Best Day Trips from Lisbon
- Will Gerson
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Portugal’s capital is filled with gems to explore, but so is the area around it. From stunning royal palaces and spectacular historic monasteries to lovely beach towns, read on for a guide to the best day trips to take from Lisbon.
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Belém
As the westernmost district of the city, Belém has guarded the entrance to the city from the Atlantic Ocean for millennia, watching over the Portuguese ships that left to traverse the globe and return to bring back riches to their kingdom. For this reason, Belém’s history is inextricably linked to the Portuguese Age of Discovery, and its memory lives on in its two most famous monuments.
The first is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, commissioned by King Manuel I at the end of the 15th century to provide prayer and spiritual support to the ships and their crews who passed by along the river Tagus on their way to Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The huge monastic complex is an amazing example of the Manueline style that prevailed during the country’s golden age, and the church itself pays homage to Prince Henry the Navigator, the catalyst who initiated the Age of Discovery across Europe.
Not far from the monastery, the Torre de Belém watches over the Tagus, marking the gateway to Lisbon. In addition to its defensive purpose, the tower was built to commemorate the voyage of Vasco da Gama, the first European to reach India by sea. The tower is also an archetype of the Manueline style, incorporating Christian religious imagery as well as Islamic elements such as the cupolas that are reminiscent of minarets. Together with the monastery, the monuments of Belém stand as a testament to Portugal’s immense power, with a commercial and maritime empire that stretched across the globe.
You can’t leave Belém without trying the original pastéis de Belem. Though the delicious egg custard tart known as the pastel de nata is popular throughout Portugal as well as its former colonies, the original comes from right here, created by the monks at the monastery in the 18th century. When the monastery closed in the 19th century, the recipe was sold to a local sugar refinery, which still produces the treats according to the monks’ secret recipe at Pastelaria Pastéis de Belém, located across the street from the monastery, nearly two hundred years later.
Cascais
Ride the train west from Belém to the end of the line and you will reach Cascais, a cute little town that is Lisbon’s most popular seaside resort.
Originally a small fishing village, the town began to develop in the 1870s when Luís I decided to establish his summer residence in the town, with many members of the Portuguese nobility following close behind. Today, the town is one of the wealthiest in all of Portugal and attracts upper-class lisboetas who have vacation homes here. Stroll around the quaint town and grab a spot on the beach at Praia da Ribeira, enjoying an afternoon that feels far away from the city, even though the train trip takes just forty minutes.
Sintra
The town of Sintra, to the north of Cascais, has many historical monuments to explore, but its grandest is without a doubt the Palácio da Pena, perched high above the town in the Sintra Mountains.
Built by Fernando II as a summer residence for the royal family on the ruins of an old monastery destroyed by the Great Lisbon earthquake, the palace is an eclectic combination of colors and architectural styles: yellow, purple, and red, with Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, and Islamic influences. The Romanticist castle enjoys sweeping views of Lisbon, the Tagus, and the Atlantic, and its unique design makes it a memorable visit.
Mafra
The large royal complex in Mafra, complete with a palace, basilica, and convent, as well as lovely gardens and a private hunting ground, in many ways encapsulates the Portuguese understanding of the monarchy in the 18th century. Here at Mafra, João V had all that he needed: politics, religion, and nature all mixed together seamlessly in this pastoral landscape north of the capital.
The palace’s predominant architectural style, Italian Baroque designed by a German architect trained in Rome, represents the outward-looking and expansionist worldview of Portugal’s king, who brought the metropole back seemingly endless riches from its colonies around the world and helped it reach a new level of prestige within Europe. The placement of the basilica in the center of the palace shows the pious king’s commitment to his faith, which played a guiding role in his personal life as well as his decision making as monarch.
The palace’s gardens, known as the Jardim do Cerco, held an expansive collection of wild plants brought back from the farthest reaches of the Portuguese Empire, and they make for a highly pleasant stroll today.
Ericeira
Northwest of Mafra is Ericeira, a charming fishing village that in recent decades has become recognized as one of Europe’s top surfing spots.
It is a typical Portuguese seaside town with attractive white houses with colorful trim, while on the north side of the town is the 16th-century chapel Ermida de São Sebastião, overlooking the beautiful beach below.
Continue a little farther north for a delicious seafood lunch at Estrela do Mar, a traditional restaurant famous for their sopa do mar, a hearty seafood stew.
Aldeia Típica José Franco
On your way from Mafra to Ericeira, stop for a fascinating visit at Aldeia Típica José Franco, a life-size model of a typical saloio village in this part of Portugal as it would have been in the early 20th century.
The open-air museum was created in the 1950s by the potter and sculptor José Franco, who grew up in the area, and it offers an intriguing and engaging window into the Portugal of years past.
