February, 2017.
Lisbon International Airport
First impressions when arriving at Lisbon Airport Terminal 2 was that it was massive – lots of open space. It was a pretty swift set up to get through passport control though, and when leaving the airport.
Leaving Lisbon, the terminal was extremely small and overcrowded to the point were it was incredibly warm in there. But it did look like it was under renovation, due to all of the boards that were about, leaving only a handful of shops and food places to go to.
We used a company called Sun Transfers to get to our hotel and back to the airport. It was probably the most on-point airport transfer service I have used. As soon as we came out of the airport our driver was right there waiting for us, likewise when we came out of our hotel for the return journey. Our driver was friendly and helpful.
Our hotel was perfectly located (literally on the same block as Hard Rock cafe!). Located alongside Avenida da Liberdade, it’s not far from the Avenida metro station where you can get to Rossio in 2 stops.
The hotel itself is modern looking, very clean and has all the necessities that you require, including free WiFi.
If you choose this hotel it may be worth asking at the reception desk what activities they have to offer that you can book or pay for at the hotel – as we were able to book our pass for the ‘hop on, hop off’ bus which included entrance into Lisbon Zoo as well.
We did have a few difficulties at the hotel, which were only minor, but frustrating nonetheless. We found some of the staff to be quite rude and not very helpful, even when it came down to saying “our hotel room only has bags of sugar, rather than tea bags and milk…” Regardless, it was perfect for what we needed.
Fabrica da Nata is probably one of my favourite eateries I have ever visited. Cream Custard Tarts are a well-known delicacy in Lisbon – and they are one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted. Nothing like our custard tarts in England.
This bakery is located in the center of Lisbon and offers breakfast, lunch and snacks – of which includes the famed cream custard tarts pictured above.
One great thing about this cafe is that you can see them freshly baking these tasty desserts. Once made and out the oven, the baking trays run on a track that goes across the cafe ceiling.
The Elevador de Santa Justa is a lift that’s an ironwork structure and wooden carriages. It’s rather attractive for a lift, and you can’t help but stop and marvel at it. You are able to go up the lift and once you have reached the top you can walk a spiral staircase and see some fantastic views of Lisbon.
The Lift is in use everyday for tourists to use between 07.00 and 23.00. A single ticket costs 2.30 euros, however, you can combine this ticket with a daily tram pass for about 8 euros and save yourself some money.
We queued up to go on the lift for a good 45 minutes or so…which was a pain. However, it’s a very popular attraction in Lisbon, so we couldn’t really give this one a miss.
Rossio Square
Rossio Square is a massive open space, with restaurants, bars and museums on each side. It overlooks the Tagus River, which is so beautiful. It’s all paved in cobblestone like the majority of the city, so everywhere looks bright and vintage.
It’s thee square to be at in Lisbon as most people stop there for a little break at the restaurants and cafes, which all have outdoor seating – which makes it all the more better.
In the center of the square is a 27 metre high monument – which is to mark justice, wisdom, strength and moderation, said to the the qualities of Dom Pedro IV who is at the top of the monument. The center building of the square is the Church of St. Francis.
Pit stop! The sun was out, the sky was blue, we had our coats off and we were sat outside eating. It was perfect, and surprising as that day was predicted to have rain and thunder storms. Instead, the sun stayed out. Happy days.
If you are looking towards the river, Nosolo Italia is on the left hand side of the square next to an art museum.
Food here was lovely. I had Spaghetti Pomodoro – which is my go to. Rich had lasagne, which is also his go to. My Mum and Dad enjoyed pizza, my brother had Spaghetti Bolognese and his friend had a pesto pasta. It all went down with aplomb.
We all then went on to have gelato for dessert, because why not! You know the saying, “when on holiday, have gelato”…or maybe that’s just me who says that. Between us, we tried a few flavours,from banana to coffee, pistachio to strawberry. Just like the mains, they went down a treat.
Praça do Comércio
The Praca do Comercio is the main building within Rossio Square. It’s the beautiful arches right in the center – like the center piece of a table. It was once destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, but soon after the square was completely remodeled.
It has a perfect view of the Tagus river, as it overlooks the square which then goes on to the coast.
Alfama
Alfama is the old town in Lisbon which stretches from the Sao Jorge Castle to the river.
It’s unique and natural due to all the sloping roads and cobbled streets.
Lisbon Cathedral
Lisbon cathedral is Lisbon’s oldest building, located in Alfama – to me it looked very Gothic.
The entrance was interesting. It has two large doors, as you expect on a cathedral, however, within those doors are two normal sized doors that you step through.
I’ve been to literally hundreds of cathedrals and churches over the years, so in my opinion it wasn’t anything special, certainly wasn’t the Vatican, but it was still pretty.
Trams
The trams in Lisbon are used in a similar way to the ones in San Francisco – just as rickety and old-fashioned.
Lisbon has five tram routes which either head east towards Alfama or west towards Belem. The E28 and E12 routes are the most popular to get to both districts.
Just beware that these trams can get very, very packed especially if you try to get on one during peak hours. We were lucky enough to get to the back so we could document our journey and film it.
This castle was insane – it stands overlooking the city. Walking to the castle felt like it was a trek, however, Lisbon is full of cobble-stoned roads so it can be quite challenging at times. I wouldn’t let that put you off though.
It’s 8.50 euros for adults and 5 euros for children and is open from 9 am to 9 pm in the high peak seasons and until 6 pm in the low peak seasons.
I had no idea what to expect – I thought it would just be your typical castle and surrounding grounds. I was wrong – it had an incredible view over Lisbon and stunning grounds – I could imagine a wedding happening there. It was lovely.
We spent quite a while here, mainly because it was so photogenic, I couldn’t stop taking photos and videos. Time spent there consisted of me shouting ‘everyone…selfie!’ a lot.
You are able to walk around the grounds and gardens, and then wonder around the castle to the highest points. Not to forget, that the castle has loads of peacocks wondering about, which makes it more beautiful.
Mundo Fantastico da Sardinha
I don’t think i’ll ever find a weirder shop. It appears that sardines are a big thing in Lisbon – so they have tourist shops for it.
So – you walk into this shop, which is filled to the brim with tinned sardines. Each sardine tin has has a year on it, and the idea is that you pick your birth year on a tin as a souvenir. The tins also feature significant events and birthdays from that respective year. Not quite a stick of rock from Blackpool, is it?
My tin for 1994 stated the opening of the Channel Tunnel and what would have been Martha Grahams 100th birthday – who was an American dancer and choreographer.
This shop was crazy. At first glance – it looks like some kind of arcade or ‘fun’ shop – with its carnival-like atmosphere. I was pleasantly surprised… I think.
Hard Rock Lisbon got off to a bit of a rocky start. As we are Hard Rock members, we get to jump the queue if there is a long waiting time for a table – however, this time we were told to wait 45 minutes for a table. After speaking to the manager, they soon pulled it out the bag and whipped a table of six together in a matter of minutes. This is the reason why I love Hard Rock so much – they will do anything to please the customer, nothing is too much of an issue and the service is always spot on.
We all thoroughly enjoyed our food, we had a range of nachos, chicken tenders, BBQ ribs and chicken, pulled pork and lots of other delicious food.
That evening was a Hard Rock live night from 11pm running until 2pm – and it was great! The band that was on covered a variety of songs from Bob Marley to Jason Myraz to Bruno Mars. The whole restaurant was packed, but it had an amazing atmosphere, especially for a Sunday night.
Grey line ‘Hop On, Hop Off’ bus
We’ve used Greyline hop on hop off buses in the past – they are great for getting around fast, especially when you are struck for time and want to learn as much about your holiday destination as possible.
The Lisbon bus has two lines, the Belem line and Oriente line. The Belem line travels to the quarter of Belem, where you will see the Jeronimo’s Monastry and Tower of Belem. The Oriente line travels along the Tagus river, and goes to attractions like the zoo and the oceanarium.
Buses are predicted to arrive at each stop every 30 minutes, from 09.30 to 18.00 in March to October and 10.00 to 17.00 in November to March. Tickets run for 48 hours, and start from £16 each.
We didn’t go into the Monastery, but we did have a walk around the grounds and boy, it is huge! The Monastery was a stop along our bus stop, we didn’t plan to get off the bus, but this incredible site is hard to resist.
The Monastery is the symbol of Portugal’s power and wealth – built in 1502.
The monastery is open from 10.00 to 17.30 October through to May and 10.00 to 18.30 May to September. Tickets cost 10 euros each and are available to combine with other attractions for an extra cost; for example – The Monastery and Tower of Belem is 12 euros.
We planned on going inside of Belem Tower – however, it is closed on Mondays, so take note.The tower was built as a fortress to guard Lisbon’s harbour and was seen as the last sight of homeland for sailors and the starting point of Lisbon for voyagers.
The tower has vast open space around, which makes the tower stand out magnificently. It’s beautiful and if you have the chance to go up it, I would! Please note though, it’s meant to get quite tight when going up the stairs, so if you suffer with any claustrophobia, it may not be ideal.
Lisbon Zoo was great. We went on a Monday afternoon so it was empty and we could wonder around in our own time. The Zoo admission fee was included in our ‘Hop on, Hop off’ bus pass, but if you were to buy separately it would be 20.50 euros for an adult and 14.50 euros for a child ticket – probably an average cost of a zoo visit these days.
We spent a while at the zoo and laughed a lot – mainly at the Portuguese parrots we came across that went insane shouting ‘Ola!’ at us!
They had a wide range of animals from Bears to Koalas and Kangaroos to Meerkats – and even Dolphins.
If you fancy a trip out to Lisbon zoo while visiting, please note that you have to travel a little out of the city to get to it. It is still easy to access via railway, metro and buses though. We got there via the ‘Hop on, Hop off bus’ which has a stop right at the entrance door for pick-up and drop off.
The Oceanarium is one of the furthest attractions to travel to from the city centre – and jumping on the Alfama line bus route is the easiest way to get to it.
Entrance is 15.30 euros for an adult and 9.90 euros for a child and it is open every day – even Christmas day! Summer opening hours are 10.00 to 20.00 and winter 10.00 to 18.00.
The main large aquarium holds 5 million litres of seawater. Throughout the ocenarium they have many species for you to see such as; birds, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, mammals, plants and algaes.
Restaurante Rio Ceira
For tea that day we planned on just finding a place along the street. After getting a menu waved at us by an enthusiastic host, we sat down at a small eatery.
We sat outside to have our food, as the weather was nice, and they had outside heat lamps which made it all the more toasty.
We then ended up having a massive meat platter that had; chicken, steak, chorizo, beef and pork – actually delicious, and we polished it off in no time.
Street bars
One thing that I absolutely love about holidaying in Europe is how casual they are when it comes to drinking alcohol.
Walking down the main road our hotel was on, there were loads of ‘pop-up’ bars – a kiosk, a big screen where they display live sports, music and tables and chairs with heaters. It was fabulous.
Tuk tuks seem to be one of the best ways to transport yourself around Lisbon as a tourist. We saw a heck of a lot of them.
The tuk tuks are great for getting through narrow streets and reaching places that cars and buses can’t.
They charge averagely between 45 euros to 80 euros for a two to three hour ride.
The Estadio da Luz AKA the Stadium of light, stadium for SL Benfica.
From our hotel, the stadium is about 15 minutes in a car and 25 minutes on the train. Or you can get on the Belem Tower line on the hop on hop off bus – it’s the next stop after the Lisbon Zoo.
Overall
Lisbon is a beautiful city. With its old and historic looks it appeals to everyone. I expected the city to be relativity small, I was wrong. It’s a pretty big city, and you’ll no doubt end up using some form of public transport.
It’s full of hidden gems, whether it’s coffee shops, cafes, restaurants or bars. The streets are all cobbled, making everything look bright, clean and arty.
On a more important note. Make sure you definitely have a cream custard tart – you will no doubt go back for seconds…or thirds…oops!
Your Own Set of Wings 