Lisbon, Portugal

When: June 2018
Duration: 3 nights/2.5 days
Weather: Rain, overcast, some sun. Mild to cool temperatures (apparently very unusual for June)
Currency: Euro (€)
Price Range: $$ (see breakdown below)

Overview

Portugal was the second leg of a Spain & Portugal trip. Lisbon was the first city we visited. I heard this city was built on many hills, but I just didn’t quite realize how much climbing would be involved. We stayed at an Airbnb near the Martim Moniz metro stop and there were TONS of stairs. Luckily, there were some public elevators so we didn’t have to climb quite as many.

Lisbon is a nice city with lots of history and culture and many quality things to do. It’s also a fairly cheap city (as with most of Portugal).

Itinerary

St. George’s Castle

We arrived in Lisbon on a rainy day, but this was so close to our Airbnb, that we decided to do it first. I didn’t realize the castle was up on a hill, and the view of the city is probably fantastic on a clear day, but the drizzly rain made visibility pretty poor and we felt a bit ripped off. We still made the most of it, but some things were probably less enjoyable than they could have been if the weather was pleasant (i.e., going up and down narrow stone stairs).

Recommend: Yes

Carmo Convent Ruins

These are ruins of a church that was partially destroyed by the 1755 earthquake. The roof is gone, but the arches still stand. There’s not a ton to see inside, but it is an interesting site and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish I would have played the Temple of Time music in here because it just seemed appropriate. It’s not free with the Lisboa card, but you can get a 20% discount. We only spent 30 minutes here and we milked it. It’s in the heart of the city, so just pay the money and go see it; you’ll have time.

Recommend: Yes

Tram 28

Tram 28 is one of the major tourist attractions in Lisbon. It’s essentially public transit that goes through all the main neighbourhoods of Lisbon. The tram has very few seats and it gets crowded very fast. Even if you get on at the initial stop, you’re likely not going to get a seat unless you are front of the line and wait until the next empty tram comes along. The line up to get on is LONG! The tram ride itself is 45 minutes or so and it drops you off at a cemetery and you must get off (however, you can get back on a few steps away).

The view from standing position mid-way back is not that great. If you do happen to get a seat and are under 50, you will likely be asked to give up your seat to someone older. We took the tram 28 twice, once as a tour, which we did not care for. The second time was just to get from A to B and we were standing right in the front of the tram directly behind the driver. This view was much better and the ride was more fun as you could see the sharp turns and steep hills.

Recommend: Not really, unless you go when it’s not busy, otherwise it’s just not that enjoyable when it’s crammed.

Cemitario de Prazeres

An old cemetery at the end of the Tram 28 ride.

Recommend:

If you get off Tram 28, it’s worth a quick walk around

Ajuda Palace

This is an old Palace located about 1km from Belém Tower. It’s also on the bus route and we came here by bus after the end stop of the Tram 28. Taking the bus here was not great, so I recommend getting to Belém by train and then walking here if you plan on visiting.

The palace itself it nice, but really nothing too special if you’ve seen other palaces. The most impressive place in the palace was the great dining hall. When we walked in, a staff member came in to tell us about the room and how it was the inspiration for the Harry Potter great hall. It was massive and still used for government functions today. The architecture was interesting and just the sheer size of the room was impressive. Overall, we felt that the dining room made this spot worth the visit, but I’m not sure not everyone will feel the same way. We spent an hour here.

Recommend: If you’ve never seen a palace before, then yes. Otherwise, not really unless you have the Lisboa card and can get in for free.

National Coach Museum

This museum has all the royal carriages and a selection of other carriages and coaches. It’s in a large building on the second level and the coaches are huge! I loved looking at all the intricate details on the royal carriages and seeing how big or small the interiors were. Some of them were tiny and you wonder how people could fit in there, and others seemed so big. I liked this place and it’s very cheap to get into or free with the Lisboa card. We spent probably 30-45 minutes here.

Recommend: Yes, it’s something different.

Jeronimos Monastery

This old building has marvelous architecture. There are two areas, the church area is free, but it’s still pretty cool. The cloister costs €10 or free with the Lisboa card, but it’s actually not even that interesting. Of course, if you have the card, you might as well because it’s still beautiful. Otherwise, €10 seems pricey for a Canadian, but at the same time, €10 isn’t even that much if your local currency is already euros.

Recommend: Yes

Belém Tower

A medieval tower/fortress on the Tagus River. The building is not very large, it’s only 4 stories high and the tower is only 40 feet wide. There is a narrow spiral staircase to go up and down the tower and they have a clever system to manage the flow of people; there is a small monitor that shows up and down arrows in either green (go) or red (stop). They chime when it’s about to change directions; so you go up until the bell chimes, then you get off at the next floor and then the people can go down until their chime rings. Unfortunately, nobody pays attention to the rules so going up and down the stairs is still very chaotic and frustrating for those that are obeying the signs.

We got in right before they closed and were two of the last people allowed in for the day. We walked around the main level first and went down into the dungeon (cells). We went up the tower and I stopped at every floor: 1) to see everything and 2) so people going down could get actually go down. The first stop (level 2 I believe) has a nice balcony area and is worth going to, but levels 3 and 4 are a bit boring. Level 4 does have a video playing though so you can rest your feet if you need to (I did after a long day of walking). The top level offers a nice view of the river and the coast. We spent an hour at the Belém Tower; it’s free with the Lisboa card.

Recommend: Yes

Monument to the Discoveries

This is a large monument along the Tagus River. You can enter for a price, but we just enjoyed the sight. We are fans of the Lisbon based metal band, Moonspell, and Ivan wore a t-shirt that featured the monument, which we didn’t even realize was an actual monument until we went there!

Recommend: It’s not far from Belém, so yes go see it. The Age of Discoveries is a very important part of Portuguese history. If you are not going to Belém or Jeronimos Monastery, then no, don’t go out of your way.

Ascensor da Bica

This is a public transit funicular through the city. It’s a very short ride and it’s between buildings. The view is OK, but not great. We waited in line for 20 minutes to ride it and it only lasted 5 minutes. We did get the iconic picture of the tram, but otherwise, a bit of a bust.

Recommend: No

Hospital de Bonecas

This is a doll hospital across the street from Rossio Square. People take their broken dolls here to get repaired. They also have a museum. The admission price is super cheap at only €2 per person. The tickets we got were laminated doll cutouts and I thought they were fantastic. Each person or group gets a personal tour guide that walks you through the whole place and tells you stories of the dolls. We had to wait 5 minutes for a tour guide to become available, but it was definitely worth it.

I wanted to come here for the “creep” factor, but the ladies that work here are super professional and don’t find the dolls creepy at all. I was just loving this place and we took tons of pictures and asked a lot of questions. The doll hospital part was pretty creepy, but the museum was even better. Tons and tons of dolls, just awesome. This is one of my top 5 attractions that I’ve ever done.

Recommend: YES!

Rossio Square

A square with market vendors (at least on Saturday). We did not care about going to the square, but we had to pass through on our way to the Doll Hospital and noticed tons of vendors. We walked through it and it was a nice “something to do” even though we didn’t buy anything.

Recommend: If there are vendors, yes; otherwise, no

Tips

• Drugs are legal in Portugal and people are not shy about asking you if you want “weed, cocaine, hash?” There were signs all over the city when we were there warning people about fake drugs.
• Lisbon is a city full of hills. There are lots of uphill (and obviously downhill), stairs, and even elevators that you can use to get around. Be prepared for a leg workout in this city.
• Food is pretty cheap here, even in the restaurants, but if you want to save even more, go to the grocery store. We just bought snacks and breakfast foods, but all of our groceries were cheaper than one breakfast. We stayed at an Airbnb so having breakfast foods was very handy.

Cost Breakdown

Flights have been shown separately because this is the largest variable

For two people and 3 days + 1 extra night at the end of our trip, we spent about $1,025 Canadian; however, this was part of a multi-city trip and includes the cost of the overseas flights and only Lisbon expenses. It is broken down as follows:

• Accommodations – 72% ($740 – avg $185/night). You can definitely get cheaper places, but we paid more to get an apartment with a balcony.
• Food – 15% ($155)
• Tourism/Sightseeing/Entertainment – 13% ($128)
• Souvenirs – 0%

Other expenses to consider (not included in the above costs):

• Flight (ours were $1,407 for two people but we flew into Barcelona and came home from Lisbon. The price of flights between Barcelona and Lisbon was $230 CAD for two people – we paid for seat selection and 2 checked bags for each flight)
• Parking at your local airport
• Pet expense (kennel fees)