Planning a trip to Lisbon? Start using the stairmaster now. Oh the hills you will climb. And climb. known for their Port Wine and amazing cuisine (including the custard tart known as “pasteis”), Lisbon is a city rich in history with friendly locals, a fascinating past and a mild climate. With Spain to the North and East and the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South, Portugal is the westernmost point of continental Europe and Lisbon is the capital city. It is the birthplace of the famous custard treat (the pastei) and is also home to the oldest operating bookstore in the world. Let’s get climbing……

Getting There

I flew non stop from NYC to Lisbon on TAP airlines, the flight took around 7 hours. Boston and L.A. also offer non-stop flights from the USA. You can also fly from NYC to the Azore Islands on Azore Air, spend a few days enjoying Sao Miguel Island (read my post on travel to the Azores) and then continue on to Lisbon. Once you land, leave the airport following signs for the train. When you exit it should be to your right. I bought the card at the machine that can also be used on buses and trams and I put 20. euros on it. It was only a few euros to get all the way to the center of Lisbon where you probably want to be. It was easy to navigate with one transfer and took a little over half an hour. I took the Red line, transferring at Alameda to the Green Line and taking it to Rossio.

What to Do

Take a free walking tour- I try to sign up for a free walking tour in most new cities I visit. The guides basically work for tips so they are not really “free”, but you tip them what you feel the tour was worth at the end. I usually tip around 20. USD because the tours are always worth it! I signed up with Guru Tours and as usual, the guide did not disappoint. She pointed out hidden sites, gave recommendations on where to eat and entertained us while giving a crash course on the history of Lisbon. If I am on Jeopardy some day, and the question is to name the holiday the Portugese were celebrating when the great earthquake of 1755 hit…I would win! Would you?

Visit Sintra to see Pena Palace, The Moorish Castle and Quinta da Regaleira- You can get to Sintra from Lisbon by taking a tour or go independently by train and bus. I opted to travel to Sintra by train…40 minutes on the rail, then about 15 min on the bus. The buses line up right outside the train station and run in a loop stopping at Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle, the town of Sintra and a few other stops. I started at Pena Palace…but bought my tickets in advance online here. There are several options for visiting the palace, I chose the outside option, which for us was enough, especially because we had other things we wanted to see in Sintra. We spent over an hour exploring the castle grounds, leaving us with plenty of time to walk to the Moorish Castle, which had super cool walls to walk and grounds to explore. The castle was built by the Moors when they occupied Portugal in the 11th century….Or by the “Moops” if you are a Seinfeld fan. We spent about an hour at the Moorish Castle, at which point we were starving and decided to seek out lunch. The bus stops a short walk from the castle and brings you to town. You hop on and off for the one price all day and they come every 10 minutes or so. After lunch, we had time to visit Quinta da Regaleira. I bought our tickets in advance online here and they are timed. They were also sold out, so buy in advance if you go. There was so much to see on the grounds, but the coolest thing to do was climbing down the “initiation well”. It’s creation was based on a combination of Dante’s levels of hell and the Nights of Templar. After all of the hills and steps we climbed in Lisbon, I think I have found a new level of hell. Fun Fact; Quinta da Regaleira is a massive estate created by an eccentric Portugese millionare over a hundred years ago. In some ways it reminded me of Gaudi’s Park Guell in Barcelona.

Travel Tip: Get an early train to Sintra. It gets very crowded as the day goes on and in my opinion, Sintra deserves a full day. Wear sneakers!

Take a walk to the Carmo Convent- up up up in the Chiado District of Lisbon, there stands the backbone of what once was the Carmo Convent. Much of the convent was destroyed during the 1755 earthquake, but what remains is a hauntingly beautiful reminder of the natural disaster that redefined Lisbon. There’s an interesting museum on the grounds as well. Entrance is about 7$ pp.

Spend time in the Aljube Museum– AKA the Resistance and Freedom Museum. It was several floors covering the very interesting history of Portugal from The Moors to the crusaders, Kings to dictators and finally, to a free democracy. We found the museum to be well laid out with everything translating to English. The museum is housed in an old prison. Bonus; Teachers get free admission.

Visit the Quake Museum- Down in the historic district of Belem, you will find several cool things to do, including the Quake Museum. The interactive museum has a plethora of information centered around the famous 1755 earthquake that devastated Lisbon. They even have several earthquake simulators just in case you want to be jolted and shaken violently while listening to the sound of buildings collapsing all around you. The museum did a great job of focusing on disaster management throughout the tour. They even had one of the cooler gift shops I’ve ever seen selling all kinds of disaster type equipment. They think earthquake, I think zombie apocalypse…either way, the solar phone charger I bought would come in handy.

Try a pasteis and a coffee at Pasteis de Belem The pastries here are amazing. The coffee? fantastic. Sitting in the original historic building while slowly enjoying the little warm morning treat…..priceless. The Jeronimos Monastery that invented the pasteis and sold it’s secret recipe to this very shop is located down the block. they have been using the original recipe to make these tarts since they opened in 1837. I am hoping my tart was made more recently. You can still watch the pastries being made by hand from behind glass.

Travel Tip; Pasteis de Belem is a few blocks from the Quake Museum. Grab your breakfast here before heading to the museum! You can also tour the Jeronimos Monastery down the block in the afternoon!

Take a hike up to St George Castle- The castle itself is empty, but the views of Lisbon are worth the climb ( you can also take the tram there). We did not spend the 20. euros pp to enter because the views around the outside are free. We did , however, pay to climb the bell tower (I must be masochistic) which is at the church outside the walls of the castle. It was under 10. usd pp and included entrance to the church, a small museum , and here’s the best part…a drink of your choice to take on your climb. They had prosecco, beer, wine and coffee. fueling a bunch of tourists (many looking rather unfit) in the A.M. with alcohol before sending them up 150 uneven stone steps in a dark tower…what could possibly go wrong?

Take a day trip (or even better, stay overnight) to Obidos– This was one of the coolest little medieval towns I’ve been to. The entire town is surrounded by original 9th century walls. Even better than that? You can walk these ancient walls the entire way around while enjoying unbelievable views of the town below. To make it extra adventurous, there are no safety rails of any kind, some random uneven steps along the way and it’s about 43 feet from the ground….”I’ll have a glass of anxiety with my vertigo”. It was actually really cool to do and I am glad I survived so that I could write about it. Back to Obidos…There was more than just the wall walk to do there. They have several churches worth popping into and a decent main street with restaurants, unique shops and a magnificent castle at the end of the street. The castle is now a hotel. If you want to be a fancy pants you can stay at the castle for the night. We stayed at a convent, turned bookstore, turned hotel and it was super cool. Much of the interior is covered with books. Books everywhere. It was my happy place! I would recommend staying one night in Obidos just to enjoy it in the evening after the swarms of tours depart, and again in the morning when it is peaceful and quiet before they descend on the tiny town . We took a bus from Lisbon to get to Obidos (it was not at the central bus station, so I would recommend an Uber to the bus station). The trip took around an hour and the bus company is called Rodotejo Bus Company.

Travel Tip; If you don’t want to do it yourself, you can take a day tour and visit for a few hours.

Take a Ride on the Tram 28– I’m on the fence about this “activity”. Everyone says you must ride the Tram 28 and that you will feel like you are on a rollercoaster….and oh how exciting it will be. Maybe because I have spent too much time crammed like a sardine into a smelly, germ infested dirty NYC subway, Maybe because I don’t like rollercoasters, either way, I felt as if it were a chore to be on the tram. It was crowded and smelly, there were sketchy looking people (pick pocketers thrive on the Tram 28) and I really did not have the fun I was promised. If you go to Lisbon, try it out. Maybe you will have a blast.

Travel Tip; Try a different tram. Tram 28 is seriously crowded because tourists all read about it. It is also why the pick pocketeers make it their preferred mode of transport. There are other trams that are less crowded and may be more fun to experience!

Meander into the Oldest Operating Bookstore in the World- Also high up in the Chiado District, the Bertrandt Bookshop is so worth a visit! As you enter the shop, the smell of old books is unmistakable. What a great smell. There is an addition (not as old) after you visit the fist room and a cute little cafe in the back. If you buy a book here (of course I did), they will stamp it with an oldest bookstore in the world seal!

Take a trip down to Alrgarve- The southernmost part of Portugal is known as Algarve. There are beach towns along the Atlantic coastline, each with there own personality. I took the train from Lisbon to Vilamoura and spent a few days basking in the sun like a lizard and exploring nearby towns. Check out my post on Algarve to find out how to get there, where to stay and what you can see and do…..

Where to Stay

Gloria Suites– This was a great hotel in a fantastic location. Of course it is halfway up a very steep hill. No surprise there. But the price was great, the rooms were clean and we were close to a lot of things. No breakie served here… but just down the hill you can score a “mista” and a coffee for a few euros. A mista is Portugal’s version of a ham and cheese toastie. Do not skip the fresh squeezed OJ.

The Literary Man– This is the amazing convent turned bookstore turned hotel in Obidos. When I stayed it was around 130. Euros for the night and came with an extensive and tasty breakfast. We had a miniature balcony with a view of the castle. How can you beat that? Oh! and if you take the bus, it’s literally a 2 minute walk.

Where to Eat

Indomavel- One of my best meals in Lisbon. I had the most amazing pork chops with mashed potatoes, olives for an appetizer and my son had a different pork dinner. We both had drinks. The meal came to around 40 USD!!!! Great cozy atmosphere as well.

La Florentina– This cute little Italian restaurant is up in the Chiado district. I loved the gnocchi.

Nood Chiado – I love the name… I kept thinking “nude” like naked. hahahahaha. Great dinner, great atmosphere and after dinner , stroll up the hill and stop to have a drink and enjoy live music at several cafes.

So if you are up for a hilly destination with great food, great prices , great weather…. Lisbon might make your list. The flight from NYC is a little less than 7 hrs and if you take the night flight you will get there just in time to enjoy a pastei with some coffee as the sun rises. don’t worry, you’ll burn the calories on your climb up to your hotel after.

Helpful Tips

Portugal is on the Euro. If you are paying by credit card, it will usually give an option of which currency to use ..Choose Euros, not USD . If you use an ATM Do not accept their conversion. You will still get the money, but it will be converted by your bank at a much lower rate.

Tipping is not really a thing like it is in the US. 10% for exceptional service, but otherwise just rounding up the change is acceptable.

Visit a liquor store and pick up a cheap bottle of wine to enjoy on your terrace or roofdeck. You can seriously find bottles as cheap as 2. USD. At that price, you can’t afford not to drink!!

Always have some euros on you. Not everyone accepts credit cards. Especially if you are lucky enough to find a street market like we did!

Now if you want to win that question on Jeopardy some day… The people of Lisbon were celebrating All Saints Day (Samhain for us Pagans) When the tremendous earthquake hit. Technically the answer would be; “What is All Saints Day”. Fun Fact: (not fun for them) There were candles burning everywhere as a part of the celebration, which is why the fires were out of control after roofs collapsed.

Enjoy Lisbon!!!!!