Introduction

• My girlfriend and I enjoyed an early summer trip to Lisbon & Sintra, in Portugal, over the first bank holiday weekend in May 2017. I’m sharing our itinerary and top tips in case anyone is planning to visit or is inspired to go there after reading about the city and its top attractions.
• Overall, we loved Lisbon and it was easy to see why it’s grown, and continues to grow, hugely in popularity.
• If you are looking for other travel tips then check out my review of the Cote d’Azur here: http://jablifestyle.net/2016/10/30/cote-dazur_travel-tips/

 

Day 1 – Traveling & Bairro Alto

• We flew with Ryanair from London Stanstead to Lisbon, a very manageable 2.5-hour flight, landing early afternoon, around 14:50.
• Getting from the Airport to our AirBnB in the Bairro Alto part of town was cheap and easy, around €15 and 20mins in a taxi and would be even cheaper in an Uber. Once settled we spent the rest of the day walking around the Bairro Alto area of town. It was lovely to wonder the narrow streets and have early evening drinks in the sun before it set. There were also beautiful views over the city and river from Miradouro de S.Pedro Alcantara, a big terrace with fountains that attracts a good evening crowd. We also visited Principe Real, but didn’t find it as nice as the terrace.
• Walking the Bairro Alto part of town also allowed us to see two of the famous Lisbon ‘Elevators’, Elevador da Glória and Elevador da Bica. Expecting a normal elevator, I was initially very confused by these, they are in fact yellow trolleys – which look incredibly like the tram trolleys – which transport people up & down the Lisbon’s steep hills. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth actually traveling in one, they take you maybe 75 meters, but they make for an awesome picture.
• For drinks, we settled into a small place just off Rue Da Oliveira to watch the sun set. For dinner, we stayed in Bairro Alto and headed to a well-known restaurant which we’d booked back in the UK called Momento HB, on Rue da Rosa. We shared the Pork Greaves Carpaccio, and the Chef Special to start and then I had the Hake “à Poveira” Portuguese special.  I’d highly recommend the Pork Carpaccio, it was excellent. It was a great meal to start the holiday, diving straight into Portuguese cuisine.

Day 2 – Baixa, Alfama & Belém

• We kicked off the day with coffee & eggs in a tourist trap in Baixa region, a good place for breakfast was something we struggled to find so we ended up just getting yoghurt & fruit from the supermarket for the other mornings. If you know of an excellent breakfast place in Lisbon please comment below, it would be great to hear your recommendations.
• Baixa is Lisbon’s downtown, filling the flat valley between Lisbon’s two hills. As we walked from Bairro Alto down into Baixa we walked past Elevador de Santa Justa, built in 1902, it is an 150 foot neo-gothic Eiffel tower-esque viewing platform. This is the only ‘Elevador’ which is actually an escalator. Also on the way was the Convento do Carmo – the convert itself was destroyed in the earthquake but the gothic arches remain standing.
• Next stop was the Rua Augusta Arch – Lisbon’s Arch de Triumph - and Praça do Comércio, which a pretty much on the River Tejo. In the centre of the square is a statue of King José I, who was ruler during the infamous 1755 earthquake. The earthquake measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and killed tens of thousands of people, the fact it fell All Saint’s Day meant many at the time felt it was an act of God and it shaped the perspective of generations.
• From Praça do Comércio we hiked up to the São Jorge castle though the Alfama area of the city. Alfama’s tangled streets, originally the sailors quarter, are one of the few features of Lisbon that survived the 1755 earthquake, and another must area of the town to wander round and get lost in.
• The São Jorge castle walls actually contain three things; a small town, a viewing terrace and the castle itself. It’s a good 1.5hr wander to see it all and some of the views from within the castle are incredible, very different perspective from the views from Bairro Alto we saw last night. I couldn’t get over how tiny the entrances were to many of the houses in the castle town, not many 6ft 4ins people back in the 11th century!
• Before lunch we headed to Belém, a district 3miles west of downtown Lisbon by Uber. The queues for public transport – Buses #714 & #728 or slower Trolley #15E – were outrageous and Uber was half the price of normal taxi, we paid €7, so a great decision. The grand buildings in Belém survived the 1755 earthquake, its where the royalty decided to live after the earthquake, and it remains the residence of Portuguese president today.
• After a quick lunch – above average salad in a place close to Belém tower – we spent time at Belém Tower (built 1525-1520) & Monument to the Discoveries (built 1960 to honour 500th anniversary of the death of Price Henry the Navigator). Given the incredible views we’d already seen from the castle and within Lisbon city we didn’t bother braving the queues to get to the top of either, although I’ve heard that the view from Monument to the Discoveries is the better of the two.
• One queue we were more than happy to wait in was the queue for Pastel de Belém – the incredible egg custard tarts known as pastel de nata in the rest of Portugal – at Casa Pastéis de Belém. They were absolutely worth it and the queue went surprisingly quickly. We ate them fresh out of the oven in the Jardim da Praça do Imperico – the gardens in front of the Monastery of Jerónimos.
• The Monastery was built as a thanks to the Portuguese explorers that brought vast wealth to Portugal, created by King Manuel in early 1500s. The church is free, although it’s €10 to see the cloisters. Again, we were more than happy to enjoy the beautiful construct of the monastery from the outside, having seen plenty of churches in our time.
• The final sight of the day was the wonderfully pink Belém Presidential Palace, before we headed back to Lisbon.
• Dinner was at the unbelievably incredible BA Wine Bar. At the time of writing it is voted the 5th best restaurant on TripAdvisor, and it is see easy to see why. We booked a couple of months in advance from the UK and I’d recommend doing this as tables are limited. The menu is Portuguese wine, cheese & charcuterie, we shared the large mixed plater which consisted of ~7 different cheeses, meats and also bread & olives. The portions were really generous and I could not recommend this place highly enough, was fully worth the crazy cheese dreams!

Day 3 – Sintra

• Having covered a large amount of Lisbon in our first two days we decided to head 30km west to Sintra. Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which for a long time was the getaway location for rich Portuguese families, although nowadays attracts a significant number of tourists.
• We got the train from Rossio Station to Sintra which takes around 40mins. The queues to get the train tickets was ridiculous, 40mins of boring queuing, so I’d highly recommend getting them the evening before if you can. Rossio train station is a monument in its own right, the neo-Manueline façade is beautiful.
• Unfortunately, the queue for the train tickets was a sign of things to come. In hindsight, we perhaps should have seen it coming giving it was a Monday – when all big attractions in Lisbon are closed – and also a public holiday in Lisbon and many other countries, including U.K.
• Arriving into Sintra by train was easy enough, with a picturesque 10-minute walk to Sinatra Town, walking past the hippies & locals selling the standard tourist tat.
• In the centre of the small town is the National Palace, the oldest surviving royal palace in Portugal and still used for official receptions. It is beautiful from the outside, although the Madonna-bra turrets were the first thing I thought of when I saw the palace from a distance. The outside was beautiful enough and considering the ridiculous number of people hanging around we didn’t bother waiting to go in.
• Despite Pena Palace (Palácio de Pena) & Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros) looking imposing high up the hill we weren’t deterred. What did deter us was the poor signposting of the trail up.
• So, after a few minutes of failed planning we decided that it was going to have to be the bus, and joined the already 200 strong line in the centre of town. While waiting a guy driving an open-sided ‘wondervan’ asked if anyone wanted a ride to the top for €5, too good to turndown. It also meant we got some more history and knowledge of the area and the sights from the local driver. Perhaps the best tip was to get tickets at the first entrance to Pena Palace, rather than the main entrance, this saved us at least another 45mins of queuing.
• Pena Palace was amazing, Disneyland & Gothic styles combining to produce an extremely bright but very well finished Palace. However, it was perhaps the views which were totally exceptional, seeing across the valley for miles, out to the sea. There is a walk up from the main entrance to the palace, and there is a €3 shuttle bus, but I’d recommend saving your money and walking, the trail through the gardens of Pena Palace were lovely. Most of the area within the walls is outside courtyards with beautiful views and lovely architecture but there are 2 floors inside, the living quarters. These have been very well maintained to look how they would of when the royal family fled in 1910.
• We had a quick lunch in the beautiful grounds of Pena Palace Park, in the lush green trees and house sized boulders. Given the distance from the main attractions to the town I’d suggest either bringing food with you from Lisbon or picking something up in the town before heading up.
• From Pena Palace, it’s only a short walk to Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros), which in my view is better than Pena Palace, and not just because there were less people. The ruins of the thousand-year-old castle are in the middle of an overgrown – almost magical – forest that creates a special atmosphere. The views as well were breath taking, as good if not better than Pena Palace.
• The 600m walk down from Moorish Castle the town confirmed the walk isn’t that difficult, just exceptionally badly signposted. It’s 20mins if you are walking at a decent pace.
• We wanted to head to Monserrate – 2.5miles outside of Sintra with supposedly wonderful gardens, tropical plants & exotic landscaping – however with all the time lost queuing, once we’d walked back to the centre of Sintra it was time for the 40min train back to Lisbon. The description of the gardens reminded me of the Villa Euphrussi de Rothschild near Nice which we visited last year. If you are interested to see my top tips from Nice & Antibes check out my post here.
• Back in Lisbon we enjoyed few craft beers at Duque Brewpub, they had a huge selection, staff were very knowledgeable and it was lovely to sit out and watch the world go by.
• For dinner we decided to head for A Cevicheria, in the Barrio Alto region, and wait for a table as it is non-bookable. They have a bar serving drinks outside so you can drink to make time go faster, I’d highly recommend the Pisco Sours. We were fortunate and only had to wait 35mins for a table, but I’d suggest if you are group of more than 4 perhaps missing this or going very early as we saw people waiting for more than 1.5hrs for 3+ people. Hanging from the ceiling in the small restaurant is a giant, fake Octopus which further hints at the food style if the name alone hadn’t given it away. You could do a 6-dish tasting menu but we opted for a la carte and shared Salmon ceviche, Portuguese ceviche, BBQ Octopus & Codfish and Corn. The food was incredible, well worth the wait and given the size of dishes made us sufficiently full.

Day 4 – Mercado da Ribeira & Traveling

• With an early afternoon flight back to Stanstead, we didn’t have a lot of time and couldn’t go too far from the AirBnB, so decided to wonder through Barrio Alto, down to the river, passing through even more of the lovely & quaint side streets.
• From the river, and across the imposing Ponte 25 de Abril bridge you can see the massive Sanctuary of Christ the King on the other side of the river. We then headed back up the hill and checked out Miradouro de Santa Catarina, the statue just behind the viewpoint isn’t the most beautiful, but the view across the river and the city are great and worth the hike through the back streets.
• The final thing we did before heading to the airport was checkout Riberia Market (also known as the TimeOut Market). The market building is split into two, the traditional market in one half was nice, good quality vegetables, fish and meat but similar to many other local markets across Europe. The TimeOut Market had a cracking selection of food and drink, from traditional Portuguese cuisine to Thai food & pizzas. There was even a place selling pastel de nata, there weren’t quite as good as those from Casa Pastéis de Belém, but still very tasty.

 

Missed Sites & Conclusion

• Whilst we covered to cover a lot in the few days we were in Lisbon there were a couple of things we didn’t find time to do, but which I would have liked to. Firstly, the famous Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, we decided to miss because of how lovely the weather was, if it hadn’t been so nice we may have found the time to visit. Secondly the Parque das Nacoes, it is very close to the airport so if you have a later flight might be nice to stop in on the way.
• Overall, I loved Lisbon, it was an excellent city, with beautiful architecture, wonderful views and exceptional food. Sintra – despite the crowds – is an absolute must if you are visiting Lisbon, and the two taken together create a weekend getaway to rival many of the more traditional city breaks which steal people’s attention.
• I hope this post has given you some inspiration for things to do and enjoy when in Lisbon!