How to Make Your First Visit To Lisbon Memorable
If you’re planning your first trip to Lisbon, I’m jealous! We were there just a couple weeks ago but I’m already trying to figure out when I can go back. It is such a beautiful city, from the azulejo tiles on so many buildings to the rich culture and history. Here’s what you should do on your first visit to Lisbon to make it memorable, whether you have just a couple of days or a few weeks, to ensure you have the best time.
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[RELATED: 9 Things to Know Before Visiting Portugal]
See the City’s Highlights Without the Walking
Much like Rome, Lisbon is built on seven hills, so you’ll get quite a workout walking around the city. We easily clocked about 20,000 steps and 50+ flights of stairs per day in Lisbon. However, if you want to see the sights without taking a hike, you have some options.
Tuk Tuk Tour
While you may associate Tuk Tuks with India or Southeast Asia, Lisbon is known for them as well. These small vehicles are able to navigate the narrow, hilly roads and guides will take you around the city and show you the highlights.
You can book a Tuk Tuk tour in advance or pick one up in many of the main squares. Many drivers were trying to sell us tours as we walked by. These Tuk Tuks are larger than traditional ones and can hold several people, making them perfect for a group tour.
Go Car Tour
If you want to tour around on your own, you can rent a GoCar and drive yourself around the city in a mini car that is sure to turn heads. It includes an engaging audio guide that automatically points things out as you drive by.
We did this tour and found driving the car on the small, steep streets a bit challenging. It definitely gave us an increased respect for those Tuk Tuk drivers! Additionally, on the day we went, there were road closures due to a race and we ended up doing the same loop over and over in a failed attempt to get the car back to where we started. We ended up having to call the company who came over and got the car from us.
We still had a good time, though maybe it was more fun in hindsight than in the moment. You do need a valid driver’s license and international drivers permit (IDP) for this activity.
River Boat Cruise
Lisbon sits on the Tagus River, which feeds into Atlantic Ocean. For a unique perspective on the city, see it by boat! There are big tourist boat tours that take you around, but for nearly the same price I recommend a sailboat ride instead.
We booked this one through Airbnb experiences and had an amazing time. There were only 10 guests and the cruise included a drink and charcuterie while we sailed past sights like Christo Rei (a miniature version of Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer), Belém Tower, Praça do Comércio, and more.
Eat Your Way Through the City
The best way to get to know a new place is by trying the local food because food is so engrained in culture and history. The unique flavors of a city allow for a quicker education than any textbook could provide.
Due to Portugal’s unique location on the Atlantic side of the Iberian Peninsula, cod and sardines are staple foods. In this way, the Portuguese may have more in common with Nordic countries than Spain, their closest neighbor. You’ll find a wide variety of dishes built upon these staples.
For dessert, there’s nothing more iconic to Lisbon than a pastéis de nata, which is an egg custard tart. It’s best served warm and it’s traditional to top it with cinnamon. The result is a delicious treat that tastes very similar to a churro, but with a gooier texture.
Wherever my travels take me, I try to take a food tour to get a better understanding of the city and try foods I may have never had otherwise. In Lisbon, I booked a tour with Secret Food Tours and we tried everything from Porto wine to sardines (surprisingly good!) to pastéis de natas.
So where can you go for delicious foods and dessert in the city? Here are my top 7 recommendations to make your first visit to Lisbon memorable:
For pastéis de natas:
The key to making sure you’re getting a good pastéis de nata is to make sure you can see the oven they’re baked in. That’s how you know they’re warm and fresh.
Manteigara
This bakery is a chain throughout Lisbon serving freshly baked pastéis de natas along with coffee. There is a location in Time Out Market and another on Rua Augusta, a popular pedestrian street near Praça do Comércio with lots of shops and restaurants.
Fábrica da Nata
This was where we ended our food tour, and we definitely finished on a high note. Fábrica da Nata is a cute café with plenty of sitting room, and even has air conditioning (so crucial on a hot day). There is a conveyor belt on the ceiling snaking through the restaurant and leading the pastéis de natas to the oven. These were my favorite pastéis de natas of the trip, but Manteigara is a very close second.
For breakfast & coffee:
Café Janis
This beautiful corner café is just steps away from Time Out Market, but the food stands out on its own. Their coffee is delicious (I couldn’t stop ordering iced dirty chai lattes!) and the breakfast is both healthy and tasty with Mediterranean influence.
For lunch:
As Bifanas do Afonso
This little hole in the wall sells a hidden gem: a “bifana” pork sandwich. They’re only around 3 euros, and while it’s fundamentally a simple sandwich, I’d be willing to pay much more.
We were introduced to this place on our food tour and it was a great example of a place we would have never found on our own. This is why having a local show you around can be so helpful!
Time Out Market
Time Out Market is an indoor market with tons of different food stalls and long tables where you are encouraged to sit with strangers. It can be extremely busy during mealtimes but is great if you are with a group and can’t all agree on what to get – there’s something for everyone!
I had read about Croqueteria before my trip and it lived up to the hype. I ordered a variety of their croquettes to try, and every single one was delicious.
There are a couple important things to know about Time Out Market in Lisbon. They only take credit cards and you pay at every restaurant separately if ordering from multiple places. Additionally, you are not allowed to try to bring in outside food or drinks – Thomas tried to bring in a coffee and a security guard stopped him.
There are Time Out Markets around the world, but the stalls inside vary from location to location. In fact, there’s one not far from where I live in Chicago but I haven’t ventured over to it yet!
For dinner:
Taberna da Rua das Flores
I’d read about this restaurant from multiple sources online before coming to Lisbon, so we tried to eat there on our first night. They serve Portuguese food, which is understandably what we were excited to try. They don’t take reservations, but we were turned away when we showed up around 7:30PM and were told their waitlist was full for the night.
For dinner, they open at 6PM, so I’d plan to arrive then (or earlier) to put your name in if you can. It’s a very small restaurant so they can’t seat very many guests at a time. Also, they are cash-only!
Bairrices
Bairrices was the restaurant we found after being turned away from Taberna da Rua das Flores. This place pushed our food boundaries and was such a home run. For 22 euros per person, you get 28 different dishes to try and can order more of anything for free. The dishes ranged from bread and butter and ham and cheese to chicken gizzard stew and octopus salad. Some things were a bit out there by our standards but we both tried every single dish and found ourselves surprised at how much we liked a few of them. I cannot recommend this place enough, especially on your first night in town, as it’s a great introduction to local food.
This restaurant was located on quiet interior courtyard shared by three restaurants and it was a lovely, calm setting.
Castelo de São Jorge
Portugal has a very long history of different groups settling the area over time, including Arabs, Christians, Visigoths, and even the Roman Empire. This has led to a unique intertwining between various cultures, seen in food, architecture, and more. One good example of this is the Castelo de São Jorge, which is a castle somewhat in ruins that stands at the top of one of Lisbon’s several hills, gave it a great strategic advantage and now allows us stellar views of the city.
The castle dates back as far as 200BC, but due to changing hands several times and being hit by two major earthquakes, it is far from rivaling the well-preserved castles out in Sintra. However, a restoration in the 1940s has allowed this site to be a great tourist attraction displaying the rich and complex history of the Portugal.
If you’re planning to visit, you can buy tickets online to skip the line. However, we just walked up and bought tickets on site, so that’s a viable option as well if you’re willing to wait in line. Additionally, if you’re under 25 years or younger you qualify for the youth price, which is 1/2 of the regular price, no student ID required (actually they didn’t check my ID at all). We visited 2 days before my 26th birthday, so I enjoyed getting this discount while I still could!
Venture Out to Belém
If you’re short on time, you may want to stick to the sights in the main part of the city, but the area of Belém is worth it if you have a few hours to spare.
Jerónimos Monastery
This monastery is said to be one of the most visited sites in Lisbon, and I think that checks out with how many tour buses we saw parked outside! A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the building dates back to the 16th century and is also home to the tomb of explorer Vasco de Gama.
It is free to enter the church but you’ll have to purchase a ticket to see the cloister.
Pastéis de Belém
Not far from the monastery is Pastéis de Belém. This café is where pastéis de natas were invented in 1837 by nuns at the monastery. They still continue to bake these treats with the original recipe. There was a line out the door when we visited, but it moved quickly.
Now they may be the original, but they’re not the best. Don’t get me wrong, we still enjoyed them, but the pastéis de natas we got in central parts of Lisbon were even better. They took a good idea and perfected it!
Belém Tower & Monument to the Discoveries
Located right at the mouth of the Tagus River is Belém Tower. Like the monastery, the tower dates back to the 16th century and has had a variety of uses over the centuries. You can buy a ticket to the tower alone or bundle it with other sites, including the monastery.
Just a little east of the tower is the Monument to the Discoveries, which is significantly more modern than the other structures in Belém, having been given to Portugal by South Africa in 1960 to celebrate the 500-year anniversary of Henry the Navigator. You can go up to the top of this structure for an incredible view of Belém and the river.
We didn’t enter either of these buildings, but were instead able to see these from the water during our river cruise.
Overall
This article only covered what to do in the city, but there are several fantastic day trips you can take from Lisbon as well. We went on a day trip to Sintra and had a fantastic time, but that’s a story for another post.
Lisbon is a beautiful city and one of the most affordable places in Western Europe. If you’re planning a trip and trying to figure out how to make this a trip you won’t forget, hopefully these ideas provided you a strong jumping off point. And just remember, whenever you’re in Europe, I strongly encourage you to get gelato once a day, sometimes twice. Yes, that’s in addition to pastéis de natas, not instead of them!
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