eSIM for Portugal

Portugal switched off its last 3G networks in 2024. Your eSIM uses NOS and Vodafone, so outside 5G areas your phone runs on 4G. The 28 April 2025 Iberian blackout knocked out mobile data across the mainland for hours, and in summer wildfire alerts matter, so 112 and the Visit Madeira and Visit Azores trail-closure pages are worth knowing.

A rail-based first week from south to north: Lisbon's old quarters and Belém, the palaces of Sintra, a stop at Coimbra's historic university, then Porto and a day up the Douro line among the port vineyards. No car needed.

Length

7 days

Bases

2

When to go April to June and September to October are warm without the peak heat and crowds of July and August; the Douro harvest runs from about mid-September, and wildfire risk is highest from April to October.

1. 01

   Day 1 Lisbon

   Lisbon: Alfama, the castle and Baixa

   → From Lisbon airport, the metro red line reaches the centre in about 25 minutes with one change.

   Ride tram 28 or walk up into Alfama and climb to the Castelo de São Jorge for the view over the Tagus. Wander down the lanes past the Sé cathedral and the Miradouro de Santa Luzia, then cross into the Baixa grid rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, finishing at the Praça do Comércio on the river. In the evening go up to Bairro Alto or hear fado back in Alfama.

   Signal Central Lisbon has NOS and Vodafone 5G; the metro has signal in stations, and the narrow Alfama lanes can briefly drop to weaker 4G.

2. 02

   Day 2 Lisbon

   Belém and the riverside

   → Tram 15 or the Cascais line train reach Belém in about 20–25 minutes from the centre.

   Take the tram or train west to Belém and visit the Jerónimos Monastery, with its carved Manueline cloister, then walk to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos and the Belém Tower on the river. Try a pastel de Belém from the original bakery. In the afternoon visit the MAAT museum on the waterfront, or return to the centre for the LX Factory in Alcântara and sunset at the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara.

   Signal Strong 5G along the Belém waterfront and on the Cascais line.

3. 03

   Day 3 Lisbon

   Sintra's palaces

   → About 40 minutes by train from Lisbon Rossio to Sintra; the 434 bus loops up to Pena and the Moorish Castle.

   Take an early train to Sintra and go straight up to the Pena Palace, the brightly painted Romantic castle built for Ferdinand II, before the crowds; book a timed ticket in advance. Walk down through the Pena Park to the Moorish Castle walls on the ridge, then visit Quinta da Regaleira, with its initiation well and grottoes, or Monserrate Palace and its gardens. Return to Lisbon in the evening.

   Signal 4G is good in Sintra town; coverage weakens in the wooded hills of the Pena Park and inside the castle walls and Regaleira's tunnels.

4. 04

   Day 4 Porto

   Coimbra's university and on to Porto

   → About 1 hour 40 minutes by Alfa Pendular or Intercidades from Lisbon to Coimbra-B, then about 1 hour to Porto Campanhã.

   Take the train north to Coimbra and walk up to the university on its hilltop, part of a UNESCO site, to see the Joanine Library, the baroque book hall, and the Royal Palace rooms and tower. Walk down through the old town past the Sé Velha to the Santa Cruz Monastery, then continue by train to Porto and walk down from São Bento station, with its blue-and-white tiled hall, to the river.

   Signal The Lisbon–Porto main line has 4G nearly all the way, with short drops in cuttings; Coimbra and Porto have 5G in the centre.

5. 05

   Day 5 Porto

   Porto: Ribeira, the Dom Luís I Bridge and Gaia

   → Everything is walkable, though Porto is steep; metro line D crosses the upper bridge deck.

   Climb the Clérigos Tower for the view over the rooftops, then look at the tiled Igreja do Carmo and the Livraria Lello bookshop, booking ahead. Walk down to the Ribeira waterfront and cross the upper deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia, where you can tour a port lodge and taste. Ride the Gaia cable car down to the riverside or take a short boat trip under Porto's bridges.

   Signal Strong 5G across central Porto and Gaia; inside the port lodges' stone cellars signal can drop away.

6. 06

   Day 6 Porto

   The Douro line to Pinhão

   → About 2.5 hours each way by regional train from Porto São Bento to Pinhão; trains are not frequent, so check times in the CP app.

   Take the regional train up the Douro line, which follows the river for much of the way past Régua into the terraced vineyards of the Alto Douro Wine Region. Get off at Pinhão, whose station is decorated with tiles showing the harvest, and visit a quinta for a tasting, or take a short boat trip on the river. Return to Porto on an afternoon train.

   Signal 4G is decent in Régua and Pinhão, but the line through the steeper gorges and tunnels has gaps, and some vineyard estates up the slopes have weak coverage.

7. 07

   Day 7 Porto

   Serralves, Foz do Douro and departure

   → Serralves is about 20 minutes by bus from the centre; the metro purple line reaches Porto airport in about 30 minutes.

   Visit the Serralves Foundation, with its contemporary art museum and Art Deco villa set in large gardens. Take tram 1 or walk along the river to Foz do Douro, where the Douro meets the Atlantic, and walk the seafront to the Felgueiras lighthouse before heading to the airport for your flight.

   Signal Good 5G at Serralves, Foz and on the metro to the airport.