Destination Report: Lisbon – Part One: What to do, see, eat (& avoid)

After living in Porto, we spent the second half of our stay in Portugal by visiting Lisbon for almost a month which is the most expensive city we have lived in but we are not going to talk about our expenses yet. Instead, we will focus on everything we did, saw and ate. We decided to stay in this capital because we were curious to know more about this growing digital nomads hub that has become a trendy European destination over the past few years. The city actually reminded us a lot of San Francisco which we will talk more about in this blog post. Let’s go explore Lisbon!

Overall, we gave Lisbon a 4 out of 5 stars rating (see our rating legend below). Our accommodation was amazing, really comfortable and provided us with amazing views of the city from our terrace (similar to the views we had in San Miguel de Allende). The location was also top notch as we were by the main square of the city (Rossio neighborhood). This gave us walking access to most of the city as well as organic markets, grocery stores, restaurants and of course some (touristy) sights. Groceries and food, in‌ ‌general, was extremely affordable. The public transportation (along with Uber) made commuting within and outside of the city both affordable and extremely convenient. The community was some of the best we ever had (above Montreal and San Miguel de Allende) The major drawbacks for us were price of accommodation (due to a recent boom in real estate) and the fact that Lisbon feels like a big city with not that many green spaces which is something we enjoy.

Our five stars rating system:

• 1 star: We hated this place and definitely do not plan to come back.
• 2 stars: We did not like this place and do not plan to come back.
• 3 stars: We liked this place but do not plan to come back.
• 4 stars: We really liked this place & we might consider coming back.
• 5 stars: We loved this place and are actually consider coming back This is a place we could call home someday. 

With that being said, let’s look into what we liked the most and what we recommend to do in Lisbon! 

Where We Traveled Lisbon, Portugal

Number of Days 3 weeks (from August 13, 2019 to September 2, 2019)

Type of Travel Married Couple, Slow Travel/Nomadic, Price Conscious

Note: Unless specified otherwise, prices are in USD and were converted from the local currency (EUR or Euro) to USD using a 1:1.11 ratio. (so 1 EUR = 0.90 USD). 

Introduction

Similar to Porto, Lisbon’s streets are hard on the feet, but extremely pleasant to the eye! The beautiful Atlantic coastline, the “golden gate” like bridge, cable cars and many hills reminded us a lot of San Francisco, which was the place we left 14 months ago prior to becoming full time nomads & slow travelers. The digital nomad community and the fact that it has become very attractive for tech jobs can make it the Silicon Valley of Europe, according to what some people we met are saying.

What did we do, see and eat?

A good starting point if you want to know what is happening in Lisbon is to check Meetup.com and join the groups that fits your interests. If you are into hiking, we recommend you join both HCL – Hike & Culture around Lisbon and Lisbon Hiking Meetup. Lisbon Digital Nomads and Lisbon Expats & Locals are also great groups if you plan to connect with locals. 

We also highly recommend to get on at least one free walking tour as they are by far the best (and extremely affordable) way to discover a new place and connect with locals who are passionate to share with you the culture, history and the best places to go hang out. Our favorite walking tour was Lisbon Live History company who offers two 3 hours long free walking tours. This company has, as of 2019, four walking tours in Lisbon and their guide was super knowledgeable. (Note: these tours are donation based so keep in mind to leave a tip at the end).

Now let’s dig into our favorites places to eat, shop and get entertained. To help you, we’ve included all the places (and more) that we are calling out below in the following Google Maps. 

Our Favorite Sights/Activities:

As we said in the introduction, start your journey in Lisbon with a free walking tour. It is a great way to learn more about its history, the origin of the city, the culture, the typical dishes as well as getting first hand recommendations from the guide that are usually locals that are passionate about the city they have been living in for many years. Besides the walking tour, we also recommend to join one of the hiking groups to discover some beautiful sites outside of Lisbon.

Here are the places we recommend to check out in Lisbon:

• Alfama neighborhood – A wonderful neighborhood in Lisbon, full of wonderful sights. This is a culturally rich and charming part of the city that displays Visigothic roots, Arabic influence and fishing port heritage.
• Miradouros! There are plenty of wonderful (& free) viewpoints to observe in the city of lisbon. Our favorites are Miradouro das Portas do Sol, Miradouro de Santa Luzia, Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, & Miradouro da Graça.

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• Parque Edouardo VII – A great park with some more views of Lisbon and plenty of benches to relax.  
• 25 de Abril Bridge – This bridge looks like to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and there is a good reason for that. It was built by the same company that built the world famous bridge in California. 

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After that, there are a few places worth checking outside of Lisbon for a day trip. We recommend Obidos, Sintra & Cascais.

• In Obidos, check out the village which is a medieval town. It is a fantastic place to visit where people actually live. There is a medieval festival that takes place in June that we missed that is worth checking out.

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• In Sintra, check out Castelo Dos Mouros a beautiful castle a thousand years old but has been incredibly well maintained. Spectacular views around the castle especially at sunset. 

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• In Cascais, check out to the local beach, the Guincho beach nearby and the downtown area. The restaurant scene in the small downtown seemed very pricey and on the touristy side. 

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Our Favorite Restaurants:

In Lisbon

• A Tigelinha: A local restaurant a block from our AirBnB that features great fish. They also have a take away store next to it where we took some Portuguese chicken to go. Yum! 
• Chutnify: We visited this restaurant with our hiking group on our last weekend in Lisbon. The food is really good and was recommended to us by an Indian native.
• Sushi people: A sushi restaurant that has an all you can eat (AYCE) menu for 17.50 EUR per person. This was one of the best AYCE sushi we had recently and they got pretty close to the ones we loved in Montreal.
• Time Out market: A great place that features different restaurant businesses that let you sample many popular Portuguese dishes. 

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In Caldas da Rainha:

• Tacho – A wonderful restaurant we stopped for lunch with some of the best meat we had during our stay in Lisbon. The restaurant also had fish and the service was really good. 

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In Sintra: 

• Metamorphosis: A great vegetarian friendly restaurant we went to after visiting Sintra. Service was incredibly accommodating. They definitely want to make sure they can cater to your dietary needs.

Our Favorite Sweets Spots:

• Bettina & Niccolo Corallo – A great place that is all about chocolate. We tried their 100% cacao sorbet and we loved it. Beside this location, they have a smaller store in the Time Out Market.
• Despensa N6 – The ultimate gluten free cafe in Lisbon we found. Healthy, delicious, no guilt baked goods, brunch items and fresh juices. They make their own bread, kombucha and cakes. We tried their brownies and their almond cake which were both yummy and really affordable. We took some gluten free bread home!
• Eight The Health Lounge – A fancy hipster cafe where the food was delicious and well presented. The place had a unique delightful ambience and massage services are a plus. We shared a smoothie and a nice salad bowl. 
• Pastéis de Belém: [**Tourist spot alert**] We went here through a walking tour of Belem that we took. The line is usually at least one hour long but our guide had an agreement with the shop so that we could skip the line and sample their special recipe without having to stand in line. The pastel de nata tastes similar to the ones you can find in Lisbon so for us this is a touristy place that we don’t necessarily think is worth the visit.

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Our Favorite Grocery Stores/Markets:

Here are our top recommendations:

• Saturday Organic Farmer’s Market – This weekly farmers market was one of Mrs. Nomad Numbers favorite places to reload on seasonal & organic produce. It is every Saturday and starts buzzing after 10am. Nomad Number’s pro-tip: Show up at 9am so you can get the best produce available! 
• Celeiro: An organic/health store chain that we liked to go, especially for their great selection of Captain Kombucha drinks!
• Pingo Doce – We asked locals where they go grocery shopping and they told us Pingo Doce which is a national chain. Prices are affordable and produce quality is good.
• Lidl – This is a chain all across Europe that we are familiar with. What is great is that since it’s a chain they carry the same produce all over Europe. We found that nuts are really expensive in general but they were quite affordable at Lidl.

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What to avoid

While it’s great to call out what to check out, we think it is as important to also include what NOT TO do. These are activities/places we stayed away from. Of course, taste is personal and so your preference might vary.

• Don’t wait for Tram 28 – Tram 12 is a great way to experience the tram and it will save you a couple of hours as there is no line for this one. Plus, Lisbon is a walking city so the best way to experience the city is by walking, not in line and then a crowded tram.
• Don’t take the Santa Justa Lift –  Unless you want to experience what a “tourist trap” is, you can move on and check out any of the miradouros we’ve listed on our Google Maps.  
• Don’t take a Tuk Tuk tour – Instead take a free walking tour to have a more enjoyable experience of the city at a fraction of the cost. 
• Don’t go to Pastéis de Belém – You can find many Pastel de Nata pastries anywhere else in Lisbon and the taste will be 99% the same with no line.

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Our Slow Travelers Tips

Slow travel is part of our philosophy. It gives us the opportunity to really connect with a place by not having to experience FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and getting unnecessarily stressed for being on a schedule. With slow travel, we can see all the iconic sights and have time to spare to find the more offbeat spots that most tourists miss. Most of the time, those are the absolute gems. And as this blog post explains, we spend much less by leveraging “local” pricing and being able to leverage long stay discounts.

Here are some tips to maximize a nice and enjoyable stay in Lisbon:

• Enjoy the many free viewpoints. Lisbon is a city of many hills and so there are many great free viewpoints to enjoy the view or even buy a drink at a rooftop bar to enjoy the view. You can skip the viewpoints that require payment like the Santa Justa Lift!
• There is no such thing as free appetizers in Lisbon! When you go to a restaurant you might already find appetizers on the table (if not, they will come pretty quickly). Usually breads/olives or small bites. These will be charged to you at the end of your meal unless you don’t eat them. 
• Have delicious gourmet meals at home. While eating out is not very expensive, cooking at home is a steal in Portugal as grocery shopping is really inexpensive.

What about the cost? 

Because our destination reports were getting so long, we decided to split them into two parts. Part one (this part) is be about what to do/see/eat. Part two is about the costs. In part two we uncover all the juicy details about our budget and how much the two of us spent for the weeks we stayed in this city.

Would you be interested in going to Lisbon? Does the capital of Portugal peak your attention? Maybe you’ve already been? Feel free to share your experience and ask questions by leaving a comment below.