A Travel Guide to Lisbon
It's not all just Bacalhau, but it is mostly Bacalhau.
An interest of mine is the concept of place. What separates a memorable place from one that could be anywhere? There’s the technical sides of a city like the transit system, layout, public spaces and then there’s the culture with its food, music and people. All those things are massively important when I visit cities but it really didn’t matter when I visited Lisbon in 2022. Lisbon charmed me, and it’s hard to put into words why but I was at ease there and I want to go back. I guess logically, I could give you the reasons why Lisbon made me get all abstract and sentimental enough to write a blog post like this, but that’s no fun. There’s an aura about Lisbon and you don’t have to stay long or break the bank to experience it.
This was the first European vacation that I ever planned and I did a copious amount of research ahead of it, so if you’re contemplating a trip to Lisbon, I hope this information serves you well.
Miradouros
After my first few Google searches of Lisbon, I knew that I wanted to stay somewhere with a view and my obsessive research led me to the discovery of Miradouros (Portuguese for viewpoints). These viewpoints typically come in tandem with a park or a quiosque (kiosk) where you can sit down and order a drink or a small bite to eat while you think about how you could get used to doing this every day for the rest of your life. So, I followed my instinct and I booked a hotel directly across the street from one of these miradouros and it was easily one of the best decisions I made on my trip.
My girlfriend and I flew overnight from New York to Lisbon and I didn’t get an ounce of sleep. We went across the street to sit at a quiosque and waited for our room to be ready. My heart was beating incessantly begging for rest while my brain looked out at the city and thought “Fuck. This is nice. Let’s get an espresso”. She slept for hours once our room was ready and I couldn’t blame her one bit. Me? I was thoroughly caffeinated and determined to walk around and put as many rolls of film through my camera as I was at the height of a film shooting phase. After my walk, we went out to eat and I thought that was day one in the books but my body had other plans. I didn’t sleep a single minute that night and I was well over 36 hours without sleep. The sun was about to rise and I had a pack of Cinestill 800 that I carried around for months never having the proper excuse to shoot it, so I headed out and made as many photos as I could.
Sweets
Lisbon in those early morning hours was very quiet but like any major city it quickly got going. The first sign that the day had truly begun was seeing the doors open on Patriarcal - Panificação Reunida de São Roque. The conversations were already flowing inside the cafe as light began to pour onto the streets outside. The cafe is adorned by azulejos (Portuguese ceramic tiles) and pillars that connect the counter to the high ceilings above. The place resembles more of a Catholic Church than a business. As I quickly found out, pastries are important to the Portuguese and they are really really good at making them. My first Pastel de Nata was biblical and it became my breakfast go-to on the trip. The Pastel de Nata is the star of the Portuguese pastry show, an egg custard filled treat that you absolutely have to come home and say you’ve had because if you don’t then I can say without any uncertainty that you fucked up.
Make a point to find bakeries, mom and pop type establishments and get pastries because it’s something that is quintessentially Portuguese.
Getting Around
Once you have something in your stomach, you will be ready to attack the city and check off all the tourist attractions you researched. Do it by foot. You’ll miss so much by immediately hopping on transit or worse getting in a rideshare or even way worse by getting on a tuktuk. After one trip to Lisbon, I cannot be persuaded to be anything but anti-tuktuk. If I hated them being in Lisbon for just over a week, I can’t imagine that the locals hate them any less. Tuktuk’s are bike peddled carriages with guides who bring you around town without you having to break a sweat. Maybe it’s the overweight American tourists who I see lounging in the back of these things that make me dislike them, but they do in fact clog up the streets and sometimes the sidewalks all for the amusement of someone who is too lazy to walk or do their own research and will be fucking off back to their boring suburb in a weeks time.
This leads me to my next point; stay somewhere you can discover things that interest you on foot and where you can easily hop on a tram, bus/train within a short walk.
Where to Stay?
I stress myself out over this question. I am not talking about hotels, though. Hotels should always be secondary in your research, they are just a place to sleep. Instead, I mean that I spend weeks scouring YouTube videos and blogs from people like me who are obsessed with places and what gives them the character they have.
It’s my thought or maybe fear, that staying in a neighborhood that doesn’t match what I want to do or experience will make or break my trip. If you want to stay somewhere idyllic and residential, then think Alfama. If you want somewhere you can act like a local, stay in Graça. If you want to dine in cutting-edge restaurants and shop in concept stores, then it’s Príncipe Real. If you don’t like trudging up hills and maybe you enjoy luxury brands, you can stay in Avenidas Novas. If you want to party into the late morning hours and sleep through the day, then Bairro Alto is for you.
What to Do?
I always feel more pretentious than I actually am when suggesting what people should do on their travels. It’s your trip, do what you want and then you can make up your own mind. I can tell you that Port Wine sucks, and it does, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. When it comes to Lisbon, you should spend some time roaming, just let yourself gallivant around neighborhoods and areas off the beaten path. Go to a restaurant or a tasca where you’re the only tourist in there and eat a meal that you’ll talk about for years to come. Take day trips to a beach town like Cascais. Lisbon is a football mad town, go see Benfica if you have the time. Most importantly, don’t wear yourself out thinking you have to see all the landmarks in-town because that should never be the point when traveling.
Food and Drink
These guys conquered the high seas so they like seafood but more specifically they like bacalhau, just good ole codfish, nothing too exotic or difficult to get behind. They cook them in a variety of ways and in many shapes and unsurprisingly they are all good, so definitely eat bacalhau as it will be unavoidable anyway.
Portugal is the largest producer of wine corks, so of course their wine is also very good. Drink a lot of it. Their beer is okay but definitely crushable. I’m a Sagres fan not so much a fan of Super Bock.
I always look for restaurants with 4.3 stars and up on Google Maps but I can say I was blown away on multiple occasions by places we just stumbled into by chance because the standard of food is just so high in Lisbon.
Recommendations
Maybe skip Sintra as a day trip if you’re on a tight schedule. You’ll be made to believe that it is a crucial stop during your trip to Lisbon, but if you’re not a castle enthusiast or a history buff, then it’s kind of boring. You’ll be shoulder to shoulder with tourists and need to fork over 30 odd Euros to get a tuktuk up to one of those gaudy castles. If you want a change of pace from the city then sure, the views are gorgeous.
Ride a tram. Tram 28 is the famed tram that hoards of tourists line up for in the Baixa. If you want to ride it, try getting on at a stop before it reaches the Baixa or simply just take another tram.
My one restaurant recommendation is Zé da Mouraria. It’s a hole in the wall, and you can easily miss it if you’re not paying attention. They created a dish called Bacalhau de Mouraria and it will be a last meal request when I get the electric chair someday. They might tell you that you’ll only have a couple minutes to eat or that the wait is insanely long but I suspect it’s because they want to keep the space for their regulars and locals, which is fair enough. Just say that it’s fine and I’m sure a table will open up very quickly.
Things to research on your own: Fado, A Ginjinha, Padaria, Bifana, Portuguese Sardines, Boat Tours, S.L Benfica, CP Portugal, Jardims, Sintra, Cascais.