38.57° N · 7.90° W
The capital of the Alentejo: a walled World Heritage centre, with a Roman temple, a cathedral with a terrace and the Chapel of Bones. It can be seen on foot in a day.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Visit · 1 h · Gothic cathedral with cloister, museum and a climb to the terrace · €5, under-12s free
Visit · 45 min · A 17th-century chapel lined with bones, with a museum and terrace · €7, family €15
Megaliths · 1–3 h · Almost a hundred monoliths in a cork-oak grove 16 km from Évora · Open access, or with an archaeologist from €30
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Getaways from Badajoz · 1 h 15Mérida · 1 h 45Cáceres · 2 h 30
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
In spring, with green fields, and in September and October. In July and August it often tops 35 °C and the centre empties at midday. In winter it is dry and cold, with few people.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Évora is a little over an hour from Badajoz on the A6, and a car opens up the megaliths around it and Monsaraz. Inside the wall, leave it parked.
Two ways to sleep well in Évora: in the cells of a convent beside the Roman temple or in a spa hotel beside the aqueduct.
With no direct flights to Évora, the gateway is Lisbon, with flights from almost every Spanish city. From Oriente station, the Intercidades reaches Évora in about an hour and a half; by car it is a little over 130 km on the A6. If you live near the border, driving from Badajoz is faster than any plane.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Évora's centre is small, can be covered on foot and has things that catch a child's attention: Roman columns in the middle of a square, a terrace at the top of the cathedral and, half an hour away, a forest of giant stones.
From the age of twelve, Évora grabs them with the strange: a chapel lined with skulls, a temple two thousand years old and menhirs older than Stonehenge in the middle of a cork-oak grove.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A hotel in the former Lóios convent, beside the Roman temple: rooms in the monks' cells, a cloister and a pool in the courtyard.
Why we like it: A five-star hotel beside the Água de Prata aqueduct, with outdoor and indoor pools, spa, restaurant and a garage inside the centre of Évora.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
© Pousadas de PortugalWhat to order: the Alentejo menu and a wine from the region; book a table in the cloister.
What to order: the Alentejo dish of the day and a house wine; go for lunch, which is quieter at midday.
What to order: the Alentejo cooking on the menu; book for dinner.
What to order: the Alentejo dish of the day; if the weather is good, ask for a table in the courtyard by the well.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
38.44° N · 7.38° W
By carBy plane
38.52° N · 8.89° W
Car-freeBy carBy plane
38.54° N · 8.96° W
By carLuxuryBy plane
38.48° N · 8.99° W
By car
Tips
It opens at 9:00 and at that hour the terrace is almost empty. Then walk down towards São Francisco.
From 14:00 to 17:00 in July and August it is very hot. Visit in the morning and go out again at dusk.
At sunrise or sunset the shadows of the menhirs lengthen and there are fewer people.
Sleep inside the wall. At night, when the day trippers from Lisbon leave, the lit-up temple and Praça do Giraldo belong to those who stay.
The streets are narrow, one-way and have restricted zones. Park next to the wall and walk: nothing is more than fifteen minutes away.
The historic centre fits inside the wall and can be explored on foot. Start at Praça do Giraldo, the main square, with its arcades and marble fountain, and head up Rua 5 de Outubro towards the cathedral. At the top of the hill, a few steps away, is the Roman temple: the Corinthian columns can be seen from the street, with no ticket or opening hours, and they are lit up at night. Next to it, the Diana garden offers shade and views over the plain.
The cathedral (the Sé) is a Gothic fortress of granite. The full visit, with the cloister, the museum and the climb to the terrace, costs €5 and children under 12 with their parents do not pay. It is open from 9:00 to 17:00 every day except the afternoon of 24 December, 25 December and 1 January. The terrace is the highest point in the city and is reached by narrow stairs.
Then go down towards the church of São Francisco. The church can be visited for free; the Chapel of Bones (Capela dos Ossos), from the 17th century, has walls and pillars covered in thousands of bones and skulls from the convent's old burials. The single ticket, which includes the chapel, the sacred art museum, the terrace and the nativity scene collection, costs €7 per adult, €5 for young people up to 25 and over-65s, and €15 for a family. It is open from 9:00 to 18:30 in summer hours and until 17:00 in winter.
Finish the afternoon by following the Água de Prata aqueduct towards the north of the centre, where houses are wedged between its arches, and return through the white streets of the old Jewish quarter.
About 16 km to the west, about 25 minutes by car, is the Almendres Cromlech, an enclosure of almost a hundred granite monoliths in a cork oak grove, beside the hamlet of Guadalupe. It is one of the largest megalithic sites on the peninsula, it is open air and there is no ticket office. The last stretch is a dirt track: you can get through slowly in an ordinary car, except after heavy rain. Bring water and go first thing or at dusk, when the low light falls on the stones.
For a night outside the city, Monsaraz is a good hour towards the border, and Marvão further north.
By car, Évora is about 100 km from Badajoz, around an hour and a quarter on the A6 motorway. From Seville it is about 350 km and from Madrid about 500 km. Some Portuguese motorways have electronic-only tolls: register your plate before crossing. Park outside the wall: inside, the streets are narrow and many are for residents only.
Without a car, fly to Lisbon and continue by train: CP's Intercidades leaves from Lisboa Oriente and Entrecampos and takes around an hour and a half. A single ticket in second class costs €13.90.
Since August 2025, Évora has charged a tourist tax of €1.50 per person per night for visitors over 16, with a maximum of three nights. In 2027, Évora and the Alentejo are European Capital of Culture: expect more events and more demand for accommodation that year.
At the table, the Alentejo is cooking built on bread and pork: migas, açorda, carne de porco à alentejana, and local wines on almost every menu.
Questions
Yes, by train or car. In a day you see the centre and the Chapel of Bones; for the Almendres you need a car and another half day.
The single ticket costs €7 per adult, €5 for young people up to 25 and over-65s, and €15 for a family. The church can be visited for free.
No. It is in an open square, at the top of the centre, and can be seen at any hour.
Yes. The city is easy on foot, children under 12 do not pay at the cathedral and they usually enjoy the Almendres menhirs. The Chapel of Bones may unsettle the little ones.
Yes: €1.50 per person over 16 per night, for up to three nights.
There is no public transport to the site. You need a car, a bike or an organised excursion from Évora.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/portugal/alentejo/evora
