Travel Guide - Lisbon, Portugal
—— warm days & painted walls
This summer I had a chance to travel back to one of my favorite cities - Lisbon! The first time I visited was in 2018 right after I quit my teaching job and I have such fond memories of that time. I was walking the Portuguese Camino de Santiago and we only stayed a couple days in Lisbon and I’ve always said how much I wanted to come back and spend more time in the city. This summer finally brought the opportunity when an old high school friend planned her wedding there and flights were a pleasantly decent price!
Lisbon has so much to explore so this post is by no means exhaustive but can hopefully offer a starting point! We ate and drank our way through our neighborhood pretty well and took full advantage of the easy walking access throughout the city. The cheerful painted walls, incredible cafe scene, and interesting history will keep you happily occupied during your stay!
——— What to bring:
+ This is obvious but very very good walking shoes. Lisbon is one giant cobble stoned hill and amazing to explore on foot. I brought a pair of new balances and some trusty Madewell sandals and they worked out great. Nisolos would be a great option too!
+ People in the city tend to have that easy but put together look. The style is overall casual and the clothes are tailored but you will never see athleisure. I brought a mix of shorts, skirts, blouses, and sundresses that I could mix and match. Mornings and evenings in the summer were in the upper 60s/70s but the afternoons were very hot.
+ I bought this leather crossbody bag from Quince right before the trip and loved it! It went with most of my outfits and was easy to carry around for the day. I always bring a canvas tote with me whenever I travel too. Most grocery stores in Europe won’t give you a plastic bag for your groceries so I always end up using it plus it was helpful when we were gone all day and wanted to bring more items. It’s easy to collapse and keep in your luggage without taking up a bunch of space too!
+ Good luggage! As noted above, you will be walking uphill a lot and if you stay in an airbnb there will likely not be an elevator. I’ve had my Away luggage for years and I can’t believe how well it’s held up. I dragged it a couple miles through Paris last year when there was an insane traffic jam since the President was visiting the city. Our taxi wasn’t moving and the meter kept rising so we bailed and I dragged it behind me dodging in between cars, over cobbled streets, up and down curbs and it held together amazingly well. Totally worth the money in my book.
——— Things to do:
Feira Market - a local flea market on Tuesdays + Saturdays. I found a little film camera that was probably overpriced but money isn’t real when you’re traveling!
National Tile Museum - this is a great spot that gives you a cool history of the iconic azulejos that you will spot everywhere in the city. Also the little cafe at the museum is particularly stunning.
Pena Palace/ Sintra - oh this day. I read up on numerous travel blogs and they all recommended getting there early when the park opens at 9. We did not follow this advice and dearly paid for it. This area has its own “micro climate” and was significantly hotter than Lisbon and you are treated to a lovely uphill climb to get to the castle. It is absolutely worth a visit, but do not follow our lead and instead make the effort to get there early!! Also, if you plan to go inside the castle then you will have a timed entry according to your ticket and there is no flexibility with late entry, so be wise about when you schedule it and buffer enough time for how long it will take you to travel there if coming from Lisbon.
Fatima - you can easily get to Fatima with an hour long bus ride from Lisbon. I recommend getting there early if possible and attending Mass. There are so many beautiful spots to pray and just slow down. It’s an incredible mixture of people from all over the world coming to this special and holy place! It’s also quite warm here too. Fatima isn’t as strict on modest dress code as other pilgrimage spots so I wore a sleeveless blouse when we walked around the main square outside and wrapped a shawl around my shoulders inside the chapel. This is also a great place to bring home some beautiful souvenirs that support the local village!
Picnic along the water - not only are the dining options unparalleled but so are the local grocery stores! One of my favorite things when visiting a new place is checking out the grocery store and enjoy some picnic meals. There was tons of fresh fruit in season plus a way better selection of cheeses than you can ever get at home. And of course, the famous tin sardines (the national dish of Portugal!).
Jeronimos Monastery - so we actually didn’t make it here on this trip but I visited when I was there in 2018! It’s a beautiful half day trip and you can get lost walking around the old cloisters and feel like you just traveled back in time.
Beach Day in Cascais - you can catch a 30 minute train from the city for a perfect beach day. We hopped off and just started walking until we found a spot along the public beaches that we liked. The water is wonderfully chilly on a hot afternoon and this was easily one of our favorite parts of the trip!
—— Where to stay
We stayed in the Santos Neighborhood and absolutely loved it! I compared it to the Montrose or Heights area of Houston if that is a useful reference. It wasn’t in the main city area that was more lively and touristy but it was still a fun and walkable neighborhood with great shopping and food. We looked at both hotels and airbnbs and ultimately settled on an airbnb since we would be there over a week and had more space to spread out. Walking up to our brightly colored building tucked away on a cobblestoned street made my heart so happy each day. My 3 main criteria for an airbnb are cozy, safe, and clean and this one happily hit all of them. We also heard great things about the Biarro Alto neighborhood as well.
Note - keep an eye on whether or not AC is offered where you are staying! Much of Europe does not have AC in their beautiful and amazing old buildings and while mornings/evenings can be quite temperate it can get very toasty during the day. I initially booked us an AirBnb with no AC and thankfully caught it before we left and was able to change the reservation.
——— Getting Around
+ The best way to explore is definitely on foot but there are a couple other options if you are traveling farther or want to get there quicker. We used Uber when we needed a car and others recommended Bolt as a cheaper option (in previous experiences in Europe I found Bolt to be unreliable and the waits longer but we met others with positive things to say!)
+ Public transport to nearby cities/beaches is easy on the city train. You’ll need to get a yellow Navegante card that you can top up before a trip but heads up that many of the kiosks were broken while we were there!
+ Lime Scooters - these are all over town if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous! But be very careful and watch the roads for both traffic and cobblestones
—— Eats & Drinks
The cafe & bar scene in Portugal is incredible and also surprisingly affordable! We thoroughly enjoyed the food and happily offset it with miles of walking each day because *balance*.
Breakfast:
Heim - this became our usual spot for brunch on most days with a pretty typical breakfast menu but everything was cooked perfectly. Fun fact - we asked a waiter later that day what a typical Portuguese breakfast was and his response was “a cigarette and coffee” which we joked about the rest of the trip. So rest assured that brunch can be just about anything and you’re not missing out on any exciting local spots or typical fare!
Dear Breakfast - Another cute spot in the neighborhood! The breakfast sandwich was perfect.
Coffee:
Mila Cafe - an easy place to grab a coffee while you walk around the city. We got an iced latte and it was one of our favorites from the whole trip!
Copenhagen Coffee - there are several of these throughout the city, got an iced dirty chai while we walked around the flea market with the perfect amount of cinnamon!
Lunch:
Fauna and Flora - our first visit of the trip but perhaps one of our lesser favorite meals (but could very much depend on what we ordered!) although the vibe was absolutely perfect. Even though my meal left a bit to be desired it is such a fond memory of that first afternoon when we finally landed and sipped on a little sangria in jet lagged bliss :)
Honest Greens - one of the chains in the area. It reminded me a bit of Sweetgreen back in the states. The food was healthy and tasty and it offered a good place to wait out the heat on a particularly toasty day plus free bathrooms and wifi!
Dinner:
São Rabanete - interesting Eastern European fare that we stumbled upon when it was still the only place open for dinner and we were jet lagged and starving. The gruff chef gifted us a shot and as a non-shot-taker it was actually very good
Vila Bica - oysters. Tip - if you book a reservation through their instagram you get half off oysters when you come in!
Taberna - we had such a simple tuna appetizer here but we ended up talking about it over and over throughout the trip!
Acaso - great seafood options and some unusual twists on classic dishes!
Drinkies:
Sol e Pesca - along the famous Pink Street known for being rowdy and fun and more of a younger crowd. Not normally my thing but we walked by and decided to try and got a pitcher of wine for a ridiculously good price. Loud but fun people watching!
Matiz Pombalina - we enjoyed a long chat with the bar owner and he has a special personal twist on an old fashioned!
Cascavel - a cozy neighborhood spot with friendly waitstaff and great drink options!
PARK rooftop bar - we actually didn’t make it to this bar but it was recommended by a couple people so I figured to include it! Lisbon is known for its trendy rooftop bars and this one is located on top of a parking garage and known to be a fun visit.
——— Tips + Tricks
+ Tipping is generally included in the final price. You can check your receipt when it comes out at a restaurant and you will often see a line including gratuity. It is nowhere near as common or expected as the US. I typically leave 1-2 euros on the table after a meal when it is not already included in the bill.
+ Safety - Lisbon is overall a very safe and accessible city, however the one rule I always swear by when traveling is “don’t be dumb”. I’m mindful when I’m home in my own city and similarly so when abroad. It’s always better to be with someone else at night and aware of your surroundings at all time. Pickpocketing doesn’t seem to be as prevalent as some other major European cities but I always kept an eye on my bag and particularly when we were in crowded/touristy areas.
——— Final Thoughts
Some final thoughts/reflections on travel: Traveling is such a gift and a privilege, and I know how lucky I am to access so much of the world. There can be such a tendency to glamorize another way of life or even gloss over the realities of everyday life when you simply pass through someone else’s home. We had a particularly interesting conversation with one of our bartenders about how difficult it actually was for those local to Portugal and the ever increasing cost of living there. An overall lack of job opportunities stunted much upward mobility and there were few perks to getting an advanced degree if you wanted to stay in the area. She expressed both a frustration and fondness for her home that I think many of us can resonate with. I was grateful for her candor and I’ve found myself thinking back to that conversation multiple times and once again appreciating the chance to expand my own horizons through seeing the world - including both the highlights and not-so-highlights reel.
If you made it to the end of this very long winded post then I appreciate you!! Once I started writing I realized I had so much to say, and it was fun to reminisce over such a sweet summer trip. Work is quickly ramping up for me and I’ve been working on this little by little in my spare time and it’s been a treat to keep revisiting it throughout the process.
With love,
Christie