Best day trips from Lisbon by train and bus

Lisbon is one of the easiest cities in Europe for day trips: two suburban train lines take you to palaces in the hills and to the beaches of the coast in about 40 minutes, and the Alentejo and the walled towns of the west are an hour or two away. The short answer: Sintra is the trip to choose if you only have one day, Cascais is the relaxed one by the sea, and Évora and Óbidos are worth it from a fourth or fifth day in Lisbon.

Day trips from Lisbon at a glance

Travel times are typical journey times of direct trains and buses; check the timetable on the day, because frequencies differ between weekdays and weekends.

Sintra: palaces in the hills

How to get there: suburban trains of CP run on the Sintra line from Rossio station in the centre (also from Oriente and Entrecampos) to Sintra; from Rossio the ride takes about 40 minutes. In Sintra, the Scotturb bus 434 takes you up to the palaces – the road is steep and narrow, and private cars cannot drive up to Pena.

What to see: the colourful Pena Palace on the highest hill, a 19th-century romantic fantasy with views to the Atlantic on clear days; the walls of the Moorish Castle right next to it; Quinta da Regaleira with its initiation well, a spiral staircase leading down into the earth; and the gardens of Monserrate. The village centre with the National Palace and its two white chimneys is at the foot of the hill. The whole area, the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

How long: a full day. Two palaces and a garden are a realistic programme; more turns into a race. Tickets for Pena are sold for a specific date and time, and buying them online on the official Parques de Sintra website is the way to avoid the queue. Tickets for several Sintra sights^* are also on Tiqets.

Best for: first-time visitors, architecture and garden lovers, anyone who likes to walk in forest and fog. Go early, and avoid weekends in summer if you can.

Cascais: the old fishing town by the sea

How to get there: the Cascais line of CP leaves from Cais do Sodré, next to the Time Out Market, and runs along the water almost the whole way. To the end of the line in Cascais it takes about 40 minutes, with a stop at Belém on the way and at Estoril shortly before the end.

What to see: small town beaches right by the station, the old town with its cobbled lanes, the Citadel by the marina, the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, a museum for the painter in a striking red building, and a walk along the coast to Boca do Inferno, a rock arch where the waves crash in. Further west, the coast opens up towards the surfing beach of Guincho and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe; local buses run there from Cascais.

How long: half a day for the town and the coastal walk, a full day with the beach or a stop in Estoril.

Best for: a summer beach day, families, a slow day after a lot of sightseeing. In our 5-day Lisbon plan, Cascais is the last day.

Évora: Roman temple and the Chapel of Bones

How to get there: Intercidades trains of CP run from Lisbon (Oriente, Entrecampos and Sete Rios) to Évora in about 1 hour 30 minutes. There are only a few trains a day, so check the times on cp.pt before you plan; express buses from Sete Rios take a similar time and run more often.

What to see: the historic centre of Évora, the capital of the Alentejo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its symbol is the Roman Temple with its Corinthian columns, one of the best preserved Roman buildings in Portugal. Close by are the cathedral, whose roof you can walk on, and the Capela dos Ossos, the Chapel of Bones in the Church of São Francisco, its walls lined with skulls and bones. Between them, white houses with yellow trim, arcades on the Praça do Giraldo and a stretch of the old aqueduct.

How long: a full day, because of the travel time. The centre itself is compact and walkable in four to five hours.

Best for: history lovers, anyone who wants to see the quieter Portugal of the interior and its food. In summer it gets very hot in the Alentejo – plan the walk for the morning.

Óbidos: a village inside its walls

How to get there: Óbidos has no practical train connection from Lisbon. Express buses leave from Campo Grande in the north of the city (metro stop of the same name) and take about an hour. Check the return times before you leave, as the timetable is thinner at weekends.

What to see: a small medieval village completely surrounded by walls, with white houses, blue and yellow borders and bougainvillea. You can walk part of the way on top of the town walls (there is no railing, so take care), visit the castle, today a hotel, and the Church of Santa Maria with its tiled interior. Ginjinha, the cherry liqueur, is served in small chocolate cups along the main street.

How long: half a day is enough. Many travellers combine Óbidos with the surfing town of Nazaré on a guided tour, which is easier than two bus connections in one day.

Best for: photographers, short half-day trips, travellers with a car on their way north to Porto.

Train, bus or guided tour?

For Sintra and Cascais, public transport is the best choice: the trains are frequent, cheap and quick, and at the destination you walk or take a local bus. In Sintra, the challenge is not getting there but getting around – the palaces are spread over a steep hill, and the bus up to Pena gets crowded at midday.

For Évora and Óbidos, the train or bus works, but the timetables are thinner. Here a guided tour can make sense, especially if you want to combine two places in one day (Óbidos and Nazaré, or Évora with a winery). Day tours from Lisbon^* can be compared on Viator; if you prefer to explore on your own with explanations in your ear, WeGoTrip has audio guides for Lisbon^* and the surroundings.

A rental car only pays off if you want to go further: to the coast of Arrábida, the beaches of the Alentejo or a round trip to Porto. Inside Lisbon and in Sintra, a car is more of a burden than a help.

How many day trips fit into a Lisbon trip?

With three days in Lisbon, one day trip is the most that makes sense, and it should be Sintra. With five days, Sintra and Cascais both fit – that is exactly how our five-day plan is built: three days in the city, then Sintra, then the sea. From a week, add Évora or Óbidos. Our article how many days in Lisbon has the details for each length of stay.

Plan the day trips for the middle of the week if you can. Sintra in particular is much quieter on a Tuesday than on a Saturday, and some museums in the city are closed on Mondays, which makes Monday a good day to leave town.

How YesTrip helps you plan

YesTrip has a ready-made plan for Lisbon, including a five-day version with days in Sintra and Cascais and the train connections as notes. With one tap you copy it into the app, then swap Cascais for Évora, move the trip to a weekday and add your hotel. The app shows the weather for your travel days – useful, because Sintra is often cooler and foggier than Lisbon – and with the offline package you have the map of the palace hill even without a signal. YesTrip is free.

Lisbon trip planDay by day, with map and tips

* Ad – Partner link: if you book there, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same.