This year we visited Lisbon for 3 nights for under £135 each (flights and hotel). A lot of people ask us how we can afford to travel so frequently and it’s because we get deals like this for most places we visit in Europe.
No, you haven’t stumbled across a blog post from 2009, this was in 2024. Follow the steps below and you can do it too!
- How to visit Lisbon for 3 nights for under £135
- How to get cheap flights to Lisbon
- Where to stay in Lisbon
- Ready to go 3-day Itinerary (including what to eat/where)
When is the cheapest time to travel
Often we opt to go to places in shoulder season because it means cheaper flights & accommodation and fewer crowds. This was definitely the case for Lisbon.
We travelled there in January and it was nowhere near as busy as people who’ve been in summer said. We didn’t need to book in advance either, we booked at the beginning of January to go at the end of January.
It was the perfect break from the dreary UK winter and we didn’t even need our big coats (we actually didn’t need a coat the whole time we were there)! It was a comfortable 17 degrees and we could even eat outside. We spent most of the days outdoors, and there were kiosks open in all the squares where you could enjoy a drink and listen to live music.
Usually the budget option comes with less desirable flight times but it’s about working out what matters most to you on that trip. Sometimes we take the hit, others we don’t.
This time, we landed at 17:10, but didn’t fly back out until 20:40 on the last day. We could still have a nice meal out on the first day and had ample time to explore the city using the itinerary below.
How to get cheap flights to Lisbon
The key is to be as flexible as you can for dates.
Go on month view on SkyScanner to view the cheapest days to travel. I know what you’re thinking – we flew on a weekday and had to take tonnes of annual leave? Nope!
We flew on Saturday and came back on Tuesday for just £65 each return. This time, we even went for a cabin bag between us!
A word on baggage
Usually, our other top tip is to only go for the personal item when flying budget airlines as they now charge for you to take a regular carry-on bag.
Sometimes this add-on is as much as the air ticket itself if you’ve got yourself a cheap ticket! Usually by avoiding this, the next cheap flight we book somewhere else practically pays for itself.
Budget airlines usually allow a personal item – a small bag that fits under the seat for free. Check directly with the airline as these dimensions differ. For a short city break, a personal item is usually fine if you’re a careful packer. This trip though, because we were unsure of what to pack weather-wise we decided to take a bag between us.
TIP – if you’re booking with a budget airline. DO NOT add a bag straight away (even if you want one). This usually automatically adds one bag per passenger (meaning more ££). Wait until the end of the booking to add one on. This way it allows you to add one to just one passengers booking AND it adds it for a cheaper price than at the beginning.
Accommodation
Where to stay in Lisbon for the best price
Lisbon is huge, with lots of districts you’re going to want to visit.
The public transport system is efficient and affordable (€6.40 for a 24 hour ticket). Because it’s so big, even if you stayed in the central (read more expensive) districts, you’ll still have to spend money and time travelling to other districts.
By not staying in Baixa (Baixa-Chiado station), or Bairro Alto (both central, popular districts) you can save serious ££ and not compromise on quality.
We stayed right near the Marques de Pombal metro station. We did lots of research (so you don’t have to!) into how long it would take us to get to everywhere we wanted to see whilst in Lisbon. This area has good links to the metro, and buses across the city.
It worked as a perfect base for our 3-day Itinerary in Lisbon.
How to book to get the best price
We stayed at Easy Hotel Lisbon and it was just a 5-10 minute walk to the metro (with easy access to the whole city), and there was a bus stop right outside the hotel too.
The hotel was modern, and very clean and was just what we needed for a city break. The room came with a hairdryer (always a bonus!), and gorgeous smelling soap and shower gel (so you don’t need to pack those!).
The rooms are on the smaller size, but with the clever built-in storage solutions it works well and you don’t really notice the size. They also store your bag securely if you’ve got a late flight / early flight at the small fee of €5 for two bags (but you just booked one because you’re smart, didn’t you).
If I went back to Lisbon I would definitely stay here again.
Our go-to for booking is always booking.com for the best prices. However, for this one, we saw we could get a better price by booking directly with the hotel as they had an offer on at the time. Check prices for your dates on booking.com and directly to check which works out the cheapest.
Want to stretch your budget a bit further and stay more central? Explore options and compare prices here. Use filters such as price, and customer reviews to help you find the best place to meet your needs.
Getting from the airport to the hotel
It’s easy to get from the airport to the hotel by getting the metro or bus.
Metro – Get on the red line towards S.Sebastiao and switch to the yellow line at Saldana station. Ride just two stops to Marques de Pombal (in the direction of Rato).
Bus – Get either the 783 or 744 bus to Marques de Pombal
From Marques de Pombal it’s a 5-10 minute walk made easy by Google Maps / maps.me (offline – you’ll need to have downloaded the offline city map before using it offline for the first time). For all other routes in Lisbon, you can check live public transport times and routes on maps easily.
Want more inspiration for your trip to Lisbon or want a ready-made itinerary? Have a look at our 3-day Itinerary to plan your trip
We will occasionally use affiliate links when recommending accommodation or tours. This means if you book using our links, we get a small commission at no cost to you.
If our blog has helped you plan your trip, we would really appreciate you booking through our links (this can even be for a different hotel than the one we’ve recommended). Rest assured, we will never recommend things that we wouldn’t do/stay at again