Lisbon, Portugal

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Lisbon, Portugal

From Amsterdam, there are various european airlines to choose from: Transavia, Portugal, Easyjet and Ryanair. We chose Transavia for a two-way trip of € 175,-- per person. From The Netherlands, it is a 2 hour and 45 minutes travel.

15-minute Lisbon

For a more video impression of different tourist spots, go to youtube and type milnovsag lisbon. There are 5 short videos to view.
Photos: Lisbon photo album

Airport arrival and transportation We took an aerobus to bring us to a city square called Rossio. The price of a ticket is € 3,50. The card can be used for a day in buses and trams. Here is the route from Aeroporto to Cais Sodre: Aeroporto-Estacao Entrecampos-Campo Pequweni/Av. Republica-Saldanha-Pacoas-Av. Fontes P. Melo-Marqueis Pombal-Av. Liberdade-Restauradores-Rossio-Pc. Comercio-Cais Sodre (final destination).

Time Lisbon has no daylight saving time.

Daycard We opted for a day card instead of a tourist card. This can be bought in a tourism office for € 5,50. It can be used in bus, funicular and metro. Tip: Don’t throw your used card because you can have it loaded the following day. It saves you € 0,50 cents. You can buy a day card at a torusim shop at Metro Restauradores.

Tip: Automated machines in metro cannot be used in riding trams.

Tip: Tram 28 en 15 are popular to tourists because they stop at different tourist spots.

Hotel stay A tourist can make it as expensive as he likes. In our case, we are practical travellers so we opted for the price of € 37,50 for a hotel room (reservation done via booking.com). The room has a private toilet and bath. It is good for two people per night with a simple breakfast like ham, cheese, jam, bread and coffee/tea/juices. The location of hotel Pansao Nova Goa is in the city centre near metro Rossio.

Food experiences Food is reasonably priced. When you see a sign called “Pastelaria”/ "Restaurante", then it is where you find food.

For € 10,-- you have a complete meal of any kind of fish, leafy salad and salted boiled potatoes. Omelets with fillings like cheeses/schrimps/seafoods are also popular and are served with french fries and leafy salad. In a more expensive restaturant, foods are priced from € 20,-- per person.

Tip: Once you have ordered your meal, one or two small plates with breads, butter, sardine paté and cheeses will be placed at your table. They are not for free. You pay extra for what you consumed. It is also okay not to touch anything so you don't pay extra. In our case, we had a nice time tasting some of these.

Custard puddings for dessert is delicious. It costs € 1,05.

Appetizers like shrimps/meat croquest and bacalao fish balls cost € 1,--.

One glass of beer and softdrinks in cans are priced at € 1,--. Higher than that is a tourist’s price.

A bottle of house white wine in a normal restaurant costs € 4,50.

Tip for coffee drinkers: When you order cafe, then you get an espresso (€ 0,50). Order cappuccino if you want coffee with not so much milk. Order cafe with milk (leite) and you get a glass of coffee with lots of milk cafe latte (€ 0,90).

Tourist spots

Tip: Wear comfortable shoes. Expect a steep climb in going to tourist spots. Even with the use of public transportation, we got exhausted because of ascending and descending walk in the streets.

Tip: Make photos of the ground tiles in the squares together with the statues. They have a nice pattern and adds up to your photo values.

District Belem (tram 15 direction Ages)

-Torre de Belem, tram stop: Largoda Princesa. The tower is very beautiful, built around 1520’s and served as observation post against enemies. It is located in the seashore overlooking a bridge and Cristo Rei, giant statue of Christ on the other side of the sea. Entrance fee in climbing the tower: € 5,--.

-Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, a monastery.

-Padrão dos Descobrimentos, monument to discoveries.

-Palácio Nacional de Belém, palace where the President resides. Tip: At the corner of the street , taste de custard pudding at a pastry shop called Fabrica dois Pasteis de Belem. Before eating it, sprinkle it with cinnamon powder and sugar powder. Explore the spacious pastry shop with beautiful tiles in the walls. The take-out corner has a long line so it is better to just eat comfortably in the pastry shop.

District Baixa (metro: Baixa-Chiado)

-Elevador de Santa Justa (a neo-gothic 45- meter lift). It has a beautiful view of the city. Address: Rua de Sta. Justa. Metro: Rossio. If you bought a day card, you can ride the lift for free.

-Rossio (Pedro IV square) (metro: Rossio)

-Praça dos Restauradores, also a city square near Rossio.

-Praça do Comércio, a city square near the Taag river. (Metro: Cais Sodre).

District Bairro Alto

-Igreja de São Roque (a baroque church built by the Jesuits at the end of 16th century)

-Igreja de Carmo (convent), which is now an archeological museum. It has a nice city square.

-Palacio de Sao Bento where Portugese parliament is having its office.

-Basilica de Estrela (baroque church). Taking photo/video is not allowed. Open until 12:00. Then it opens again at 3:00 pm.

-Mercado de Rebeira (market) except we were there at around 3 pm and it was closed.

District Alfama (oldest district)

-Castelo de São Jorge, a moorish castle. Entrance fee. From metro Rossio, look for -Escandinhas de Saude street . Warning: Be prepared for a very steep climb.

-Largo das Portas do Sol, square with cafe’s, nice view of Taag river.

-Miradouro de Sta. Luzia, a square with beautiful wall tiles.

-Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa or Sé de Lisboa, a roman catholic church. Metro: Rossio.

-Igreja de Sao Vicente de Fora, a church.

-Igreja de Graca, a church with a steep climb. Tip: after visiting the church, eat at a restaurant in the corner of the street opposite the church. The food price is very reasonable, with nice Portugese tiles and lots of wines are being sold.

-Casa dos Bicos (white house)

Other interesting locations

-From Praca dos Restauradores, take a Gloria funicular to reach Mirodauro de Sta. Catarina, a square with fountain. It has a nice view of the city. Alternative: tram 28 stops at Calhariz-Bica. Then go down the street to reach Barrio-Alto.

-Campo Pequeno, a moorish bull fighting arena.

-Garo de Oriente train station.

-Cristo de Rei, a huge statue of Christ, have to ride a ferry to go there.

-Palacio dos Marqueses de Fronteira (metro Jarzim Zoologico). Do visit this palace because it is worth it. Unfortunately, we regretted not going here.

Tip: some metro stations are having nice tiles as decors.

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