Attractions, museums, tours and activities

The arena and the ruined city beside it, on one combined ticket.

Set aside

3h

Usual adult ticket

$20 (estimate)

Timed entry sells out days ahead in summer. Uneven ground throughout.

Kilometres of galleries ending at the ceiling everyone came for.

Set aside

3h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$22 (estimate)

Closed most Sundays. Shoulders and knees covered, or you are turned away.

Bernini's sculpture in a villa small enough to see properly in one visit.

Set aside

2h

Usual adult ticket

$15 (estimate)

Strict two-hour entry slots and a hard cap on visitors — book early.

A two-thousand-year-old dome still open to the sky.

Set aside

45m

Usual adult ticket

$6 (estimate)

Central and quick — the best thing to slot into an arrival afternoon.

A whole Roman town, walked rather than looked at.

Set aside

4h

Usual adult ticket

$20 (estimate)

Very little shade and hard stone streets — mornings, and real shoes.

Where the mosaics and bronzes from Pompeii actually live.

Set aside

2h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$18 (estimate)

Best seen after Pompeii, not before — the site makes more sense that way.

A steep gravel path to the rim, with the bay laid out below.

Set aside

3h

Usual adult ticket

$12 (estimate)

Closes in bad weather at short notice. Not suitable for prams.

Gaudí's basilica, still unfinished and worth the ticket anyway.

Set aside

2h

Usual adult ticket

$28 (estimate)

Tower access is a separate, higher ticket with a lift and then stairs.

Mosaic terraces above the city, with the view most photos come from.

Set aside

2h

Usual adult ticket

$18 (estimate)

A long uphill walk from the metro; the entry area is timed.

His early work, in five medieval houses in the old town.

Set aside

1h 45m

Usual adult ticket

$15 (estimate)

Closed Mondays. Free on some late openings — we will say so, not guess.

Stone carved like rope and coral, from the age of the sea voyages.

Set aside

1h 45m

Usual adult ticket

$12 (estimate)

The queue is long by mid-morning; the church itself is free to enter.

One enormous central tank — the reliable rainy-day answer with children.

Set aside

2h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$25 (estimate)

Step-free throughout and pram-friendly.

A working tram line that happens to be the best city tour in Lisbon.

Set aside

1h

Usual adult ticket

$4 (estimate)

Packed and pickpocket-prone at peak times; ride it early.

The rock above the city, with the temple that defines it.

Set aside

2h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$22 (estimate)

Marble underfoot gets slippery and the site bakes by noon — go at opening.

The sculpture taken down from the temple, at eye level and indoors.

Set aside

2h

Usual adult ticket

$15 (estimate)

Cool and step-free — a good companion to the hot climb.

A small purpose-built museum for one body of work.

Set aside

1h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$12 (estimate)

Quiet, shaded and rarely busy — the opposite of the beachfront.

A sea-level walk between two harbours, reachable by local train.

Set aside

3h

Entry

Free

No ticket, no booking. Little shade; take water.

A full circuit of the old town on top of its own defences.

Set aside

2h

Usual adult ticket

$35 (estimate)

Steep steps, one-way, no shade — not a midday walk in August.

Paddle out under the walls and around the island opposite.

Set aside

3h

Usual adult ticket

$45 (estimate)

Cancelled in wind; minimum ages apply and vary by operator.

Free to enter, impossible to finish — pick two galleries and stop.

Set aside

3h

Entry

Free

No ticket needed for the permanent collection; special exhibitions charge.

A fortress, a prison and the crown jewels in one walled site.

Set aside

3h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$40 (estimate)

Cobbles and spiral stairs; the jewels queue is longest after 11am.

Public transport that doubles as the best view of the city.

Set aside

1h

Usual adult ticket

$12 (estimate)

Runs to a timetable like a bus, not a cruise — and costs far less.

Too big for one visit; the Denon wing is the classic hour.

Set aside

3h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$24 (estimate)

Closed Tuesdays. Timed entry, and the pyramid queue is the slow one.

Impressionists in a converted railway station.

Set aside

2h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$18 (estimate)

Closed Mondays. Smaller and calmer than the Louvre with children.

Lifts to the second floor, then a separate lift to the summit.

Set aside

2h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$32 (estimate)

Security queues at the base add time no ticket can skip.

Velázquez and Goya, in the country that produced them.

Set aside

2h 30m

Usual adult ticket

$16 (estimate)

Free in the last two opening hours, which are correspondingly packed.

Modern Spain, with Guernica as the room everyone stops in.

Set aside

2h

Usual adult ticket

$12 (estimate)

Closed Tuesdays. Quieter in the early evening.

Rowing boats, shade and space to let children run.

Set aside

2h

Entry

Free

Nothing to book. The boats are paid for at the lake, in cash or card.