Lisbon, Portugal
Colorful, artsy, quirky and vibrant.
Having heard lots of great things about Portugal, we decided to take a break from France and spend a week exploring Lisbon and the surrounding area. Lisbon lived up to expectations and more! It’s visually quite striking, a mix of bright historical buildings and sleek, very modern structures, colorfully tiled facades, interesting street art and laundry flying like flags from windows everywhere. I found this last particularly noteworthy as it’s so foreign to my american eyes. The city itself is like a giant open-air museum and also quite hilly, so you can spend days walking the various neighborhoods and experience cultural and culinary delights while getting in some exercise at the same time. We spent 4 days in Lisbon, 2 in Cascais on the Atlantic Coast and 30 minutes from Lisbon, and a day exploring Sintra and it’s iconic castles. An itinerary that I’d recommend for an off-season visit.
A Few Highlights in Lisbon…
- Walk: We love to walk and this is a city made for walkers. It can be strenuous with its many hills, but the vibrant scenery, beautiful tiled building facades, and numerous boutiques and coffee shops you’ll pass by add up to hours of entertainment and immersion in this enchanting city. Climb up to the Castelo de S. Jorge for beautiful views over the city, walk along the river-side to the town square (Praça do Comércio), take the train or tram ride out to the Tower of Belém or just start wandering and you’ll end up somewhere interesting.
- Eat: Be sure to try the codfish cake, Pastel de Bacalhau, an iconic portuguese delicacy and readily available throughout the city at the Casa Portuguesa de Pastel de Bacalhau shops. We were hesitant to try these, but once we learned they were gluten-free, we ate them almost daily along once our walking had us fatigued and famished. Perfect late afternoon snack, or lunch if you, like us, eat breakfast late and usually miss lunchtime! Overall, I’d say the food is excellent and relatively inexpensive, lot’s of fresh fish and good wine. We enjoyed a dinner with Fado music, another portuguese classic. Touristy, but if you’re a tourist it’s worth an evening!
- Sleep: We stayed at the Olissippo Lapa Palace which we loved. It’s a luxe option, they call it “an urban oasis tucked away on a hilltop in one of Lisbon’s most exclusive neighborhoods”, and I’d say that is 100% accurate. The neighborhood is full of foreign embassies which makes it quite interesting, and while hilly we found it easy to begin our walking tours from there. It’s extremely quiet, which we appreciate, beautiful rooms, a team that cannot do enough for you, great breakfast and nice views of the river from most rooms. We were off season so it was quite reasonable, and if you plan to book I’d recommend joining the Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) program and book through them. The membership is free and comes with lots of perks including free breakfast and room upgrades.
Then on to Cascais…
A 30 minute Uber ride from Lisbon, and you’ll find both the town of Cascais and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a lovely seaside town with a bustling old historic center, a new harborside village, and miles of walkways along the ocean. We were especially charmed to see the sun set over the Atlantic, in the US usually seen only over the Pacific. Nice to be on the other side of that big pond.
We enjoyed the old town with plentiful restaurants and boutiques. Walked miles along the promenade from Cascais to Estoril, with many points to stop for a café while sitting in the sun people watching and enjoying the ocean waves. It wasn’t beach weather, but in season there are miles of those. A really nice town for a relaxing few days with beachside vibes.
We stayed at the Grande Real Villa Italia Hotel & Spa, another property in the LHW group, and were quite satisfied. Beautiful location, quiet rooms, great views and a really interesting spa that I would recommend for a few hours of self-care.
And finally a visit to Sintra, a town of many castles…
Another short Uber ride will take you from Cascais to Sintra. We spent a night there, but it would be easy to make it a day-trip, from either Lisbon or Cascais, if you are satisfied to see just 2-3 of the castles. Don’t miss the National Palace of Pena, it’s striking colors and beautiful views are a must see. But my personal favorite was the Moorish Castle. It’s a ruin, but you can walk through it and around it’s ramparts which are quite steep and make for a vigorous and thrilling climb. The rewards are a great sense of accomplishment and stunning views. We happened to get there at sunset, which was gorgeous, but I’d recommend an earlier arrival to allow more time for exploring. We also visited the Regaleira Palace and Tower which was the favorite of many locals. Another architectural wonder with it’s interesting spiral staircase and unusual tunnel. The town itself is fine with some nice shops and restaurants, but you are mainly there for the castles. A reminder of the rich, literal and figurative, history of Portugal and well worth the visit.
