The Best Things to do in Lisbon With Kids: Itinerary for 3-5 Days

Planning a trip to Lisbon with kids? Let me help you plan!

Deciding on a family-friendly Lisbon itinerary can be really tough – from how long to spend to figuring out the best things to do in Lisbon with kids. In this (lengthy) article I’m going to take you through what I recommend in Lisbon and our own personal experiences.

How to use this guide: I suggest that you stick with my suggestions for the first two days, and in the order I’ve presented them. The other days could be done in any order depending on your preferences, the opening schedules for different activities (so many things are closed on Mondays!) and how long you plan to spend in Lisbon.

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Tips for visiting Lisbon with kids

Be sure to read over these Lisbon travel tips for families before you dive into detailed itinerary planning.

Lisbon Airport

Simply put, the Lisbon airport is (mostly) a disaster in both directions at this time if you’re a non-European traveling with a family.

There are fancy e-gates available to holders of biometric passports from many nations (including the US, Canada, Australia, NZ and more… but minors aren’t permitted through that line. Europeans get their own line (that includes UK and Switzerland) even if they have children in tow. Families with a child under two years old or a pregnant adult can go through the priority lane.

But the rest of us? Stuck in the dreaded “general” passport control line, both entering and exiting the country. We waiting for an hour upon arrival and we were “lucky” that it was only 40 minutes upon departure – we were supposed to fly home from Porto, which is a much easier airport, but United had other plans for us. I’ve heard horror stories from other families who have experienced wait times at Lisbon passport control stretching to 3 or 4 hours!

More immigration authorities checking people through at the front would definitely help. But more importantly, the Lisbon airport needs to do a much better job of directing passengers through the e-gates if they’re eligible. I was confident from looking around at the passports in people’s hands that at least half of the people waiting in those massive queues with us could have gone through one of the fast tracks if they had known. That suspicion was confirmed when we chatted with others on our flight who were eligible but didn’t realize, clogging up the line for those of us who were required to be there.

If your kids are over two(ish) years old, be sure everyone stops to use the restroom before passport control. Have snacks, water and something to keep your kids busy.

That’s enough ranting. The Lisbon airport is really a problem. If you’re planning an open-jaw itinerary like we were, I recommend that you start in Lisbon and end in Porto – better to be stuck in that long line when you arrive and just need to check into your hotel than when you’re scrambling to catch your flight home. If you’re visiting between April and October you can really beat the system by skipping the Lisbon airport entirely: start your trip in Porto and end by lounging on the beaches of the Algarve, which is served by a seasonal non-stop between Faro and Newark and year-round weekly service to Toronto.

You can thank me later.

Getting around Lisbon with kids

No doubt, you’ll walk a lot in Lisbon. It’s charming and you’ll want to take in all of the beautiful tiles and beautiful views as you explore. But the city is also extremely hilly, and many of the hills are quite steep (think hiking more than strolling unless you’re down near the river). You’ll get your exercise! If I was visiting Lisbon with a baby or toddler, I’d probably plan to use a baby carrier like this one most of the time rather than a stroller.

But there’s a good chance you’re going to want to ride at some point, because parts of Lisbon are spread out and the tallest hills are quite tall. The great news is that it’s very affordable, whether you opt for public transportation or a ride share.

The upside of public transportation is that you don’t need to worry about a car seat for things like trams and buses. Buses are very affordable around 2 EUR per person and trams are around 3 EUR per person (fares are slightly lower if you purchase at a station or via a reloadable card, slightly higher if you’re tapping your card/phone on board) – kids under age 3 ride for free.

The flip side is that for us as a family of four, it was often cheaper to take a Bolt or Uber ride – sometimes just 4-6 EUR. At the very worst the price was just a tiny bit more but offered time savings, both due to routes and not having to figure out the nuances of a new system.

Because my kids are older, my teen is able to safely ride in a car without a car seat and my tween uses a Ride Safer Travel Vest that’s like a wearable booster seat. That’s a perfect option for Lisbon if you have a child who’s at least 3-4 years old, and for younger kids you can bring a WAYB Pico or Doona. Read more about all of those options here.

Portugal also has a network of local and high-speed trains to get you from city to city. We rode from Lisbon Oriente to Porto on one of the Intercidades trains, which was slightly cheaper and offered a better schedule for our needs than the marginally faster Alpha-Pendular. The trains are fine and I’m glad we spent a few extra Euros for the 1st class tickets, but don’t expect the dazzling trains you’ll find in other parts of western Europe.

How much time do you need in Lisbon with kids?

I’m sure there are many visitors who would argue that you could spend a lifetime exploring Lisbon. But I think if you’re on a family trip to Lisbon, you can see the highlights in about 3 days. Add a fourth if you want to take a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon (which you should). And for a more relaxed pace you can give yourselves 5 days, as we did.

Beyond that point I think that most families on a casual visit to Portugal will want to start visiting other parts of the country or at least adding day trips like this one.

Check for opening hours (and construction closures)

This tip applies to anywhere you’ll visit, but in our experience it was extra-important in Portugal.

Lisbon is a very quiet city on Mondays throughout the year. I can’t even tell you how many things are closed, from Jerónimos Monastery to Museo do Fado and so much more. Because many of the popular options in the city are closed, Sintra gets extremely crowded with visitors. So plan your time carefully if you’ll be in Lisbon on a Monday!

But as of early 2026, there are additional closures you need to know about. As part of Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, 13 different monuments and museums in Lisbon are closed for restoration. That’s good in the long term, but tough luck for tourists. A few of the places that were closed during our visit were:

• Belem Tower
• National Tile Museum
• National Museum of Archeology
• Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

That’s not an exhaustive list, but they’re all places we had considered visiting. Some of those may reopen by July 2026, but there are no guarantees.

The Elevador de Santa Justa and all other funiculars are also closed as of this writing, as safety concerns are being addressed in the wake of a deadly funicular crash in late 2025.

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Family-friendly Lisbon itinerary

Lisbon with Kids Day 1 – Getting oriented

We scheduled a late afternoon tuk tuk tour around historic Lisbon for 4pm on our first day. That was the perfect way to get oriented even when we were tired from the red-eye. Lisbon is also an incredibly hilly city, so tuk tuks are a popular way to get around.

Fair warning: there are a million tuk tuk “tour guides” planted all around the city that you can hire on the spot. Many of them are new to the city and don’t actually have much information to share with their riders, and we even saw one get pulled over for operating over capacity. We were very happy with our tuk tuk tour and would recommend the two hour option.

We met our driver near the Time Out Market and he took us around many of Lisbon’s most famous landmarks and neighborhoods. We had a few opportunities to get out of the tuk tuk to explore on foot, and our guide gave us helpful suggestions on which areas to eat in and which ones to skip.

Lisbon with Kids Day 2 – Exploring the city

Food tours are a great way to get to know a new culture and a new location! It’s a great choice for day 2 because it helps you get oriented. I scheduled ours for mid-morning/lunch for two reasons: first, it’s a good way to kick off the day when we were all relatively fresh without requiring an early morning; and second, evening food tours with lots of stops can be overwhelming for a jet-lagged body!

That said, we actually didn’t love the one we booked. I booked a private tour because our family’s dietary needs (including Celiac Disease) really require a tailored experience. I won’t recommend the one we did because it didn’t meet our expectations.

But as we were out in the city enjoying some delicious pastel de nata, I happened to meet a different guide, Helena, who was running a food tour. Her participants seemed to be having a great time and as we waited in line together she had some wonderful suggestions for where we could find gluten-free options – it’s a lot harder in Portugal than we expected.

As if that wasn’t enough, she invited me to message her and then replied an hour later with even more safe foods for us to try and restaurants to take our daughter to! If that’s what a tour guide will do for someone who isn’t even her customer, I can only imagine how well she treats her guests. You can book the Ultimate Lisbon Food & History Tour of Baixa & Chiado and add a note to request Helena M as your tour guide!

After filling your belly, take a quick Bolt ride (or a long walk) up to Igreja de São Vicente de Fora, a beautiful church with incredible views just outside of the city’s historic walls. It’s a 1.5 mile walk with a 200ft elevation gain from Time Out Market, where your food tour is likely to end. If you’re up for the walk, it will take you by many of Lisbon’s landmarks and best views… but if the weather isn’t ideal it can be very taxing.

Igreja de São Vicente de Fora was originally built in the 12th century, with subsequent additions, renovations and repairs. But the real reasons we visited – and you should too – are for the incredible painted tiles and the fabulous rooftop views. The tiles throughout the monastery are fabulous examples of azulejos, the painted tiles for which Portugal is so famous. While in some places they are geometric or floral patterns, in the monastery you’ll find intricate stories and scenes depicted from all parts of Portuguese life and society.

After you enjoy the tiles – and when we visited in mid-March we had the place mostly to ourselves – head up to the roof for views across the entire city and the river.

Note: At the time of our visit, the National Tile Museum was closed for renovation and restoration. As of this writing it’s expected to reopen sometime in the second half of 2026, but that’s already a slight delay. If it’s open when you plan to visit, that’s another great option for seeing azulejos.

Allow yourself to wander and get lost in the city this afternoon. Check out Miradouro de Santa Luzia, walk up to the castle, and check out some of the interesting shops in the area (even if you don’t buy anything).

There are two stops you should definitely make as you wander around: Manteigaria for pastel de nata and a coffee (we stopped once or twice per day), and Livraria Bertrand. Established in 1732, Bertrand is the world’s longest operating bookstore! It’s located in the Chiado neighborhood (where many of the best restaurants are) and is far less crowded than the popular Livraria Lello in Porto – though not as “aesthetic”.

If you want to ride one of Lisbon’s iconic yellow trams, this is a great time to do that too! There are two options that come through this area: #28 is the most popular and covers all of Lisbon’s popular neighborhoods, but it’s also incredibly crowded much of the time; #12 tends not to be as busy but it’s shorter and primarily covers the Alfama neighborhood.

While Lisbon has many old churches and religious sites, kids may find the Carmo Convent more interesting than others for an important reason: it has no roof! It was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake (more on that in a minute) and it was never repaired. The structure itself is really interesting to see, and at the far end there’s an archeological treasure trove as well.

This afternoon and even is an ideal time to stroll around and explore Lisbon’s different neighborhoods. A popular route in the middle of the city takes you from the lovely fountain of Praça dom Pedro IV to the Arco Triunfal da Rua Augusta and then along the banks of the river, which is a great place to take in the sunset. If time allows, you could also venture up to Parque Eduardo VII for sweeping views over the city.

Lisbon with Kids Day 3 – Belém

For your third day in Lisbon, you actually won’t be in central Lisbon proper at all. Instead you’ll head just a little bit west to Belém, which is an outlying district. If you decide to stay at Hyatt Regency Lisbon like we did, it’s a nice easy walk (and thankfully flatter than almost everything else you’ll encounter).

So why go to Belém? The area was first cultivated in the 14th century, but then in the 15th and 16th centuries it was a hot spot of monumental works. Today visitors go to see the beautiful and imminently photogenic Mosteiro dos Jerónimos along with the Torre de Belém and the much newer Monument of the Discoveries.

How you approach these sites with kids really depends on your own preferences. This is one area where we opted not to take a tour, and that was fine for us – we were more interested in the brief history notes in here and then enjoying the amazing, intricate design work of the Monastery. It’s really something!

Keep in mind that you definitely need to purchase your timed tickets for the Monastery in advance, and you may still find yourselves waiting in line for an hour if you’re there after the first slot or two in the morning. The queue is completely unsheltered so bring whatever you need for the weather – sun protection or rain gear – and something to keep the kids entertained. Thankfully we had visited Livraria Bertrand the day before, so both of our kids had plenty of reading material to keep them busy.

Since I’ve mentioned the lines and the tours… some tour guides seemed to get their groups in through a much shorter entry point. But we also saw many large tour groups stuck in the long lines with us. If you opt to pay for a guided tour, I strongly suggest finding one that allows you to skip the line.

After you’ve enjoyed the Monastery, you can go across the street for the lovely public garden or head down the block to try the original Pasteis de Belém. Supposedly these tasty pastries were created in this very shop, using egg yolks supplied by the monks (who only needed the whites to starch their robes). Your kids will love doing a head-to-head trial of Pasteis de Belém and Manteigaria since they’re right next door to each other! Our family’s preference was unanimous, but feel free to drop a comment and let me know what you think after your trip.

The next stop is typically the Torre de Belém, which is so iconic that it graces the cover of many Portugal tour books. It was built in the early 16th century as a symbolic gateway to Lisbon, but also to show would-be interlopers that the Portuguese were serious about security along the Tagus River. It went through major improvements and renovations in the ensuing centuries to improve its usefulness for defense… and unfortunately it too was closed for further restoration during our visit in March 2026. Supposedly it will open in “spring” but I think it’s safe to say that’s not happening.

You can still swing by the Monument of the Discoveries, but most families do just fine seeing the exterior. This isn’t Disney World, so waiting in one long line per day is more than enough!

But Belém has more for families than just churches and monuments. These days there’s a new attraction in town and it’s absolutely worth a visit: Quake.

If you took either of the tours I recommended for day 1 or day 2, you no doubt heard about the massive 1755 earthquake/tsunami/fire that destroyed 85% of the city and killed up to 20% of its population. That single event dramatically reshaped Lisbon in every way, and after spending an hour or two at Quake you’ll understand why.

The experience – I won’t call it a museum because it’s far more than that – helps visitors understand the physics behind earthquakes, allows you to walk through the peaceful day that preceded the earthquake and then takes you through the catastrophe and its aftermath. To be honest, it goes much deeper than I expected and even touches on the social and political changes that resulted from the earthquake. Even after living in California for so many years, a visit to Quake really gave us context to understand what tour guides mean when they say that the earthquake was devastating.

I do recommend booking Quake at least a day or two in advance. The group sizes are strictly limited, and when we initially went we were only able to get tickets for later in the day. We made it work, but things would have flowed more smoothly if we had done more planning.

How to spend the rest of your day depends on you family’s stamina, interests and ages. We did two more activities on this day and it worked for us but not everyone wants to be go-go-go until long after sunset.

For a more relaxed, adult experience: Take a Bolt ride to the nearby Palace Fronteira. It’s basically over the hill and through the woods – in theory just a 15 minute drive. Most people (including us) come here for the stunning tiled gardens and skip the guided tour of the palace interior. There are several different areas of the garden, but it’s just a lovely place to explore and decompress. It’s also a lot quieter than other parts of Lisbon! I think many people don’t know it’s there or don’t want to be bothered making the trip, but we really enjoyed it.

For a kid-oriented experience that parents will love too: Take the much longer ride to the Oceanário de Lisboa aka the Lisbon Aquarium. If you’re going there directly from Quake the ride could be about 45 minutes – maybe a good opportunity for the kids to nap in the car.

There are three important things to know about the Aquarium.

First, it really is awesome and worth visiting. We all enjoyed it and couldn’t say enough good things about our experience! The temporary “Forests Underwater” exhibit (through 6/30/26) was an incredible space of tranquility. We also loved watching the otters demolish their ice blocks full of shellfish during feeding time and seeing the massive sharks and rays swimming around their enclosure.

Second, other than a few holidays it’s open until 8pm every day and not crowded in the evening. We visited after going to all of the other places I talked about above, and that was a great move because we weren’t battling with big groups of school kids to see the animals. If you’re feeling energized for a very full day, you can definitely visit the Palace Fronteira and then do a late visit to the Aquarium.

Third, the cafe and gift shop are wonderful. Because we were still sort of on US time and also because we’re not the most responsible parents, we skipped lunch in favor of more activities and had “supper” at the aquarium before we started touring it. They serve real, house-made food and it’s actually good – roasted vegetable soup, pesto pasta and more. While the staff made our food, we also browsed the gift shop and found it full of beautiful, interesting, high-quality products.

Lisbon with Kids Day 4* – Sintra

The nearby town of Sintra is just a 30 minute drive from Lisbon (barring a crazy road closure like the one we faced). Iconic doesn’t even begin to describe this hilly area with one ornate palace after another. If palaces are your thing, you could probably spend a week here exploring them all!

The reason I put an asterisk on Day 4 is that you have options: Sintra is often done as a day trip from Lisbon (and it works well that way); alternatively, if you decide to do it when you’re wrapping up your time in Lisbon then you can end your day in the lovely beachside hamlet of Cascais for a totally different experience – more on that later. We opted for the latter plan and it was a great choice for us – though I would have preferred better weather for both days.

It’s very possible to do a self-guided day trip from Lisbon to Sintra: once you get to the town (usually by Bolt) you can get around with buses, tuk-tuks and your own two feet. But keep in mind that Sintra is also quite hilly. The roadways are also incredible congested in the summer, so private cars aren’t allowed in certain areas.

If you’ll be visiting during a busy time of year, be sure you buy your tickets in advance for everything in Sintra – the lines can be very long and timed tickets often sell out far in advance. Get your tickets for:

• Pena Palace Park and/or Interior – we bought park only, which is valid all day
• Quinta da Regaleira
• Moorish Castle – we would have visited if we’d had better weather! cool medieval castle, and you can walk the reconstructed walls for sweeping views of the area

I was very glad that we opted to book a private day tour with David. He picked us up right at our hotel in the morning (we got a later start since it was the shoulder season, but you’d generally want to head out early in the summer). Having a private tour meant that everything could be tailored exactly to our preferences, and David did a great job anticipating our needs with things like umbrellas. The price was also surprisingly reasonable!

While some families will want to do more, for our visit to Sintra with kids we opted to keep it to two of the most palaces – and one of my kids even balked at the second one until they realized how cool and different it is.

We started the day at Pena Palace, where we purchased the Park ticket that grants access to the grounds and terraces. That was perfect! While our driver dropped us at the entrance, there’s still a fairly steep 15 minute walk uphill from the gate to the palace; you could also opt for a paid shuttle (4 EUR), but lines can be long during peak season.

The palace is a lot newer than you might expect: construction on the main portion only wrapped up in 1854, though it incorporates part of a much older monastery (the red portion) that was largely destroyed in the earthquake. The architectural style is a mishmosh of types that were popular in the 19th century, but it all comes together beautifully and is absolutely worth the visit just to see.

Rather than going back out through the main gate, David led us on an easy hike through the grounds of Pena Park. This is an area that most visitors completely overlook – in fact, we didn’t see a single other tourist while we were there. But it’s full of beautiful forest, great views, secret spots, lovely water features, swans and more.

Our next stop was an excellent lunch at Tasca d’Ana, just outside of town. The crowds are much lighter than what you’ll find in town and the food is all traditional and delicious. At least one of you should order the sea bass, which is grilled outside as you’ll find at many typical Portuguese restaurants. Before our trip a Portuguese friend described what we should look for when choosing a restaurant in his country, and Tasca d’Ana checked every single box.

After lunch we headed into the town of Sintra, which was already full of crowds in mid-March – I can only imagine what it’s like during peak tourist season! But it’s a nice area to stroll around and we walked over to Quinta da Regaleira, which is perhaps one of the most unique palaces in the area – and the one that kids love the most.

The early 20th century palace itself is gothic, but the reason to visit is for all of the other adornments around the property. There are reliefs of the family’s pet dogs, fountains and a waterfall, various symbols of the Knights Templar and the illuminati and even an interconnected series of wells, tunnels and grottoes speculated to have been used for Freemasons initiation rituals. If you’re visiting Lisbon with teens, this is a great time to get them hooked on Dan Brown’s novels!

You’ll want to give yourself an hour (or maybe a little more) to explore the property’s nooks and crannies. After the walk back into town, reward yourself with a stop at Casa Piriquita for a coffee and a travesseiro roll – that’s Sintra’s most famous treat, which has puff pastry surrounding almond custard. You can also check out the view of Sintra National Palace, which is in the middle of the village.

If you want to see another side of Portugal, a natural add on to a Sintra day trip is a visit to the Atlantic coast. Portugal is famous for the mind-boggling big waves of Nazaré but you don’t have to go quite that far to see the beautiful, rugged shoreline pounded by surf: it’s just a thirty minute drive to a very impressive viewpoint near the town of Colares.

From there you’ll drive just a little further south to stand at Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of continental Europe. Just be warned: it’s incredibly windy here, even on sunny days. But it’s still a great stop to enjoy the views.

Finally you can complete the loop with a visit to Boca del Inferno just outside the lovely beachside town of Cascais. I think of all the places we visited in Portugal, Boca del Inferno might have impressed my kids the most!

If time allows, you can stop in Cascais for a stroll, ice cream or dinner.

I wouldn’t personally include these stops along the coast if you’re doing a Lisbon to Sintra day trip using public transportation. The bus routes just don’t line up unfortunately. But if you’ve booked a private day trip to Sintra, they’re easy to add on your way back into Lisbon!

*The overnight option:

I’ll add one more reason why we opted for the private tour route. We actually visited Sintra on day 5 (rather than day 4) and spent the night in Cascais at this lovely hotel right on the harbor. When he picked us up in the morning, we loaded all of our luggage and then he dropped us off in Cascais right after visiting Cabo da Roca.

Cascais was a great place for us to spend the night and it reminds me of the little towns along the lakes of northern Italy. In the morning we walked around town and then along the coast up to Boca del Inferno, which we followed up with an excellent lunch at Pizzeria il Siciliano. Overall it was a great way to add variety to our first family trip to Portugal without any extra inconvenience.

Our original plan had been to stay that night in the village of Sintra, which is quieter in the evenings and early mornings, but I’m glad that David advised us to choose Cascais instead!

Lisbon with Kids Day 5 – Beyond the basics

If you’re spending 5 days in Lisbon with kids, you’ll have more time to dive in to your specific interests rather than just covering the basic top things to do.

For our family, that meant taking a Jewish history tour. Most casual visitors don’t know anything of Jews in the Iberian Peninsula other than the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. In reality, there was a documented Jewish presence in Portugal at least as early as the 4the century. And in Lisbon specifically the community was deeply involved in trade, medicine science and more between the 12th and 15th centuries.

Our tour guide, Daniel, did a wonderful job explaining the complicated history of Jews in Lisbon, including the centuries-long persecution of “Cristão-Novos” up through the city’s dual role as both a transit point for Jews fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust as well as a host for Nazi propagandists. All in all it was a fascinating tour that will provide anyone interested in history a much richer understanding of the factors that shaped Lisbon’s development over the millenia.

Though we ultimately skipped it, you could easily add in a visit to Museo do Fado to learn about Portugal’s traditional music, or perhaps even catch a dinner + show offering at one of the may local restaurants offering those programs for tourists. One great option is Café Luso in Barrio Alto, though we opted not to go because of our dietary needs.

For families that want to keep things lighter and more kid-oriented, consider pulling the Oceanário from day 3 plan and spending a good chunk of day 5 in the surrounding Park of Nations district. In addition to the aquarium, there’s a large science museum for children, lovely places to walk on a nice day, lots of cool public art and tons of good restaurants. The area was developed during the World Expo in 1998 so it doesn’t have the same history and culture as the historic part of the city, but it’s a nice counterbalance to more serious tourism.

If you want a taste of the beautiful outdoor at Lisbon’s doorstep, head down to the fishing town of Sesimbra if it’s a nice day. From there you can enjoy pristine beaches or kayaking the coves of Arrábida Nature Park. You can even visit the well-preserved Moorish castle for free, and with much lighter crowds than in Sintra. This was on our list of options but unfortunately the weather in March just didn’t cooperate. On a future return I would consider staying a few nights in Sesimbra as an alternative to returning to Lisbon.

Where to stay in Lisbon

Lisbon has a lot of wonderful places to stay, but they aren’t all family-friendly due to tight occupancy limits. I’ve put together a curated list of where to stay in Lisbon with kids. If you want to skip my analysis of each, here are my top picks:

• Hyatt Regency Lisbon
• Martinhal Lisbon Chiado
• Hotel Convento do Salvador
• LSA Liberdade by Numa

These are all in different parts of the city and each one has something unique to offer families.

Where to eat in Lisbon

Over the last several decades, Lisbon has become an increasingly international city and the food scene reflects that. You’ll find traditional Portuguese restaurants – plastic chairs on a patio and hand-written menu on a chalkboard – if you go fairly far outside of the tourist zone, though there are a handful centrally located if you look hard enough. But you’ll also find an enormous number of tourist-focused Portuguese restaurants alongside venues reflecting the newly diverse population of the city.

We dined at all different types of restaurants and here are the ones I’d recommend along with their neighborhoods:

• Restaurante Bonjardim (Baixa) – Great place for piri piri chicken (rotisserie served with chili oil). It’s crowded with a mix of locals and tourists and there can be a queue to get in, but we arrived just before 2pm and didn’t have to wait. Online reviews are very mixed but that’s because the service is more abrupt than what some visitors may be used to. You aren’t coming here for the staff, you’re coming for the chicken.

• Karater Georgian Bistro (Chiado) – Georgian food wasn’t on my bingo card for Lisbon, but it was delicious nonetheless. Obviously get the khachapuri, but don’t miss the muchroom dumplings either.

• Manteigaria (multiple locations) – We tried pastel de nata all over Portugal, and we give the crown to Manteigaria for the best one. They’re constantly produced (you can watch the whole process) so you’re always getting a fresh, warm batch. Best eaten standing at the counter with cinnamon sprinkled generously on top. I dare you not to eat them every day!
• Bali do Cais (Cais do Sodré) – This restaurant doesn’t need to be on every family’s list of places to eat in Lisbon, but it’s one of the most reliable options for gluten-free food in Lisbon as it’s certified by Associação Portuguesa de Celíacos. It’s also the only place we found for gluten-free pastel de nata in Lisbon that had useful opening hours and was centrally located.

Obviously this isn’t an exhaustive list of family-friendly restaurants in Lisbon – you’ll find an eatery in every other storefront and there are great choices no matter what you enjoy.

Wrapping up

Want to plan your own trip to Lisbon with kids? Check out these additional resources:

• Portugal With Kids Itinerary, Recap and (Slight) Regrets
• Where to stay in Lisbon with kids
• 10 Best Things to do in Porto with Kids
• Where to Stay in Porto with Kids
• São Miguel, Azores Travel Guide: Finding Paradise in the Atlantic