Public holiday in Lisbon on port day

[newfarmers]

We are visiting Lisbon on 1 November this year. It is the end/start of the two segments of our cruise. It also happens to be a public holiday in Lisbon. We will have joined the ship in Venice and are going through to Rio.

 

Our questions are - does anyone know what will/won't be open in Lisbon on All Saints day and how quick should we be able to get off the ship when we dock? Also, can we walk into Lisbon from the dock? We've looked on Google Earth and it doesn't look that far.

[KT32]

We were in Lisbon this past April 25 - also a national holiday, so I suspect you'll encounter some of the same conditions as us.

 

The ship was docked not too far from the central city, but not a quick walk either. Almost directly across the street and up the stairs from the port was the Museum of Ancient Art if you're looking for something nearby.

 

I'd suggest taking the tram (#15 if I remember correctly) for 1.30 euros into the city centre which takes less than 10 minutes. The tram stops just outside the port area and comes regularly. There's a display board which shows when the next tram will arrive in real time. You can buy tickets on the tram, but it only takes change.

 

In the city centre most of the stores and some restaurants were closed. There were some vendors selling postcards, etc... We ended up taking the hop on/hop off bus from the Praca Commercio (where the tram stops) to see the major sites but didn't go into any of the museums, etc due to a lack of time, then went to a cafe near Praca Rossio for a coffee & pastry, and a glass of port. The hop on/hop off bus is run by the public transit company so your hop on/hop off bus ticket is also good for all public buses/trams.

 

If there's a particular museum/site you want to see, I'd suggest checking their website as some sites were open and others closed.

[themoon]

We were just in Lisbon on a public holiday and only a few small convenience stores and souvenir stands were open.

We also took the tram into town but walked back over the hill.

[newfarmers]

since I posted we've cancelled and rebooked to take advantage of onboard credits, five cabin grades higher, a free shoreex in Lisbon and a stronger Aussie dollar, all resulting in us actually spending less than our original booking!:D

 

I'd imagine the shoreex may only be a bus zooming around but we'll take it if it's free and then got off and wander. The most important question though is - did you enjoy Lisbon even if half of it was closed?