Lisbon Part 1:
We took a whirlwind trip to Portugal back in June with another couple and had an amazing time. We were supposed to visit Lisbon back in June 2020 as part of another European trip, but that was cancelled due to Covid wreaking havoc on the entire globe. So fast forward to the start of 2022 and we started talking about a European vacation. I’ve always read amazing things about Portugal – the culture, the people, the food, it’s inexpensive – so it was high on my Europe list. We originally weren’t sure if we’d be joining our friends on the trip but had FOMO and said “YOLO” and booked the trip!
The most condensed way, this is how our trip panned out:
Day 1: International flight to Lisbon
Day 2: Lisbon
Day 3: Belem + more Lisbon
Day 4: Sintra + Cascais
Day 5: Lisbon
Day 6: Travel day + Porto
Day 7: Douro Valley
Day 8: Porto
Day 9: International flight back to US
Unfortunately we only had 7 days in the country (plus our international travel days) to dedicate to the trip so we had to make some compromises around locations and activities. We wanted to do the Algarve region in the south and probably could have figured out a way to make it all work out, but we also didn’t want to rush anything. So we opted for a few days around the Lisbon area and a few around Porto. We realized that by going in June we would probably need to be a bit more flexible with our plans because it was the start of the high tourist season PLUS there was a crazy uptick in travel after two years of no international travel. While in Portugal, our trip went off without a hitch. It was only once we got back to the States that we had some travel hiccups and got stuck on the east coast for one night.
So… here’s our rundown of Lisbon. It might be a bit long 🙂
What we did:
Explored! We literally just walked around and stopped when something interested us. The city is incredibly walkable and if you don’t want to walk, Ubers are insanely cheap. We stuck mainly to the central areas – Chiado, Alfama and Bairro Alto. The city’s hills reminded me of San Francisco but with that old, European charm. We had a few places to potentially check out marked on our maps but we opted to skip most of the tourist attractions. For instance, we didn’t hop into any museums and skipped Saint Jorge’s castle, but we did walk through the area. I loved exploring the winding roads of Aflama. Seriously, just get some good walking shoes and get lost in the streets.
We happen to be in Lisbon between a couple really big holidays and celebrations so the city was decorated in colorful streamers and felt extra lively. We also stumbled upon what we think was a block party or perhaps it was for a school or business? We really have no idea! But we saw some porta-potties in an alleyway with a line of people and heard music, so we followed it and had a great time! Dollar beers, dancing and live music. It was truly a locals thing and we considered it happy accident of finding it.
Hot tip: Don’t take a Tram 28 ride. You know the historic tram that runs through the city. Locals actually use that as their mode of public transit and tourists make it hard for the locals to use. Plus it’s a hot spot for pick pocketers.
> Check out my Google Maps List!<
We didn’t visit all of the places that are pinned, but we got to a good number of them.
Lookout spots in the city:
There are so many good view points in the Aflama area!
Miradouro de Santa Luzia lookout deck has a beautiful walkway and everything was in bloom while we were there. There are actually several look out spots in this area – just head north on that street.
The Recolhimento viewpoint inside a park with a playground
The rooftop connected to the Zambezi Resturant at the top of the Lift Castelo. You don’t need to the take the lift up to access this lookout, but it is a hillier area.
And of course the Santa Justa Lift. We did not go up this elevator, but did walk by it. It’s suppose to have great views!
Cute streets, street art, fun things
- Pink Street: We stayed one block over and whenever we popped by at like 9AM on our way out for the day there would only be a handful of people and the restaurants hadn’t started setting up their patios
- Green Street: Full of streamers and plants!
- The Bica Elevator (also know as The Bica Funicular or Ascensor de Bica) – Lg. Calhariz, Funicular da Bica. We just happen to be walking by when the funicular was at the top of the rail and were able to snag some photos!
- Drinks in the park! A lot of the parks throughout the city have these huts/pergolas/round buildings that are drink stations for people to buy drinks and just hang out. It was awesome and we definitely took advantage of that offering a couple times.
- This staircase/alleyway with tons of graffiti. And also this walkway by what looks like building ruins after checking out the Recholhimento viewpoint listed above.
Food & Drink in Lisbon:
We learned a few things about the food scene in Portugal, but these were the most important ones:
- Meal times are later in the day just like in Spain. Lunch is like 12-3PM and dinner starts at like 8-10PM. Yes you can find places outside of those times, but it’s either going to be catering to tourists or the locals have decided to linger the entire days while enjoying their beer or wine.
- Waiting for a table is not normal in Portugal. It’s almost required to make reservations for your evening meal. If you don’t make a reservation, you most likely won’t get a spot or need to come back in 2 hours. Because there’s SO many restaurant options, if there’s no availability, people move on to the next place – they don’t wait. The night we went and got pasta, the server said all tables were full, so we asked how long of a wait. They were shocked we asked. We were told 20 minutes and I almost laughed because here in the US, that’s nothing. So we headed down the street to a local park where they had a drink station set up, enjoyed a glass of wine and went back to the restaurant 20 minutes later. Speaking of drinking in parks in Lisbon, that was a really cool thing the city had set up.
- Portuguese food is very hit or miss IMO. It can be great or it could be bad. All depends on your preference and the establishment.
- Try all the pastéis de nata that you can! They’re rich and sharable if you don’t want to go overboard with eating them. We personally liked them with cinnamon sugar on top.
My favorite way to explore a new city is to eat and drink through it. We didn’t go to any traditional Portuguese restaurants while in Lisbon but I felt like we got a good grasp at what the city had to offer otherwise.
- Copenhagen Coffee Lab: This place was right outside our AirBnB and was recommended by our host. Thoroughly enjoyed this place.
- Time Out Market: This was a giant food hall with such a great variety of food and drinks. Long tables for communal style seating. It’s often listed both on “Must Visit” and “Avoid” tourist lists. I would mark it as a “you should at least go check it out”. It was incredibly busy the first time we popped in and was hard to find a table. We actually ended up grabbing food from here twice while in Lisbon. My favorite pastéis de nata of our trip came from Manteigaria, located inside Time Out on the south end.
- Sacarrabos Beer Co: This was a nice brewery close to where we were staying, however their Lisbon location now looks to be closed.
- Java Rooftop: I LOVED my dinner from here. Has the octopus and thought it was amazing. It’s a very “scene-y” place that has regular table service on one side and more of a bar setting on the other. Recommend.
- Desordem: The great thing about Lisbon is that they’re not short on bars and are able to fit one into the smallest of places. That’s exactly what this bar was. Stopped in for a nightcap drink.
- The Cakery Pastry & Coffee House: Had breakfast here one morning. Food was good, but service was terribly slow.
- Coyo Taco: Food was okay. Apparently there’s a couple US locations too!
- Social B: The place had amazing cocktails. It was one of those places where the bartender asked for your preferred base liquor + your preferred flavor profile. I said I wanted a refreshing vodka drink and they delivered. 10/10 recommend.
- Fabbrica di Pasta Fresca: Such a good pasta find! Like, so good. We all loved our food from here. This is the place we were told there was a 20 minute wait and came back to. Recommend.
- Dallas Burgers: A take on American burgers with a diner aesthetic. I ate my burger out of hunger but I don’t remember being “wow’d” by it.
- Pink Wine Point: Oh Pink Street. You should probably avoid it – it’s a tourist trap. But! We stumbled into this bar – that was literally built under a bridge – and had a great time. Very lively with the younger, party crowd. It was also the most expensive drinks we had while in Lisbon.
- Cais 1929: We popped in here for an afternoon drink and snack (and to rest our feet from walking). We sat outside, which was lovely.
- Fauna & Flora: Had a great breakfast here. Pretty large breakfast menu and cute vibes.
Where We Stayed:
We booked this AirBnB, which was amazing overall. The host let us store our bags after arriving in the city even though it was before our official check in time. Some pros and cons to its location. Pros: Amazing for walkability to all the central areas. Very lively, young area. Cons: Very lively area – ha! There are several late night establishments right on that street so it was pretty noisy. We weren’t sure if that was because of being there during a holiday season or if it’s always like that. But overall, an amazing stay.
Stay tuned for Lisbon Part 2 🙂
–m.