I loved Lisbon. I still do. It’s a beautiful city in its own unique way. After staying in the UK for the best part of 5 months, it was really refreshing to go to a European city with those quintessentially European quirks that you don’t realise you crave. Like late night, street side dining, not understanding a majority of what people say, old churches with intricate murals, castles on hills, street musicians, cute and quirky buildings.

Lisbon was where we met up with the Hoopers from New Zealand, whoop whoop! When we saw them last we didn’t know when the next time we would see them, and more importantly, we didn’t know where. Lisbon was raised as a good meeting point for them to begin their European travels and us to have a nice Summer break. So, Portugal it was and we had a blast.

We spent 3 out of our 4 days wandering around Lisbon, we went on a walking tour, to the castle and searched the streets for amazing city views. For James and Emma’s joint birthday surprise, Matt and I organised an escape room which was super fun and we had some great teamwork going. Now, we’re hooked on escape rooms and have already done another one in London since. We spent a day in Sintra exploring the woods and the palace.

Over the time we spent in Lisbon we covered quite a lot of the city without feeling too rushed, so I’ve collated all the fun things we did and saw and put them in a city guide for anyone out there planning to go to Lisbon.

What to see:

Praça do Comércio

Lying right at the edge of the Tagus river is the Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square in English). It’s a very important square in Portuguese history; it’s the site of the Royal Palace commissioned by King Manuel I in the 15th century, which was later destroyed (along with much of the city) by the devastating 1755 Lisbon earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The square was rebuilt and named to show the re-building of Lisbon and the growing money from the port and shipbuilding industry. It’s also important as it was the site of the Carnation Revolution in 1975, where a military-led coup was held to overthrow the fascist government and bring democracy back to Portugal. All this history of Lisbon and Portugal was shared on our walking tour, it was all news to me and really interesting to learn about.

Rua Augusta Arch

The Rua Augusta Arch is like a gate to the city from the Commerce Square, it’s big and bold and you can even go up it. The arch was finished in 1873, almost 100 years after the original plan was drawn. It’s magnificent and hard to miss as it’s in the centre of town.

Augusta Arch, Lisbon, Portugal — Rua Augusta Arch.

Praça do Comércio, Lisbon, Lortugal — A storm brewing at Praça do Comércio and Rua Augusta Arch.

Street Art

One thing we noticed while walking around Lisbon is there is a lot of tagging and graffiti. Luckily there is also some great street art around too.

Staircase, Lisbon, Portugal — The alleyways and steps were always good spots to find graffiti and street art.

Street art, Lisbon, Portugal

Tile (Azulejos)

As you may recall two weeks ago I made a blog post completely dedicated to the Tiles of Lisbon. So, I won’t go on too much about them here, but they are pretty fantastic.

Tiles, Lisbon, Portugal — Tiles on the side of the oldest bookshop in the world that’s still open.

Green tiles, Portugal, Lisbon

Tiles, shop front, Lisbon, Portugal

Belem Tower and 25 de Abril Bridge

These are two sights we did not get to see up close. The bridge is quite similar to the Golden Gate Bridge and connects Lisbon to the neighbouring city of Almada across the Tagus river.

25 de Abril Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal — 25 de Abril Bridge from Praça do Comércio.

What to do:

Walking tour

I really think that a walking tour of a new city is such a great way to get your bearings around the city and learn a bit about the culture and history. We went with Sandemans walking tours again, this is the third time we’ve used this company and it’s great. It’s a free walking tour and at the end, you pay what you think it was worth or however much you can afford. Our tour guide, Ricardo showed us around the city with Portuguese perspective and passion. But also tinged with a little bit of sadness as the night before, Portugal had just been eliminated from the Football World Cup in the round of 16 by Uruguay. A great and informative tour nonetheless.

Antonio Ribeiro (Chiado), poet, lisbon — A Portuguese poet by the name of Antonio Ribeiro but was better know as Chiado. Chiado translates to “squeak” in English due to his high-pitched voice, the suburb around the statue is now called Chiado after this poet. He also looks pretty gangsta with this pose.

Carmo Convent, Largo do Carmo, Lisbon, Portugal, church — The most obvious trace of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake. The old Roman Catholic Convent sits on the hill sans roof.

Pedro IV, Rossio Square, Lisbon Portual — The column of King Pedro IV in Rossio Square. Interestingly, this column was originally thought to be for Maximillian I, Emperor of Mexico (this name may be familiar to you from my Trieste post). As urban legend goes, the statue was made of ol’ Max the first who was killed in Mexico shortly before it was completed but then the statue was bought for the square (as a pre-made statue is cheaper than making a whole new one) and put atop the column and everyone was told it was King Pedro. After looking into this further after our tour, I found this has been disproven by some historians and the statue is in fact of King Pedro IV of Portugal and Brazil. So I think this legend just remains a legend.

Also, a side note, I love how once you start learning about the history of Europe, or even the world and as you learn more and travel more, it all connects up somehow and Romans start popping up everywhere and some brother of the King of Austria pops up in Trieste, Italy and then Lisbon. It’s so cool how you can learn the history and basically revise it in another country, such fun. Well, fun for history nerds like me.

Streets of Lisbon

Colourful Lisbon Streets — Colourfully decorated streets of Lisbon.

Largo do Carmo was full of people enjoying nice food and street musicians filling the air with lovely music.

Fernando Pessoa Statue, Lisbon, Portugal — This statue in the middle of Lisbon is of a Portuguese poet/writer/philosopher most commonly known as Fernando Pessoa. I say “most commonly” because he liked to write and publish under heteronyms, a heteronym being not just a false name but each false name has a specific character and writing style. It is thought he wrote as up to 75 different authors and some of these authors held quite extreme or controversial views. This statue is popular with tourists as the empty chair creates a great opportunity to have your photo taken while dining with a poet. However the empty chair is symbolic for other reasons, it could represent the heteronyms and aliases the poet wrote as or more literal, as the empty chair that sat at his table daily while he wrote at that cafe.

São Jorge Castle

Upon the hill, overlooking the city on Lisbon is the Moorish Castle of São Jorge. The first fortifications are thought to be built in about 48 BC when Lisbon was a Roman municipality. Since then the castle grounds were used by Suebic and Visigothic people (of Germanic tribes) and then the Moorish (tribes of Muslim faith from the Meditteranean and North Africa).

The city of Lisbon was freed from the Moorish rule in 1147 during the Siege of Lisbon. Later, Lisbon was made the capital of the kingdom and was used as a fortified residence for the rulers of the time. Over the years the castle was used by various rulers for various events. The castle was damaged in the 1531 earthquake but more notably the 1755 earthquake which severely ruined the castle.

Nowadays the castle is a tourist attraction and not only gives visitors a wonderful view of Lisbon city but also a walk along the edge of the walls, up the towers and a look at old excavations.

View from São Jorge Castle — View to the Tagus River from São Jorge Castle.

My travel buddies goofing around at São Jorge Castle.

Views from São Jorge Castle

Views from São Jorge Castle, Lisbon Portugal

Explore the Alfama district

Once the poorer suburb of Lisbon, Alfama is now a popular tourist attraction due to its artistic vibes, narrow streets and great food. Alfama is on the edge of the hill so not only are the streets narrow but they are steep. We spent an afternoon walking around this vibrant area.

Steps, Lisbon, Portugal

We kept finding hidden surprises on our wanders through town.

Sunrise in Lisbon, Portugal — Sunrise over Alfama District

Sintra

Sintra is a simple day trip from Lisbon, we took the train out there for about €4 each. Our main reason, like anyone, was to see the Pena Palace. It did not disappoint. The Pena Palace was amazing, the bold colours and hill-top position made it unforgettable.

Pena Palace, Sintra, Portugal

Santa Justa Lift

This lift was built in 1902 as a form of public transport. The fact that a city would need an elevator as a form of public transport, shows you just how hilly Lisbon is. Santa Justa Lift is no longer used as public transport but as a tourist lookout. It is tall and beautiful and very hard to miss. You can take the elevator from the bottom for €5 to the top or you can walk up the hill through some nice shopping streets and restaurant areas to almost the top. The walkable area is just one level down from the paid level. It’s definitely good for the view and not necessary to pay for the lift.

Santa Justa Lift, Lisbon, Portugal — View of Castle Sao Jorge away on the hill there from Santa Justa Lift

What to eat

Food in any new city is always an exploration in itself, here are some discoveries from Lisbon.

Custard Tarts

Some lovely bakery delights, cheap to purchase at almost any bakery in Lisbon. I’ve recently found a cafe around the corner that sells reasonably authentic versions of these too, score! They’re a thick sweet pastry with solid and gooey (at the same time) custard inside.

Pastry Pillows

Pastry pillows are famous in Sintra and they’re delicious, they are a sweet sugary pastry delight full of egg and almond cream and sugar.

Custard Tart and Pastry Pillow, Portugal, Portuguese delicacies — Custard Tart and Pastry Pillow

Timeout marketplace

We actually stumbled across this one unintentionally late afternoon. We went inside to find a large diverse food court with many long tables in the middle and big screens showing the Brazil vs Mexico Football match. We watched the end of the match and the party erupt as Brazil went through to the quarterfinals. We later popped back for dinner and watched Japan vs Belgium game, being instant Japan supporters we were really disappointed to see them lose in the injury time. However, food-wise the market was great, there was food from all cuisines, including Portuguese. My food experience was not as flash as everyone else’s. James convinced me to branch out and try something new and obscure. While he went for a classically delicious steak option, I accidentally ordered octopus and caviar, although I felt cultured, it neither filled me up nor tickled my taste buds. This has not put me off the Timeout Market, my own poor food choice aside, I would still go back, sometimes classic is good and if you’re in to caviar and octopus go right ahead!

Getting around

Trams

Trams are the most classic way to get around Lisbon, they cost about €3 a ride and go all over the city.

Metro

Like most European cities Lisbon has an easy to follow and effective underground train system.

Walking

If you aren’t afraid of a few steps and hills then Lisbon is easily accessible for you. We walked pretty much everywhere during our time in Lisbon, hitting over 25,000 steps most days. It was good exercise and good sight-seeing.

More steps in Lisbon, Portugal — Always climbing more steps in Lisbon

A few more pics from our wanders through the city.

Lisbon, Portugal

Colour in the streets, Lisbon, Portugal

Statue tower, Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

Streets, Lisbon, Portugal

Sunset over Lisbon

You can also check out Matt and Em’s great blog about Lisbon here.

I hope you’re feeling inspired to check out the Portuguese capital or you’ve enjoyed just a few of my photos I took while exploring it. Sorry that this blog post ended up being quite a lot of football results weaved into the guide. It was just a great vibe to be in Europe, so passionate about football while the World Cup was on.