Things to do in Lisbon
We will be starting our trip in Lisbon in a couple of weeks. We will be arriving a day early and would appreciate suggestions on things to see and do during our free time in Lisbon before the tour begins
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We will be starting our trip in Lisbon in a couple of weeks. We will be arriving a day early and would appreciate suggestions on things to see and do during our free time in Lisbon before the tour begins
Comments
Lisbon's old quarter, Alfama, should not be missed. You will find many mom and pop cafes offering traditional Portuguese cuisine.
Avenida de Liberdade is a short walk from the hotel and is Lisbon's main shopping area.
If interested, you can read my review of this tour...Tour Review Nov 2021. This is a fabulous tour. Enjoy. It will be quite hot in August, so be sure to stay hydrated.
We booked a private guided Lisbon walking tour for our GOT last month. 3 hour tour with a tasting included. We chose a start time of 10 AM so that it would end at 1 pm - lunch time. Very enjoyable.
Viator has several one day tours to explore areas around the city. We did 3 of them when there in May...
If you enjoy art this small museum has a world class collection https://gulbenkian.pt/museu/en/. We took a fun food tour with this company (lots of walking) https://culinarybackstreets.com/culinary-walks/. We did a day trip to Sintra and Cascais. The company we used does not seem to have survived the pandemic but this one has a similar itinerary https://www.lisbonnativetours.com/tour/sintra-tour/. Have a great chicken dinner at Bonjardim http://www.helengraves.co.uk/travel/restaurante-bonjardim-lisbon-review-2/. As the reviewer warns in Portugal many small dishes arrive as soon as you are seated. They are not free! If you nibble you are charged. Nothing is that great so politely wave them away as they arrive.
We're planning to tour the National Tile Museum. It's a bit away from the main tourist areas but you can get there by bus, metro or cab. Since there is so much beautiful tile work in Portugal we thought it was worth a visit.
It will be very hot then. Keep that in mind if you do a walking tour and book it for early morning.
I love Lisbon. Some thoughts for added days:
Lisbonbiketours.com A wonderful perspective seeing the city on a bike combined with some tastes and touring From their website: With its seven hills, Lisbon may not be the ideal town for cycling, but we have designed the perfect itinerary for a nice, relaxed and easy Lisbon Bike Tour.
Lisbonexplorer.com. Fantastic tours! We took several of their tour. Especially loved the Jewish Heritage tour with Paolo.
We did the Devour food tour with Rita. Not only did we get to try great local food (and drinks), but we also enjoyed learning some of the history of Lisbon. It was a great introduction to this beautiful city!
We did a Viator tour of Sintra, Pena Palace and Cascais. It was a full day from 8 a.m. until we returned to Lisbon around 5:00 pm in the evening.
kfnknfzk, you mentioned your tour review of the douro. Could you tell me how to find tour reviews? thanks, much. Heading that way mid-October!
funtotravel6171,
From this page, scroll over to the directory to the right...select Douro River...select Exploring the Douro plus Lisbon and Madrid...select Tour Review dated Nov 2021.
Mid October is a great time to visit. I would be happy to answer any questions. Enjoy!
Funtotravel6171 - We are doing this tour mid-October 2023 so very much looking to your review and comments about the weather. TIA.
If you're staying at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz in Lisbon then there is a good Italian restaurant within a block or two of the hotel. It is Forno d'Oro.
Sam - Going to Lisbon for Italian food? Do you eat sushi in Rome? 😆
I certainly agree with BSP51, but to each their own. We prefer to eat authentic local cuisine when we travel. Thankfully, Lisbon does not have the proliferation of American junk food places as other European cities have. It's a matter of "taste."
BSP51, kfnknfzk - I also try local food when on tour. I was offering a review of a restaurant near a tour hotel that some Taucktourians might appreciate. I don't try to be pretentious when offering suggestions. Nor do I want to suggest people wanting to eat something in addition to local food don't have "taste".
In my touring experience, I've found it very difficult to eat nothing but the local foods three meals a day for one to three weeks.
"But to each their own"
Taste...as in flavor; not taste as in class.
There are many things that influence what you eat on vacation. On our upcoming first pre tour night we are eating in the hotel purely for convenience because we will probably be extremely tired. And I think it may be Italian! We rarely eat it out of choice because it’s so easy to find anywhere. Our choice was mainly influenced because the two main restaurant are closed on a Mondays. It’s nothing ot do with taste or taste. If you are talking about food, we can make most dishes better at home, the downside is washing the dishes.
No, not anywhere. I sometimes eat Italian when I travel because here in Denver, it's an Italian desert (not dessert). Having lived in the Northeast most of my life, I miss good Italian food.
BKMD - The following is way off topic, but I miss Chinese food the most since leaving NY and NM...and NY bagels!
kfnknfzk - Fortunately, we do have good bagels here, We have good Asian food here, too. Personally, I prefer Vietnamese to Chinese.
Surprised where you live on the west coast that there's not good Chinese.
We’ll be in Lisbon for a few days in October and have a Culinary Backstreets tour booked. We’ve used them in Japan and Turkey and they do a fabulous blend of food/culture/history. Highly recommend them.
The Museu Calouste Gulbenkian...a GEM not to be missed!