show built for tour groups. The dinner-show places with a fixed menu and a stage are usually expensive and mediocre. Look instead for small casas de fado and tascas, often with an amateur night, where locals and neighbors take turns to sing. When the singer starts, the room goes silent, and you should too: no talking, no phones, no clinking glasses. The small Museu do Fado in the neighborhood is a good way to understand the tradition before you go.

Alfama is a maze, and the difference between getting lost and understanding what you are looking at is context: who built the walls, why the tiles cover the houses, what fado has to do with this neighborhood. Trevurs has audio tours of Alfama that cover the Moorish past, the azulejos and the origins of fado as you walk, so you get the story behind each corner without needing a paid guide.

Belém: Pastéis, the Tower and the Monument to the Discoveries

Belém is a short ride west of the center by tram 15 or by train from Cais do Sodré in about seven minutes. It is where Portugal's Age of Discovery began, and most of the great monuments of that era are here, along with the city's most famous pastry.

Pastéis de Belém. The original custard tarts, made from a recipe the bakery says has been kept secret since 1837 and was developed by monks at the nearby monastery. The line outside looks daunting but moves fast, and there is a huge seating area inside, so go through the door and ask for a table. Eat them warm, with cinnamon and powdered sugar. You can find good custard tarts elsewhere in the city, but here they are the reference point.
Jerónimos Monastery. A masterpiece of Manueline architecture, with ornate carved stone and a beautiful two-story cloister. Vasco da Gama is buried in the church. The line for the cloister can be long, so buy your ticket online. Closed on Mondays.
Belém Tower. The 16th-century fortress on the river was a departure point for ships going to the Indian Ocean. It is small and the interior is cramped, so if the line is long, the exterior alone is worth the photo. Also closed on Mondays.
Monument to the Discoveries. The 52-meter monument shaped like a caravel, with Henry the Navigator in front, was built in 1960. It is impressive from the outside, and you can also take the elevator up to the top for a view.

Plan half a day. The best order is to arrive early, see Jerónimos first while it is quiet, eat the tarts as a mid-morning break and finish along the river.

Bairro Alto and Chiado: Where Lisbon Eats and Drinks

These two neighborhoods sit on the hill west of the Baixa and are the center of Lisbon's food and nightlife. They feel very different.

Chiado is elegant, with old cafés, bookshops and theaters. The Livraria Bertrand, founded in 1732, is recognized as the world's oldest operating bookshop. The ruins of the Carmo Convent, its roof gone since the earthquake and left open to the sky, are a haunting place to sit for a few minutes. Café A Brasileira has a bronze statue of the poet Fernando Pessoa outside, and it is one of the classic spots for a coffee.

Bairro Alto is quiet in the daytime and completely different at night, when its narrow streets fill with people drinking outside the small bars, moving from one to the next. It is loud, cheap and informal. If you want dinner, go early and pick a small place away from the main strip.

What to eat and drink:

Bacalhau. Salt cod, cooked in hundreds of ways, is the national dish. Order it à Brás, with eggs, potatoes and onions, if you want a good starting point.
Petiscos. Portuguese tapas, meant to be shared: fried cod cakes, garlic prawns, grilled sausage.
Bifana. A pork sandwich in a soft roll, cheap and everywhere, and one of the best lunches in the city.
Sardines. Grilled fresh and eaten with bread, best in June during the Santo António festivals.
Ginjinha. A sour cherry liqueur served in a tiny cup, sold at small counters near Rossio. A shot costs around two euros.

Time Out Market in Cais do Sodré is a large food hall with stalls from well-known chefs. It is touristy and a bit pricey, but it is a good way to try several things in one sitting.

Tram 28: The Tourist Trap That's Still Worth It

Tram 28 is the one everyone wants, and it is honestly a mess. The route runs through Graça, Alfama, the Baixa and Estrela, on small yellow vintage trams that squeal around impossibly tight corners. The problem is that it is also one of the most crowded and pickpocket-heavy rides in the city.

Here is how to make it work:

Ride it early. Before 9 a.m. it is usually manageable. After 10 it is packed.
Start at the end of the line. At Martim Moniz, the tram fills up quickly. If you board at the other end, in Campo de Ourique, you will often get a seat.
Watch your pockets. Keep your phone and wallet in a front pocket or a zipped bag. Pickpockets know this route well.
Use it for one section, not the whole thing. The best part is the stretch through Alfama and Graça. Get off in Graça and walk down.
Consider the alternative. Tram 12 does a shorter loop through Alfama with far fewer people, and the neighborhoods are the same.

It costs a few euros if you buy on board, and less with a rechargeable transport card, so it pays to have one.

Practical Tips: Hills, Transport Cards, When to Visit

Shoes. The traditional black-and-white pavement, called calçada portuguesa, is made of polished limestone cobbles and is very slippery, especially when wet. Wear shoes with real grip.
Transport. Buy a rechargeable Navegante card, which costs a small deposit and works on the metro, trams and buses in the city. A 24-hour pass is good value if you plan to ride a lot. Trains to Sintra and Cascais are priced separately, so check which ticket you need.
Elevators and funiculars. The Glória, Bica and Lavra funiculars and the Santa Justa elevator help with the hills, though the Santa Justa has long queues and is mainly a viewpoint.
The airport. The metro red line goes from the airport to the center in about twenty minutes, and it is by far the easiest option.
Taxis and rides. Ride-hailing apps like Uber and Bolt are cheap and available, and useful for the hills at night.
Tourist tax. Lisbon charges a per-night city tax on accommodation, so check the current amount when you book.
When to go. April to June and September to October are the best months. June is special because of the Santo António festivals, with street parties and grilled sardines, though it is also busy. July and August are hot and crowded, and winter is mild but rainy.

Day Trips: Sintra and Cascais

Sintra is a fairytale hill town about 40 minutes by train from Rossio station, with palaces, gardens and a Moorish castle in the forest. The Pena Palace is the famous one, brightly colored and perched on a hilltop, and also the most crowded. Quinta da Regaleira, with its mysterious underground well and tunnels, is often more interesting. Go as early as you can, book tickets online, and don't try to see everything: two or three sights is plenty. Local buses shuttle between the main sites.

Cascais is a seaside town about 40 minutes from Cais do Sodré by train, with beaches, a marina and a walkable old center. It is an easy way to add some sea air to your trip. If you want to combine the two, there is a bus between Sintra and Cascais that passes through Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe.

Explore Lisbon with Trevurs

Lisbon is the kind of city where the story is in the details: a tile, a street name, a song coming out of a window. That is what makes it magical, and it is also what makes it hard to understand on a first visit.

If Alfama is on your list, and it should be, Trevurs has free audio tours created by locals that let you walk the neighborhood at your own pace, with no group and no fixed schedule. Download the app before your trip, save the tour for offline use, and start at the castle. By the time you reach the river, the maze will make sense.

Lisbon Travel Guide: Trams, Hills, Pastéis and the Neighborhoods Worth Getting Lost In