Lisbon and Porto Itinerary: A 7-Day Plan

Most people sort out a week in Portugal in five steps. They split the nights, pick the train, plan Porto, choose one extra stop and decide on day trips. This guide takes them in that order and ends with when a day trip beats the train.

Train times and prices come from CP's own timetables and price tables, and sights come from each city's own pages, read on 21 October 2026. Confirm the times for your travel date in the CP app, because timetables change.

Step 1: Plan your Lisbon and Porto itinerary by nights

Give Lisbon three nights and Porto three nights. The seventh day is for leaving. That leaves one morning for the train, and nothing else is lost to transport.

Use the Lisbon days for the big three. Day 1 is for climbing São Jorge Castle. The castle is open from 9:00 to 21:00 in the summer schedule (March to October) and from 9:00 to 18:00 in the winter schedule (November to February). Day 2 goes to Belém. The Jerónimos Monastery is open from 9:30 to 17:30, with the last entry at 17:00, and closed on Mondays and on Easter Sunday. Day 3 is a day out of town, either Sintra or Cascais.

Both day trips go by CP train. Sintra is 40 minutes from Rossio, and a return ticket costs €5.10 on CP's price table. Our guide to Lisbon to Sintra train tickets covers the timetable and Pena's timed entry, and the Sintra page lists the tours. Cascais is 40 minutes from Cais do Sodré, and on CP's Cascais line timetable, valid since 6 April 2026, trains run about every 20 minutes by day. The return to Cascais costs the same €5.10. Pick one of the two, since the third Lisbon day holds only one.

Think about your airports before you book. Lisbon's airport has its own Metro station, open from 06:30 to 01:00. Porto's airport is 11 km from the centre, and Visit Porto says the Metro's line E reaches Trindade station in about 30 minutes. That makes either open-jaw plan easy. Fly into Lisbon and out of Porto, as this plan does, or fly into Porto and out of Lisbon and run the plan in reverse. In reverse, take the Alfa Pendular from Porto at 14:40 and arrive at Lisboa Oriente at 17:23, a station on the Red line like the airport.

Step 2: Take the train from Lisbon to Porto

Ride the 07:00 Alfa Pendular on day 4. On CP's Lisboa-Norte timetable, valid since 5 July 2025, it leaves Lisboa Santa Apolónia at 07:00, calls at Lisboa Oriente at 07:09, Coimbra-B at 08:45 and Aveiro at 09:15, and arrives at Porto Campanhã at 09:48. You are in Porto before 10:00 with the whole day ahead.

The cheaper option is the Intercidades. It leaves at 06:30 and arrives at 09:43, which is 3 hours 13 minutes. At full fare, second class on the Alfa Pendular costs €35.70 and on the Intercidades €28.05. Seat reservation is mandatory on both, so buy a ticket for a named train. Our guide to Lisbon to Porto train tickets covers fares, the Promo discount and where to buy.

Key Takeaway The 07:00 Alfa Pendular puts you in Porto at 09:48 after 2 hours 48 minutes, which is 25 minutes faster and €7.65 dearer in second class than the Intercidades.

Step 3: Spend three days in Porto

Porto is small enough to cover on foot. Visit Porto says the city centre covers only 41.42 km², and it names the metro and the Porto.CARD for anyone doing a lot of visiting. You can plan the stay without a car.

Start on day 4 in the Historic District. Visit Porto's heritage list includes the Clérigos Tower, which is 75 metres tall and has 225 steps to the top. It also names the tile-covered Carmo Church, the Capela das Almas with its painted tiles, and the old Fernandine walls, which give views over the city.

Use day 5 for the river and the wider districts. The heritage list also names the Felgueiras Lighthouse on the Atlantic side and the Lapa Cemetery in the Republic District. Keep day 6 loose. It works as a spare day for rain, a rest day or one more museum.

Pro Tip Arrive in Porto on the 07:00 train and go straight to the Clérigos Tower. The climb is 225 steps, and you get the city's best overview before the day warms up.

Step 4: Add one more stop if you have extra days

Every extra stop costs a night, so add only one. The trains give you three easy choices.

Coimbra comes first, because it sits on the way. Both trains to Porto call at Coimbra-B. Coimbra-B is 1 hour 45 minutes from Lisbon on the 07:00 Alfa Pendular. Aveiro is next, about half an hour before Porto. Évora is the choice for a day south-east of Lisbon. On CP's Lisboa Oriente to Évora timetable, valid since 6 September 2026, an Intercidades leaves at 07:02 and arrives at 08:47.

Óbidos and Nazaré are the stops people ask about, and both sit off the main line. The Alfa Pendular does not call at either. CP's regional Oeste line timetable, valid since 19 July 2026, lists Óbidos and a station named Valado - Nazaré - Alcobaça on the way from Lisbon to Caldas da Rainha and Coimbra. CP's notice for the line says a replacement bus runs between Mira Sintra-Meleças and Caldas da Rainha, so check which trains run on your date. CP does not say how to get from that station into Nazaré town, and I found no operator timetable for a coach. If you want both places, a day tour is simpler.

The Algarve is the longest option. Alfa Pendular 180 leaves Lisboa Oriente at 08:23 and reaches Faro at 11:27. The same timetable has Alfa Pendular 182 running from Faro at 07:00 through Lisboa Oriente at 10:05 to Porto Campanhã at 12:48. Things to Do in Lisbon's reading of CP's timetables in October 2026 found Lisbon to Porto in 2 hours 48 minutes, Lisbon to Faro in 3 hours 4 minutes, and Porto to Faro in 5 hours 48 minutes on the one train. Plan an Algarve stop as a trip of its own, not as a day out.

Step 5: Decide between day trips and moving on

If you sleep in Lisbon for three nights, one of those days can go to a guided day trip. That is where a tour pays off.

The Fátima, Nazaré, Óbidos and Batalha full-day tour takes 10 hours and costs from €31. The page lists pickup, and you meet in front of Hotel VIP Éden. Lunch, monument entrance fees and tips are not included. It is rated 4.8 from 2,133 reviews.

The Algarve day trip to Lagos and Benagil Cave takes 11 to 12 hours and costs from €156. The page lists pickup and a private or small-group format. The Benagil kayak tour is not included. Its rating is 4.8 from 1,214 reviews. The train to Faro takes 3 hours 4 minutes each way, so a self-made Algarve day costs six hours on rails before you move around the region. The tour wins when you have one day and no wish to sleep there. The train wins when you stay a night or more.

The coach day trip to Porto, Óbidos and Nazaré takes 13 hours and costs from €82. It meets at one of two meeting points that depend on the option you choose, and it can be booked as a private trip. Its rating is 4.5 from 1,655 reviews. Choose it if you can spare one day for Porto and will not sleep there. For three days in Porto, take the train instead.

You can see all of these on the day trips from Lisbon page.

Seeing two cities well takes fewer stops than most people plan.

When a tour is the wrong choice

A tour is the wrong choice for Porto itself. The coach day gives Porto a share of 13 hours, while the train leaves you nearly nine hours in the city on a same-day return, and a three-night stay leaves you far more. A tour is also the wrong choice if you want a slow pace. All three picks fit many stops into one long day, with the Algarve trip running up to 12 hours.