Visiting Lisbon with kids is exciting, entertaining, and effortless—especially if you follow some simple tips to prepare for Portugal’s atmospheric capital.
From sightseeing trams to teen-friendly interactive museums, there are plenty of things to do in Lisbon as a family. Being one of Europe’s oldest capital cities, Lisbon is as educational as it is Instagram-worthy.
Still, a little research goes a long way. Follow these tips when traveling to Lisbon with kids and add some of the most family-friendly attractions to your itinerary for an all-age-pleasing visit.
Pre-Book Tickets to Skip Long Lines
Belém Tower
Lisbon’s most popular attractions can mean long lines and waits. For some major sights, like nearby Sintra’s fairytale palaces, booking tickets and time slots in advance is highly advisable to avoid waiting with impatient kids in the midday sun.
For others, such as Belém Tower, where waiting is often unavoidable, consider leaving the interior off your itinerary entirely and just appreciating the architecture from outside. Either way, when visiting Lisbon with kids, check which attractions offer pre-booked tickets online and then make a loose schedule around those.
Some attractions also provide advanced-booking discounts, including on their family tickets. The Lisboa Card, which covers most public transport and access to multiple attractions, can be a good value investment if you are planning to visit numerous sights.
Fun Transportation Options
Lisbon tram
Lisbon’s rickety vintage, yellow public trams are as much of an attraction as they are a form of transport these days. But they are often crowded. So board the Tram 28 at a terminus—Martim Moniz or Campo de Ourique—to ensure your kids get a seat and view.
If you’d prefer a calmer experience, the red, tourist-only Hills Tramcar Tour follows the same route as Tram 28 and provides family tickets, albeit at a higher cost than the public carriages.
Electric tuk-tuks have become popular in recent years for navigating the hilly streets and can be an easy sightseeing alternative, especially if the kids have had enough of walking.
Tuk-tuk
The most welcome sight for families in Lisbon is the network of lifts and funiculars across the city. Some, like the Glória and Bica Funicular, are similar to the vintage trams and slowly climb the hills. There are also a few more typical lifts to skip the steps, like the free Elevador Castelo to reach São Jorge Castle.
The modern metro is excellent and the best choice for reaching the Oceanarium via Oriente station, or Lisbon Zoo, via the Jardim Zoológico stop. Kids travel for half price on nearly all public transportation.
Lisbon’s public transport network also includes the ferries that cross the River Tejo. The most popular route reaches Almada, where the towering statue of Christ surveys the city. Dolphins can occasionally be spotted, delighting kids when they appear playful.
Read: 3 Days in Lisbon
Keep Reapplying Sunscreen
Sunscreen
Unlike neighboring Spain, where sizzling summer temperatures are impossible to ignore, Lisbon’s location, a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean, means there’s a welcome breeze almost year-round.
This breeze can be deceptive, especially in the slightly cooler months. Lisbon is one of Europe’s sunniest cities, so even if the sun doesn’t feel severe, chances are that the UV is at least moderate or high.
Be sure to reapply your child’s high-SPF sunscreen regularly. As much of life in Lisbon is lived outdoors, from al fresco dining to exploring open-air attractions like São Jorge Castle, you’ll have consistent sun exposure. Even the Carmo Convent doesn’t have a roof due to the 1755 earthquake.
Ask Restaurants for the “Menu Infantil”
Burger
Portugal may have a Mediterranean diet, but thankfully for families visiting Lisbon with kids, it doesn’t keep the later Mediterranean meal schedule like elsewhere in southern Europe.
If you’re traveling from North America, you’ll find dining times similar to those at home. Lunch is generally served from noon, and dinner from 7pm, although many restaurants in downtown Lisbon open earlier to cater for families and tourists.
Most restaurants offer a menu infantil, the kids’ menu, usually with burgers, pasta, and international food. Otherwise, ordering a meia dose, a half-size portion, is normally possible.
Air conditioning isn’t standard in many of Lisbon’s smaller tascas or restaurants, so while a table inside might seem tempting to escape the sun, it can come with the trade of losing any refreshing breeze.
Use Snack Bars to Take a Break
Bifana
Snack bars, similar to cafes, stay open throughout the day. So, unlike Spain, where many establishments shutter in the late afternoon, it’s easy to find a sandwich or cake for even the fussiest of eaters.
Another bonus of snack bars is that they double as a convenient bathroom break, providing a welcome moment of respite in a city that doesn’t have many public bathrooms.
Still, if your children are particularly picky, carry your preferred snack brands from home. Local supermarket offerings differ, although you should find plenty of familiar brands.
Tap Water is Drinkable, But Bottled Agua is Popular
Bottled water
While Portugal’s tap water is safe to drink, and water bottle refill stations have started to spring up recently, many Portuguese still prefer mineral water.
You’ll particularly notice this in restaurants where tap water is rarely served, although it can be requested. Instead, servers ask if you’d prefer a glass bottle of still or sparkling water.
As you’re exploring the city, consider sticking to bottled water, the filtered water from refill stations, or the freshwater fountains dotting the city. If you purchase plastic bottles, they can be recycled at one of the many yellow eco-points.
Most Beaches Are Only Lifeguarded in Summer
Cascais
Trading historic castles for sandcastles is effortless, making a beach day one of the most appealing things to do in Lisbon with kids when the sun is shining.
There are a few sandy choices close to the city, but Cascais, a 40-minute train ride from downtown Cais do Sodre, is particularly recommended.
Unlike the west-facing beaches in Costa da Caparica, popular with surfers for their Atlantic swell, the shorelines east of Cascais are tucked along the river, providing slightly more shelter.
Cascais
Still, if you plan to take your children swimming, be mindful that most beaches in Portugal only have lifeguards during the official summer bathing season. In many places, this runs from mid-June until mid-September, though some of Cascais’ beaches are guarded from May through October.
Green flags indicate it should be safe to swim, while half yellow and half red flags are used on most beaches to denote the area covered by lifeguards.
Fado Performances Aren’t Always Family Friendly
Fado
Attending an emotional and melancholic Fado concert is one of the most typical things to do in Lisbon. But depending on your kids’ ages, you might prefer to skip these signature soul-stirring performances.
This is particularly true in more formal Fado houses, as silence is expected during the performance, which can continue for a few hours over a meal.
Some companies, such as Real Fado, offer shorter concerts without a dinner included. Always check minimum age requirements when booking, as some locations only welcome children 12 and over.
If you’d like to appreciate Fado in a more relaxed manner, the Fado Museum in Alfama doesn’t take long to tour.
Relax Into a Laid-Back, Family-Friendly Lifestyle
Lisbon
The most important tip when visiting Lisbon with kids is to relax. Portugal, including its capital, is an incredibly family-friendly destination.
Children are welcomed in nearly all restaurants, kids are regularly fussed over by servers and friendly strangers, and, perhaps most importantly, Lisbon is considered one of Europe’s safest cities.
It’s not uncommon to see young teens out and about unaccompanied in cafés by day, nor to see families soaking up the atmosphere on the terrace well into the night. Embrace the local, laid-back lifestyle and enjoy.
Best Things to Do in Lisbon With Kids
Experience an “Earthquake”
One of the best things to do in Lisbon with kids is also one of the city’s newest interactive attractions. Quake, in the Belém district, recounts the devastating day and aftermath of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, which destroyed so much of the city.
While it sounds like a somber topic, the 90-minute experience is highly interactive and educational.
Groups are guided through 10 different rooms, which include scholastic seismic presentations, alongside more immersive spaces that recreate Lisbon’s streets of yore and the tremors of that fateful day in immersive 4D.
Climb Alfama’s Cobbles to São Jorge Castle
São Jorge Castle
Alfama, the oldest and most traditional neighborhood in Lisbon, is a maze of narrow cobblestone streets that hug the slope of one of Lisbon’s seven hills. While the route is picturesque and personality-packed, kids are usually most excited when they reach the quarter’s crowning glory, São Jorge Castle.
Inside the expansive 11th-century Moorish-built walls, there is plenty of space to run free, with canons and occasional armor displays adding to the appeal. A small museum provides some historical insight.
It’s possible to climb and walk a section of the walls for sweeping city views, but due to the lack of guardrails, be especially careful with younger children.
Pop to Belém For a Pastel de Nata
Pastel de nata
A magnificent Manueline monastery and monument to Portugal’s empire-expanding “Age of Discovery” might not appeal to all children. But Lisbon’s famed custard tarts? They’re a crowd pleaser.
The cavernous Pastéis de Belém café, home of the original recipe, is the perfect reason to visit Belém, a riverside district west of downtown.
Ignore the lines and step inside—there are hundreds of seats and the wait isn’t usually long—to see these sweet Lisbon treats produced in their hundreds before ordering enough to fuel a family day of sightseeing.
Then, it’s just a few minutes walk to UNESCO-listed Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, one of Lisbon’s most beautiful sights, where monks made the first pastel de nata 200 years ago.
Step Into a Real Life Storybook in Sintra
Sintra
Visiting Sintra, a fairytale clutch of palaces, mountains, forests, and regal residences just west of the city, is one of the best things to do in Lisbon for families.
Imaginations will run wild as you explore the whimsical, vivid Palácio Nacional da Pena, its crenellated walls and fanciful turrets perched high on a hill. Thoughts of medieval battles will accompany a stroll around the ruined Moorish Palace. And the pretty, pastel-hued town is a sweet-tooth pleaser, with plentiful local pastries, like queijadas, mini cheesecakes.
Read: Incredible Day Trips From Lisbon
See Penguins & Tropical Fish at Oceanário de Lisboa
Oceanário de Lisboa
Set on the waterfront in Parque das Nações, Lisbon’s most contemporary neighborhood, the mammoth Oceanário de Lisboa is Europe’s second-largest oceanarium.
Across the vast, modern space, some 500 species of small and large fish reside in floor-to-ceiling aquariums, providing an impressive learning environment.
Beyond the tanks, kids will love seeing the waddling Magellanic penguins. Come around 3pm for feeding time.
Learn the City’s History at Lisbon Story Centre
Lisbon Story Centre
Lisbon has no shortage of museums to intrigue kids, including the puppet-focused Museu da Marioneta and playful Ciência Viva science center. But if you’d like to educate your family on the city’s history, spend an hour at the Lisbon Story Centre.
Accompanied by an informative audio guide, the exposition guides you through Lisbon’s history, recounted via models of sailing ships and aged streets, video presentations, and other immersive elements. The visit is self-paced, with bite-sized history and commentary suitable for kids.
Lisbon
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