Hello! Welcome to my travel guide for Lisbon:) Grab some tea or coffee, whichever you prefer, and stay a while as I take you through the different areas we explored!! For me, this was an incredible trip as I have never traveled to a country in Europe before without my parents. Nor was it a place I would have ever thought to go to but my sister got invited to an architecture conference! It was truly like nothing I had ever seen before, from the tiled buildings to the rich history around every corner. I took tons of pictures while we were there but for the sake of time I thought I would only share a couple of them:)
To make the guide easier to follow I broke the pictures up into 4 different areas that we visited within Lisbon! They are Alfama, Baixa and Avenida, Bairro Alto and Estrela, & Belem!! It sounds like a lot to cover but we did most everything in a day. We got up early and headed off around 8 am and didn’t finish until 11pm. The nice thing about going to Lisbon in the summer was that they have extremely long days because of the sun! This meant we had extra time to explore:)
BAIXA AND AVENIDA
This area was personally my favorite because there was tons of shopping plus beautiful status to see:) This area didn’t take us long to go around because it has a lot of sights more than things to do. The following are the places we visited in the area!
– Praca do Comercio: This is a massive area with a status in the middle and 3 big yellow buildings around it. It used to be where the Royal Palace was located for over 400 years. A little fun fact about the yellow buildings is that it was originally pink but then they repainted them to royal yellow!
– Elevador De Santa Justa: This is an elevator that takes you up to the top and then you can look out over the city! We unfortunately did not go up it because the wait was over an hour and a half. Even if you don’t go up inside, it is still worth the visit to see what it looks like in person.
– Lisboa Story Centre: I did this on my day by myself because I had time. It took a while to go around but you learn so much of the history of Lisbon including the earthquake that hit Lisbon and how it destroyed a lot of the buildings.
– Rua Augusta: This area has all the stores as well as buildings with tiles. My favorite cafe in the area is PAUL and highly recommend checking it out. You can also sit outside in the middle of the street to eat some food which had beautiful sights:)
– Rossio & Praca Da Figueira: These two areas are right next to each other. We walked through this quickly and just looked at the status.
BAIRRO ALTO AND ESTRELA
This is a huge area to cover so we only stuck to sights and churches! Below are the sights that we saw:)
– Igreja Do Carmo: We got to go inside this and it was so incredible. The church was destroyed in the earthquake but so beautiful. There is a museum on the inside and we spent a while walking around there. Right outside the church is a square with tons of cafes! We sat and had lunch there and got to see all the beautiful buildings.
– Museu Nacional De Arte Antiga: This is a must for any art lover! Such a fun experience but it does take a while to do.
– Jardim Da Estrela: I really wanted to do this but we ran out of time! It’s a beautiful garden laid out in the middle of the 19th century, opposite the Basilica da Estrela! It would have been lovely to walk through here!!
BELEM
We didn’t get much time in Belem unfortunately but there are tons of things to see! We got to see the Belem Tower which is pictured below and it was absolutely stunning!! One of my favorite castles! The others that we saw are listed below which are all must do’s as well.
– Mosteiro Dos Jeronimos: This is absolutely breath taking! We saw it from afar and didn’t get to go inside. Everyone said it was worth the visit!
– Monument to the Discoveries: This one is pictured below and is HUGE!! I did not realize how big it was until we were standing right under it.
– Belem Tower: Like I said before it was one of my favorite castles! I think it had to do with it being so small and on the water that made me fall in love with it!! We really wanted to go inside but the line was super long. We got there around the afternoon so I recommend getting their early so you don’t have to wait for long periods of time.
ALFAMA
This is where we rented an Airbnb! We over looked the Lisbon castle from our bedroom window and it was breath taking seeing the sun rise on the castle in the morning. HERE is the exact one we stayed at! The couple that owns it is also so sweet and very attentive to our every need. One downside is the place is not meant for tall people as the ceilings are slanted due to being on the top floor. Other than that it was fantastic location because of how easy it was to get to places by walking.
There are tons of cafe’s and restaurants in Alfama! Our favorite cafe was located right next to the green building in the picture below:) The street was called R. Do Milagre de Santo Antonio and the cafe was done in an old tiled building but modern on the inside! Honestly I could give a whole list of recommendations on where to eat but we ended up loving the hole in the wall restaurants and ordering random things off the menu!
The Lisbon Castle that was next to our Airbnb was called Castelo De S. Jorge. I recommend you go walk around it later in the afternoon! We walked it around 8pm at night and got to see the sun setting over the city with little people around. It closes at 9pm so we had plenty of time to see the full castle and it was nice taking our time instead of feeling like we needed to move on because people were coming.
The last thing about Alfama that I loved was all the colorful tiled buildings! Obviously it was all over the city but Alfama just had a different feel to it. It was cute to see all the laundry hung out on the lines as well as all the flowers and colorful buildings. We loved walking around this part of town:)
Things I Wish I Had Known Before
- Take out cash before you arrive at the airport! The exchange rate at the airport is ridiculous and you won’t be able to do much unless you have cash on you. All of the places we went to did not take card at all including restaurants.
- If your wanting to take a Taxi, download the app MyTaxi. We tried to use Uber numerous times but the drivers had no idea how to get around some of the small streets which got frustrating. MyTaxi is the same as Uber but you call a taxi instead and you can pick your destination before without having to translate to the driver. The app lets you add your card or you can just give the driver cash before you get out.
- If you stay in touristy areas most people will speak English! But on the rare occasion someone doesn’t, I used google translate.
- POCKET PICKERS! Seriously be ware of your belongings at all times!! It is so easy to set your phone on the table and not think about it until after the meal but by then it is gone. I was super aware of everything while we were there but still worried that they could get into my pockets so I always zipped things up and wore a back pack or a cross body. I had a guy try to come ask me for directions but I just kept moving. They try to distract you and then get into your belongings! Oh last thing about this, there are signs everywhere that say “Pocket Pickers” which makes you pat down yourself to make sure your items are still there. As soon as you do that someone close by sees exactly where your items are and then can quickly grab them.
- I walked around by myself one of the days because my sister had her conference! I did not feel unsafe at all, granted I stayed in touristy areas but still I felt comfortable. There aren’t really many bad streets you can turn down or areas that are unsafe. But I wouldn’t suggest walking down back streets late while its dark out!
- Pack comfy walking shoes! The first day we were there we walked about 10 miles. Also there is no way you can wear heels because there isn’t really a path just cobbled stones. I brought wedges with me and wore them once for dinner which was right next to our place!
- Most places you want to visit such as museums or churches you have to pay to get in, unfortunately. But if you bring your Student ID you can save a ton on ticket prices!! Most of the time they even accepted my student email address.
I hope this gives a little bit of inspiration for visiting Lisbon:) It was such a great experience and I will definitely be going back!! If you have questions or comments about the trip please feel free to leave them below!!
