The best tips for 3 days in Lisbon / Lisbon Travel Tips
Hardly any other European metropolis is as fascinating as Lisbon. / Lisbon Travel Tips
Then at the latest some will flirt with a short trip to Lisbon. / Lisbon Travel Tips
But the city on the Tajo River is always worth a visit in other respects as well. But what belongs on the program if you only have a few days?
Lisbon can be happy, loud, and the city is full of majestic monuments and spectacular sights. When it comes to attractions in Lisbon, there are so many to see that as a tourist at the end of a long day of sightseeing, your head is guaranteed to be spinning, but in a very pleasant way. Although the city on the Tejo River offers enough for a longer visit, more and more people are using cheap flights within Europe for a short trip.
Day 1 / Baixa de Lisboa: Modern meets historic
A city trip through Lisbon is best started in Baixa, also known as Baixa Pombalina, which is probably the most contrasting district of the Portuguese capital. It combines historical places with modern life like no other. A good place to start exploring is the Rossio, or Praça de Dom Pedro IV, which is home to sights such as the old Terminal do Rossio train station, which also has links to nearby Sintra. Last but not least, the square also attracts visitors because of its numerous cafés and bars, because here you can get a nice espresso for around 70 cents at any time, as well as the liqueur Ginjinha, which is typical for Lisbon and is made from sour cherries.
Strolling down the chic Rua Augusta with its shops and restaurants, you finally get to the Praça do Comércio, which is framed by a monumental U-shaped building and runs directly onto the Tejo River – the promenade is a good place for one first breather, also because you can often listen to street musicians or watch artists here. If you want, you can look at the square from above, namely from the Arco da Rua Augusta triumphal arch, which has “watched over” the square since 1873. Bizarre: Because of the large number of visitors, there is a kind of traffic light system in the tower that regulates the “traffic” of tourists ascending and descending.
Alfama – a colorful tangle of streets / Lisbon Travel Tips
Those looking for something to eat are guaranteed to find what they are looking for in Lisbon’s famous market hall, Mercado da Ribeira. After that you have the energy to explore the Alfama, a wonderful tangle of narrow little streets – and perhaps Lisbon’s most authentic neighborhood. Numerous miradouros, i.e. vantage points, invite you to linger while you enjoy spectacular views over Lisbon – it is not for nothing that there is usually at least one restaurant in the immediate vicinity. The city is crowned by the old castle, the Castelo de São Jorge, from where you can also enjoy a fantastic view.
If you then have enough slowness for the first day, you can go back down in the direction of Praça do Comércio and then take the nearby historic elevator Elevador de Santa Justa to the Bairro Alto. This is where Lisbon’s nightlife rages on weekends. Fado is played live in many bars.
TRAVELBOOK insider tip: the Pavilhão Chines bar, which is full of historical knick-knacks – here you feel like a child in a toy shop, just with a cocktail in your hand. Before or after, there are plenty of opportunities for a wonderful dinner, for example in the colorful O Prego da Peixaria, which serves delicious fish burgers as well as divine sweet potato fries. Dining at Casa dos Passarinhos is more traditional and sumptuous, but also cheaper, where the fish always seems to come straight from the sea. The Ilha da Madeira with its varied menu is definitely worth a visit.
Day 2 / Famous explorers and legendary sweets
The next day leads to Belém, a somewhat remote district of Lisbon, which is nevertheless rich in history and sightseeing highlights. The tour starts at the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, an impressive monument to the achievements of the Portuguese explorers. Important figures such as Vasco da Gama and Henry the Navigator are depicted here atop this 52-metre-tall tower, which has another wonderful view over the Tagus River and the nearby Atlantic Estuary from its observation terrace. But look down, because at the foot of the tower there is a gigantic mosaic in the form of a compass rose, in the middle of which is a world map with all the Portuguese discoveries.
We continue on foot to the Torre de Belém, which was built in 1521 as a testament to the Portuguese naval supremacy of the time – as today’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, the tower watched over the port entrance to Lisbon with its cannons. Sometimes you can also see one of the huge cruise ships that sail from Lisbon all over the world passing by from here. The tour of Belém is rounded off with the monastery of Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, because there is not only spectacular medieval architecture to admire here, but also the tombs of the discoverer Vasco da Gama and the poet Fernando Pessoa.
The perfect end to the second day: a visit to Pastéis de Belém, where the typical Lisbon cream tarts, called pastéis de nata, are made to perfection (and on an assembly line). There is almost always a queue here, but it’s worth it. Address: Rua Belém 84-92, 1300-085 Lisbon.
Day 3: Sunfish and a cable car / Lisbon Travel Tips
The third day leads to the newest district of Lisbon, which was only created on the occasion of the World Exhibition in 1998 – the Parque das Nações, i.e. Park of Nations. The modern train station Estação do Oriente with its impressive glass roof is worth seeing in itself. Using a modern cable car, visitors can float over the site and directly over the waters of the Tejo, where hotels and office buildings now stand alongside apartments. The heart of the Parque das Nações, however, is the gigantic Oceanário de Lisboa, the second largest oceanarium in the world, whose 500 cubic meter main tank is home to marine animals such as sharks, sunfish and rays. It was voted the best aquarium in the world by Tripadvisor users in 2015.
Those who prefer to get away from the noise of the city can visit the gigantic two-kilometer-long Ponte de 25 Abril bridge, which bears a clear resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and spans the Tagus river majestically. Another sight awaits you in the vicinity with the 28 meter high Christ statue Cristo Rei – it is actually based on the world-famous model in Rio de Janeiro. Numerous hip bars, restaurants and clubs have also sprung up in the vicinity of the bridge on the Lisbon side, such as the wonderfully colorful Rio Maravilha. There you can have a last look at the city and the river over a drink, and with a bit of luck marvel at a wonderful sunset. By then at the latest, your heart already knows that you will return to Lisbon at some point.
When is the best time to visit Lisbon?
Lisbon is suitable for a trip almost all year round. Portugal’s capital is particularly recommended in spring and autumn, because the climate is still pleasant in the off-season, but the metropolis is less crowded then. In the summer, Lisbon can sometimes get very hot. The winters are relatively mild, but it rains more often.
