LISBON · FEBRUARY · 38.72° N
Lisbon in February is a fleece city with the sunglasses still in the bag. The national weather service thermometer at Lisboa Gago Coutinho, 103.9 m above the river, puts the month’s average high at 60.3°F and the average low at 47.1°F, with 2.80 inches of rain across 7.8 wet days. Walking weather, in other words, on most days. Beach weather on none.
What the month withholds is the water. The sea off Lisbon averages 58.8°F, colder than either January or March, so the coast is scenery and not a swim. What it hands back is a drier sky than January’s 3.78 inches, and 10 hours 48 minutes of usable daylight by mid-month. Ticket prices ignore the calendar: the Jerónimos cloister costs EUR 18 in February exactly as it does in July.
FEBRUARY IN LISBON · AT A GLANCE
February gives you a 60.3°F walking city with 0.98 inch less rain than January, and takes the ocean off the table at 58.8°F.
AVG HIGH 60.3°F · AVG LOW 47.1°F · 7.8 WET DAYS · SEA 58.8°F · DAYLIGHT 10H 48M
Go for: afternoons near 60.3°F, 0.98 inch less rain than January, and indoor tickets in the EUR 12 to EUR 18 band at the Gulbenkian and Jerónimos.
Think twice before: planning a beach day at 58.8°F, or counting on Belém Tower: it can close whenever conditions make the visit unsafe.
Normals: IPMA 1991–2020, station 579 · Sea: Open-Meteo Marine 2015–2024 · Fares: Metropolitano de Lisboa & Carris 2026 · full sources at the end
On this page
- Lisbon weather in February60.3°F highs, 2.80 inches, 7.8 wet days
- Sea temperature for swimming58.8°F, and what that means in the water
- Crowds, prices and the tourist taxFlat 2026 fares, and the tax we could not source
- Things to do on a wet afternoonGulbenkian, Jerónimos, Oceanário with hours
- A two-day plan for FebruaryTwo days inside 10h 48m of light
- January or March insteadThe three months, side by side
- Is February a good month to visit?Yes for museums and walking, no for sand
Every figure here carries its source: IPMA’s 1991–2020 normals for the city numbers, Open-Meteo Marine for the sea, the 2026 Metropolitano de Lisboa and Carris tariffs for the fares. Where no primary source could be read, and the municipal tourist tax is the one case, we say so rather than estimate.
Lisbon weather in February: average highs, lows and rain days
| February in Lisbon | Normal | What it sets up for the day |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 60.3°F (15.7°C) | Layers, not a winter coat |
| Average low | 47.1°F (8.4°C) | Cold once the sun goes at 18:14 |
| Precipitation | 2.80 in | 0.98 inch less than January |
| Days ≥ 0.04 in | 7.8 | Rain on roughly one day in four |
| Days ≥ 0.39 in | 2.4 | Two or three days need an indoor half |
| Sea surface | 58.8°F (14.9°C) | Wetsuit water, not swimming water |
| Daylight, Feb 15 | 10h 48m | 07:26 sunrise, 18:14 sunset |
The normals below belong to IPMA, Portugal’s national weather service, for the 1991–2020 period at station 579, Lisboa Gago Coutinho. That provenance matters: this is a physical thermometer on high ground at 103.9 m, not a reanalysis grid cell averaged over a square of coastline. February there reads 60.3°F by day, 47.1°F by night, 2.80 inches of rain over the month.
Of the month’s days, 7.8 record at least 0.04 inch of rain and 2.4 record 0.39 inch or more. Be careful with the first count. US monthly tables usually tally days at 0.10 inch, so IPMA’s number is not interchangeable with the one on your hometown chart. In practice, rain interrupts about one day in four here, and rearranges the plan on fewer than three of them.
The spread between 60.3°F and 47.1°F is 13.2 degrees, and the warm end of it only shows up while the sun is out. A packable rain shell, one warm mid-layer and shoes with grip cover the whole month. Nothing in these numbers calls for a parka, and nothing forgives smooth-soled sneakers on wet calçada. The full list sits in our Portugal packing guide.
On February 15 the sun rises at 07:26 and sets at 18:14 local time (Lisbon stays on UTC through the winter), for 10 hours 48 minutes of light. Plan the indoor hours to close the day rather than open it: the Jerónimos cloister takes its last entry at 17:00 and the Gulbenkian shuts at 18:00. That leaves the miradouros for the final hour of daylight.
Can you swim in Lisbon in February? Sea temperature and what it feels like
Sea surface temperature off Lisbon averages 58.8°F in February, from the Open-Meteo Marine record for 2015 to 2024. Read it with one correction: the figure is the mean of daily maxima, the warmest reading of each day, so a true 24-hour average sits a shade below it. Nobody should treat 58.8°F as the water they step into at nine in the morning.
At that temperature, a swim is measured in minutes rather than laps. A wetsuit changes the arithmetic entirely and bare skin does not: expect the first-breath gasp, hands losing feeling quickly, and no good reason to go in alone. Children cool faster than the number suggests. Cascais still earns the train fare in February, for the seafront walk rather than the towel.
Wind and swell are the two things left unnumbered here. No February wind speed or wave height series for the Lisbon coast sits among our sources, so this guide claims none, and any winter-swell figure you meet elsewhere deserves its source checked. One weather effect is documented, though: Belém Tower can close whenever conditions compromise visitor safety. The official site says so outright.
How busy is Lisbon in February? Crowds, prices and the tourist tax
February’s place in the price year is the one thing we will not put a number on. No Lisbon occupancy series and no monthly hotel-rate index sit among our sources, and a month’s rank in a demand curve is precisely the figure travel pages invent. What is verifiable runs the other way: published 2026 fares and admissions do not move with the calendar, from the EUR 1.90 Carris/Metro ticket to the EUR 15 at Belém Tower.
So the lead time that matters is the ticket, not the room. Jerónimos states plainly that tickets should be bought online, because they frequently sell out and then cannot be bought on the day of the visit. Weekdays matter more than weeks: the cloister closes Mondays, the Gulbenkian closes Tuesdays, and the Oceanário sells by time slot with 5 percent off online. Fix those three against your dates first.
On the municipal tourist tax, charged per night on top of the room rate, we came up short. The city’s information portal returns a 403 to automated reading and the Diário da República requires JavaScript, so no primary source confirmed the amount and no amount is served here. Budget for a per-night line at checkout, and ask the property to quote it in writing when you reserve.
One upgrade genuinely changes this month, and it is the transport ticket. The 24-hour Carris/Metro ticket costs EUR 7.25; the version that adds the CP suburban trains to Sintra and Cascais costs EUR 11.40. That EUR 4.15 buys the right to decide at eight in the morning, sky in view, whether the day leaves town. Paying the driver is the expensive habit: EUR 3.30 on a tram against EUR 1.90 loaded on a card.
Things to do in Lisbon in February: museums, hours and prices
February’s structural advantage is that the cheap hours and the good hours overlap. The Oceanário’s last slot, 16:00 to 18:30, costs EUR 25 against EUR 29 in the 10:00 to 11:30 window, and this month it costs you nothing outdoors, since the sun has gone by 18:14 regardless. In June that same slot would swallow the best light of the day. The 2.4 heavy-rain days are what the indoor list exists for.
Prices and hours, read from the official sites in September 2026. The Gulbenkian: Wednesday to Monday, 10:00 to 18:00, closed Tuesdays, EUR 18 all inclusive, EUR 16 museum plus CAM, EUR 12 for the CAM alone, minus 25 percent for under-30s. The Jerónimos cloister: Tuesday to Sunday, 09:30 to 17:30, last entry 17:00, EUR 18, half price at 65-plus and ages 13 to 24, free up to 12, no audio guides. Belém Tower: EUR 15. The Oceanário: 10:00 to 20:00, last entry 19:00.
The free list is shorter than the internet promises. Free admission at Jerónimos and Belém Tower under the Acesso 52 scheme applies to Portuguese nationals and residents in Portugal, any day of the year. Several guides still advertise a free Sunday morning for everyone. The monument’s own rules do not support it, and an American visitor pays the EUR 18 whatever the weekday. The Gulbenkian’s two free windows are narrow as well: Sundays from 14:00 for under-18s and certain card holders, Saturdays 18:00 to 21:00 for under-30s carrying the free Cartão Gulbenkian. The miradouros cost nothing in any month.
Lisbon in February: two-day itinerary and daylight hours
Day one goes to Belém, built around the 17:00 cutoff. Sunrise at 07:26 means there is no dawn to chase: leave at 09:00, reach the Jerónimos cloister for the 09:30 opening (EUR 18, booked online, never a Monday), and give it an hour. Belém Tower at 11:15 if it is open (EUR 15), lunch at 13:00, then east again on a loaded card. A viewpoint by 17:15, and the light is gone by 18:14.
Day two runs north, then to the river. Gulbenkian at 10:00 (EUR 16 for the museum and the CAM, never a Tuesday), out by 13:30, then the Oceanário’s 16:00 slot at EUR 25, with last entry at 19:00 and closing at 20:00. If the sky turns, the substitution is decided in advance: Belém Tower falls first, the cloister handles light rain, and on one of the month’s 2.4 heavy days you trade the outdoor half of day one for more indoor hours.
Lisbon in February vs January and March
| Measure | January | February | March |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 57.9°F | 60.3°F | 65.1°F |
| Average low | 46.0°F | 47.1°F | 50.5°F |
| Precipitation | 3.78 in | 2.80 in | 2.63 in |
| Days ≥ 0.04 in | 9.9 | 7.8 | 7.2 |
| Sea surface | 59.4°F | 58.8°F | 59.4°F |
Across the three months the thermometer climbs and the rain retreats: 57.9°F, 60.3°F and 65.1°F for the average high, then 3.78, 2.80 and 2.63 inches of rain over 9.9, 7.8 and 7.2 days with measurable rainfall. The sea refuses to follow that line. It reads 59.4°F in January, 58.8°F in February and 59.4°F again in March, the ocean lagging the air by weeks. February holds the coldest water of the three.
Shift four weeks later and you buy 4.8°F on the daytime high, 3.4°F on the night, half an inch less rain and a longer evening. Shift four weeks earlier and January hands you an extra inch of rain over two more wet days, with a high 2.4°F lower. On weather alone nothing argues for February over March. What argues for it is a date already booked.
Is February a good time to visit Lisbon?
Yes for a walking, eating, museum-going Lisbon. Afternoons near 60.3°F and 7.8 wet days out of 28 make a city trip that works, provided the plan bends around the sky. No for anyone whose mental picture includes sand: 58.8°F water and 10 hours 48 minutes of daylight will not deliver that trip, and optimism about southern Europe does not change either figure.
If the answer came out no, move to March rather than April: 65.1°F by day, 2.63 inches of rain, 7.2 wet days, all from the same station and the same 1991–2020 period as the February column. That is the smallest shift that changes the character of the trip. Sintra and the coast reward the extra warmth more than the city does, being largely outdoors.
What February holds alone in this window is the winter’s sharpest single-month improvement: 0.98 inch less rain and 2.4°F more daytime warmth than January, without waiting for March.
The last word
Book the tickets, not the weather. Jerónimos sells out online and refuses same-day sales, the Gulbenkian goes dark on Tuesdays, and Belém Tower answers to the wind, so this month rewards whoever fixed the indoor hours first and left the viewpoints loose. One small thing at the first ticket machine: the reusable navegante card costs EUR 0.50 and reloads for a year, zapping tops up in fixed steps from EUR 3 to EUR 40, and a single Carris/Metro ticket runs one hour without letting you enter the metro twice in a row.
Sources & data for this guide
- February normals (60.3°F high, 47.1°F low, 2.80 in, 7.8 days at 0.04 in, 2.4 days at 0.39 in) · IPMA, climate normals 1991–2020, station 579 Lisboa Gago Coutinho, 103.9 m · checked Sep 10, 2026
- January and March normals, same station and same period · IPMA · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Sea surface 58.8°F, mean of daily maxima 2015–2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Daylight 10h 48m, sunrise 07:26 and sunset 18:14 on Feb 15 · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Fares: EUR 1.90 Carris/Metro ticket, EUR 0.50 navegante card, EUR 1.72 zapping metro ride, EUR 1.92 contactless, 24-hour tickets at EUR 7.25 / 10.35 / 11.40 · Metropolitano de Lisboa 2026 tariff PDF · checked Sep 10, 2026
- On-board fares: bus EUR 2.30, tram EUR 3.30, funicular EUR 4.30, Santa Justa lift EUR 6.20 · Carris Novo Tarifário 2026 · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Jerónimos EUR 18, hours, Monday closure, online sellouts, no audio guides · mosteirojeronimos.gov.pt, Visitar · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Acesso 52 free admission covers Portuguese nationals and residents in Portugal on any day. Several online guides wrongly announce a free Sunday morning until 14:00 for all visitors · official Jerónimos Gratuitidade list · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Belém Tower EUR 15 and weather closures · Torre de Belém official site, Visitar · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Oceanário slot prices (EUR 29 / 27 / 25 adult) and hours 10:00–20:00 · official Tickets page · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Gulbenkian prices, Wednesday-to-Monday hours and the two restricted free windows · Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian official pages · checked Sep 10, 2026
- Municipal tourist tax: amount NOT served. informacoeseservicos.lisboa.pt returns 403 to automated reading, diariodarepublica.pt requires JavaScript · verification attempted Sep 8, 2026
- No dated February event for Lisbon could be verified, so none is named here. Hours, fares and closures change · confirm with each operator when you book.