Lisbon Tours

I found Lisbon quite easy to see on my own, using the Rick Steves guide and mass transit. Particularly if you have 5 days, you won't need to run around, but will have enough time to see most of the things tourists typically want to see. Were you asking about a tour because of a specific interest? In that case, I could see a tour being useful. Also, Lisbon is quite hilly, so if someone in your party has difficulty with hills, you might need some assistance (or just choose to take taxis everywhere). Otherwise, no reason you can't do it all yourself.

We did the Inside Lisbon original walk on our first full day to get a general orientation. It was fun and informative but be aware there is lots of uphill walking. After that we were able to get around the city on our own. We also did their Obidos Fatima day trip. That was a great experience. There were about 8 of us in a comfortable small bus with a very enthusiastic guide/driver. We saw so much that day and the price was reasonable. They offer quite a variety of tours. If I return to Lisbon I would do another tour with them.

Thanks for the replies..Pat, which tour company did you use? Steve

This goes back to 1997, but we found navigating from our rental car difficult going around Portugal. So when we had turned in the car for a few days in Lisbon, we were very happy to leave the driving to a bus driver. My old ticket says "portugal tours", but I think it was Viator. The value was seeing a number of important out-of-town sights all in one day, with no navigation, parking, window break-ins, etc. Watch for discount cards in your hotel, maybe. Yes, the price is that you are only given x minutes free time in each place. But I thought we had just enough time at each stop. If you hate being regimented, don't do this. It was also a good value, with a hardworking guide and a bus from 8AM to 7:30PM! The Óbidos, Nazaré, Fátima and Batalha Day Trip was particularly fine. I would only have liked more time in Obidos, not at the other stops. And honestly, I've seen so many walled cities and medieval towns (I mean 15 years later ...) that it probably was enough time.

Steve, we used Inside Lisbon. They pick up in front of the Hard Rock cafe if you take one of their daytrips in the vans. We were staying at Residencial Florescente which was just a block or two away. The original Lisbon walk started at Rossio Square which was also right down the street in the opposite direction.