Lisbon in March: Weather, Events and What to Expect

Lisbon in March is the month the city turns. The rain thins out, the sunshine hours jump by a quarter over February, the terraces start putting chairs back on the pavement, and the clocks go forward at the end of the month and hand you an extra hour of evening. Prices have not caught up yet. For a lot of travellers this is the single best-value month in the Lisbon year — the point where the weather becomes reliably good enough without the summer price tag or the summer queues.

Wait four more weeks and the odds improve again: Lisbon in April adds another degree and a half, thirty more hours of sun and the extraordinary Dia da Liberdade on the 25th.

Below: what the climate normals actually say, what is on, what changes when the clocks move, how much you save against May, and the honest downsides — because March is a shoulder month and it still has teeth.

March weather in Lisbon: the numbers

The 1991–2020 normals for the city station:

• Average high: 18.9°C
• Average low: 11.0°C
• Rainfall: 68.7 mm across about 8 rain days
• Sunshine: around 216 hours, roughly 7 hours a day
• Sea temperature: 15°C

Compare that to February and the shape of the improvement is clear: two and a half degrees warmer by day, two degrees warmer at night, and forty extra hours of sunshine spread across a similar number of rain days. The rain has not stopped — it has just been squeezed into fewer, shorter systems with more blue sky between them.

The spread is what matters

Averages hide how variable March is. Early March can still deliver a wet, blustery week that feels like an extension of winter, with the Atlantic throwing fronts at the coast one after another. Late March can bring warm afternoons where the whole city eats outside and you wonder why anyone comes in August.

If you have any flexibility, weight your trip towards the second half of the month.

The clocks, and what they do to your evenings

Portugal moves to summer time on the last Sunday of March — in 2027 that is 28 March. Overnight the clocks go forward an hour, so sunset comes an hour later by the clock and the character of the day changes completely. Before the change you are choosing between a sunset viewpoint and dinner; after it, you get both. If your dates straddle that weekend you will feel it.

Before the change, early March has sunrise around 07:10 and sunset around 18:30. After it the evenings run an hour later by the clock: the first properly long evenings of the year, and a good time to head up to the miradouros.

What is on in March

The Lisbon Half Marathon

The Lisbon Half Marathon is a major March running event, and it is worth knowing about whether or not you run. The course crosses the Ponte 25 de Abril, which gives registered runners the chance to run across it. Even as a spectator it is a proper event: tens of thousands of runners coming off the bridge into Belém with the river beside them.

What it means practically: on race morning the bridge closes to traffic, the riverside road through Belém and Alcântara is shut, and buses and trams are diverted or suspended along the route. If you are not there for the race, plan an inland morning. The exact date moves year to year, so check with the organiser rather than assuming.

Easter — sometimes

Easter is movable and can land in either March or April. In 2027 it is unusually early, on 28 March, which pulls the whole of Holy Week into March: Palm Sunday on 21 March, Good Friday on 26 March. That matters because Semana Santa is when Portuguese families travel domestically and prices step up sharply for a week — March goes from bargain to high season and back again inside ten days.

Good Friday is a public holiday in Portugal; Easter Monday is not. Some monuments close entirely on Easter Sunday (Belém Tower is one), so check each venue’s opening hours, the Sé included.

Festivals and culture

• Monstra, the animation film festival, runs for about ten days in March across cinemas in the city — one of the better film festivals in Europe for the form, with plenty of subtitled and wordless programming that works fine if you have no Portuguese.
• Moda Lisboa, the city’s fashion week, also falls in March. Mostly industry, but there are public shows and the surrounding parties give Príncipe Real and Chiado an atmosphere for a few days.
• The concert season at the Gulbenkian is in full flow, and tickets are far easier to get than for anything in summer.

Dates for all of these move year to year and are usually confirmed only a few weeks ahead. Our Lisbon festivals and events calendar tracks the annual pattern.

Crowds and prices

March is still shoulder season and still cheap, with two exceptions that can catch you out.

• Hotel rates sit well below the May-to-September band — expect to pay meaningfully less than in April and roughly half a July rate for the same room.
• Queues at Jerónimos, Belém Tower and Pena Palace are short on weekdays and building at weekends. Book Pena’s timed slot regardless.
• Restaurants still take walk-ins on weeknights. Weekends in late March are a different story.
• Exception one: Easter week, when it falls in March. Prices spike, domestic travel surges and Sintra becomes genuinely busy.
• Exception two: the half marathon weekend, which fills central hotels with runners and their families.

Outside those two windows, March gives you close to April weather at close to February prices, which is the whole argument for the month. Our Lisbon trip cost breakdown has the numbers by season.

What to do in Lisbon in March

Everything outdoors, finally

This is the month the outdoor city comes back. The miradouros are pleasant again rather than an exercise in wind endurance. The rooftop bars that shut for winter reopen through the month. Walking Alfama, Belém and the street art routes is a pleasure at 19°C in a way it simply is not at 35°C. Our walking guide has the routes worth the climb.

Sintra before the machine starts

Sintra in March is close to ideal. The gardens are green from winter rain, the camellias are out at Monserrate, the hill mist still rolls in for atmosphere, and the tourist crush that makes July there genuinely unpleasant has not begun. Regaleira and Monserrate are at their best. Pack a waterproof — Sintra makes its own weather and is reliably wetter and several degrees colder than Lisbon. See Sintra tickets and tips for what to book ahead.

Markets and food

March is also when the calendar of Portuguese sweets moves on. The Carnaval frying stops abruptly with Lent, and if Easter is early you get folar — a sweet bread, sometimes with a whole boiled egg baked into the crust — appearing in bakeries towards the end of the month. It is worth trying once, largely for the theatre of it.

The winter menu is still on — cozido, salt cod, roast kid — but the produce starts turning. This is peak season for favas and the first of the spring greens, and the markets are the best place to see the switch. The Time Out Market is manageable in March in a way it is not in August, and food tours run at a civilised pace with small groups.

Day trips that work again

The coastal trips come back into play as the wind drops. Cascais is genuinely pleasant in March, and the clifftop walk to Boca do Inferno or out towards Cabo da Roca is far better in cool weather than in summer heat. Arrábida is at its greenest before the summer burns it brown. Óbidos and Évora both work. Full list in day trips from Lisbon.

What to skip

• Swimming. The sea is still 15°C, which is the same as February. Air temperature climbs faster than water temperature by a long margin, and the Atlantic here does not warm up until June. Caparica is for walking and lunch.
• Committing to outdoor plans in the first fortnight. Early March can still throw a wet week. Keep a museum or two in your back pocket — the rainy day guide has them.
• Assuming rooftop season has started. Some venues open in March, some wait for April, and evenings are still cool. Check before you build a night around one.
• Booking the Easter week without noticing. If Easter falls in March that week costs what May costs.

A four-day March itinerary

Weather-flexible, with the outdoor days movable.

Day one — the old city

Baixa and Praça do Comércio in the morning, up through Chiado, São Jorge Castle in the afternoon and Alfama in the late light. Dinner in a tasca, then fado.

Day two — Belém

Jerónimos, the Coach Museum, the Monument to the Discoveries and MAAT, with a pastel de nata where they were invented. Walk back east along the river to LX Factory as the sun drops.

Day three — Sintra

Early train from Rossio, Pena on the first slot, the Moorish Castle walls, then Regaleira. The full route is in our Sintra day trip guide.

Day four — the modern city, or the coast

If it is clear, take the coastal train to Cascais and walk. If it is not, do the Gulbenkian properly in the morning and Parque das Nações and the Oceanarium in the afternoon.

What to pack

• Layers, still. The average high is 18.9°C and the average low 11.0°C, so afternoons and evenings can feel very different. T-shirt, jumper, light jacket.
• A packable waterproof. Eight rain days is eight rain days, even with more sun between them.
• Grippy shoes. Polished calçada underfoot plus rain plus gradient is the classic Lisbon injury, and it does not care that it is spring.
• Sunglasses and sunscreen. 216 hours of sunshine at this latitude burns people who were not expecting to be burnt.
• One smart-ish outfit if you want the better restaurants — March is when they start being worth booking rather than walking into.

Full checklist in the Lisbon packing list.

Getting around in March

Nothing about the transport network changes with the season, but two March-specific things are worth knowing.

The first is that walking becomes the obvious default again. Lisbon is a city you experience on foot, and 19°C with a breeze is close to the ideal temperature for hauling yourself up its hills — which is not something anyone says about August. The funiculars and street lifts stop being a necessity and become a novelty.

The second is the half marathon closure, which takes out the riverside corridor for a morning and diverts the 15E tram along with a good number of bus routes. Check the date before you plan a Belém day.

Fares are unchanged year-round: a single on a Navegante ocasional card is €1.90 and covers an hour across Carris and the Metro, the card itself costs €0.50 once, and a 24-hour Carris and Metro ticket is €7.25. The Lisboa Card is a closer call in March than in winter, because you spend more of the day outdoors and less of it inside paid attractions — run the numbers against your own list. Everything else is in the Lisbon transport guide, and if you are flying in, the airport to city centre options are the same in every season.

Where to stay in March

Heating still matters in the first half of the month; by late March it stops being decisive. That widens your options a lot compared with midwinter — the beautiful Alfama guesthouse that would be an endurance test in January is fine in late March.

March budgets stretch. It is a good month to take the room with the terrace or the river view, because you will actually be able to use it. Príncipe Real and Chiado are the sweet spot for walkability and evening life. Full breakdown in where to stay in Lisbon, and if you are travelling as a couple the couples itinerary suits this month well.

Is March a good time to visit Lisbon?

It is arguably the best value month in the year, and for a lot of people the right answer outright.

You get April’s daylight by the end of the month, close to April’s temperatures, materially lower prices, short queues, restaurants with tables, and a city that feels like it belongs to the people who live in it. The rain is real but no longer dominant, and the second half of the month is reliably pleasant.

It is not the month for a beach holiday, and it is not the month if you need certainty — the first fortnight can still hand you a washout. If guaranteed warmth matters more to you than value, look at May. If value matters more, March is very hard to beat. Compare the whole year in our best time to visit Lisbon guide and the month-by-month breakdown.

Frequently asked questions

How warm is Lisbon in March?

An average high of 18.9°C and an average low of 11.0°C, with about 216 hours of sunshine across the month.

Does it rain a lot in Lisbon in March?

About 69 mm across roughly eight days — less than February, and with considerably more sun between the systems. The first half of the month is the wetter half.

When do the clocks change in Portugal?

The last Sunday in March, which is 28 March in 2027. The clocks go forward an hour overnight.

Can you swim in Lisbon in March?

Not comfortably. The sea averages around 15°C in March, similar to February. Wetsuited surfers only.

Is Easter in March or April?

It moves. In 2027 Easter Sunday is 28 March, so Holy Week falls entirely in March. Check accommodation rates for that week, and the date for your year, before booking.

Is Sintra good in March?

One of the best months for it — green, atmospheric and far quieter than summer. Expect Sintra to be wetter and colder than Lisbon on the same day, and pack accordingly.

What happens to transport on Lisbon Half Marathon day?

The route runs over the 25 de Abril Bridge and through Alcântara and Belém, and Carris publishes service changes for race day, so check its notices before you plan the morning. Plan an inland morning if you are not watching.

How many days do you need in Lisbon in March?

Four is the sweet spot — three for the city and one for Sintra — with the flexibility to swap an outdoor day for an indoor one if a front comes through. Our how many days in Lisbon guide sets out what each extra day buys you.

Are the rooftop bars open in March?

Opening dates vary by venue, and evenings can still be cool, so bring a jacket. Check the individual venue rather than assuming the season has started.

Is March cheaper than April in Lisbon?

Usually yes, and often noticeably so — unless Easter falls in March, in which case that one week costs more than most of April.

Bottom Line

March is the month Lisbon stops being a winter city. You get seven hours of sun a day, high teens by afternoon, the terraces and rooftops reopening, Sintra at its green best, and an extra hour of evening light handed to you at the end of the month — all at prices that still belong to the off season.

Aim for the second half of the month if you can, check whether Easter lands in your week before you book, keep an indoor option in reserve for the first fortnight, and do not plan on swimming. Get those four things right and March gives you most of what people come to Lisbon for, at a fraction of what it costs in July.

If your dates can slide later, Lisbon in April trades a little value for a lot more certainty.

Photo Credits

Mature trees in Jardim do Príncipe Real: 16.4.14 Lisbon 61 (13906230336) by Donald Judge from England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fresh vegetables at Mercado da Ribeira: Lisbon, Mercado da Ribeira, vegetables by Dguendel, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Gulbenkian garden pond beside the modernist buildings: 20121025 0259 Lisbon 10 by Mark Ahsmann, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.