peebness

Our family of 5 (kids are 21, 24 & 27) will be spending 6 short days in Portugal, arriving on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. I expect that most of Lisbon will be closed on Christmas Day. Looking for suggestions of the must see places in Lisbon, along with hotel recommendations or at least suggestions for the best neighborhood to stay in. We like to walk so a good location is important. We are interested in experiencing the various neighborhoods, soaking up the culture, visiting museums and really getting the flavor in the short time that we have.

I was thinking of spending 3 days in Lisbon, 2 in Sintra and our last night in Lisbon before flying out at 6am on December 31st. Not sure if it's better to do Sintra as a day trip and perhaps get up to Coimbra and possibly Monsanto, though I don't think there's time for all of that.

Any suggestions are welcome!!

Thank you!

Robert2533

The days will be short, so staying in Lisbon the entire time will be to your advantage, as there will be a lot to do; concerts in the churches, the Christmas Parade, Christmas lights will be up throughout the city center and the Christmas tree will be in Parque Eduardo VII, but it's too bad you will be leaving before the big celebration New Years Eve.

You can always do a day trip to Sintra and another out to Cascais for lunch on the 28th or 29th.

Be sure to make dinner reservations for the 24th and lunch reservations for the 25th (very few places will be open Christmas Day).

peebness

Thank you Robert2533. I hadn't really focused on the fact that restaurants will be closed.

I'm still having a hard time deciding where to go outside of Lisbon. With only 6 full days (leaving very early on 12/31), I can't decide if we should go to Sintra as a day trip or overnight and/or spend one night in Coimbra. If you had to choose between Sintra and Coimbra, which do you think is more important to see?

My initial plan is to spend 5 nights in Lisbon, including a day trip to Sintra, one night in Coimbra, and back to Lisbon for one night prior to early morning flight.

Is this too ambitious?

lobo_mau

Sintra: 1/2 hour ride (train). Nice but small place. Basically is a hill with 2 castles, one palace and a few old houses. Quinta da Regaleira is a jewel and the same applies to Seteais (hotel). Advantage: the visit is easy to prepare since everything is close. Good exercise climbing the hill to the attractions. Columbus was is Palacio da Vila, paying a visit to Portuguese king Joao II before heading to south Spain when returning from the Americas. Sintra is the world of mystery and an important place in the world of freemasonry (Regaleira).
Coimbra: 2 hours ride (train). Is the 3rd city of Portugal and one of the oldest universities in Europe (1290). It should be more alive than Sintra, however, during Christmas break, it should be quite empty. Advantages: Since it's a different part of the country, you will be able to see diversity (even from a train's window).
In Lisbon, you are interested in one of those districts: Baixa or Chiado. They are contiguous and served by the same metro station (Baixa-Chiado). Baixa is more "old school" burgeois shopping district. Chiado is a former working class area, now full of night live and entertainment (Bairro Alto is similar and contiguous to Chiado). I would recommend Baixa to parents, but I guess that your young adults would feel home at Chiado. Both areas are full of attractions and with easy access to the public transport network.
Feel free to ask any queries.

luz_de_lisboa

Is anyone in your family a runner? If so, I can highly recommend the São Silvestre de Lisboa 10K race on December 26, one of the best races of the year. It's an excellent course (except for uphill on Avenida da Liberdade!), very exciting with lots of onlookers and very festive with all the Christmas lights in the city. You can register in English on the website http://www.saosilvestredelisboa.com/site/?ln=en
I think it would be a great unique experience for a visitor to Lisboa at Christmastime