Lisbon sunset cruises put you on a catamaran, a spacious yacht or a traditional river boat for the last light over the Tagus, with a bar, an open bar or wine served freely. They are bigger, more social boats than the small sailboats, and none of them promises to sail.
Ninety minutes on a catamaran from Santo Amaro, door 3, timed to the sunset. One welcome drink, then a bar that takes cash or card, with music, two toilets and life jackets. A host looks after you; there is no tour guide. The lowest cruise fare here.
From $31 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours on a sailing catamaran for up to 18 from the Spanish Dock at Alcântara, with drinks in the fare and a live guide. It pauses briefly off the riverside square downtown, and infant seats are available.
From $46 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours on a spacious yacht from the Oceanic Lounge at Santo Amaro, with an open bar of white and rosé wine, beer and soft drinks, and a crew who explain the monuments. Not for children under 6; arrive 20 minutes early.
From $56 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours on a traditional Lisbon boat from the downtown boat station by the riverside square, with white wine served freely all the way. Up to 47 aboard and no guide listed: a drink with a view rather than a history lesson.
From $40 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours on a spacious yacht with white and rosé wine, beer and soft drinks poured all evening, and a crew who name the monuments you pass. Not for children under 6.
Check availabilityIt is a bigger boat, sold as a cruise rather than a sail, that times its trip to the last light over the Tagus. You board a catamaran, a spacious yacht or a traditional Lisbon boat, and you share it with more people than a ten-guest sailboat carries. The drinks come from a bar, an open bar or white wine served freely, not from one counted glass.
The catamaran and the open-bar yacht meet at Doca de Santo Amaro, directly under the 25 de Abril Bridge, and the sailing catamaran meets at the Spanish Dock in Alcântara. The traditional boat leaves from the Sul e Sueste boat station downtown, beside the riverside square, which suits you if you are staying in the old town.
Every cruise follows the same river: west to the Belém waterfront, east to the old town, and across towards Cristo Rei on the south bank. What changes is the boat, the pour and the size of the crowd on deck.
Because you want the view with a drink in your hand, and you would rather mingle than learn the ropes. Five things set a cruise apart from a small sailboat.
The catamaran gives you a welcome drink and then a bar for the rest of the evening. The open-bar yacht pours white and rosé wine, beer and soft drinks for the whole two hours, and the traditional boat serves white wine freely all the way. On most sailboats your fare buys one or two drinks.
A catamaran is wide and flat, so you can walk about, sit on the nets or stand at the rail with your glass. The sailing catamaran takes up to 18 people and the traditional boat up to 47. If you enjoy a lively deck, that is part of the evening.
The 90-minute catamaran costs $31 a person, the lowest fare of any cruise here. It is the shortest cruise too, so it suits you if you want the sunset and then dinner in town.
The sailing catamaran lists infant seats and takes a stroller, and a flat, wide deck is easier with a toddler than a heeling sailboat. The open-bar yacht is the exception: it is not for children under 6.
The other cruises leave from the docks west of the city centre. The traditional boat is the one cruise that starts downtown, so you can walk to it from the Baixa and walk back to dinner.
This is the choice most people are making. Here is how a cruise compares with the small sailboats, from what each listing includes.
| Sunset cruise | Ten-guest sailboat | |
|---|---|---|
| Boat | Catamaran, spacious yacht or traditional boat | Sailboat for 10 to 14 on most |
| People aboard | Up to 18 or 47; some state no limit | 10 to 14 on most |
| Drinks | A bar, an open bar or wine served freely | One or two drinks, or wine on the wine sails |
| Commentary | A live guide on one; a host or none on others | A skipper who names what you pass |
| Sails | Not promised; sold as a cruise | Sails used when the wind allows |
| Length | 90 minutes to 2 hours | 2 hours on most |
| Fare | $31 to $56 | $34 to $69 |
See the sunset catamaran from $31
Pick a cruise if you want a social evening, a bar and space to move. Pick a sailboat if you want a quiet deck, a skipper who tells you what you are looking at, and the chance of the sails going up when the wind allows. The ten-guest wine-and-history sail is the closest small-boat rival on price.
You get the boat, a crew, the drinks your fare lists and a route past the landmarks of both banks. The open-bar yacht and the sailing catamaran add a crew or guide who explain what you see.
Two hours on a traditional Lisbon boat from the boat station by the riverside square, with white wine served freely. Up to 47 aboard, so book early for a seat by the rail.
Check availabilityFares run from $31 to $56 a person, and each covers the boat and the drinks it lists. The catamaran runs 90 minutes and the others two hours. Every cruise cancels free up to 24 hours before the start, and the catamaran refunds nothing if you miss the boat or arrive late.
Sunset moves a long way through the year: about 17:15 in early December and about 21:05 in early July. The clocks change on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October, so a late-October cruise leaves an hour earlier than the week before. The operator sets the start to match, and your confirmation has the time.
Arrive 15 minutes early, or 20 minutes for the open-bar yacht. Take a warm layer whatever the month: the way back is colder than you expect, and in summer the nortada, the north wind, picks up in the afternoon. Our weather by month covers it, and the best time to sail sets out the months.
Plan your evening around the dock. The map of the four docks shows which gate and which café each cruise meets at, and the visitors guide explains how to get there.
A sunset cruise is a drink with a view. It is the wrong booking if any of these is you.
Still weighing a cruise against a sail? The guide to choosing a sail sets every kind of boat side by side, and the guide to what each fare buys shows what the extra dollars buy.
Set the cruises beside the sailboats and the wine sails on Lisbon Sailing Tours.