The two things that I am looking forward to most on this trip: seeing the yellow trams and the hot custard tarts (Pasteis de Nata). From all my research in the months leading up to this city break, it’s difficult to find a guide, a blog or a video that doesn’t feature these two things. Both are so instagram-able!
I have three days/four nights in this city ahead of me, first time in Portugal and a jam-packed itinerary! I’ve allowed myself a lazy beach afternoon on the third day so let’s see how this works out!
Summer 2022 
4 DaysI arrived in Lisbon at my hotel at 7pm, so after a day of travelling it was definitely time for food!
If there is any kind of street food market, you can guarantee it’s either I’m on my itinerary or I manage to sniff it out! This market didn’t disappoint either.
The look and feel of it reminded me a lot of Foodhallen in Amsterdam but much bigger and more options to choose from. I looked around all the stalls, and I always try to have something different, that I wouldn’t normally have. I saw a vendor selling octopus hot dogs, but given the failure of the pickled herring sandwich in Amsterdam, I wasn’t going to be so wild with my choice! I settled on a traditional Portuguese meat sandwich, sounds authentic Portuguese grub, so why not! It was the loveliest slice of steak in garlic (I think), in a sort of pitta bread. I’ve actually just tried to look this up on Google but I can’t see any indication of the type of bread. It was just amazing, and very cheap! Well, having just been to all the Scandinavian countries on a two weeklong trip, I’m finding everything here cheap!
Otherwise known as hot custard tarts. Believe me when I say that these are beyond amazing, and nothing like the custard tarts you find on the shelves in Sainsbury’s! They seem to be bakeries all over this city, so it’s obviously a big part of their culture.
My pictures do not do this square justice, the problem is that it’s so big it’s impossible to get everything on one shot. And individual shots just don’t do it justice. But this is Praça do Comércio otherwise known as Commercio square, was once home of a royal palace before the earthquake of 1755. Now it’s purely home of bars and restaurants, and very nice ones at that. Amongst the odd APEROL spritz or two, there is a fantastic sea food restaurant there where I enjoyed stuffed crab and roasted cod.
I would say this is the most picturesque part of Lisbon, however it is very hilly and hard to navigate. It reminded me in parts of Positano (on the Amalfi coast in Italy). I initially went to visit the castle (Sao Jorge Castle), but when I got to the top there was such a long queue and it was around 35 degrees, so I choose to just have a wonder around the area instead. Pretty much every street is Instagram worthy, lots of gift shops selling handmade crafts and a lot of bespoke tiles. I stopped off at a couple of viewpoints which overlook the main city area of Lisbon and coastal area.
For lunch I spotted a quaint little place called “Miss Can” which sells canned fish and salads, tapas style. I opted for the black bean salad with tuna which went down nicely with white wine. I was able to sit on one of the two tables outside and was the perfect opportunity for people watching in the square. Along the way there was a man on his balcony with his guitar singing to the visitors walking past below.
When I think of Lisbon (and indeed Portugal) as well as custard tarts and yellow trams, I think of all the beautiful tiles on the buildings. They are stunning and so instagram-able. I had to look on Google to find out their origins, beportugal.com says “Even though tiles are originally from Egypt, they were first brought to Portugal by the Arabs, in the 13th century at the time of their invasion, which also helped shaped Portugal’s culture. However, it was in the time of King D. Manuel I that tiles were first introduced to Portugal. They were, in fact, imported from Seville after the King’s visit to Spain.” So there we have it!
There was a tile museum that I didn’t get around to see, and in pretty much every gift shop there are some sort of tile souvenirs.
Just as with the trams and funiculars, the lift forms part of the city’s metro network as a means of getting around, although this is just a tourist attraction now and is the only remaining lift in Lisbon. The viewing platform at the top was closed off during my visit but the area you could go to provided good views.
Located right off the Santa Justa Lift is the old ruins of the church, reminded me a lot of Whitby Abbey in the UK, except a lot smaller.
For my second evening in Lisbon, I opted for a food tour, although it felt a bit more like a booze tour! Not that I was complaining! We tasted some local cheese, had the traditional Portuguese meat sandwich, some fish cake type things and finally some olives and chorizo. An alcoholic drink was given with each stop, and one of the stops was purely for a liquor shot! The group of people I was with were great, mainly Americans and an Irish lad from Dublin. One of the best things about doing little tours in groups is that you meet people from all walks of life.
The food tour was around 3 hours, although I sat with 4 or 5 other people for about an hour afterwards. 5 stops in total and our Portuguese tour guide was super friendly. In terms of the actual food, it wasn’t quite as good as I expected, I thought we’d have more of the traditional Portuguese food like sardines etc. But all together it was filling enough for a full meal and the 5 alcoholic drinks made it worth the cost.
Being a very “fishy”city, I of course had to have at least one fish meal. So, on a separate evening, I went into Praça do Comércio (the main square) and had an amazing meal overlooking the square. Crab for starters, and a lovely white fish and potatoes for mains.
The alcohol liquor I mentioned earlier from the food tour is Ginja, Wikipedia’s explanation is way better than mine would be! “Ginjinha or simply Ginja, is a Portuguese liqueur made by infusing ginja berries in alcohol and adding sugar together with other ingredients, with cloves and/or cinnamon sticks being the most common. Ginjinha is served in a shot form with a piece of the fruit in the bottom of the cup.”
However on the food tour I had this in a small cup with sour cherry’s at the bottom. I was the only one from our group that ate the cherry’s. Couldn’t decide if they were sour or bitter. The next time I tried Ginja it was served in a small chocolate cup. You sip half and then swollen the rest whole with the chocolate cup. It was literally like a Christmas chocolate liquor.
Trams are one of the top things people think about when thinking of Lisbon, historically they were an important way to get around. I think this has (in modern days) been replaced by the metro system. The trams and certainly the three remaining funiculars seem to be just for tourists now. I did a food tour on one of the evenings and our guide pretty much said that locals couldn’t get by using trams now because they are so overrun with tourists. That said, when in Lisbon etc… I went in search of the best tram line and funicular. The main tram line is 28 which runs from the top of the Alfama district to the main square at the bottom. I hopped on for just a couple of stops (as it was just packed with standing room only). I was more concerned about getting that picture postcard shot of the exterior of a tram which is harder than it looks! Trams travel fairly fast and with so many people on the streets walking past and then also the cars, it was tricky. But I got it in the end!
The funicular (which is the tram that goes up and down the steep streets) I had to go out of my way to find. Ascensor de Bica is one of only three in operation now and is located not far from the Time Out Market. It was odd, because when I approached at the bottom there was a queue of tourists but no attendant or notification of whether it was open or not. After 10 minutes of watching, I managed to get on, and made my way up the steep hill. The funicular was creaking the whole way up.
For my second day I decided to do an 8 hour trip out of Lisbon to Sintra and Peña Palace. Peña Palace is the big colourful palace (painted in the bright red and yellow colours) right on the hill tops. I thought this would look amazing on my feed. However, to my disappointment the Portuguese government had closed the national park around the palace due to fire hazard because of the heatwave. So, on the tour this stop was replaced with a smaller palace in Sintra (National Palace) which is no way near as picturesque. Insert sad face emoji right here. Firstly we stopped off at a small beach area and port called Caisaise, and was able to stop off for morning coffee. Then Cabo de Roca, which is the most Westerly point in Europe, once believed to be the edge of the world. Lovely cliff top area that was a little windy.
We then arrived in Sintra village and had 2 hours free time to get some lunch before a tour around the national palace (the substitution of the day).
Our tour guide for the day took us around the palace, whilst from the outside it isn’t as stunning, a couple of people have told me that from the inside the National Palace is bigger and much more interesting. The palace was built around 700-900, the exact dates are not know, but either way it’s well over 1000 years old (so it’s very old)! I’m not sure I’d have taken the tour if it hadn’t been a substitute but I’m glad I did, it was good.
Park of the Nations is a new trendy waterfront area about 1 mile north of the main city centre. The metro network is super easy with just 4 coloured lines. Getting here takes around 15 minutes on the yellow line. My main reason for visiting this area was to see the big Lynx Cat that is made from rubbish and plastics. Couldn’t miss such a wonderful Instagram opportunity. Alongside the bars and restaurants there is a cable car ride that takes you across the water front for some views from above. Lastly there is a train station there, which at night looks out of this world!
25th of April Bridge, is a steel suspension bridge across the Tagus River which was built in the 60’s and opened on August 16th, 1966. The bridge is almost a replica of the San Francisco bridge and was commissioned to be built by the same architect. In 2017 a new experience opened where you can go up the 7th pillar and inside to see where the cables anchor into the concrete and go up part of the way. Also (and arguably the best but) there is a VR experience that takes you on a tour with the maintenance team that go right to the top and over! It’s not for the faint hearted!
Also known as The Monument of Discoveries. There are 33 models on this monument celebrating important Portuguese figureheads. You can go up this tower to the top, but I had already done a few things at height and didn’t want to spend my last day going up. But we’ll worth a wonder to see the monument.
As I sit on the metro heading to the airport, I’ll try and sum up my 3 (and a bit) days here. All in all, it’s been a wonderful and positive experience. I had forgotten what it was like being in this part of Europe (with most of my trips in the last 3 years being in Scandinavia), I had forgotten how they pile their rubbish on the streets for collection, I had forgotten the uneven paths and roads (literally everywhere) and forgotten the smell of heated streets.
Lisbon itself was very picturesque, for me it was the cute little trams (which became a bit of an obsession waiting for the next one with my phone ready to take pictures) and the tiles on the crumbling buildings.
My three days here became a lot more about food than I expected. Travelling solo doesn’t usually lend itself to sit down/luxury meals. But I had the most delicious sea food meal, immersed myself in the custard tarts, went on a food tour and (although I didn’t opt for the sardines) had a lovely, tinned fish (tuna) and salad meal, all of which were notable. That and the Ginja liquor shots!
The metro transport system was super easy to use and cheap, and I think having the ability to zip round a city easily is a massive plus and can make or break a trip.
I wouldn’t say the people here are super friendly, especially transport and shop workers, they give off the feeling that they don’t like tourists, which I often find is typical in these parts, Spain and Italy alike (that’s my personal opinion, maybe that’s heightened because of my experiences in Scandinavia where literally everyone is so overly friendly and happy).
The only other negative is that I didn’t get to go to the very instagram-able Peña Palace due to it being closed during my stay for fire hazard reasons. But other than that, I did all the other things I had planned to and more.
Finally, although the city had a good transport system, what I didn’t quite prepare myself for was just how hilly the city was and coupled with uneven pathways made it hard to walk around (especially in the heat). But none of this spoilt or took away from an overall lovely experience.
