MacPrague

I am reposting this thread with a different name because I think my first title looked too much like an airport question. Thanks!

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Hello all!

As you may know (if you are as addicted to this as I am and commit info about other posters to memory), my husband and I live in Prague. Last year we spent the holidays here in Europe, travelling to Italy, and have spent the time since then entertaining guests and visiting about a zillion places.

Now we are planning our trip home to the States for Christmas in December. DH mentioned last night that he thinks it might be fun and interesting to stop in Lisbon on our way home and take a couple of days to explore before heading on to Dallas.

As usual, I am looking for feedback from you, the Fodorites!

Might a couple of days give us a sense of the city? Any word on typical weather around the second week of December? (DH might be thinking balmy, so I'm curious to know if this is accurate.) Does Lisbon do anything exciting during the holiday season and will that be up and running by the second week of December?

And, the big question, thoughts on trying this with an infant? (We deliver in Sept, so we're looking at about three months old--small enough to carry everywhere and will still be in his/her regular timezone.)

Thoughts/ideas appreciated. Thanks!

--MP

moolyn

Hi! Our family spent two weeks in the Algarve at Christmas one year and we went to Lisbon just for a day. It was well worth the drive and I've always wanted to go back. Two days will certainly give you a sense of the city and the weather should be very pleasant, not too hot, perhaps even balmy as your husband expects.

I'm sure you'll be fine there with a baby, the Portugese love children, but I remember lots of stairs and you'll want to see both the uppper and lower areas. So use a sling or baby backpack, good for cobblestones, and bring a small folding stroller, handy for carrying baby paraphanalia even if you sling baby.

I remember good, reasonable food there too.

MacPrague

Thanks, moolyn. I appreciate the insight from someone who's been there.

I'm trying to avoid that "drive-by visiting" feeling. If we can do that in Lisbon with just a couple of days, that could be great.

I'm hoping to hear from Mr. Lisbon himself--I know there is someone on this board who lives in Lisbon...does anyone know who he is/how to reach him?

thanks,
mp

bailey6325

MacPrague -

I just returned about a month ago from from my first visit to Portugal and Lisbon. I fell in love with the country! I think it's a great idea for you to visit Lisbon.

I think you are looking for lobo_mau and Matt_from_England. Both of them can be reached on the "Things to do in and around Lisbon Part III" thread. They'll steer you in the right direction.

chewy1

Lisbon is nice around the historic section, Sintra is fantastic. We just got back from Lisbon, Tuscany, and Grindelwald Switzerland, and Sintra and Cabo De Roca were as pretty as any place we visited, would have loved to get up to Obidos as well.....

lreynold1

As others have mentioned, the two real experts on Lisbon are Matt and Lobo, but I lived in Lisbon for a year in 2004 and have a couple of thoughts on this. First, I'm not sure what range is "balmy" but I think daytime highs would range between 11-14 (someone correct me if my memory is worse than I think it is).

Our favorite Christmas activity was the series of concerts that the City put on throughout Lisbon -- in beautiful old churches and other similar venues. Some choral, some instrumental, some solos, some quartets. We basically spent the month before Christmas going to concerts in these beautiful places, many of which are not normally open to tourists. We learned about it from metro ads, and later got full schedules from the tourist office. If you're there then, don't miss the chance.

And as far as travelling with an infant, I think three months is an ideal age. When our now 25 year old daughter was three months old, we flew to Paris, leased a Renault, and leisurely drove across Europe to our final destination, Bucharest, where we spent 6 months. We just plopped her in the Snuggly and did our touring, took her to restaurants after she had nursed so she was well fed and sleepy, and it worked out very well. Traveling with her at 3 months was much MUCH easier than the return drive when she was over a year old. In my experience, three months old babies don't have time zones, they just wake and sleep when the mood strikes, but maybe you'll be lucky.

MacPrague

lreynold1, thank you so much! my biggest concern was the infant-traveller. my husband and I have seen a ton since we moved here, but this will actually be our first trip with the new addition!

I will definitely look for the concerts, etc. when we arrive and check the Lisbon threads closer to time.

Any other input would be great!
--MP

Georgine

Dear Mac Prague,

Because you will be traveling with your newborn child, I would recommend the VIP Eden Aparthotel to consider for your Lisbon stay.

Each studio room (and they also have family one-bedroom units) has a small, fully-equipped "galley" style kitchen in a little room adjacent to the sleeping area.

You could refrigerate formula, sterilize bottles, and microwave take-in if your "little one" is in "nap" mode.

The location is 1/2 block off the Rossio (Lisbon's main square) and the Restauradoes metro stop is outside the hotel's doorstep. You couldn't ask for a more centralized location at a very moderate price.

We have traveled to Lisbon four times during the Christmas season, and the beautiful street lights alone are sufficient reason to make the trip.

Don't expect "balmy"--as in shorts and tee shirts. We found that the days (on most of our trips) were spring-like temps, and the evenings were quite cool with a sweater and jacket necessary.

Lisbon is a vibrant city with much to see and do; however, squeeze in a trip to Sintra (by commuter train) if you have the time.






The hotel serves breakfast on a rooftop restaurant that has a pool (of no use in December) and a gorgeous view of the San Gorge Castle.

MacPrague

Thanks, Georgine!

I will definitely check out the Eden online.

This is one of the things I love about Fodors--I come to the board with an iffy feeling about a possible trip and leave completely enthusiastic about whatever the possiblity is!

What a great community. --MP

Oh, and I am still completely open to info from anyone who has it!

Thanks, MP

bailey6325

MacPrague - I also posted a trip report if you are interested with a link to my photos of Portugal - including Lisbon, Sintra, and Obidos. It's called "Portugal Trip Report". I hope it's some help to you.

Matt_from_England

MacPrague

Well I'm sorry I've only just caught up with this. Have 2 young children myself both born here in Lisbon. I'm a bit pushed at this very moment time wise so it's just to let you know I'll be posting some thoughts soon.

Take care.

Mr Lisbon (?) ;-)

kbob88

I can very much recommend Lisbon and Sintra. Haven't been with kids yet, but Portugal seemed fairly kid-friendly. And the Portguese are very hospitable in general.

Lisbon is a bit hilly, so some method of easily transporting your infant will help. The old section is pleasant and authentically run-down, and there's a lot going on.

Don't really remember the sights in Lisbon that well, except for an old castle and a tile museum. Sintra has a fantasy castle built in the 19th century, sort of a mini-Neuschwanstein type of thing, plus other sights. We stayed at a great country inn in Sintra, Quinta da Capela.

Food, especially seafood, was very good and reasonably priced. Local wines were good and reasonable too. We didn't know anything about the local wines, so we mostly randomly picked something off the list or got the house wine. We never got a bad one.

I bought some very nice leather goods there, including a few belts and a purse. Not very cheap, but excellent quality and less expensive than the US.

Cascais and Estoril are OK beach towns near Lisbon too, but probably are not worth it in December. Obidos is a very pretty (although a bit touristy) town with a castle north of Lisbon. Setubal is a nice not-so-touristy town about an hour south of Lisbon, on the ocean. There's a nice Posada there (like Paradores in Spain).

In general, Portugal is one of my favorite destinations ever. Definitely go. And then go back and spend a few weeks there.