Lisbon, Portugal travel review

Lisbon as a city

I absolutely loved Lisbon, it was so stunning, very accessible and it felt really safe. I went to Lisbon for 4 days and in the beginning I was obviously using google maps to get around but after the second day I was able to find the way by myself. I really like when that happens because I feel like gives the city a homier feeling, when you just know your way around. Every street you walked on was steeped in history from the mosaic tiled paths, the beautiful town houses and the Georges castle on the hill. It was Definity one of the most picturesque cities I have ever been too. I also felt really safe walking around Lisbon at night, I usually didn’t get home until 10:30, not that late but still, the streets were busy with people, bars and pubs were all open and it was still pretty lively. The one thing that did catch me off guard was the selling of drugs, people would come up to you in the main square and on different public streets and ask you if you wanted to buy drugs. The fact that these people were out in very public places in broad day light was so strange, once you said no they backed off straight away but still wtf. Lisbon is quite hilly and some streets are quite steep which is ideal if your trying to lose weight or you’re missing the gym like I was, I walked 35000 steps one day ! if you are not the biggest fan of walking, are a bit older, or have some joint problems etc. don’t let this put you off the transport system in Lisbon is great. There are busses, the cute old trams, taxis and uber which I would recommend as it is really cheap there.

Things to do

THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO, WHERE DO I EVEN START. Ok so I am going to talk about my favourites and the must see’s in my opinion and then I will list some other things I done that are also worth seeing if you have the time.

 

So I think my favourite place I went to was Jerónimos Monastery, it cost 6 euro for access to the monastery as well as the Egyptian, Roman and Portuguese museums. The museums were not huge there were just a room each but they had some really interesting pieces and having spent Christmas in Egypt I jumped at the chance to pretend like I was back in Cairo museum. The monastery itself was breath taking, I felt like I was walking down the hallway of Hogwarts, the amount of detail and work that must have been involved in building that place is mind blowing.

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Then there was Pena Palace, it was the most colourful, miss matched palace I’ve ever seen. When I was there it was raining and cold and some of the interior of the palace was under refurbishment so that wasn’t the best but it was amazing still.

 

Another must is going to the top of Arco da Rua Augusta, it was only 3 euro and you got views of the entire city you could see Georges castle, the statue of Jesus across the river (which looks really like the one in Rio) and the main square from above.

Other great stuff to see is

Belem tower

Quinta da Regaleira

St. Georges castle

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Alfama

Livraria Bertrand (the oldest book store still in operation in the world, when you by a book they stamp it saying you bought it there its really cute)

Guided tour ( I went on a free walking tour through Lisbon and our guide talked about the history of Lisbon over 3 thousand years it was great I’ll link it below it was a great way to be introduced to the city.

https://www.getyourguide.com/lisbon-l42/free-walking-tour-of-lisbon-t39551/

 

i hope this helps you with your travel planning, i will have a second blog post coming talking about all the amazing food i had if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments or DM me on my travel Instagram account

https://www.instagram.com/0ne_country_at_a_time/