Please help me plan a perfect day in Lisbon!
Apr 6th, 2017, 06:06 AM
#1
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Please help me plan a perfect day in Lisbon!
We are visiting Lisbon (2 nights) and Alentejo (3 nights) to celebrate my 60th birthday on June 1. It is our first time in Lisbon and Portugal.
We are staying at the Lisbon Marriott hotel (hotel points). Choco & Mousse / Bittersweet is nearby, and can provide a gluten-free birthday cake--so am getting excited. We will have a rental car that plan to return no later than 1 pm on June 1, so can use it to pick up the cake. But, was thinking of using taxis to get us around for sightseeing (the Marriott is evidently not as convenient to metro).
Can you help us plan a perfect birthday? Suggestions for our itineary including where to eat, markets, music, food purchases to bring home, shopping for our 3 and 6 year old grandsons or good walking shoes for me, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
We are staying at the Lisbon Marriott hotel (hotel points). Choco & Mousse / Bittersweet is nearby, and can provide a gluten-free birthday cake--so am getting excited. We will have a rental car that plan to return no later than 1 pm on June 1, so can use it to pick up the cake. But, was thinking of using taxis to get us around for sightseeing (the Marriott is evidently not as convenient to metro).
Can you help us plan a perfect birthday? Suggestions for our itineary including where to eat, markets, music, food purchases to bring home, shopping for our 3 and 6 year old grandsons or good walking shoes for me, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
Apr 6th, 2017, 06:17 AM
#2
Congratulations on the birthday.
You do not want/need a car in Lisbon. Public transport is excellent and taxis are cheap.
Click on my name for my Lisbon TR, which may give you some ideas. I, myself, would go to Belem for the monastery, vist the Gulbenkian, take a tram ride to some of the viewpoints and relax at the Solar do Vinho do Porto in the evening for port tasting. But I hate shopping, and my favorite meal in Lisbon is at Bom Jardin which is a bare bones place with paper tablecloths but chicken to die for.
You do not want/need a car in Lisbon. Public transport is excellent and taxis are cheap.
Click on my name for my Lisbon TR, which may give you some ideas. I, myself, would go to Belem for the monastery, vist the Gulbenkian, take a tram ride to some of the viewpoints and relax at the Solar do Vinho do Porto in the evening for port tasting. But I hate shopping, and my favorite meal in Lisbon is at Bom Jardin which is a bare bones place with paper tablecloths but chicken to die for.
Apr 7th, 2017, 06:50 AM
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Thank you for the replies so far. LOL - yes, will probably need help with the cake. 
Just to clarify, we are staying at the Lisbon Marriott near the airport (points). We have the option of returning the car the night we arrive to Lisbon (May 31) or the morning of June 1. My husband was thinking maybe keeping the car until the morning of June 1. From what we understand, the hotel is not so convenient to the metro, and not in walking distance to the gluten free bakery.
Have just started planning our one full day in Lisbon--so much to do in Lisbon that am feeling a bit overwhelmed so appreciate your help. The coach museum, and watching horses be trained looks like fun, as does selecting food from the market or peri peri chicken for lunch. LX factory looks interesting. Just trying to figure out the minimum of running around. I know that we will only be touching the surface of what Lisbon has to offer.
Just to clarify, we are staying at the Lisbon Marriott near the airport (points). We have the option of returning the car the night we arrive to Lisbon (May 31) or the morning of June 1. My husband was thinking maybe keeping the car until the morning of June 1. From what we understand, the hotel is not so convenient to the metro, and not in walking distance to the gluten free bakery.
Have just started planning our one full day in Lisbon--so much to do in Lisbon that am feeling a bit overwhelmed so appreciate your help. The coach museum, and watching horses be trained looks like fun, as does selecting food from the market or peri peri chicken for lunch. LX factory looks interesting. Just trying to figure out the minimum of running around. I know that we will only be touching the surface of what Lisbon has to offer.
Apr 7th, 2017, 07:09 AM
#6
Since this is a celebration, why don't you spring for a hotel in a good location? A more characteristic hotel? I wouldn't stay in that location in Lisbon - you're at least a 13 minute walk from the metro - unless you want to take a lot of taxis. Plus I wouldn't stay in a Marriott in any case - I can do that at home. If I were celebrating, and had the money, I'd stay at the Avenida Palace.
Apr 8th, 2017, 01:51 AM
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Thank you for the suggestion of the Avenida Palace. Looks lovely, and we do prefer to avoid the US style hotels when traveling, however, this is our third international trip this year (Patagonia, Cuba earlier this year) so required some convincing to hubbie that we could swing another trip to celebrate my birthday. Am using hotel points and frequent flier miles to make this happen. There is one nice benefit besides being easier to return the car--it is a very short distance away from a gluten-free bakery that sounds yummy: Choco and Mousse.
