Ed_from_Denver

Hi Fodorites. Before embarking on a small-ship cruise to Morocco and Spain, we're flying into Lisbon in April 2006. Unfortunately, we'll only have 3 full days to enjoy Lisbon and vicinity. Would you please provide your suggestions of the best way to spend our three days? With only 3 days, is a side trip to Sintra advisable? If so, should we plan to stay overnight? Also, are there any other places away from Lisbon that we should try to see? Our interests include history, architecture, awe-inspiring vistas, and--of course--food and wine.

ChevyChasen

sintra is easy less than an hour away.trains are also at least hourly. no need for a sleepover there.you can see palacio pena and moorish castle by noon if you wake up early enough.
dedicate the rest of your time inside lisbon: see san jorge castle, st anthonys church, barrio alto, baixa, & belem and the st juxta tower. enjoy it

abram

If you go to the destinations section of this website, you can find itineraries for best in two days and best in four days for Lisbon.

haveric

I would second the recommendation of a visit to Sintra. An easy train ride from the city center.

Also, just stroll around town as you recover from jet-lag. It's an interesting place!

jennybeann

Sintra is a nice day trip, but just to warn you it is extremely touristy, alot of groups go through there. If you go to Sintra, definitely visit the Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros). There are signs all over town pointing how to get there. Its a long hike up there, though well worth it. Consider visiting Cascais if you want a beach, just a short and cheap train ride out of Cais do Sodre station in Lisbon.

Shar

Sounds like you are going on the same small chip excursion that I went on in APril 2005 The Windsurf...if so, you are in for a wonderful time. We also spent time in Lisbon prior to the sail to Morocco. Sintra is an easy sidetrip and you don't neeed to spend the night. By train it is about 1 hour and one day is sufficient in Sintra. While there be sure to take the bus up to the Castelo dos Mouros which is an 8th century moorish castle with awesome views; and of course the Palacia da Pena and walking the side streets of Sintra is lovely, stopping for some sweets and coffee, and shopping. While in Lisbon for 4 days we also visited the Gulbenkian Museum which houses some great art and artifacts, walked up to the Castelo De Sao Jorge which is a fortress sitting above the city, did a port tasting at the Solar do Vinho do Porto (Port Wine Institute) spent an evening in the Barrio ALto and found a great Fado club - Addega do Rebatejo - which caters to locals and is not touristy at all, went to the Coach Museum which houses numerous ancient coaches from Portugual and Europe, visited the Monestary dos Jeronimos and the Torre de Belem and generally enjoyed the neighborhoods and shopping districts of Lisbon. We like to walk so we did a lot of that but also took the tram thru various areas. Remember Lisbon is built on hills. The National Museum is also a a nice way to spend an afternoon. My husband and I very much enjoyed Lisbon. It is a Lovely city.

Ed_from_Denver

Hi Shar. Thanks for all of the great ideas. Looks like we're going to have 6 nights in Portugal before the cruise, so we should have plenty of time to enjoy the same places you went and more as well. Any suggestions on hotels?

GoAway

Shar - this is offtopic but I'm going to ask anyway.

We will be on Windstar in October from Barcelona to Lisbon (with extra time before and after in each). But, I'm having a hard time finding information on Tangiers. Could you tell me what you did in that port?

Thanks!

And for Ed_From_Denver, I'll post back with some thoughts about what we did. Look back in November!

Shar

For GoAway: The Windsurf didn't stop at Tangiers. We docked in Safi and then we took a shore excursion to to Marrekech and our next port was Casablanca. So, cannot help you with Tangiers.

Shar

To Ed from Denver: We stayed at a wonderful hotel but it was not in the midst of the main shopping area so we had a good walk to get to the "downtown" area. Our hotel was the As Janelas Verdes (www.heritage.pt.) It was just up from the port so we were able to see our ship come in. It is a lovely old hotel (17th century palace) with 29 rooms, a great public area and delightful garden where we could eat our breakfast if the weather was good which it was. Public transportation was just about 1 block away.