How Many Stairs Are There In Bom Jesus Do Monte?

Braga, the city in Portugal's Minho region, has one staircase that people cross borders to climb: the Escadório do Bom Jesus do Monte, the monumental baroque stairway that mounts the hill of Bom Jesus on the city's eastern edge. Guides and blogs quote several different step counts for it, which is exactly why the question deserves a precise answer. The figure below comes from the Confraria do Bom Jesus do Monte, the sanctuary's own operating body, and it is the only count this site treats as settled. The full story of the sanctuary, its funicular and its hill is covered in the Bom Jesus do Monte attraction guide.

How Many Stairs Are There In Bom Jesus Do Monte?

The Escadório do Bom Jesus do Monte has 566 steps, by the Confraria do Bom Jesus do Monte's own count, rising 116 metres over a 615-metre climb on the hill just outside Braga, in northern Portugal. The stairway forms part of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte, which UNESCO inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2019, and it runs in three named sections from the Portico at the bottom to the basilica forecourt at the top.

That number is worth dwelling on, because competing counts circulate widely. The Confraria's own news page, announcing the "Escadórios da Humanidade" race held on the stairway, describes the course as "os 615 metros, que tem desnível positivo de 116 metros, com 566 degraus": 615 metres, 116 metres of positive ascent, 566 steps. When a race is timed on those steps, the organiser has an interest in the count being right, and the organiser here is the sanctuary itself. Where another guide prints a different figure, treat it with caution.

The 116 metres of ascent is the same figure the sanctuary attaches to its funicular, which climbs an inclined plane of 267 metres between the bottom and top stations. So the stairway and the funicular solve the same problem by different means: one in stone, one in water-balanced engineering from 1882. The funicular's own story, including its current status, is covered in the Bom Jesus funicular guide.

UNESCO's inscription, in 2019, covers the "Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga", a cultural property of 26 hectares recognised under criterion (iv). The stairway is the spine of that property. UNESCO describes the ensemble as built facing west over more than 600 years, with a Via Crucis of chapels, fountains, sculptures and formal gardens. In other words, the 566 steps are not a path to the monument; in a real sense they are the monument.

What Are The Three Sections Of The Stairway?

The stairway climbs in three named sections: the Escadório do Pórtico, the Escadório dos Cinco Sentidos and the Escadório das Virtudes. Each section has its own programme of fountains, statues and symbolism, and together they were designed as a devotional ascent rather than a simple route uphill, with the zigzag flights turning the climb into a sequence of staged arrivals.

The Confraria's own pages name all three sections. The first, the Escadório do Pórtico, rises from the entrance gate at the foot of the hill. The second, the Escadório dos Cinco Sentidos, is the section most visitors remember: its flights and landings are organised around the five senses, with fountains and sculptural groups that give each landing its own subject. The third, the Escadório das Virtudes, carries the climb to the top around the theological virtues. The design rewards a slow ascent. Visitors who treat the stairway as a queue to endure miss most of what it was built to say.

The geometry matters too. The stairway does not run straight up the slope; it zigzags, which breaks the 116-metre ascent into shorter flights with landings between them. On a hot August day, when the IPMA 1991 to 2020 climate normals for the Braga / Merelim station show a mean maximum of 28.7 degrees, those landings and the tree cover on the hill are what make the climb reasonable. On a winter morning, when the same normals show a mean minimum of 3.7 degrees in December, the same landings are where the views open up over the city below.

If the symbolism of the sanctuary interests you beyond the step count, the question of what the name itself means has its own answer on what Bom Jesus do Monte means in English.

A guided walk is one way to see Braga's historic centre before or after the hill, and the operator's live listing carries current times and availability. The Explore the Portuguese Rome, the City of Braga tour, a 1.5-hour guided walk rated 4.9 from 68 reviews and priced from $35.35 per person, pairs naturally with a morning at Bom Jesus: Check availability.

How Do You Get To The Foot Of The Stairs In Braga?

TUB Line 2, the Ponte de Prado / Bom Jesus route, ends at the Portico, the gate at the foot of the stairway, and it is the regular public transport link from Braga's centre to the hill. A single on-board fare costs 1.55 EUR for one zone and 2.00 EUR for two zones, while a pre-bought or digital ticket costs 0.75 EUR or 1.50 EUR, and a whole-network tourist day ticket costs 3.35 EUR.

Those fares come from the TUB commercial tariff in force since 21 February 2026. For a visitor making several trips, the tourist tickets are the better arithmetic: 3.35 EUR for one day, 6.05 EUR for two days and 8.05 EUR for three days across the whole network. The transfer rule from the first validation is one hour for a one-zone ticket and one hour thirty for a two-zone ticket. Everything else covered here is indexed on Braga Travel Guide.

The full route options, including where Line 2 starts and how the shuttle fits in, are laid out in the guide to getting to Bom Jesus do Monte. The wider hill area, its parkland and its viewpoints, are covered in the Bom Jesus hill area guide.

Do You Have To Climb The Stairs, Or Can You Skip Them?

No, you do not have to climb: the Bom Jesus funicular normally carries visitors up the same 116 metres, but it is out of service for maintenance, with no return date published, and a replacement shuttle runs every day from 09:00 to 20:00, roughly every 30 minutes each way, between the Portico and the sanctuary. Check the operator's notice before you go, and treat any timetable you see elsewhere as out of date.

The funicular's credentials are real even while it stands still. Inaugurated on 25 March 1882, designed by the Swiss engineer Nikolaus Riggenbach and promoted by the Braga businessman Manuel Joaquim Gomes, it climbs 116 metres over an inclined plane of 267 metres. The Confraria claims it is the oldest funicular in service in the world using the water counterweight system, a claim this site attributes to the Confraria rather than asserting as fact. Its normal fare, when running, is 2.50 EUR single and 4.00 EUR return.

There is a third option that many visitors miss: the car park at the top. Parking costs 1.00 EUR for cars and motorcycles, 10.00 EUR for caravans and minibuses, and 15.00 EUR for coaches, which means a driver can reach the basilica forecourt without touching a single step. The stairway then becomes a descent rather than an ascent, which most knees prefer, and the zigzag flights read differently walking down, with the city opening below at each turn.

The choice between climbing and riding is also a choice of what you came for. The 566 steps are the sanctuary's designed approach, and the fountains and statues along them are part of the UNESCO inscription. A shuttle or a parked car gets you to the basilica; the stairway gets you the monument.

For visitors who would rather have the hill explained than simply conquered, a guided half-day that pairs the historic centre with the sanctuary is the natural upgrade. The Small-Group Braga Half-Day Tour with Bom Jesus Sanctuary, rated 4.8 from 24 reviews and priced from $68.15 per person, covers the stairway's story in three hours with a local guide, and its live listing carries current departure times.

What Does It Cost On The Hill At Bom Jesus Do Monte?

The Confraria's information page lists no admission charge for the sanctuary, the grounds or the basilica: walking the 566 steps and entering the church cost nothing. The priced items on the hill are the high choir and bell tower at 1 EUR, the car park at 1.00 EUR for cars, the rowing boats at 3 EUR per person per 15 minutes with a minimum of two people, and the funicular at 2.50 EUR single or 4.00 EUR return when running.

That makes Bom Jesus one of the better-value major sights in northern Portugal. A visitor who walks up, looks around and walks down spends nothing beyond the bus fare. The basilica keeps long hours: open every day, 08:00 to 19:00 in summer and 08:00 to 18:00 in winter. Mass times are Monday to Friday at 17:00, Saturday at 08:30, and Sunday at 08:00, 11:00 and 17:00.

One correction to the table above: the replacement shuttle is not defined by a fare in the TUB notice, only by its schedule, 09:00 to 20:00 daily, roughly every 30 minutes each way. Treat the shuttle as the working alternative to the funicular and check the notice for anything beyond its hours.

For visitors folding the hill into a longer stay, the question of how long Braga needs has a full answer on how many days you need in Braga, and whether the city justifies the journey at all is settled on is Braga worth visiting.

Common Questions About The Bom Jesus Do Monte Stairway

How many stairs are there in Bom Jesus do Monte?

There are 566 steps, by the Confraria do Bom Jesus do Monte's own count, rising 116 metres over a 615-metre climb. The stairway runs in three named sections: the Escadório do Pórtico, the Escadório dos Cinco Sentidos and the Escadório das Virtudes.

Is the stairway free to walk?

Yes. The Confraria's information page lists no admission charge for the sanctuary, the grounds or the basilica. Only the funicular, the high choir and bell tower, the car park and the rowing boats are priced.

Can you ride up instead of climbing?

Normally yes, by funicular, but the Elevador do Bom Jesus is out of service for maintenance, with no return date published. A replacement shuttle runs every day from 09:00 to 20:00, roughly every 30 minutes each way, between the Portico and the sanctuary, and the car park at the top is another step-free option.

How steep is the climb?

The stairway rises 116 metres over 615 metres, but it zigzags rather than running straight up, so the ascent is broken into shorter flights with landings between them. The tree cover on the hill and the fountains along the way make the climb manageable in warm weather.

Which bus goes to the foot of the stairs?

TUB Line 2, the Ponte de Prado / Bom Jesus route, ends at the Portico, the gate at the foot of the stairway. An on-board single costs 1.55 EUR for one zone, and a pre-bought or digital ticket costs 0.75 EUR.

Why do other guides give a different step count?

Because several counts circulate on blogs and aggregator sites. The only figure the Confraria itself publishes, in its own description of the stairway, is 566 steps, and that is the number this site treats as authoritative.

The 566 steps of the Escadório do Bom Jesus do Monte are the answer to the question, but they are also the argument for going: a baroque stairway that UNESCO judged worthy of the World Heritage List in 2019, climbed in under an hour by most visitors, at the end of a 1.55 EUR bus ride from the centre of Braga.