2 Day Travel Itinerary Lisbon, Portugal: the best thing to do and see in 2022

The capital of Portugal, Lisbon has an amazing vibe, good food, beautiful sunsets, and exciting nightlife; it is a city that is 100% worth visiting. This is a 2-day travel itinerary, with ideas of what to do and see in Lisbon, based on my personal travel experience.

Lisbon is a city in which it is easy to move from one neighborhood to another, either walking, by streetcar, elevator or public transportation you won’t have any kind of problem.

Day 1:

We toured the neighborhood of La Baixa, which is the central neighborhood of Lisbon. We arrived in the afternoon and quickly set out to tour the city, at the best and most beautiful time of the day. sunset and the first stop was the Praça do Comércio.

Praça do Comércio

Praça do Comércio is one of the most beautiful squares I know, giant and with an incredible view of the Tagus River. Recommended to just walk around the square, look for the best place to take a picture, walk around the buildings that surround it, some of them are restaurants.

Tagus River

After that, we headed towards the Tagus River to walk along a street by the water; in the road, there was music; street artists; we even ran into a sand sculpture artist. We walked until we reached a small beach overlooking the 25 de Abril Bridge, a red bridge similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in the United States. Fun fact: the 25 de Abril Bridge in Lisbon is the highest bridge in Europe.

Arch of Rua Augusta

Returning again to the Praça do Comércio, we walked towards the Rua Augusta Arch that frames the entrance to the Rua de Augusta, a pedestrian street and the main street of the Baixa district in Lisbon.

But as a hidden secret between the movement of Praça do Comércio and Rua Augusta is the viewpoint of the Arco da Rua Augusta. Almost empty, after crossing the Arch, you will see the entrance, and let me tell you, it has the most spectacular view of Lisbon. We arrived at the perfect time sunset. from the top, you can see Praça do Comércio and the Tagus River, definitely one of the best viewpoints in Lisbon.

Rua de Augusta

The Rua de Augusta is very touristy and busy, there are stores restaurants, and the main attraction is the Santa Justa elevator.

Santa Justa elevator

For the locals, it is one more way to move around the city, but for tourists, an attraction in itself, inspired by the Eiffel Tower style, the Santa Justa elevator connects the neighborhood of La Baixa with the Bairro Alto and Chiado. Very touristy, with a long line to get in, the wait was long, perhaps due to the time of day, as it was late in the evening. The wait is long, but the trip is fun, going up in that metal structure with an interior style that seems frozen in time . the reward is the viewpoint of Santa Justa, which is another recommended in the city of Lisbon, with excellent views .

Day 2

Line 28 Trolley

Undoubtedly another of the attractions and experiences that you must do is to get on a streetcar, it is one of the means of transport to move in Lisbon, also used by locals and not just tourists.

But the secret to really enjoying your streetcar ride is in the time of day.

We got on one to take a trip to the Belém neighborhood early in the morning, and it was almost empty; it was a pleasure, entertaining to see how it moves through the steep streets of the Portuguese capital. However, it was a different story when we took the iconic Line 28 from the Alfama neighborhood to return. It was packed. We traveled very uncomfortably. I don’t recommend it.

The Belém Tower

The Belém Tower is undoubtedly one of the icons of the city of Lisbon and with it a very touristic point, we went in the morning, and as the number of visitors is limited, the lines to enter were really long. Perhaps what made the wait heavier was that it was very hot and the sun was beating hard, and there was no shade in sight. Therefore, if you visit the Belém Tower in the morning/midday, I recommend taking plenty of water, a hat, and sunscreen.

Once inside I think it is an interesting walk, there are 5 floors, and undoubtedly the most attractive point is the top terrace, with beautiful views of the Tagus River. The Belém Tower was the point of defense of the city of Lisbon; it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Skateboarding trip.

Near The Belém Tower, a big street by the water would take us to our next point, the Monument to the Discoveries. But with the heat and really no shade in sight, a quick and fun way to get there was to rent one of those skateboards that you unlock through an App; there were actually quite a few available it wasn’t hard to get one.

Monument to the Discoveries

The Monument to the Discoveries is very interesting, shaped like a ship, but the best thing about it is undoubtedly its viewpoint 100% recommended. With views very similar to the Tower of Belém and practically without queuing to enter.

Jerónimos Monastery

Very close to the Monument to the Discoveries is the Jerónimos Monastery, where the tomb of Vasco da Gama (Portuguese navigator-explorer) is located.

The Jerónimos Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a huge cathedral with impressive architecture. However, my favorite part was the cloister with all those marble arches and gardens.

Being all in marble makes the temperature inside the cloister of the Jerónimos Monastery very pleasant. Without too many tourists, a highly recommended walk.