Portugal: Before You Go Guide (Printable + iPad)

Portugal is easy to love, but it has its own rules and a few traps: new EES border queues at Lisbon airport, timed Sintra tickets, tourist taxes in Lisbon and Porto, the couvert charge at restaurants, electronic tolls on rental cars and the Atlantic's rip currents.

This 19-page printable guide puts everything you should know before a trip to Portugal in one place, in 118 short, plain-English points with real prices, researched fresh in September 2026 with links to the official sites so you can double-check anything.

WHAT'S INSIDE

• Entry and paperwork (Schengen, the new EES border system, ETIAS status, proof-of-funds rules)
• Money (Multibanco ATMs, tipping, the couvert trap, tax-free shopping)
• Getting around Lisbon and Porto (Navegante card, contactless, Tram 28 and its queues, airport transfers)
• Trains, buses, ferries and flights (CP Alfa Pendular and Promo fares, islands)
• Driving, tolls and rental cars (Via Verde, EasyToll, the rental transponder fee)
• Phone and internet
• Etiquette, meal times and language
• Food, drink and pastelarias (pastel de nata, coffee names, prato do dia, sardine season)
• Weather and when to go (summer heat and wildfire season)
• Health and safety (pickpockets, scams, beach flags, Nazare)
• Accommodation and tourist taxes (Lisbon, Porto, Algarve, Madeira, Azores)
• Book ahead: sights and tickets (Sintra, Pena Palace, Jeronimos, Oceanario, Livraria Lello)
• Madeira and the Azores (hiking fees, levadas, ferries, whales)
• Choosing where to go
• Sample daily budgets
• What things cost: 20 prices, from a bica to Pena Palace and the Lisbon to Porto train
• A month-by-month calendar: weather, crowds, festivals and what to watch out for
• A pre-trip countdown checklist, from 3 to 6 months out to travel day
• A tick-box packing checklist (33 items)
• A first-day checklist for arrival day
• 20 useful Portuguese phrases with easy pronunciation
• Emergency numbers
• Two editions: a printable PDF and an iPad edition with a tappable contents page

PERFECT FOR

• First-time visitors to Portugal
• Anyone who wants the practical details in one place
• Travellers who like to arrive prepared
• A thoughtful gift for someone with a Portugal trip booked

PAIRS WELL WITH

Our Portugal Travel Guide (the best things to do) for what to see once you're there.

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

You'll receive 2 PDFs. No physical item will be shipped.

• Print edition (19 pages): US Letter, prints fine on A4
• iPad edition (25 pages): tappable contents, room to write

Sample budgets are per traveller per day and assume two people share the hotel room (a solo traveller pays the whole room).

This guide is general travel information, not legal, medical or immigration advice. Entry rules depend on your nationality: always confirm with the official sites before you travel.

PLEASE NOTE

Rules and prices were checked in September 2026 and are subject to change: admissions, fares, menus, hotel rates and taxes can change without notice. Please confirm important details with the official sites before you travel. Photos are illustrative. Researched and written with the help of AI tools.

Made by Global Trip Insight. For personal use only.