I am trying to figure out how to squeeze as much as I can out of a very short trip to Lisbon.

I am attending an company awards weekend trip in early April. I unfortunately can't extend the trip (I wish I could) and much of it is pre-planned.

We arrive around 9am and we are staying at Pestana Palace. I know I have a meeting to attend in the late afternoon, with a group dinner that night at Pestana. But, I am wanting to get some fun in before the meeting.

So, I want to go to Belem...how much time do I need to do it justice? For argument's sake, let's say I have 3-4 hours to kill before the meeting---can we do it? Is Jeronimos Monastery part of this? I believe I saw that it can be crowded (??), are there any short cuts or passes that allow you to bypass lines, etc....again trying to go hard for the weekend and see as much as possible!!

We chose a gourmet food tour of LIsbon for our optional activity the second day. I know that the company has planned a tram ride to Alfama in the morning, lunch at the fish market and then the food tour. After that, there is leisure time but I don't yet know how much. Then a dinner in town.

Day 3 is planned for the group to go to Sintra, Cabo da Roca and lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water. Again leisure time following, but no exact times. A gala dinner is planned for the night and then we fly out late the next AM.

So, for the short leisure time, for those who know Lisbon and our hotel location, what ideas do you have for short amounts of afternoon leisure time? Find a great location and sip vinho verde? what shouldn't we miss if have time?

I wouldn't expect large crowds in April (except Easter weekend)...we were in Lisbon in April, took the tram to Belem (quick ride), walked everywhere from the blue "trolley tram" stop in front of Jeronimos, to the Tower, the Discovery Monument, THE famous pasteis shop, the coach museum...all in about two hours..hopped a bus back to Lisbon proper. It can be done.

Are you loyality members of Pestana, or LHW. You should/could be royally treated if you are. Palace requires a cab into the center of Lisbon unless they run a shuttle now which I doubt. DD and I stayed there 4 nights and were upgraded to a suite that was awesome for 2 of the nights..Don Carlos was the one!! This hotel is just gorgeous!!!

You can buy a combo pass for both Torre de Belém and Jerónimos, so once you stand in line for one ticket, you won't have to do it for the other. On Sundays until 2pm they are free, but this means more crowds. I would advise getting there before opening. The tour buses will be there in full force, even in April. Everything is very close together, Museu Nacional dos Coches too, so in a couple of hours you can see a lot.

When we were there, the monument area had serious numbers of gypsies. The women were trying to sell shawls and jewelry, the men were just hanging out around the women. Despite this being a sort of wide open area, they faded away magically when a police car came around the corner.

This is all such good information. Not a Pestana member----not familiar with them (any US sites). Wonder if I can join but the hotel is booked by the company, so not sure if it would matter. It looks really gorgeous.

One more question---the combo pass. Only good for a single day? Available anywhere other than the sites?

We were not Pestana either but Leading Hotels of the World. If you contact the hotel you may find out if you can use a membership. Can't hurt to ask. And if you don't ask you don't get!!!

It is my understanding that the tickets for Torre de Belém and Jerónimos are purchased on-site day-of. However, you can instead purchase a Lisboa Card in advance - it's a discount card that offers free entry to the aforementioned sites and many more.

Hi Denise!
We were in Portugal last june, sorry no trip report. I fully agree with Tower aboyt time needed to visit Belem area.
You hace at least to Amorino shops for gelato in Lisbon.
And please, don't miss pasteis de nata at the famous Casa Pasteis de Belem, the ones you can taste in Livon are a shame when compared to those one.
http://www.tripadvisor.es/Restaurant...tremadura.html
Enjoy your short stay, and remember, Lisbon s not Paris.

Denise:

Just one more tip. If you have a little time, do visit San Roque Church in Bairro Alto, a church not to miss.you can google it to take a look to confirm your interest.
Once again.....Enjoy!

Obviously not hace, hace
Not Livon, Lisbon

Totally agree amer_can...nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I have some how never gotten to Amorino in Paris, so maybe we will get there in Lisbon. I think I do remember from another TR that the Pasteis de Belem far outshine the Pasteis de Nata in Lisbon. We will make point of sampling them!!

No worries, I totally understand Lisbon is not Paris. It looks perfectly charming and I am sure we will enjoy it.

Thank you all for your invaluable advice!

The Jeronimos Monastery with it's delicate Manueline architecture was a real highlight for us. The Torre is nearby. You can see them in a few hours. Public transportation is easy from Lisbon.

I went to Pasteis de Belem my first day in Lisbon and pretty much every day I could find time after. So good.

I am so relieved to know that we will have time to see some of Lisbon's best sites. I hate that I can't extend the trip but am so glad to know that we will be able to get to some of the city's best sites in the short amount of free time we will have.

bookmarking for Belem info

For God's sake.

I'm glad you're bookmarking this.

Please, tourists, understand this once for all: Belém is Lisbon!

When you are visiting anything in Belém, you are still in the city of Lisbon.

Belém is proper Lisbon very much like any other part of the city, like the center, the castle, Alfama, Bairro Alto, downtown, the Zoo, Parque das Nações, and so on.

It's just one of the city's divisions. Just because it's a popular name, it doesn't prevent it to be just one of the parts of the city.

There's no such thing in Lisbon like the center-periphery (only in economic terms, but that's a different matter); the city is divided in several areas and Belém is just one of them. No single area is more important than the other. They are just different areas of the same thing: Lisbon!

So public transport of Belém is Lisbon's public transport. It's the same thing, you don't have to pay more. It's not a suburb too: travelling to suburbs is more expensive because of that (suburbs are outside the city!).

Also Pasteis de Nata in Belém are a different recipe from the standard recipe that is spread in the country. The latter is not a shame, they are quite popular and you can eat them everywhere: they are just different.

Lisbon is not Paris but it's almost the size of Paris - tourists just don't realize that.

By the way, Pestana Palace (if is this one, of course) it's located in Rua Jau, in Alcântara (that is just another division of the city).

Alcântara borders Belém, so you will be not very far from there.

There's bus stations near the hotel where you can take the tram 18, and the 738, 742 and 760 buses.

You could take the 742 or 760 east side and stop at the Santo Amaro station (or walk eastside the Calçada de Santo Amaro lol... about 660 meters or something) where you can visit Carris Museum, that is, Lisbon's Public transport museum. I don't know if you are into that, but i'll give that suggestion (opens from Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 18, Saturday closes for lunch 13:00-14:00).

From the Santo Amaro station to riverside front of Belém, where the monuments are located, you have several options, like the tram 15 and the 714, 727, 751 buses.

Thank you. I appreciate the information. I do "get" that Belem is part of Lisbon-but it's the one area I am not already going to with the group, so I want to make sure I hit Belem when I have free time and be ready to get the most out of it.

The transportation information is particularly valuable.