Lisbon

Cuisine

Portuguese cuisine tends towards the solid and not particularly cheap in tourist areas, but pick the right place in one of Portugal's more sophisticated areas, such as Lisbon's Bairro Alto or the Algarve's Lagos, and you can have an excellent, interesting meal for a reasonable price. Away from Lisbon and the Algarve food is much better value. One of the Portugal's most unique customs is the almost obligatory cover charge for bread, butter, olives and some kind of paste.
Seafood is particularly impressive, and of this type, sardines are the best value.
Bacalhau - salted cod - is the national dish and is served in a zillion different ways.
Coffees are wonderful, house wines are drinkable and local beers are OK.

Portugal is loaded with superb beaches, good surf, amazing castles, churches and monasteries and has unique architectural art. Great summer weather is guaranteed, seafood is excellent and reasonable value and locals are friendly.

Lisbon, a jewel on the banks of the River Tagus, is a fascinating European city, with rich culture, and a history dating back to Roman times.

Sights are conveniently clustered - Baixa, the city's central valley and its heart.

You can travel more or less from the pleasant Avenida Liberdade, past the gorgeous Rossio train station to two plazas, Dom Pedro and da Figueira, before hitting tourist overload in the pedestrian area around the odd elevator of Santa Justa. Baixa terminates at Praca do Comercio by the river, a good place to catch trams or open-top tourist buses.

Chiado and Barrio Alto are on a low hill west of Baixa and showcase the posh side of the city - smart shops and good restaurants, with a couple of museums and two special churches - roofless Convento do Carmo and gold, marble, azuleja packed Sao Roque.

Alfama, Castelo and Graca, on hills east of Baixa, offer the dark side of life - tangled little medieval streets, decaying tenements, and clubs of every description including saddo Fado. Topping the hill is the city's best viewpoint, Sao Jorge Castle and the splendid story-telling azulejos of the Monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora.

Belem, a little further west and Vasco da Gama's departure point for his Discovery tour, Belem contains the fabulous Jeronimos Monastery, the quaintly elaborate Belem tower - both Manueline classics, the ship-like Monument to the Discoveries, some excellent museums and a clutch of funky clubs. Three outstanding museums worth visiting are: the Calouste Gulbenkian, Nacional do Azulejos and the Nacional de Arte Antiga with mainly Portuguese painters.

Nightlife

Restaurants, Bars and Clubs. Lisbon has an active, late nightlife much of it focused on Bairro Alto, Alcantara and recently at Santa Amaro dock.

Getting Around

The Lisbon airport bus is efficient, frequent and good value, and taxis are also reasonably priced though a tourist should keep an eye on the meter - insist it's used for a start! Avoid driving and use the city’s excellent metro, buses and trams. Trams, particularly No. 28, are popular with tourists and consequently also with pickpockets.

Best of Europe

Things to do in Lisbon

Day Trips from Lisbon

Sintra's wonderful collection of wacky buildings and woody walks are an hour away from Lisbon. Both the historic town of Sintra and the natural environment surrounding it, are UNESCO’s World Heritage site.

In the early 1900s, Estoril and Cascais were among the most fashionable resorts in Europe and rivaled Cannes and Biarritz as a refuge for deposed monarchs and aristocrats in exile who come here to enjoy the natural beauty of the region and its relaxed yet sophisticated atmosphere.
Visit the Palácio Nacional de Queluz, the Palácio Nacional da Pena, Sintra’s signature 19th century palace; the Palácio Nacional da Villa, a former royal palace; the Adega Regional de Colares, one of Portugal’s very special wine cellars and the Museu do Brinquedo (museum of toys). In the Village of Cascais, you should visit: Museu dos Condes de Castro Guimarães, famous for its paintings and for Indo-Portuguese ceramics and archaeological pieces. Stop for lunch at the ocean view restaurant Porto Santa Maria, renowned for its selection of seafood.

Mafra - just the one building, the Palacio Nacional, but it's a monster palace/ monastery no expense spared including employing 45,000 artisans.

Óbidos is surrounded by medieval walls, and, at its summit, looms a 13th-century castle. The site's history as a fortress goes back to Roman times and perhaps even earlier. In 1282 Dona Isabel, Portugal’s beloved sainted queen visited Óbidos and was so captivated by the beauty of this lovely walled village that she likened it to a jewel-studded crown. Her husband Dom Dinis presented the town to her as a wedding gift. This romantic gesture became a royal tradition, with each successive Portuguese ruler giving Óbidos to his queen on the occasion of their nuptials, right into the 19th century. You should also visit Mosteiro da Batalha, world heritage building by UNESCO and Mosteiro de Alcobaça, a predominantly Gothic style building with Romanesque and Baroque elements.

Evora World Heritage site and the most interesting place in Portugal after Lisbon.

Beaches around Estoril or better Cascais, or Caparica, ar good for sunning or surfing. Up to an hour's travel by train, bus or ferry from Lisbon.

Shopping

Souvenirs: Naturally azulejos tiles and other ceramics are a big seller, along with hand embroidered goods from all over the country and cork products. Shops in the centre of town and in the ubiquitous new shopping centers tend to sell high price multinational goods of little interest as souvenirs

Festivals and Events

May-September - Bullfighting Season at the Campo Pequeno, one of the largest bullrings in the world, with an impressive Moorish architecture and a dazzling calendar of corridas and bullfighting events. From May to September, there are corridas every Thursday.
In June - Festas dos Santos Populares (Feast Days of the Popular Saints) with paper lanterns, streamers and colored lights decorating the city. are hung from balconies and railings. There are parades,music and dancing. In the evening make your way up to the Alfama, where sardines are grilled outside the houses and the narrow streets fill with people in the party mood. From June-August—Music festivals in Sintra (UNESCO's World Heritage) with performances at the Olga Cadaval Cultural Centre,the Pena Palace, the Town Palace, the Queluz Palace and the Regaleira Estate.

For more information on these and other festivals, see www.visitportugal.com. NOTE: Before planning a trip around a festival, make sure that you verify the festival dates at the festival or website.

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