Why Lisbon?
My trip was actually 4 days but due to a late arrival and a early flight home I'm going to call this a 3 day itinerary.
Every year me and my friend do a trip aboard and as both of us have never been to Portugal before we decided it was time! We booked the flights well in advance and got them pretty cheap but they did jump up in price quickly. Our accommodation we booked a few months before and still got a really good deal! (It's worth keeping a look at Booking.com because I found our hotel was available after 3 days of looking!)
Quick tips-
Portugal use Euros and so its good to bring some over or take out some cash from a cashpoint for tips and the free walking tour.
Using the travel card is really good- it was €13.70 for use of the metro, busses and trams. You can get these in the metro stations and they last 24 hours and not daily!
It's hilly so good walking shoes are great.
Every Portuguese person we met was incredibly friendly and most spoke perfect English! - definitely ask if in doubt on something.
It's very fishy and a lot of meat. There are some veggie options but definitely do some research before.
Nightlife is said to really pick up around 12am and pink street is the place to go!
Where we stayed....
We stayed at 'Saldanha Pool & Garden' which cost us together €272.94 for 3 nights. We choose the smallest bunkbed room with a private bathroom but this suited us well. First the hotel is a little hidden- when we arrived we walked up and down the street a few times but after looking at the door bells (from lots of previous experience of finding 'hidden 'hotels') we found it! The lady that checked us in was lovely- really informative and super friendly.
Our room was small but had aircon, a TV, a mini fridge, two comfy beds, towels and a bathroom which was hidden by a cupboard door! (Narnia vibes) The whole room was super clean, comfy and the shower was super powerful. The pool was cold (but probably nice in the heat!) and open 24/7 (we didn't get to use it due to time constraints but it looked nice!). The only downside is the walls are a little thin and we were woken up a few times by people walking down the hallway or in the flat above but other than that it was good! The location of the hotel suited us perfectly. We had a few shops and restaurants near by and also El corte Inglés shopping centre right round the corner, which had a food court, supermarket, cinema, beauty section and many floors of clothes. Would definitely recommend staying here if looking for a little more quite neighbourhood!
Day 1- Arrival, cocktails and Papa doughnuts!
We both met at Gatwick and headed for Weatherspoon's for a drink and got Tortilla for dinner. After a pretty smooth flight we landed around 20:05 and headed straight for the metro. Due to whatever reason it was closed and we ended up getting an uber (€6-7) to our hotel.
After finding the hotel we checked- in, dropped off our bags and headed out to Evolution for cocktails. This is a hotel lobby bar and the cocktails were nice but it was really empty and not the same vibe as a proper bar. After our cocktails, we walked around a bit and found ourselves drooling over Papa doughnuts. We bought an Oreo doughnut (€3.95) to share and had it back at the hotel. Honestly it was one of the best I've had, really, really chocolatey and creamy! We then got ready for bed for our early morning tomorrow.
Day 2- Breakfast, walking tour, pink street and a viewpoint dinner
Our first stop today was breakfast. After a quick Google Maps, we found Hygge Kaffe had a great selection of breakfast food and decided to head down. I love the vibe of this café and the food was amazing! I really liked the 'Sunny side up eggs' (photo on right) it was to tasty! Would definitely recommend for breakfast/brunch!
After breakfast, we decided to walk to Praça Luís de Camões (Luís de Camões Square) where we pre-booked a space for a free walking tour. The tour started at 10 am and goes to go to all the spots that are less touristy! We visited many spots in the areas of Bairro Alto, Chiado, Baixa, Alfama and Graça and finished off at the Castelo de S. Jorge around midday (tours can be all different routes) and decided to find somewhere for some lunch.
After going back to sea level we went to Solar Do Vez for lunch. This restaurant is a little touristy and it did have a staff member encouraging people to come in. But we were hungry and it had the option of €5 alcoholic drinks! We both shared a pizza and a portion of chips and then a few drinks each (sangria, mojito and sex on the beach cocktails!).
Our next stop was walking over towards pink street and the Time-out Market. On the way, we stopped off at Portela cafe for a Pastéis de nata which came to around €1.65. This was my first Pastéis de nata of many and I'd definitely recommend it! We also stopped at some of the souvenir shops on the way.
After reaching pink street we took some photos and walked to the time-out market to have a little look and decided to come back for dinner the next day.
Our next spot was Bica Funicular, which is where the iconic tram picture is sometimes taken! We waited in the queue to go up the hill in the tram but with it being so hot, we decided to attempt the hill. It is steep but goes by quickly if you just keep going at a steady pace. Once at the top and downing at least half a bottle of water, we took some (sweaty) selfies and pictures and headed for Park rooftop.
The rooftop is on Google but finding it is a bit complicated. It's inside a car park and you only see signs when inside. They don't allow liquid in the bar (even water) but once inside the view is great! The drinks are a little expensive, but normal for a rooftop bar. I had a quick drink but with it being so hot, we didn't stop for long and then planned to go back to the hotel to freshen up and with the idea of going in the pool.
We walked back to the hotel and stopped off at the supermarket to buy some chocolate, cold water and sangria to have later on.
By this time, we didn't have enough time for the pool as we planned to head to Jardim do Alto de Santa Catarina for sunset. After getting refreshed, we headed for the underground to get a 24-hour transport ticket (€13.70 each from the machine) and got the metro to the closes station to the viewpoint. On our walk up, we stopped off at McDonald's to get a takeaway dinner and found a bench at the viewpoint overlooking Ponte 25 de Abril. The McDonald's definitely wasn't my favourite but maybe because I'm just a bit fussy.
After eating, drinking and taking some pics, we were getting a little cold and headed towards the Santa lift. The line for the lift was long, so just decided to head to Praça Dom Pedro IV which is the square just down the road. They had a little market on and we got to try Ginjinha in a little chocolate cup (It's actually really good and I would definitely recommend!). After a look around, we found a bench, drank more sangria and did a bit of people-watching until deciding to head back to the hotel via the Metro.
Day 3- Tram rides, LX factory and Belém
Our day started with a small walk to the start of tram 28 (Martim Moniz). When we got there (around 9am) the que was small but did get bigger and bigger so I'd recommend going early. The tram can be paid for by using the travel card and it's just a tap on! Or you can pay on board and I think this is about €3 cash one way. I'd definitely recommend the tram as it goes past lots of landmarks and different sites in Lisbon.
We stayed on the tram until the end stop and then walked towards the nearest bus stop to get the bus to take us to the LX factory. Once there we had a little walk around and stopped off at A Nata do LX for a morning Pastéis de nata and espresso (both together €2.20). After breakfast, we walked around a few shops and went inside the main factory and had a look at the artwork. We finished off by getting some lunch at Micro Burgers & Music which was honestly the best veggie burger I've had.
After lunch, we headed to the closest tram stop to take us to Belém Tower took some photos, sat and did a bit of people-watching until getting my second Pastéis de nata of the day from Confeitaria Nacional. We then walked along the seafront back towards Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and got the tram back to Praça do Comércio.
Once reached the square we headed to Wines of Portugal and did some wine tasting. This is a really cool idea where you put some euros onto a card, which is put into a machine which gives out samples of wine. They have lots of different varieties that are priced from €1-4 and just putting €10 for the both of us meant we each had 3 glasses each!
After wine tasting, we walked to the Timeout market for some dinner. After looking at all the different food options available (pizza, Thai, fish, burgers, etc) we decided to try out Asian Lab. We each had a bowl of Udon noodles (€23 for two) and then got gelato from Davvero (€3 each for 3 flavours!). I really enjoyed the ice cream and would definitely recommend the chocolate.
At this point, our 24 hours on our travel card were about to finish so we got the metro back to the hotel. Started a bit of packing and then headed to Jardim Amália Rodrigues where we took our leftover Sangria and watched the sunset.
Day 4- A missed flight home
Our flight was early going home, so we got up and jumped in an Uber to the airport (€6-7). The airport has lots of different food options, but we opted for a McDonald's breakfast. Now, we didn't know this before, but airport security was on strike and with leaving usually enough time for our flight, we started queuing to get our passports stamped. As we queued the time for flight slowly approached and after speaking to staff there was nothing we could do. After finally reaching the front we RAN to our gate where we were told we missed it by 5 minutes. A little stressed and with no help from EasyJet, we managed to get onto the next flight to Bristol which meant we would finally make it home. Unfortunately for me, this did mean a 4-hour train journey home and a long day travelling, reaching Brighton late at night but overall was a crazy travel story to tell!
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