In the beginning of March myself and my two friends, George and Alyssa set off to explore the city of Lisbon. If any of you have been there, you'll know that Lisbon is all about the amazing sites and great food! So instead of babbling on about our daily adventures Il just summarise some of our favourites! The weather wasn't as warm as we had hoped, but we were lucky enough to have a few days of sunshine.
We stayed in an AirBnb in Alfama, the old town for the weekend, and then Alyssa and I spent the last two nights at the Independente Hostel.
The Tile Museum:
A great indoor activity for a rainy day! It is definitely worth a visit and not overly priced either. It was the perfect way to get out the torrential rain we had on our first day, and gave us a really good insight into the history of the city.
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Alfama:
Alfama is the 'old town' of Lisbon. Our first few days were spent staying here which gave us plenty of time to explore the small cobbled streets and local sites and view points. From the top of Alfama there are a few great view points such as Miradouro das Portas do Sol Observation Deck which I definitely recommend for some of the warmer clear evenings.
Places to Eat:
Time Out Market:
The Time out Market is a definite must to visit - and like us I'm sure you will find yourself there more than once! It has a great atmosphere with plenty of different foods to choose from!
Pharmacia: A unique and authentic resturant situated within a Pharmacy Museum. The food was amazing but I was won over by the decor and small touches,
Copenhagen Coffee Lab: Situated at the top Alfama, great coffee and pastries.
Hello Kristof: Alyssa and I went here for breakfast and LOVED IT! Its quite small so you may have to wait a bit for a table - but worth it.
Heim - Another small coffee shop not far from Hello Kristof, our intention was initially just to have a cup of coffee, until we saw their waffles - to die for :)
Barirro do Aveillez: A selection of restaurants from the famous portuguese chef José Avillez. We opted for Tabena for tapas which were amazing! But if you are wanting something specfic you may need to make a booking.
Portugals Famous Custard Tarts:
From our research we discovered that there were two main places to go for the best custard tarts, so naturally we tried both! Manteigaria is situated in the centre of Lisbon, as well as the Time out Market. They were definitely our favourite!
The second is Pastéis de Belém, situated along the coast near the Tower of Belem It is one of the more popular placed to visit so there is always a super long queue!
Tower of Belem
We did a few day trips to sight just outside of Lisbon. the first was the Tower of Belem. This isn't really outside of the city but not really walkable! We also combined this with some Pastels and a visit to the Church Santa Maria. On our way back we stopped by the LX Factory, which is a great place for lunch/ supper and has some super cute shops to wonder around.
Sintra
Another great day trip took us to the small town of Sintra, just a short train ride from Lisbon. Sintra is well known for its mystical villa's and Palaces scattered around the mountain side. One of the most iconic been Pena Palace, which unique and colourful. There is a bus that you can take from Sintra train station that stops at all the sights.
Cascais
Probably my favourite part of our trip, was our day in Cascais. This is just a short train ride from Lisbon, and easily walkable once you are there. We had two main goals for our day, one been the Boca de Inferno and secondly the amazing light house of Santa Marta. The walk to Boca de Inferno takes you along the coast, and one could easily spend the day walking there! The light house dates back to 1600's where it was primarily used my the military, the museum costs about 4 euros to enter, but this also allows you into the manor house alongside the light house. We were super lucky and had the whole place to ourselves!
