One day in Lisbon, Portugal

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Castelo de São Jorge and the Camera Obscura in the morning

Start your Lisbon morning at 09:00 at Castelo de São Jorge on Rua de Santa Cruz do Castelo. From 1 November to 28 February the castle opens daily from 09:00 to 18:00 (last admission at 17:30), and from 1 March to 31 October it opens daily from 09:00 to 21:00 (last admission at 20:30). To reach the gate from downtown Baixa without a steep climb, take bus 737 from Praça da Figueira to the Castelo stop at Chão da Feira (a 2-minute walk), ride tram 28E to Santa Luzia Viewpoint or Largo Portas do Sol (5 minutes on foot), or use the public lifts from Rua dos Fanqueiros 176 (Castelo Lift) and Largo do Caldas (Lift of the Chão do Loureiro Parking Lot to Costa do Castelo).

Your ticket covers the National Monument walls and towers, the Gardens and Belvederes over the city and the Tagus River, the Castelejo, the Permanent Exhibition in the Museum Centre, and the Periscope in the Tower of Ulysses (Camera Obscura), which runs from 10:00 to 17:00 subject to weather conditions. Access to the Archaeological Site is included through the guided tour Discovering the Castle.

Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Parque das Nações at midday

Head to Parque das Nações for Pavilhão do Conhecimento – Centro Ciência Viva at Largo José Mariano Gago nº1. The interactive science and technology centre opens Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 and on weekends and public holidays from 10:00 to 19:00, and it is closed on Mondays.

Inside the exhibition halls, families can test natural phenomena in Explora, learn about ocean life in Fishanário, and explore science through eight children's book classics in Era Uma Vez... Children aged 3 to 12 can also walk through a mirror labyrinth and jump across a musical floor in TCHARAN! Circo de Experiências.

The National Coach Museum in Belém in the afternoon

Travel west along the Tagus riverfront to Belém—bus 728 runs along the riverfront to Belém, where tram 15, the Cascais Line train at Belém Station, the Belém River Station ferry, and buses 714, 727, 729 and 751 also stop. At Avenida da Índia 136, the Museu Nacional dos Coches (National Coach Museum) opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:30.

Founded in 1905 and housed in its modern building since 2015, the museum displays more than 70 ceremonial vehicles spanning four centuries from the 16th to the 19th centuries, including the 18th-century Oceans Coach, the Crown Coach, the Coach of King João V, royal berlins and litters, and 19th-century children's phaetons, milords and cabriolets. Children up to and including age 12 enter free, and ramps and elevators reach all public spaces, with six wheelchairs available free of charge at reception.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and Torre de Belém in the late afternoon

Walk across to Praça do Império for the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and continue along the waterfront to the Torre de Belém, both classified as National Monuments since 1907 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983. Built in pale lioz limestone starting in 1501 or 1502 under King Manuel I on the Restelo site from which Vasco da Gama sailed in 1497, the monastery pairs with the 16th-century bastioned fortress built to defend the Tagus estuary.

Both the Jerónimos Cloister and the Torre de Belém open Tuesday to Sunday from 09:30 to 17:30 (last entry at 17:00, ticket kiosk closing at 16:30), while the Church of Santa Maria de Belém opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10:30 to 17:00 and on Sundays and religious holidays from 14:00 to 17:00. Children and youths up to age 12 inclusive enter both monuments free of charge, and wheelchair users have full access to the ground floor of the Cloister and Church at Jerónimos (with baby-changing facilities in the ground-floor cloister restrooms) and to the ground-floor bulwark nave at Torre de Belém.

Plan your one day in Lisbon

Buy tickets online in advance for Castelo de São Jorge, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the Torre de Belém: at the castle an online ticket lets you skip the ticket-office line and go straight to the entrance, and at the Belém monuments same-day tickets frequently sell out.

Check the day of the week before you go: Pavilhão do Conhecimento, the Museu Nacional dos Coches, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the Torre de Belém are all closed on Mondays, whereas Castelo de São Jorge opens daily except on 1 January, 1 May, 24 December and 25 December. The Belém national museum and monuments also close on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 13 June and 25 December, and Torre de Belém may close temporarily when weather conditions affect visitor safety.

Sources

• Reference source — castelodesaojorge.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — castelodesaojorge.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — castelodesaojorge.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — pavconhecimento.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — pavconhecimento.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — mncoches.gov.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — mncoches.gov.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — mosteirojeronimos.torrebelem.gov.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — mosteirojeronimos.torrebelem.gov.pt (checked 23 October 2026)
• Reference source — mosteirojeronimos.torrebelem.gov.pt (checked 23 October 2026)