We started our second full day in Portugal with a trip out to the Belem area, just west of Lisbon.
We didn’t have a set schedule or any concrete plans for this day other than to check out a couple sites, get more pastéis de nata and check out the LX Factory area as we make our way back closer to the city. Surprisingly it was cheaper to take an Uber to Belem than to take the train when you considered the cost for four people.
Our first stop was the Belem Tower. We got there just past 10AM, right as the first group of tour buses showed up. Pro tip: if you want to avoid tour bus crowds, get to the attraction before 10AM or wait until after 3PM. It really wasn’t too busy at the tower yet when we arrived – at least outside. This was another time where we went to an attraction/explored the area but did not go inside. It was low tide while we were there so we could have walked right down to the tower and touched it if we had wanted to. We could see people inside the tower in various windows, so we know you can explore multiple levels if you get tickets to see the inside. Going to be honest, this was one of those regular tourist attractions that I didn’t care too much about and would have been fine skipping it but we had the time to check out the area.
We also stopped by the Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument with the giant Rose Compass as we explored the waterfront. The pattern made by stone was actually pretty cool—it looked like waves.
We also saw the Big Raccoon Street Art by Bordallo II (a pretty well known artist in Portugal), walked through the Empire Square Garden (Praça do Império Garden) and also by the Jerónimos Monastery. I actually really regret not going inside the Jerónimos Monastery. We didn’t buy tickets before hand and it was just insanely busy when we walking by that we decided to not check it out – dang tour buses!
But we did make sure to wait in line at Pastéis de Belém for their infamous pastéis de nata. The takeaway line was actually short – only a few deep – when we got there but grew considerably once we had acquired our pastries. If I remember correctly you have to buy two of the pastries as a minimum. The other option is to wait an hour+ to sit down at a table to eat your pastries. We actually agreed that we liked the one from the Time Out Market better than the famous establishment in Belem.
LX Factory
After finishing our pastries, we grabbed a ride to the LX Factory. It’s this great arts area that has shopping and restaurants. We ended up spending several hours here. Some places we checked out:
- Let Devagar Book Store: This place was really cool! Some art integrated and what looked like an expansive selection of books.
- Central da Avenida: We had lunch here, complete with wine of course. I see there’s some mixed reviews online, but we all loved the food and the service was great too.
- Beers: Can the name get any more obvious? Ha. We only had drinks here, but all was fine with our experience.
We ended the evening back in Lisbon with dinner at Coyo Taco and Social B for cocktails. The next day we were heading to Sintra and Cacais!
—m.