Lisbon Itinerary Ideas

We are back from a cruise from Lisbon to London, and I thought CC readers who are planning a Western European cruise might be interested in my latest post on Lisbon. We spent two nights there before boarding the ship. I will be following up with Lisbon Day 2 and itinerary ideas, photos & reviews of other posts we visited as we sailed up the Atlantic.

http://www.themodernpostcard.com/?p=974

Mary

Travel Blog: http://www.themodernpostcard.com

We just finished two weeks in Portugal, with three days in Lisbon, a Douro river cruise from Porto that was fantastic, then there more days in Porto.

Portugal is great. The people are very friendly. I like Spain as well, but the Portuguese people are more friendly. The food, especially the pastries in Portugal were excellent.

Rick Steves has a very good guide for Lisbon and we did the walking tour from the St. George Castle down to the big square. Many of the photos posted above could have been take by us. Don't miss this walking tour. Rick has two other walking tours. We didn't do them, since we were on a Vantage tour that included a city tour. Another must see area is Belem. There you find a monastery, the castle looking gateway to the Explorers and the famous cafe with the Belem pastries. This area is on the water, west of the city center.

4774 Papa, Your trips sounds fabulous! I would definitely agree with you on friendliness. Everywhere we went in Lisbon, we found the people to be extremely helpful and welcoming. And those pastries! We spent the second day in Belem, which I will be posting next. Thanks for your comments!

Very nice! Lisbon is among our favorite cities and we try to get there as often as we can. Your blog is wonderful.

Deirdre, Thank you so much for your kind words...I'm happy to know you're enjoying the blog!

Thank you for posting, very interesting. We are planning a trip for next June and your blog is so useful in planning.

vival, You are very welcome! I'm glad to know the blog is helping with your plans!

Thanks for sharing, Mary. :)

dogs4fun, My pleasure!

Anyone going to Lisbon should not miss out on the original pastries at the Pasteis de Belem shop right next to the monastery. They are good anywhere in Portugal but those are the best. You can recognize the shop from the blue canvas above the door. They sell the pastels to go, but I would highly recommend settling down in one of the many rooms of the café (they have expanded in multiple steps as they became more popular) and breathe in some of the atmosphere. While it has become a touristy spot, there are also many locals that stop there for an afternoon snack.

Enjoy!

(I have lived in Lisbon several years while growing up, so feel free to ask away other questions you may have about Lisbon)

Anarinya, Thank you for adding the info on the Pastéis de Belém. My Lisbon Day 2 blog post focuses on Belém, and we really enjoyed the cafe and that delicious pastry. I agree with you about eating there. It was crowded, but really worth finding a table and taking it all in. You have a beautiful city!

http://www.themodernpostcard.com/?p=1069

Mary

Mary,

I love the pictures in your blog! Beautiful! They bring back a lot of childhood memories :)

Thanks for posting! Glad you enjoyed your stay in Lisbon.

Anarinya, Thank you so much! I'm happy to know the photos brought back some childhood memories!

Several years ago we were on a cruise that stopped in Porto - very near where we docked there were several very casual restaurants - outside tables, big smokey grills with fresh fish. It was one of the best meals of my life - we will be in Lisbon in Oct.....where can I find a similar restaurant? It was grilled fish, slit open, head on, maybe with olive oil and lemon - just amazing!

Hi suec12

that sounds like you had a very traditional meal. There should be heaps of restaurants around Lisbon that can serve a similar meal. Avoid the touristy places in the Baixa area of Lisbon (the ones with pictures on their menus posted outside). The really local restaurants often don't look very appealing from the outside, they would typically have paper "tablecloths", a simple bar counter and ceramic tiles on the walls. The food however is often amazing and relatively cheap. Unfortunately I cannot recommend a specific restaurant as our favorite closed last year. But you should be able to locate one if you venture off the beaten track and check out the smaller streets in Lisbon.

The fish you had in Porto was most likely a dourada (sea bream in English I believe). Be sure to ask for your fish to be grilled escalada, that means slit open instead of in a whole.

Before committing to sit down for your meal, you can also ask whether they have that specific dish - Dourada escalada grelhada - (sometimes they don't have dourada, it depends on what is available on the market) and often they can present you the fish they intend to prepare for you. Also don't be bashful to ask for the approximate price beforehand, as fresh fish is often sold according to market price and prices are sometimes not posted on the menu - just to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Enjoy your stay in Lisbon!

I'm so glad I found this thread. Lisbon is one of the ports on our Sapphire cruise that I am most looking forward to. One of my friends who has passed away loved Lisbon and told me great stories about her time there.

I will definitely follow some of the suggestions on this thread. I also need suggestions on a neighborhood bar that isn't touristy to raise a drink in honor of my beautiful friend Alice. And, I will be doing it with one of my very favorite people.

lovevacadays, What a lovely thought to raise a drink to your friend when you're in Lisbon. I don't have a specific place to recommend, but I'm sure you won't have any problem finding a non-touristy bar in one of the neighborhoods you're visiting. I'm glad to know the thread has been helpful...Happy Travels to you!

I am looking at possibly taking a cruise in the Mediterranean this fall. A friend is already booked on a trans-Atlantic Holland cruise and is encouraging me to join them but this cruse is longer than I can be away for so, if I did this I'd be joining them part way into the cruise. Flying, probably to Lisbon, and catching up with the ship there. I'd be on my own since this isn't a scheduled departure port for this cruise. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how involved it is to get from the airport to the cruise terminal in Lisbon and about how long I should expect it to take.

sunshine 229, I'm not sure of a specific time frame, but I can tell you that the airport was not terribly far from our hotel on Avenida Liberdade and that the hotel was not far from the port! Both were quick and reasonable cab rides. Lisbon is such a wonderful and interesting city and surprisingly compact and easy to navigate. I would definitely plan to see some sights before the ship sails. Try plugging your details into "directions" on Googlemaps and see what they estimate for an airport-to-port time frame. Good luck!

Thanks, Maryogreen, that helps.

sunshine 229, You're very welcome...happy to help :)