I never seem to have any time on here now. I'll need to get back and catch up on reading some revie...
I never seem to have any time on here now. I'll need to get back and catch up on reading some reviews...
Member since:02.09.2003
Reviews:34
Members who trust:39
Lisboa, as the locals call their city – Lisbon to us British types – was my latest holiday destination. Literally just returned at the time of writing (well 22 hours ago).
We were looking for somewhere no too far away, warmer than the UK and reasonably priced. A friend had told me that Portugal was pretty inexpensive in terms of a holiday location. So, given that I plan to visit all Europeancapital cities, I figured I’d add Lisbon to my list of those visited.
Lisbon is situated on the banks of the River Tagus to the southern end of Portugal.. It’s also the capital city of Portugal – which I’m pretty sure the majority of readers already knew!
Getting there
We flew from Edinburgh to Heathrow, then onwards to Lisbon. The journey took around 5 hours and included 1 and a half hours between flights in Heathrow. We flew with BA and benefited from their sale - £332 total cost for 2 return flights.
Taxi from the airport to our hotel cost 10 Euros for a 20 minute journey.
Accommodation
We chose to stay in the Holiday Inn as it was pretty central and very reasonably priced - £55 per night, bed and breakfast
(per room – not per person). The hotel was rated 4 star and well deserving of that rating. I’ll not go into why in this review, however.
Getting Around
Lisbon has a terrific public transport system (don’t most countries other than the UK?). We used the metro everyday. The cost for a 5 day pass was 12 Euros each which gave unlimited use of metro, trams and buses.
The metro was amazing. Each station had unique designs in tiles and with some statues etc. It was also spotlessy clean for the most part!
Weather
February is winter in Lisbon. As such the temperatures never got above 16 degrees Celcius- but never below 14 during the day. If that’s winter, I’ll have some more please – especially knowing the weather in UK was a bit cold with not a little snow!
People
The people were incredibly friendly and we were made to feel very welcome from the moment we stepped off the plane to the moment we left Lisbon.
Eating Out
Lisbon has such a wide variety of choices for anybody from the casual diner to the more demanding gourmand/gourmet.
Prices vary from the very reasonable – under 20 Euros for dinner for 2 – to the very expensive. The only example I have of the latter was paying 25 Euros for prawns in some garlicky stuff (for my wife who said they were great – good job at that price). That the prawns were great is not surprising as Lisbon (and Portugal in general) is renowned for it’s seafood.
All the standard chains were featured – McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC et all! They also have a really goof Hard Rock café which we tried and found it so much less expensive that the Edinburgh or London locations.
There are also an abundance of locally owned restaurants serving a wide variety of local type fare. The main courses tended to be pork or fish based which suited my wife but me less so. That said, I never went hungry.
Coffee bars are all over the place and serve coffee (funnily enough) and beer with food ranging from snacks to light meals – pastries and cakes seem to be pretty popular (and tasty, I confess). Prices are generally very good. As an example, I paid 55 cents for an espresso as the norm.
A big plus was that for one whole week, enjoying coffee bars – I never saw one Starbucks!
Shopping
Shopping was a strange experience. I expected (wrongly as it happens) to see all the familiar high street names, which seem to dominate globally. There were a few there but not always easy to find – not that we were looking for them (we eventually stumbled across Gap, Levis and Accessorise stores).
Instead you had streets and streets full of smallish locally owned stores which sold anything you can buy in the UK and at generally more affordable prices – designer labels included.
The one item which was noticeably cheaper than UL (or elsewhere in Europe) was cigarettes. These came in at about £1.80 (2.5 Euros) per pack. So for any smokers looking to get some cheap ciggies, you could do worse than go to Lisbon – and as it’s part of EU, there’s no limit on the amount you can bring back!
Sightseeing
There was so much to see and do in and around Lisbon that we never yet saw all we wanted to. The city is built upon a series of hills (7 I believe) which makes for breathtaking views from the high points of the city.
The city itself is a huge amalgam of architectural styles from over the centuries. The new blends in very easily with the old and the very old so as nothing really looks out of place.
One very prominent features was that many of the older houses are tiled. Yep, covered from top to bottom in ceramic tiles. Some had obviously seen better days, but all were truly amazing.
Castelo Sao Jorge
This castle is slap bang in the middle of the city and dates from the middle ages. It has not lasted the trials of time as well as some of our UK castles. But then again, it has probably seen more in the way of action than ours!
Entry was a mere 3 Euros each and was well worth paying even if only for the tremendous views over the city and across the River Tagus.
Castelo de Belem
This is a strange castle, jutting out over the River Tagus. It was built apparently as a defence against anyone who had the idea that they could just mosey on up the Tagus and attack the city. Must have been quite effective as it’s in pretty good shape.
The site built for Expo ’98 still attracts a lot of visitors and we enjoyed a great day and evening there. This site housed one of only 2 shopping malls we saw on holiday. The other being in Cascais (nearby town).
There’s a huge sea-life centre – apparently the largest in Europe, larger than 4 football pitches space wise, the brochure informs the visitor. Unfortunately we never had time to visit this attraction, maybe next time!
There’s also a cable-car thingy. This was fun – if you’re not afraid of heights. The ride lasts around 5 minutes each way and provides great views over the whole Expo site.
There’s also stacks of restaurants and bars down here. All tastes are catered for (or so it appeared). Neither food nor drink was expensive and the atmosphere in the evening was really good – although not that busy.
Estoril
Estoril is a short train journey out of Lisbon (south westwards). We spent a morning here, just wandering around (before the Casino Estoril opened).
It’s a lovely little town with some delightful houses in a variety of styles, some very much showing the influence of the Moors – who were the head honchos in this part of the world before the Portuguese kicked them out a while back.
Another small town within a half hour (or so) train journey from central Lisbon. This was a delight!
This place is full of old buildings and some breathtaking sights. The main thing for us was the 9th Century Castelo des Mouros. This stands atop the hill overlooking the town (as is the nature of castles I suppose). It’s pretty much in ruins but well worth a visit. The views from the castle ramparts are glorious. You can see for miles – all around.
Entry to the castle was 3.60 Euros (I think). Train travel was 2.40 Euros return from Lisbon.
Summary
I could go on and on and probably bore you all to tears with descriptions of the places around Lisbon etc. Rather than do so, I’ve added some pics to the review so as you can see the sights better than my words can describe them.
Conclusion
This was a value for money holiday.
A week was probably 3 days too short for my liking, but I can’t complain. We saw loads and have some great memories.
Lisbon is a varied city, at times relaxed, at times vibrant. The architecture is similarly varied, showing influences of the various cultures, which have brought their influence to bear on this city over the centuries.
There’s lots to see and do, although we only really did the sightseeing stuff (it’s an age thing I think).
I would go back in a second and would recommend Lisbon to anyone.
Pictures of Lisbon (Portugal)
Belem Castle
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Good review. Shame you missed the Oceanarium, which is spectacular.
arnoldhenryrufus 31.08.2005 16:51
Excellent review - fantastic photos - sounds like you really enjoyed the place. lyn x
Royzee 02.08.2005 13:43
Excellent review, very informative. I'm going to the Algarve next week and was considering visiting Lisbon for a day. I don't think a day will do it justice, I may wait until I can afford more time. Well done!1
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Advantages: Easy to get around and different quirky places to visit, everyone speaks English Disadvantages: The City seems a bit 'faded glory'- places uncared for and tired
catsholiday 21.06.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Lisbon (Portugal)
Advantages: Plenty to see, good food, the trams, nice people Disadvantages: Can't think of any, unless you count having a really odd-sounding language!
BNibbles 14.07.2007 (29.07.2007)
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)
Advantages: Overall it was a fantastic holiday and would not hesitate to go again. Disadvantages: The ship is very very big and felt bit impersonal at times
alexandria112 14.08.2009 (14.08.2009)
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