In September, we are taking a cruise that will stop in Lisbon. We are thinking of just seeing something in Lisbon independently rather than taking an excursion. Does anyone have any ideas of something to do in Lisbon for 7 hours?

We starting our cruise in Lisbon on 8/24/10 and we are flying in two nights early just to see the Lisbon sights. Rick Steves has a great Portugal book that we're going to use as a guide for our own independent sightseeing. I have used his city books before and find they are great. Will probably opt for the Lisboa Card too to get around. So take a look at a book. In addition, go to www.cruisecritic.com and look at their board (a/k/a forum) for Ports of Call and they have an entire section on Lisbon. Once we get back (9/5), I'll try and post a trip report, or you're welcome to make a note and e-mail me (click on my user name) and I'll certainly reply.

When we departed Lisbon on a cruise we had an overnight on the ship before sailing and found a cab driver at the pier whom we hired for the day at about $100 how took us to Sintra (a don't miss) a Moorish castle, a couple of museums and a interesting drive. Took us about 7-8 hours, well worth it. Much better than the tour buses.

boom_boom Thanks for the advice. We were hoping to get a couple others to go with us and find a cab for the day. Perhaps we could as least go to Sintra and maybe a Moorish castle. Do you remember where the castle was located?

patandhank We have had a Rick Steves book for the country we were traveling in. He has a lot of helpful information. We check out his recommendations for hotels and b&bs along with Tripadvisor. We have been to some of the cities on this cruise but you can always find something that you haven't seen before. Neither of us has been to Lisbon so it is a new place for us. Wish we had longer than a few hours. Thanks for the info. I will watch for your trip report although we will be flying to Copenhagen September 7th to begin this cruise - it is a 14 day cruise ending in Rome - with Princess. Will be strange for the first time as we always travel independently and not with a group.

Thanks again - will check out the info you two have given me.

I made a note on your departure date so I'll try to post something while in Lisbon. I'll be taking my Acer netbook with me. We're going to Sintra on our own by train the 2nd day we're in Lisbon.

Looks like you're on the Star Princess. We're on Oceania's Insigna and several of our ports are the same as yours. We also will be stopping in Cannes (have a rental car); Barcelona (arranged a private tour with two other couples to do the city and Montserrat);and Livorno (we have rental car reservations again). We ending in Rome also but we aren't staying over due to time constraints. Anyway, you'll love Copenhagen and the Normandy, France stop

If you're trying to get a group together to do Lisbon, all the more reason to register at cruisecritic (it's free) and see if there already exists a roll call thread for your cruise.

patandhank Sounds like you have it planned out well. Too bad we aren't on your cruise.
We(being my sister and me - my DH doesn't like to travel)spent a day in Copenhagen on a Sunday walking around. It rained off and on but still we had a nice day. We were in between trains from Oslo to Brussels.
2 years ago we flew to the west coast of France from England,rented a car and went to Mont St Michel, Omaha Beach etc and then over to the Loire Valley and Paris. We can't decide which way we want to go in Le Havre - Rouen or Honfleur.

In Cannes, we are taking the tour to Monanco & Monte Carlo. In Livorno we will take the Cinque Terra tour. We have been to Pisa and Lucca. We have been to Rome a couple of times so we are flying to Amsterdam for 4 days when we get off the ship.

I did check out cruisecritic but didn't have time to register and really look it over. Will do that today,didn't know they had such a thing as a roll call. Great idea! I checked out Sintra and would really like to see a couple of places there. Also, the Tile Museum in Lisbon sounds interesting. But 7 hours is just not enough time.

Thanks for your help.

You don't need a car/taxi to go to Sintra, you can buy a day pass for the trains and buses. There's loads to see in Lisbon itself, and in Belem, as well as Sintra. See my TR for six days in Lisbon, including a visit to Sintra: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ing-lisbon.cfm

With so little time I'd probably do Belem plus the tram ride through the Alfama.

If you can manage it, take the train to Sintra...a truly historical city dating back to the times the Moors ruled the land. It is worth the trouble. Trains are good in Portugal.