This is a continuation of my Portugal trip report. See Back from Portugal! Some Thoughts, Review: TAP Air Portugal Business Class ORD to LIS, Review: Iberia Premium Economy MAD to DFW
Day 1
My daughter and I landed in Lisbon mid-morning (my husband and son were arriving the following day due to a flight change). We took an Uber from the airport to our hotel, My Story Charming Hotel Augusta (separate review coming later today). Check out this view of the Águas Livres Aqueduct on the drive to our hotel:
We arrived at our hotel around noon, and thankfully our room was ready! After we dropped off our luggage, we headed out the door to explore and grab some lunch.
I was thrilled with our location. We were right on Augusta Street (Rua Augusta), which is a street closed to traffic with a lot of shops and cafes.
In Lisbon, restaurant hosts actively recruit diners. They’re not too aggressive, but they do compete with other businesses. We decided to eat at this one outdoor cafe after looking at the menu. But then, it started to rain. A host asked us if we’d rather eat inside, and we said yes. We were led through a building into what I thought was the inside portion of the same restaurant. Turns out, it was a different restaurant with a different menu. Oh well!
One of the first things on our agenda was trying Portugal’s famous pastry, pastel de nata.
These custard pastries are everywhere. We ordered the original version:
So, my family tried this pastry from 3 different sources, and it’s just not our cup of tea. But, I’m still glad we tried it.
After lunch, we spent some time walking around the immediate area, looking in the shops and just taking it all in.
I loved looking at the architecture. Check out the detail on the street lights:
My main goal for our first half day in Lisbon was to see the Santa Justa Lift (Elevador de Santa Justa). It was just a few blocks from our hotel. This elevator, built in 1902 to connect two neighborhoods, really stands out:
It’s a beautiful work of art. It was once a functional elevator for city dwellers, but now it’s flooded with tourists.
We stood in line for 45 minutes for our turn to ride up this elevator. Unfortunately, the tippy top viewing platform on the top was closed for construction, but we still had a good view from the lower platform.
The view:
My daughter and I agreed that the 45-minute wait was not worth it. Next time, we would walk to the lift to see it, but not wait for the ride.
It was drizzling on and off that day, but the outdoor cafes still found a way to keep patrons warm. We ate dinner in the middle of Augusta Street next to a cozy fire.
We headed to bed early. It was a long first day.
Day 2
For our full day in Lisbon, I had pre-booked this 2-hour tuk-tuk tour of the city. Our driver was from Germany and said he most often drives for German cruise tourists.
He zipped and zoomed through the narrow streets, and we saw a lot in those 2 hours. I loved seeing the different colored tiles on buildings:
The beautiful train station:
We saw several squares:
Lisbon Cathedral:
National Pantheon:
Lisbon has a lot of street art:
Lots of hills:
And sardine shops:
We visited 3 view points on our tour. The last one was my favorite:
After our tuk-tuk tour, we walked to the TimeOut Market for lunch.
It was totally packed on a Sunday afternoon. So instead, we walked to a nearby cafe. Then, we hopped into an Uber to see Belém Tower.
Unfortunately, the inside of the tower was closed because of strong waves. So, we admired it from the outside for a while before heading back to central Lisbon.
Soon after we arrived back at our hotel, my husband and son had finally arrived in Lisbon. We took some photos and then headed to dinner so they could get some sleep.
Day 3
We only had the morning in Lisbon before we headed back to the airport to rent a car for the rest of our Portugal adventure. My husband was up for exploring, but my kids both just wanted to “chill” in the hotel room. Since my daughter and I had such a great experience on our tuk-tuk tour the day before, I decided to go on another tuk-tuk tour with my husband that morning so that he could get an overview of Lisbon. We didn’t pre-book a tour, but we had no problem finding a tuk-tuk driver willing to take us around that morning.
We went to most of the same spots I visited on the day before. But, it was still nice way to spend the morning.
Overall Thoughts
I enjoyed the 48 hours I spent in Lisbon. The city reminded me of other European cities I’ve visited but with some unique traits and charm of its own. Surprisingly, we hardly saw or heard any other tourists from the USA in Lisbon.
I was a bit disappointed in the restaurant food in Lisbon. However, I didn’t research restaurants in advance, and I’m sure we would have found better food outside of the tourist areas. I enjoyed the food in other parts of Portugal better.
I think two nights in Lisbon was a good amount of time to get a taste of the city. We were all ready to hit the road to get to our next destination, the beach town of Nazaré.
Thanks for sharing!