Lisbon & Porto

You are the only person to judge your fitness for walking up hills. You have concerns since you are posing a question.

I can't comment about Porto as I haven't been there. Lisbon is hilly and where there are hills they are on the steep side. As you are concerned about walking up hills you will need to look at tram routes, waiting for trams and the associated cost into your plans. The then current 2019 Portugal Rick Steves book was very accurate in pointing out elevators or escalators within the city to get to another neighbourhood - But they won't eliminate every hill.

I was in Lisbon and Porto earlier this year and used UBER a few times. I had no issues and it is definitely an option you can consider.

This might be a little Type A in the planning department, but by literally mapping out our daily itineraries, we were able to reduce the upping and downing in both cities. Totally agree on Uber, too. We like to walk, but there were times my husband just couldn’t look at one more hill. Uber was inexpensive and quick. I’d say save yourselves (and your knees) for doing the fun stuff.

As stated, the Riberia area of Porto is mainly down by the river. From it you can take either the funicular or cable car to get up the step hill to the main part of town. Since we spent the majority of our time in the upper town where the main sights are, we stayed in it. I felt both the funicular and cable car were expensive for the short ride and wouldn’t want to spend money on them any more than necessary.

Take a look at the Rua das Flores area in Porto. That area is relatively flat with lots of restaurants. When you want to visit the Rebeira area, walk down and take the funicular back up.

In Lisbon, the Baixa area is flat. Bolt is commonly used instead of Uber but both are inexpensive and work well. To see the more hilly areas - Alfama and Graça, Tuk Tuk works well. They aren’t cheap, but do save the knees.

My husband and I are fairly active seniors. Lisbon and Porto are both hilly. However, as many of the other forum members mentioned, there are options to navigating the hills, from elevators, trams, and Uber/Bolt. One thing that was not mentioned is how slippery Lisbon can be in the rain. Please be careful and wear shoes with good traction.

If you want to stay in relatively flat areas, then Baixa is flatter than Chiado. Riberia area in Porto is relatively flat.

In addition to the good advice above I would add the recommendation that you do not make Baixa/Chiado in Lisboa and Ribeira in Porto the focus of your visit. While you absolutely should spend time in both these areas they are massively impacted by tourism. I say again massively. There is so much more to these cities and exploring will give you a more authentic and pleasurable experience.

We are middle-aged and in fairly okay shape with two teenagers, one who is an athlete, and we all found Lisbon and Porto both very hilly and, at times, quite exhausting (it was also very hot during our stay in late April). I would make sure to get proper footwear and break it in before your trip. One thing of note is the sidewalks have beautiful tiles, but this can make at times things slippery, so make sure you have good, grippy shoes. No need for dress shoes & heels here! We did tire of the seemingly never-ending up and down hills, so mapping out your day in advance and how you are getting around while seems a bit Type A is super smart!

According to our walking tour guide, there are tricks to manage the hills. Use public elevators. They’re throughout Lisbon and often disguised. Another trick is to go into any big building and use their elevators to get to the next level. For example, the Rossio train station has a ground level entry point. To climb the hill, you can take the elevator up and exit at that level and you’ve scaled the hill. Same trick can be used in any major commercial store open to the general public.

You might be interested in joining Inside Lisbon’s Best of Lisbon walking tour where they do talk about how “locals” scale these hills with these tricks. See: https://insidelisbon.com/package/best-of-lisbon-walk/ I do recommend this walking tour though there are probably others just as good. They offer a RS discount too.

Porto is hilly too.

Personally I didn’t find the hills challenging but then again I run almost everyday. However, my husband who doesn't exercise also found them fine. We’re both slight.

Also, typically waking up hills aren’t as load bearing as is walking down them.