Lisbon is still recommended as a cheap city break and half of that is out of date. The flights are cheap and the accommodation is not, which reverses where the saving has to come from.
What changed
Rents and hotel rates in Lisbon roughly doubled between 2015 and 2024, driven substantially by foreign demand and short-term rentals. Portuguese wages did not follow, and it has been a live political issue.
What did not change: eating out, transport, and the fact that the best things in Lisbon are free.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Hostel dorm | €20–35 |
| Mid double, central | €90–160 |
| Mid double, Campo de Ourique | €60–100 |
| Prato do dia | €9–13 |
| Dinner out | €15–25 |
| Metro single | €1.80 |
| Pastel de nata | €1.20–1.80 |
Where to stay instead of the centre
| Area | vs centre | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Campo de Ourique | −35% | Residential, good market |
| Arroios | −35% | Diverse, well connected |
| Alcântara | −30% | Riverside, LX Factory |
| Graça | −25% | Hilltop, viewpoints |
All are within twenty minutes of the centre by metro or tram, and all are quieter than a street of short lets.
What is free, and best
The miradouros — the hilltop viewpoints — are free and are genuinely the best thing in Lisbon.
Each faces a different direction, so the hour matters more than the ranking. Senhora do Monte and Graça face west and work at sunset; Santa Luzia and Portas do Sol face east over Alfama and work in the morning.
Also free: walking Alfama and Graça, the riverfront from Cais do Sodré to Belém, most churches, and the Feira da Ladra flea market on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Ticketed: Jerónimos, Belém Tower, and the Sintra palaces.
Eating cheaply
The prato do dia — a weekday lunch main with bread and often soup for €9–13 — is the value meal, as everywhere in Portugal.
An espresso standing at the counter is €0.70–1.00.
Two costs that catch people: couvert, the bread and olives charged if eaten, and city tax at €2 per person per night charged at check-in.
Tram 28, briefly
The classic Lisbon ride and the single most reported pickpocketing location in Portugal.
Go before 9am, when it is calm and the light is good. By mid-morning it is packed and worked at the doors. Tram 12 covers similar ground with a fraction of the visitors.
The honest recommendation
Porto costs 25–30 percent less for the same standard, with an equally good old town, the port lodges and the Douro line.
On a two or three-night trip where accommodation dominates the total, that gap exceeds any flight difference. If the budget is the constraint and you have not been to either, go to Porto.
Lisbon is still worth going to. It is just no longer the cheap option it is still described as.