Of course Lisbon is famous for its pasteis de nata. This local chain, Manteigaria, was voted one of the city’s best. They were delicious! We enjoyed them on a square at the edge of Bairro Alto, where we were staying.
The famous tram that you see in all the travel videos
Ginjinha is a local cherry liqueur. We tried it at a kiosk, which are all over Lisbon.
We stumbled on a great viewpoint for sunset.
The next day, we took a walking tour of old town. Lisa had a great idea a while back to do this when we arrive to a new place to get a local’s insider tips and to get to know the area better. This was one of the first of many Miradouros, or viewpoints, that we’d experience while in Portugal.
More views of Lisbon from the viewpoint
The walking tour took us through a few different neighborhoods in the old town part of lisbon.
The tour took us to the top of the famous Santa Justa lift, without waiting in line to take the actual elevator. This is looking towards the Alfama district.
Continuing our walking tour
The famous elevator. You don’t have to stand in line to take it to get to the top.
Lisa signed us up for a pasteis de nata cooking class, and it was great! We made pasteis from scratch at a local bakery known for them, Nat’elier
The pasteis we made was the best of our trip – not just because we made them, but because they were fresh out of the oven. They were really amazing.
For lunch, we tried another of Lisbon’s famous foods, a bifana. It is a pork sandwich. We went to the top rated, most well-known shop, Bifanas do Afonso.
After our class, we walked over to the Alfama district, one of the oldest in Lisbon, to check out the area. Lisa searched and found a local woman that makes ginjinha and sells it on her stoop, and we had to try it!
We planned a sunset at a miradouro near Alfama and the Moorish Quarter, Miradouro da Senhora, and it did not disappoint.
We had dinner in Alfama at a highly rated restaurant, Altar. We discovered pretty quickly that traditional Portuguese food wasn’t quite our thing. However, Lisa became very good at finding really good food based on photos and online reviews.
This was probably our best dinner during our time in Lisbon.
Walking home after dinner, through Alfama and the Moorish Quarter. Lisbon in general felt very safe, and is known for that. This walk was a little sketch though.
The next day we took a day trip to Sintra, a nearby area with multiple historic and natural places to visit. Our first stop is the most famous spot in Sintra, Pena Palace.
The courtyard inside the palace
They ask you not to take photos inside the palace, but the outside is the real star. It was a bit mobbed, but we were able to find a few spots where it was less so.
The palace is famous for its fairy tale appearance and bright colors.
The palace sits on top of the mountain, so the views are incredible.
Looking toward the Atlantic from the top of Pena Palace.
Leaving the palace, we headed down to visit the nearby Moorish Castle. The gardens were out of season, but still pleasant.
Looking up towards the palace. It is a bit of a climb to get there from where cars drop you off.
Our next stop was the moorish castle, a medieval castle originally built in the 8th and 9th centuries by the Moors.
The castle stretches across a mountaintop, and has the appearance of what we all think about as a castle.
Walking along and exploring a structure so old, that had seen so much history, was very cool.
We had trouble finding a reliable source for how to get to Sintra and what we could do in a day trip there from Lisbon. We packed a lot in, and it turned out to be easier to get around than we thought (other than the hills)
For lunch, we headed to old town Sintra, and ate at a restaurant recommended by our Bolt driver from Lisbon (Bacalhau na Vila). The Portuguese people are very proud of their Bacalhau, so we decided to give it another try after having it in Spain.
Bacalhau is a salted, cured Cod. We had it two different ways for lunch. This was better than what we had previously, but was settled it that it wasn’t necessarily our thing.
After lunch, we walked to our final Sintra spot, Quinta da Regaleria. Within the Quinta, there is a staircase built and used as an initiation ritual by the freemasons
You enter the well at the top and descend along a spiral staircase into a cave
The cave at the bottom of the well leads to a waterfall
The waterfall (and exit) at the end of the cave
Back in Lisbon, we had dinner at a seafood restaurant where all of the seafood is fresh. In addition to lobster, shrimp and clams, we tried a local delicacy, Goose Barnacles.
The next day, we woke up early to catch a flight to Madiera. We got all the way to the airport, to the check-in line, only to be told that our ticket was for the next day. We decided to use our newly-discovered time in Lisbon to visit some areas we had not seen yet. We walked down the famous Avenue da Liberdade to Parque Eduardo VII, and caught a Bolt to Belem to check out the original pasteis de nata.
We walked along the river in Belem, where the tower of Belem is located.
The Belem area was overrun with tourists, so we took another Bolt back to our neighborhood, Bairro Alto. We really enjoyed this kiosk in a nearby square. There is a lot of history in this square. This is where the Carnation Revolution occurred that ended the authoritarian government, all without violence.
One last sunset in Lisbon
We really enjoyed our time in Lisbon. It was a great start to our visit to Portugal.
Making our way down the hill to dinner.
Our last dinner in Lisbon was pretty amazing. We started with a foie gras and had a few sharable plates. The restaurant (O Português Chiado) was inside what seemed like a medieval building.
