Yes, we really liked the Tile Museum, much more than we expected. A definite don't miss in Lisbon!

Of course in my note above I meant "well-illustrated..."

Faedus, thanks for mentioning the the Museum of Resistance and Liberty. I haven't heard of it. And it sounds very interesting and informative. If we return to Lisbon, I will put it on my sightseeing list. Along with the Tile Museum, which we missed in 2018.

KarenWoo,
The Tile Museum also has a very pretty café/restaurant facing the winter garden, with walls covered with beautiful 18th blue/white tiles once part of the kitchen of the palace in which the museum is housed, and an esplanade in the garden where you can have a drink...along with a shop.

And the top (3rd US, 2nd Europe) floor has an amazing, huge, tiled mural or panorama of Lisbon pre 1755 earthquake.

Thanks, Faedus, I hadn't seen anything about it, I will definitely look it up.
Alice

Well, now the Tile Museum is DEFINITELY on my list!
Alice

Well, after looking at all my notes gathered from your good suggestions, I have come to the conclusion that I won't have enough time in Lisbon! (I'm sure this is not a surprise to anyone but me). So here's what I've got, with a few questions.
Day 1 (Wed) arrival day, walk, hang out in Baixa and Chiado, lots of suggestions of things to look at, places to eat etc. That seems fine.
Day 2 (Thu) Probably mostly Alfama. I think the Gulbenkian Museum, lots of other things to see in that area.
Day 3 (Fri) Devoted to a day trip to Sintra, whole separate post on THAT.
Day 4 (Sat) Belem, the Monastery, possibly the President's Palace.

Questions - do we just follow some of the RS walking tours, or take one of the free or otherwise ones? Afternoon Day 2?
And when do I fit in the Tile Museum, which has moved to my 'must' list. Could we do that afternoon of Day 4?

I really don't want to be running around the whole time, I do enjoy beautiful views and people watching. Also as to food - I think I mentioned this elsewhere, but we don't like big meals late at night, so I might prefer larger lunches, and small dinners, I assume this is not frowned upon.

Again, I want to thank everyone for all the excellent information and help I always get on these forums.

Alice

Day 1--Chiado and Baixa, hanging out at the cafés (Art Deco A Brasileira, Pastelaria Bernard, both on Garret), visit Bertrand book shop, lunch, window shopping in Chiado, visit the enormous gateway square, Praça do Coméricio (aka Terreiro do Paço) at the river's edge in Baixa, pick up maps/info from the Visit Lisbon tourist office...

Day 2--Gulbenkian isn't in the Alfama. It's close to Praça de Espanha in the northern, modern section of the city. It's reachable by metro (red and blue lines) at the São Sebastião station, then a walk downhill.
Info about getting there here-
https://gulbenkian.pt/museu/en/visit/.
It's best combined with Eduardo VII Park

In the Alfama area you can visit the St George castle, the cathedral (Sé), the Monastery of São Vicente da Fora for its tiles and rooftop views, the National Pantheon, whatever interests you most. Most people want to visit the Castle. We start our Alfama walk by going to the highest point, to the Miradouro de Graça next to the church (nice quiosque there for coffee), then work our way down, slowly, usually getting lost at some point.
The Tile Museum is 4 km. west of the Cathedral, about a 10-min. taxi or uber ride.

Some people take the free tours. I do a version of the RS walk but start at the top and make my way down to the Cathedral.

Day 3-whole day in Sintra

Day 4-most of the day in Belém. Number one priority should be the Jerónimos Monastery that opens at 10.
Your other Belém choices, depending on your interests--you'll need to pick and choose
Maritime Museum, just west of Jerónimos (vast!!),
Monument to the Discoveries (take the underground passageway below the highway to reach it), elevator to the top for the views, if lines aren't too long
Belém Tower, walkable from the Monument to the Discoveries, at the far western end (crowded on the inside)--places to rest and grab a bite along the way
back to the eastern end of Belém to tour the wonderful Coach Museum, a walk east from Jerónimos, past the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém (for a pastéis de nata)
rooftop walk on the MAAT
Centro Cultural de Belém for its Berardo Modern Art Museum, but if you're not a fan of modern art, it's skippable

It's really, really hard (as in impossible) to do all the above, given the crowds these days and there's LOTS to walking involved
I wouldn't try to combine Belém with the Tile Museum. They're 10 km. apart, a 20-minute taxi or uber ride. I think most people are tired at the end of a Belém day.

The President's Palace visits, only on Saturdays and with an appointment, have been temporarily suspended, so that option is out.

About dinners--we prefer to have our main meal at lunch. At night, we just go out for small plates, "petiscos" to share. Not frowned on at all. There are lots of great places in Lisbon for this. Your concierge should be able to give you good tips, but the best ones aren't in the Baixa in the immediate vicinity of your hotel.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Maribel, it helps a lot and confirms my realization that I can't do everything. Since the Tile Museum is more... unique than the Gulbenkian, maybe it's heresy, but I'd consider doing the former and not the latter. I've been to LOTS of excellent museums (I live outside of DC, it's ALL museums), but never one devoted to tiles.
Good to know about the President's Palace, thanks.
I'm getting tickets ahead for the few things discussed earlier, so that should help with waiting in line.
And very good to know about aiming for a big lunch and small plates for dinners, that will work much better for us.
AND the big fat book I'm in the middle of and didn't want to drag to Portugal was available to borrow from the library for my Kindle, so that's good news.
All is very well, thanks to you and others in this forum.

Alice

Maribel, I feel validated! Your Days 1-4 are exactly the agenda I have planned. Fortunately, we have a 5th day, which we will start at the tile museum. The rest of the day is "unplanned: until 8 pm dinner reservations.

The one thing I've noted is that any real shopping must be done on arrival day and the next day, as I've read that shops close at noon on Saturday.

realgirl58,
I think you'll be surprised (as I was) at the number of shops in Chiado that are open 7 days a week.

I know that my favorite, "A Vida Portuguesa" for Portuguese handicrafts is open daily from 10 am until 7:30 pm.
The cool Embaixada shopping complex in Príncipe Real is open daily from noon until 8 pm
The famous glove store (smallest shop in Portugal at 4 square meters), the Luvaria Ulisses is open Mon-Sat from 10 am-7 pm
The tinned sardine and paté shop, Loja das Conservas, is open daily in Cais do Sodré Mon-Sat: 10:00 am - 08:00 pm | Sun: 12:00 pm - 08:00 pm
The same kind of shop, Conserveira de Lisboa on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros in Baixa is open Mon-Sat 10:00 am-7:00 pm
The Benamôr shop for made-in-Portugal cosmetics is open Monday to Saturday: 10-8 and Sunday, noon-8
The Claus Porto perfumes and creams (made in Porto) on Rua da Misericordia in Chiado is open Monday to Sunday: 10h - 19h

All the chocolate shops are open daily, like the Chocolataria Equador, on Rua da Prata in Baixa, open Sat from 10:00-7:00 and Sunday from 2:00-7:00

Just trying to do my best to promote these Portuguese shop keepers!:)

Thanks~

That glove store was on my list! Now there are more shops to check out…

Luvaria Ulisses
Luvaria Ulisses - Home.

Maribel

New to the forum. Will be leaving Monday May 23 for Lisbon. My itinerary is similar to what you have recommended. Will be staying in Cais Sodre. Can you recommend restaurants and also which ones do I need a reservation. Thank you

Do you want to travel to other areas of the city to dine, or are you looking for ones that are within a short walking distance of Cais do Sodré?

If it's the latter, I really love the Restaurante Ibo with views of the river. It's housed in a former salt warehouse with two levels. It features cuisine from Mozanbique and its seafood dishes are wonderful. Best to reserve, and we enjoy the more tranquil upstairs dining room rather than the busy and bustling outdoor terrace.
Home | IBO Restaurante

We also like Pap'Açorda, which has moved from its popular Bairro Alto location to the top floor of the Time Out Market. While a stroll through the downstairs food hall of the Time Out Market is always interesting, it gets very crowded, so we seek refuge for a quiet meal and well spaced tables upstairs at Pap'Açorda.
https://papacorda.com/en/.

For meat lovers, there's the steakhouse Sala de Corte.
https://saladecorte.pt/?lang=en

The 3 above can be booked on The Fork.

In the AlmaLusa hotel, there's Defina Cantina Portuguesa--probably don't need reservations here. It's been recently praised on Iwan2go's Lisbon trip report. It sits on the pretty Praça do Municipio.
https://www.almalusahotels.com/delfina/en/