Castles, calm and custard tarts in Lisbon
 

I like Lisbon but the Mail's comment about Rua Augusta - "has a lively yet historic feel" is just nonsense and frankly the writer has just poured honey over his laptop before he started writing.

"Oh bother" said Pooh

Thanks for the link. We are headed to Lisbon for 6 nights. I am second-guessing if we should move to Cascais for a couple of nights, although we prefer to stay put. We have a great rate at the Avenida Palace.

I strongly suggest you do NOT stay in Cascais! Dreadful little place.If you want to visit it ,take the train out and head back to Lisbon! I am not a fan of Lisbon-reminds me of poor Madrid about 30-40 years ago,just too gritty for me what with the broken sidewalks, flowerbeds full of weeds,groups of men hanging around! You'll see this when you step out of your hotel,especially around Rossio train station!
When you feel you've had enough of Lisbon, go and recover in Sintra,a short train ride and just beautiful/magical-I could easily live there! I plan to stay there,not Lisbon on my next business trip to Lisbon!

Im not familiar with Cascais, but I found Lisbon to be a great city, and I stayed near the Rossio train station. Yes, parts of the city (like any city) are a little gritty, but other parts are totally charming. We loved exploring the Alfama, the Baixa and other neighborhoods on foot and by trolley. If you want to spend a few nights 'out of town', consider Sesimbra, a very pleasant little seaside resort/fishing village about an hour south of Lisbon. Of course Sintra is also wonderful, although some of the neighborhoods between Sintra and Lisbon are not particularly desirable.

Well I enjoyed staying in Cascais but it was in May and we definately had some "pool weather". It has more of a resort feel than a big city. We stayed there 5 nights, took the train into Lisbon and the bus to Sintra. Lisbon reminded me of a rather gritty SanFrancisco. It had it's charms but at the end of the day I preferred Cascais and the easy commute into Lisbon when we wanted some city time.

I really,really don't see the charm of Lisbon at all.I was so excited to finally visit it and was so disappointed-not once but twice.I don't understand why they never cleaned it up when they became part of the European Union.Maybe they did and it was much worse before.When I travel,I want those ooh/aah moments and they just are not there.The St George castle is nothing,the tram ride was ?, the monastery was badly redone and who wants to walk through neighborhoods to see how the poor live,forget feeling safe at night.......how many custard tarts can one eat?
Cascais was mobbed with the masses from Lisbon,no beach to speak of,huge rocks with a strip of sand, little shops are all tourist junk.The train actually runs along side of the beach!
I repeat the place to stay is Sintra,still beautiful and more castles then you can visit and the views are breathtaking.I hiked from one castle to the next and the woods were so fragrant.The little town is lovely,quite elegant with lots of little interesting shops and restaurants.
My other city in Portugal is Porto-now they really cleaned it up nicely!Lovely historic area!

Funny how different people have different reactions. I love Lisbon, and the Avenida Palace is in a great location with easy access to transport. I enjoyed Sintra as a day trip, but wouldn't want to stay there. If you don't feel like moving, don't bother. (I've been to Lisbon twice for a week each time, so I don't think six nights is too much.)

It is indeed amazing how we react to places!perhaps it's something to do with a preconceived notion of how places in Europe come across.Coming from the States and having lived near L.A.Chicago and New York I don't like to be in an environment I would avoid back in the States.I want the charm of Paris,Madrid,Rome etc.

But I find Lisbon a lot more charming than Madrid... and a lot easier to deal with than Rome.

I loved Lisboa so much that I've now returned and made it my home.

I take exception to one thing in the article - that Lisboa is easy to navigate by foot. Maybe if you're a mountain climber! I need to start eating my Wheaties before I walk out the door :)

Just as a minor side note, it was not the author of that article who described Rua Augusta as having a lively and historic feel. That remark was the caption of a photograph.

Cascais no beach to speak of? Not in the very centre, but THE Cascais beach is Guincho Beach just outside of Cascais in the direction of Cabo da Roca. It's a beautiful wide sandy beach.

As to Lisbon, have you been recently? There are gritty areas but the area around Rossio station, Praca do Comercio, etc. doesn't really belong to the gritty part IMO. Lisbon is an old city with its typical neighbourhoods. That's what makes it so charming.