Lisbon, Portugal is a beautiful city that continues to grow in popularity. I spent three days in Lisbon as part of a larger trip and kept track of every cent that I spent. I know can tell you exactly what I spent so you can have a realistic idea of how much you’ll need for your own Lisbon travel budget.
The bottom line? Lisbon can be more affordable than other European destinations, but prices have increased in recent years so it may not be as cheap as you think.
About My Trip
My trip to Lisbon lasted just three days. While I could have spent more time in Portugal, Lisbon was just a stopover for me as I made my way to Morocco. During my time in Lisbon, I stayed in one hotel and used that as a base. I spent my first day in the heart of downtown Lisbon, my second day in Belém and downtown Lisbon, and my third day on a day trip to Sintra.
It is also important to note that I traveled the first week of March. Lisbon still had plenty of tourists, but it was nowhere near what is seen during peak travel season.
About My Travel Style
While I am a solo traveler, I prefer a private room. My alone (and quiet) time is much more valuable to me than meeting other travelers. Therefore, I prioritize having a private room.
For activities, I like to look for a mix of free and paid options. I’ll pay for the top sights that I really want to see, but have no problem looking for free options to help balance my budget. In this trip to Lisbon, I went easy on the sights in Lisbon itself, but may have gone a bit overboard on my day trip to Sintra.
For food, I typically eat one big meal per day. I’ll have a quick bite to eat at my hotel (either with some snacks from home or a few groceries picked up from the store) before and toward the end of my day. For those who are foodie travelers, this is where we’ll differ significantly on our budgets.
And finally, for transportation, I walk as much as I can. Yes it saves a little bit of money, but I feel like I you can see more of the city while on foot. Still, there are sometimes where you just have to get some kind of transportation and in the case of my trip to Lisbon, it was always public transportation in the form of buses, trains, trams, or the metro.
A Note About Currency
This article will use USD as a base, but you will pay for everything in Euros. As I paid for everything using my credit card, everything showed up on my statements in USD. At the time of writing, 1 USD = 0.95 Euros.
How Much Did I Spend in Lisbon?
| Total Spent | Per Day Cost | |
| Hotel | $248.41 | $82.80 |
| Transportation | $28.14 | $9.38 |
| Food | $39.00 | $13.00 |
| Activities | $56.63 | $18.88 |
| Total | $372.18 | $124.06 |
A Further Lisbon Travel Budget Breakdown
Sure, numbers are fine, but lets breakdown each of those categories further to give a little more detail. I’ll also give some ideas for ways you can adjust the budget, either to save money or to travel more luxuriously.
Hotels
Let’s start with my biggest cost and that’s my hotel in Lisbon. I spent $82.80 per night for a small, but decently located room. I booked a private room with a private bathroom, but for some unknown reason I got upgraded to a balcony (I think because I arrived so early, they had more leeway in the room I was assigned). The room was still small, but it served my needs.
I stayed a bit outside the main historic district of Lisbon. My hotel was directly between the Anjos and Intendente metro stops and it was about a 15 to 20 minute walk to Praça do Comércial. I didn’t mind the extra steps, especially since it saved me a bit of money.
Adjustments to the Budget
If you’re willing to stay in a hostel, you’ll likely find your budget decreasing here. But for those who are looking for a private room in a good location, I’d recommend setting aside $100 per night. You may get lucky and find something slightly less, like I did, but I think to not limit yourself to the cheapest room possible, $100 per night is a great place to start.
Transportation
Let’s move onto transportation in Lisbon. In total, I spent $28.14, but let’s break this number down just a bit.
When I arrived at the airport in Lisbon, I purchased a Navegante card for 50 cents. Then I loaded this card up with money and “zapped” my way around town. Rides on the bus, metro, and trams in Lisbon cost about $1.60 per ride, which is not bad. Still, I tried to keep my rides to a minimum and relied on walking. Within Lisbon, I used public transportation five times. I took the metro to and from the airport, took a tram to Belém, and then used a bus to get to and from the Tile Museum.
But, Kristen, at $1.60 per ride for five rides, plus the 50 cents for the Navegante card, that’s less than $10. The rest of the money comes because of my day trip to Sintra.
I used my Navegante card and spent about $5 on my train to and from Sintra. This was super affordable. The rest of the money was for the bus ticket I bought within Sintra. I asked for a return ticket because I had only planned on taking two rides on the bus, but was given the full day Hop On-Hop Off bus ticket. I was a little frustrated, but it was early in the day and they were just herding tourists onto the bus for the castle. As my day in Sintra went on, I debated about going out to one more palace since I already had the bus ticket but a torrential downpour scrapped those plans.
My transportation within Sintra was the most expensive part of my transportation in Lisbon. It could have been less, but I believe that the Scotturb bus service just wants to sell the 24 hour tickets that covers all lines, even if that’s not what you need. It’s easiest for them (especially when so many tourists do not know what they are doing) and they assume that’s what you want.
As I wrap up this talk about transportation, I want to jump back to the Navegante card. The Navegante card is reloadable and I highly recommend being conservative in your estimates of how much you’ll use it. Once the money is on the card, the only way to get it off is to spend it. You cannot get a refund for any money left on the card. I knew this and did my best, but I still ended up with just a few cents leftover on my card. It’s just what happens, but make sure that number is as low as you can get it.
Adjustments to the Budget
In general, there wasn’t much I would change. I’d recommend setting aside about $1.50 per ride on public transportation. It’s a bit less than the actual cost of the ride, but you want to be conservative and only add more if needed. As you plan out your itinerary, you can see how much transport you really need.
In Sintra, be firm with the Scotturb bus drivers. For many visitors to Sintra, the 24 hour pass is just not a good value. You’ll typically just need a bus to Pena Palace and back, which should be less than the $13.50 they are charging for the 24 hour pass.
Food
When I travel, I tend to eat less than when I’m at home. At home, I’ll eat three meals per day, but when I travel, I’ll eat one really big meal for lunch (typically early to mid afternoon) and then I’ll snack the rest of the day. Lisbon was no different for me. I brought a few snacks from home and stopped at a grocery store while in Lisbon.
In the morning, I’d typically have a small snack and a banana. I’d have another small snack in the late morning. Then for lunch, I’d find somewhere to eat and would make that my main meal. In the evening, I still had snacks for if I was still hungry. For me, this system works, but I can understand if it doesn’t for you.
In general, I recommend setting aside about $15 for a meal in a restaurant. Yes, you may find some budget options, but I think this is a good starting place. You can eat a good, filling meal and not break the bank. If you plan to go to food stands, sandwich shops, and groceries, your bill will probably go down. Obviously, there are many more nicer, more expensive places to eat as well.
And a for a pastel del nata, budget about $2 per pastry. You’ll absolutely want to try them at least once on your visit.
Adjustments to the Budget
This is the part of the budget that I think would need the most adjustment. Foodie travelers should obviously budget higher. If you aren’t big on snacking and want to have more than one full meal per day, you should budget higher as well (in this instance, I’d move up to $20 to $25 per person per day). But for budget travelers who are planning one big meal and supplementing the rest of their day with snacking, I’d recommend sticking with my budget which was about $15 per day.
Activities
I spent $56.63 on various sights while in Lisbon. This feels a bit misleading though because I only paid for one museum in Lisbon. I fell in love with all of the tiles lining the buildings in Lisbon and went out to the National Tile Museum to learn more. This cost me about $10 and was pretty in line with many of the museums in Lisbon.
The rest of the money was spent on palaces in Sintra.
During my day trip to Sintra, I visited four castles. I visited Quinta de Regalaria, the National Palace of Sintra, the Moorish Castle, and I visited the gardens of Pena Palace (I did not enter the interior of the palace). When you start planning your budget, for Sintra, start with about $15 per sight. Now, my costs got less than this.
With the exception of Quinta de Regalaria, there can be some discounts. If you book early (more than three days in advance), you can save a few euros per sight. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough that it adds up with more palaces.
Second, the more palaces you visit, the more money you save. I purchased my tickets for the National Palace, the Moorish Castle, and the Pena Palace gardens and because I bought three tickets, I was given a discount of 6% per ticket. Again, it’s not much at first glance, but the numbers add up. I did the math and buy purchasing these three tickets in advance and all at once, I saved 7 euros. That just should have covered my transportation in Sintra (but again, I ended up with the full 24 hour ticket).
The biggest thing to note for activities, whether in Lisbon or nearby Sintra, is that prices have gone up. I like to reference guidebooks from the library just to get an overview on what sights are available (but then I’ll cross check that with what I find online).
My library carried a 2023 guidebook for Lisbon and despite traveling in March 2025, I found many sights had drastically increased their prices. What is drastic? On the surface, it’s not much, just 4-5 euros. But when the sight had a 5 euro entrance fee to start, the now 10 euro entrance fee can feel a lot higher. I always know that I need to budget more than what a guidebook says, but usually it’s not as dramatic of a change.
Adjustments to the Budget
Activities vary widely from traveler to traveler. Some people want to visit all the best museums and if this is you, I’d recommend budgeting higher than what I did. I didn’t do as many museums in Lisbon, but I made up for it in Sintra.
I recommend looking ahead at the museums that you may want to visit. The prices have increased dramatically in the last few years and you’ll want the most up to date information to set your budget. But in general, within Lisbon, I recommend setting aside about $10 per sight. In Sintra, this number goes up to about $15 per sight.
A Reminder About Inflation
I traveled in early March of 2025. It’s only natural that prices will increase over time, so do your research to make sure you are still on track for your budget.
Final Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Lisbon, even if it was a bit more expensive than I had anticipated. With the rise of tourism, prices have risen and it’s important that you account for that in your own Lisbon travel budget. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t visit Lisbon, but rather, you may need to set aside just a little bit more than you may have initially expected.
Continue Your Adventure
Portugal: Lisbon is a great city to explore, even if you only have one day. For a great day trip, head to Sintra for its numerous palaces.
More Travel Budgets: Are you planning other trips and need some ideas for a travel budget. I’ve put together detailed budgets like this for Chile, Colombia, and Scandinavia.