Lisbon

[Diian]

Off to Lisbon for 4 days on Sunday with DH. What are must-dos, must-sees? All tips welcome. We are staying in Alfama.

Pastel de nata, wander on foot along the waterside to LX Market to eat, tram ride across the city (early to a oid the queues), day trip to Sintra on the train (ditto). I love Lisbon, have a fantastic break

It was almost 5 years ago that I went so it may have changed but I thought this food tour was great:

www.getyourguide.co.uk/lisbon-l42/lisbon-food-wine-tasting-walk-t603/

The Time Out food market is well worth a visit. It’s definitely worth queuing at the original pastel de nata place by the convent … it’s huge inside so the queue moves quite fast. Lots of bars so port tasting.

And yes to day trip to Sintra.

Comfy shoes for walking around, pavements can be slippy.

Sintra is fantastic - really worth the day trip. We got the bus up to Peña palace, saw inside it, did a short walk in the park, walked down to the moorish castle, followed a trail near the entrance towards the centre, grabbed some lunch and then headed to the Quinta da Regaleira. There are other things to see and do, but that worked for us and it was an amazing day out.

LX and Timeout definitely worth a visit.

The castle worth a wander round. But buy tickets for there (or any of the other sights) online - you can do this just on the day you go, it saves queuing.

The train was a cheap and easy way to get into the city from the airport.

YY to the original pastel place, the queue moves fast.

Drink wine, wander, relax.

The aquarium is nice. Jeronimo's monastery in Belem and the modern art museum next door (which I think is free). Try a Jose Avilez restaurant. You will get a Michelin star meal on the cheap! We were so well catered for that we never even made it inside the Timeout Market. It is an interesting city, for sure.

Find black sheep wine bar! The owners are great. You can only fit 4 people in it at a time. It's really adorable.

We also liked the brothel cocktail bar, and crafty corner pub near the pink road.

Ignore the men in white shirts trying to sell you heroin. We just said no drugs thank you politely and they left us alone. They're perfectly polite for drug dealers, but we did get approached about twice a day by them.

Oh, and go to the doll hospital! It's a really creepy doll museum.

For the tram ride, use one of the older trams on the east side of the city. The streets were too narrow and winding to take the modern trams.

If it's windy, a short trip out to Boca do Inferno is well worth while. We walked there fromCascais, so you'd have to research how to get there.

Pastel de natas - oh yes! Also pese espada, and bacalhau in one of its richer forms. And vinho verde, or pretty much any Douro red.

Portuguese food is GOOD.

Spend a day in Belem. It's only about 20 mins on the tram from central Lisbon.

www.timeout.com/lisbon/things-to-do/the-best-things-to-do-in-belem

Buy shots of ginjinha liqueur from little old ladies selling it at stalls in the street.

For an authentic locals meal, try Casa da India (Portuguese food not Indian). Sit at the bar. The grilled octopus and seafood rice are delicious with a glass of sparkling wine. Finish with a white port 😉

book a Port tour at any of the major houses on the river bank then walk down to the red market (same side) for food, its not huge but good

28 tram. The castle. Time Out market. Tuk tuk tour. The lift from the centre - you can use public transport tickets or otherwise it's quite expensive. The various view points.

www.noveb.pt/ restaurant or the Via Grace upstairs. The tasting menu was something else! With stunning views over the city. Close to the 28 tram route or cheap to get to in a Uber. Not cheap but incredible.

We’ve just returned from Lisbon. My husbands most enjoyable part of our trip was an afternoon yacht sailing trip taken from Belem, basically sightseeing along the river sat on a yacht, great way to see the sights along the river. We used the trains to take a day trip out to cassis which was a nice afternoon out and the trains are really cheap and efficient. Otherwise to get around we didn’t bother with the trams (my husband isn’t a huge fan of public transport as he spends all week commuting so doesn’t want to do it on holiday) we used Ubers, really cheap, plentiful and you get a door to door service. Time out and lx worth a visit, for the time out we preferred to go to the side sections as it’s less noisy and busy, just our preferred and we had a lovely lunch at one of the restaurants/outlets which opens out on to the street there. Enjoy your time there.

Just a heads up, passport control at Lisbon is horrendous. It took us 3.5 hours to get through, no where near enough staff….little to no queues if you are lucky enough to have an EU passport however! Talking to our hotel and taxi driver, this wasn’t a one off, there are often long queues, be warned!

We went to Lisbon a couple of weeks ago.

Agree that the queues for passport control to enter Portugal were long - we waited about 1.5hours.

We stayed in Alfama too and walked nearly everywhere. We did get the train to Belem and to Cascais another day - both worth a visit.

Another recommendation for the TimeOut market - great for drinks, light meals or the full deal!

We went to a 'secret supper' advertised through Airbnb experiences. It was really good so if you are into food and wine I thoroughly recommend.

Thank you for all your suggestions. We arrived this afternoon. Passport control took 10 mins to get through at Lisbon airport and security at Stansted about the same.

Just enjoying a glass of wine at our AirBnb before heading out for the sunset.

We have booked a free walking tour with HiLisbon tomorrow to get our bearings.

We loved the zoo (cable car ride) and the aquarium. Also the Hard Rock cafe. Old tram ride. Lots to do. It's beautiful

Echo the above about passport control - we actually missed our flight home as there is a passport control before you can board. 10 people missed our flight so make sure you join the queue asap!

Otherwise really recommend Sintra, Belem (definitely go to the carriage museum) and a free walking tour.

I am extremely envious! Enjoy every minute

Pastéis de Belém is a must!

Whatever you do, don’t go on the open top bus tour. It’s the longest, most boring and irrelevant bus tour going. Speaks from bitter experience.

@PartyPlan

Whatever you do, don’t go on the open top bus tour. It’s the longest, most boring and irrelevant bus tour going. Speaks from bitter experience.

We did, despite having NEVER done them anywhere else. Infact, we stayed at a hotel just to be at the start of the Hoho route.

I guess that we were anxious about getting to the Oceanarium which was not on any other routes. It wasn't so bad but I was kicking myself once we tried the subway towards the end of the week. It is certainly one of the easier subways in the world.

We have found the open top bus tours in other cities very good, but in Lisbon the buses took forever, there wasn’t much information on the headphones to the point we thought they were broken and they drove so far out of town to somewhere that can only be described as an industrial estate

All of the above and add in the Pantheon (The Church of Santa Engrácia) - beautiful building and fabulous artworks inside and loads of history

@PartyPlan

We have found the open top bus tours in other cities very good, but in Lisbon the buses took forever, there wasn’t much information on the headphones to the point we thought they were broken and they drove so far out of town to somewhere that can only be described as an industrial estate

That does sound familiar as it describes the area around the aquarium and the famous football stadium. Our headphones were working and we were still a bit shocked to see it on a tour!

I'm heading out there in a couple of weeks with my kids, so this is all really useful. Can I check that on the way out a lateral flow test is acceptable rather than pcr for children who are not fully vaccinated? I have a just turned 12 year old. And there is nothing needed on the way back. Slightly concerned about the long passport queues