One week tour in Portugal

Welcome to Portugal, the western little old rectangle of Europe. Full of history, beautiful monuments and castles, good food (better wine), awesome beaches and much more. The good news is that the country itself is small, so the main cities and points of interest are near each other.

Street of Alfama
Alfama neighborhood

First in the tour, the capital Lisbon of course. I suggest to start with a walk, a walk 1000 years back in time, when the Arabs ruled the city. Explore the very old and very narrow and steep streets and stairs of Alfama the oldest neighborhood of town.

Castelo S. Jorge
St Jorge Castle viewpoint

Take your time (and take many photos) to go all the way up to St. Jorge castle. On the way up or down, route yourself to Miradouro de Santa Luzia for breathtaking sights, and to Sé Catedral the oldest church in town, and just 50 meters ahead? Another church! St. Anthony church marks the birthplace of the famous matchmaker saint, and he is always there (well his spirit anyway) just to help with every love problem of yours.

Lisbon downtown - Augusta Street
Augusta street

Leaving the old town follow the natural city expansion to downtown, this is the part of the city that was rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, with straight and square streets, open spaces with lots of light, and beautiful architecture.

A Ginginha
A Ginginha

To give you a power boost, start in Rossio square just like a local drinking a shot of cherry liqueur called ginginha in the very small, yet historic, open-fronted bar A Ginginha. Just in front there is a small monument with the star of David, a tribute (and reminder) to the hundreds of people killed by the inquisition bonfire in the Lisbon massacre.

Cais do Sodré - Pink Street
Pink Street

Take Rua Augusta and enjoy the walk to Praça do Comércio square, one of the big beautiful squares of Europe framed by the Tagus river, the bridge, and the boats. Proceed with the river on your left to Cais do Sodré, a place full of bars and restaurants ready to satisfy your famine and thirst. You should check out Pensao Amor an old brothel converterted into a fancy bar that actually kept some charm.

Beware, Cais do Sodré is just one of those places lost to gentrification. Pink street has too many tourists, few locals. Lots of bars and restaurants with little to no soul. High prices alert!

Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa

Time to move up to Chiado the posh neighborhood and the adjacent Bairro Alto the classic nightlife quarter. In Chiado please do take a coffee at A Brasileira with Fernando Pessoa (a famous dead poet) or if it’s the end of the day a drink (and a haircut) at O Purista. Do some shopping, the finest shops in town are in Chiado (and also in Avenida da Liberdade), checkout Livraria Bertrand, the oldest book store in the world, selling knowledge stamped on dead trees since 1732!

S. Pedro Alcantara viewpoint
S. Pedro Alcantara viewpoint

Bairro Alto comes alive at night, packed with restaurants, bars and people happily roaming the streets. Close to S. Pedro de Alcantara viewpoint I strongly suggest a drink in Pavilhão Chinês, one of the most beautiful bars in Lisbon. Also in Bairro Alto you will find Tasca do Chico, one of the last strongholds of bummer fado music. You can come in sit down have a glass of red wine and enjoy. Also a very good option to seat down, have a drink, and listen to fado, is Mesa de Frades in Alfama.

Tasca do Chico

Fado nowadays is mostly served in an expensive tourist package sold by the hotels that includes the transportation, fado museum, fine dinner (this and that), and fado presentations. I’m pretty sure that you will eat good and enjoy your time if you choose this option but the bummer fado is way cheaper and perhaps more authentic.

Torre de Belém
Torre de Belém

Back to daytime you should visit Belém, still Lisbon just a bit off the city center, this is the district that best symbolizes the portuguese age of exploration and discovery. Easily reachable by train from Cais do Sodré heading to Cascais (just a couple of stops between), there you will find the iconic Belém Tower, a fortification dating back to the fifteen hundreds, the Jerónimos monastery dating back to the sixteen hundreds, also Padrão dos Descobrimentos a beautiful monument dating back to 1960 dedicated to prince Henry the navigator and the portuguese that discovered the roads of the sea.

Pastéis de Belém
Pastéis de Belém

And of course, for me the main highlight of Belém, and the reason of all the work and hassle of sending boats filled with men across the globe, the Pastéis de Belém factory. So remember and praise all the history behind the moment you dust with cinnamon the delicious egg tart pastry.

And you are done with Lisbon city highlights. But please reserve one more day in town and do the day trip do Sintra, Cabo da Roca and Cascais. You can get to Sintra from Rossio train station (about 1h), from Sintra do Cabo da Roca by bus (about 30m), Cabo da Roca to Cascais by bus (about 20m) and Cascais train back to Cais do Sodré station (about 1h). And I really suggest to do Sintra in daytime, Cabo da Roca end of the day, Cascais at sunset/night.

Pena Palace
Pena Palace

Sintra is all about palaces, beautiful nature, castles, legends, knights Templar, moors, elves, fairies, and BAD WEATHER, so try to choose a perfect sunshiny day.

Monserrate Palace
Monserrate Palace

Right in the center of the village you will find the Town Palace (the one with two distinctive chimneys) even though is the most visited would strongly advise a skip to this one… because climbing up up up the hill (there are buses available) you will find the much more beautiful Pena Palace, just like a fairy tale construction, sitting proudly on the top of he ridge with breathtaking views and mind blowing gardens. Also would strongly advise a visit to Quinta da Regaleira, and also to the “small” but exquisitely beautiful red domed Monserrate Palace with exotic gardens and strong Moorish influences.

Cascais Bay Night
Cascais Bay

If you have time go to Cabo da Roca, the western point of continental Europe for some cool photos. If you love motorbikes, you definitely should go because there are always lots of cool bikes there so it’s a plus. If you spent to much time in Sintra then proceed straight to Cascais. Once a small fisherman’s village, now the Portuguese riviera, the perfect place to eat, drink and have some fun before returning back to Lisbon (or maybe to stay a couple of days to enjoy the easy going life, party at night, and the sun, surf, and sandy beaches at day) . For more detailed information please refer to this post about the area.

28 tram
28 tram

One more thing, when you move around in Lisbon please take a bit of time and do the classic 28 tram line thru the 7 hills. Usually is very crowded, so try to go really soon or late at dinner time. Buy the tickets before in the subway (much cheaper), and pay attention to your wallet (some pickpockets work daily in the trams).

Lisbon Oceanarium
Lisbon Oceanarium

If you are travelling with kids, and / or never went to a massive aquarium, please consider going to Lisbon Oceanarium. Located in the posh neighborhood of Parque das Nações it’s the flagship from 1998 World Fair, is the largest indoor aquarium in Europe, and truth to be told, if you have some kind of affinity with the ocean, it’s just an awesome sight to contemplate the main tank.

Praia da Marinha

Decisions time… if you fell in love with Lisbon, just hang around for the rest of your stay, enjoy time slowing down, the city light and the city night, drink lots of coffee and wine, make friends, explore the less touristic spots. If it’s Summer, and it’s hot, and you are dreaming of a city break, go ahead and take the 3 hour bus to Algarve, beautiful sandy beaches with warm water wait you there, after all the city bustle it’s a well deserved rest.

But if you really want to know the true soul of Portugal you must head North, not just because of monuments and landmarks but mainly because of people, honest, straight forward, with strong values and traditions, are probably the best hosts in the world. Also the food up North… delicious.

Praia do Norte - Nazaré
Praia do Norte – Nazaré

Heading North, the best way to do it is with a rented car but you can also do it by bus. Start early in the day, first stop Óbidos a well preserved fortified medieval village with a castle. Several times during the year the village celebrates the middle Ages with parades, markets, and more, so definitively check it out. Next stop, Nazaré – Praia do Norte, home of giant waves and the spot with the world record of biggest wave ever surfed. When conditions are good and surfers are in the water the view from the lighthouse is amazing.

Batalha monastery
Batalha monastery

Next stop Batalha monastery, an heritage monument celebrating the 1385 battle of Aljubarrota victory over the Spanish. I invite you to continue in the religious trail and visit the nearby Sanctuary of Fátima, place of many miracles, apparitions, celebrations, and many pilgrims.

V. N. Gaia wine cellars
V. N. Gaia wine cellars

Eventually you will arrive at Oporto the second city of Portugal and the capital of the north. It’s not my hometown like Lisbon, so do some research about it. I can strongly suggest is a visit to Vila Nova de Gaia port wine cellars. There are many of them, and it’s a really fun afternoon to visit some of them and tasting the nectar of the gods. For the definitive port wine experience there are several tours up the river Douro into the vineyards with visits, fine dining, and overnight stays in the producers farms.

That’s it folks, my personal suggestions for a week in Portugal.

Seafood
Seafood

One more thing, the food… everywhere you can eat really good with reasonable to exceptionally good prices. So, don’t waste your time, money, and body in MacDs or BKs that taste the same shit everywhere.

Some places that you should try:
Verde Minho – Honest old fashion portuguese food. In the center of Lisbon and great prices.
Cervejaria Trindade – in Chiado, old monastery (different and beautiful architecture for a restaurant). Good steaks and “pregos”. Not cheap nor very expensive.
Novo Edmundo – Grilled meat and typical food. Outside the city center, good price quality quantity relation.
Tasca da Esquina – Portuguese fine dining. Gourmet experience. Expensive (for Portuguese standards). Put yourself in the hands of the chef.
Cervejaria Ramiro – if you are into seafood this is the place to go in Lisbon. Lots of tourists and queuing since the late Anthony Bourdain filmed No Reservations here . A bit expensive to very expensive (varies a lot with the seafood you order).
Viveiros do Atlântico – 30 minutes north of Lisbon, in the picturesque surf village of Ericeira the seafood is also great and not so expensive as Ramiro. If it’s full or closed, in 1 kilometer radius around it, there are many other good seafood places.
Nova Casa dos Leitões – Perhaps the best roasted suckling pig in your life… up north in Anadia.

Moving around in Lisbon

So, here you are in beautiful Lisbon! Now there are so many places to visit, sights to be seen, monuments, restaurants, bars… how to get around to all these places?

First rule, very important to be an happy tourist, AVOID taxis like the plague. They exist in two color schemes: green/black or beige color, but they have only one goal, to rip off tourists and non locals.

A good alternative is Uber, the cars are new, the drivers polite, and most important you will know beforehand the price range of your trip so you will NOT be ripped-off.

Use this link to get €5 off your first ride


But unless you are wealthy, or lazy, or american, you don’t need/want to go by car to everywhere. So I invite you to also use the Lisbon subway network, it’s cheaper, eco friendly, and one of the best ways to move around in Lisbon specially at the rush hour (but sometimes a bit crowded though).

It’s called Metropolitano de Lisboa, or simply “Metro” and they do have an english version of the website, where you can find the network diagram (yes there is a station at the airport), ticketing and price information, and so on. The trains start running at 06:00am and stop at 01:00am. The stations are clean, safe, and the trains well maintained.

About the ticketing and pricing, it can be a bit tricky (even for locals) as you can mix subway, bus and trains, several time frames, and rechargeable tickets… my advice is to always keep the ticket during and after the journey as quite probably you can recharge it for other trips.

Cycling in Lisbon. The bad news is that we have lots of hills, not so good roads, nor cycling culture. The good news is that for most of the year the weather is perfect, there are more and more bicycle paths and more people cycle. It can be a perfect mean of transportation for short distances, or for a leisure ride by the river.

In some places of the city, you will find the city municipality shared bicycle stations, called Gira. They do have e-bicycles that assist you in the climbs, and the equipment is quite new. But the stations are not in touristic spots, and please beware this is almost a government funded scam, you see the daily pass, and think, cool for 10 euros one gets a bicycle for a whole day, right? WRONG, it gives you the possibility of using the service in that day. In practice it means for 10 euros you can do multiple trips of 45 minutes maximum time. If you make a 46 minute trip they charge plus 2 euros. And after 90 minute they charge more 2 euros for each 45 minute additional time. For example:

Let’s say you get a bicycle in the middle of town, go downtown (there are no stations to return the bicycle and stop your trip), then by the river (also no stations by the river), then go by the river to Belém for the monuments (again no stations there), take some pictures eat the pastries, and get back to the middle town and finally park/deliver the bicycle at a station.

It can easily take 5 hours, the total cost will be 10 euros for the “daily pass”, plus 12 euros for the extra time, for a total of 22 euros.

So if you enjoy ciclyng, maybe better off to rent a bike in a rental agency, or trough the bike peer to peer Spinlister.

A very cool alternative to cycling is the eCooltra electric scooter sharing service. You install an App (there is always an App…), take a picture of your drivers license, pick a nearby scooter, and go.

The cost is 0.24 cents per minute, but you can get the first 30 minutes for free with this code: jbvsg

The scooters are 100% electric and 0% emissions, and so easy to ride (low center of gravity, no vibrations), in my opinion a bit under-powered but it will take you where you want to go, in my book it beats any public transportation by a mile. The best thing is that you don’t need to find a specific station to park, just leave it (at least reasonably parked) when you finish your trip and carry on with your life.

With all the cheap and convenient means of transportations, don’t forget to walk, it’s the best way to fully enjoy the streets, the city stairways and charming alleys, so bring your best walking shoes.

And just one more thing, this is Lisbon, it’s not Bangkok nor Mumbai, don’t make yourself look like a dumb fool, and just don’t go around in a Tuk-tuk. It’s stupid, nobody likes them (maybe except for the Tuk-tuk owner, maybe), they bother people, they bother other vehicles on the roads, they can be quite expensive “for a tour” that would be much nicer to walk… Please just don’t do it.

Lisbon Half Marathon

Finally a sub 2 hour half marathon, exactly 1h57m53s, with a lot of mixed feelings.

The first couple kilomoters, simply impossible to run properly, just a big gymkhana with all kind of non-runners in the way,  from the baby stroller to the old ladys walking hand in hand to avoid getting lost from each others, and a lot more characters in the middle…. the second third of the race did a very good time, with many sub 5 kilometers, probably sub 50m 10ks (couldn’t get all the splits), but just dropped the hammer a bit too soon, so the last 4Ks were hard, stopped and walked a couple of times, maybe the mental working due to the strong pace that somewhere started to seem harder than what i was ready/mentalized to coup with.

Except the feet blisters (as usual….), everything ok at the finish, legs, knees, muscles. Cool. By now, the sub 1h50 seems really doable, without no major change in training or life style.

Anyway, probably not in this race, for sure that is a very scenic and fun course, and the weather usually is fine this time of the year (today a bit too warm though). But have to rethink it next year, 45 minutes in a line to get the bib-numbers, they ran out of time control chips ?? (so no official time for me and others), in the race day, 45 minutes to walk/crawl 500 meters from the train station to the race start, first kilometers you don’t run you gymkhana, near Praça do Comercio gymkhana again, missed 3 aid station water supply due to all the confusion, at the end another 30 minutes just to pass through to the exit…..

Next running objectives:
sub 50m 10K
sub 5m 1500m (that is very hard)

Running 24Kms in Lisbon Marathon

This was a busy weekend, signed up for the half-marathon event that runs parallel to the Lisbon Marathon. Lousy traffic jams downtown due to traffic Sunday restrictions and the marathon itself made it impossible to get to the starting line on time. So, what we did (me and TC) was to stop the car near Restauradores and start running with the “marathonists” well ahead of the half start line.

The scenary was very nice, running along Lisbon main avenues, the river and plazas. So, the aftermath was 24Kms in 2h30~ the longest run i ever did, with the last uphill through Av. Almirante Reis very hard to the legs and knees. As always the time is not important at all for a weekend runner, but was very nice to make such a distance.

Note to myself: a full marathon IS VERY VERY HARD looking back to the mental finish after “only” 24kms

At end i also won two nasty blisters, one at each foot, maybe due to wrong socks or just the plain distance…  now i go bath my legs in cold water…