Fast help with Lisbon!
Oct 17th, 2007, 05:12 PM
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Fast help with Lisbon!
I am trying to quickly plan a trip to Lisbon. Can you Fodorites help me with some good info about the city? Here are some things I am looking for...
What's the best area to stay? Good restaurants (important!)? Inexpensive hotels? Best sights? Best experiences? What are prices like? All that and anything else you have to offer will be appreciated. In the meantime I will be searching too.....
What's the best area to stay? Good restaurants (important!)? Inexpensive hotels? Best sights? Best experiences? What are prices like? All that and anything else you have to offer will be appreciated. In the meantime I will be searching too.....
Oct 17th, 2007, 05:20 PM
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Oct 17th, 2007, 07:13 PM
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Oct 18th, 2007, 03:49 AM
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I have only stayed in one hotel in Lisbon, so I can't compare. It was the Hotel Borges in the Chiado. I like the Chiado a lot and there are not many hotels there. It is a very hilly area. Much of the more interesting activity is in this area, especially in the evening.
The Borges is an older, large hotel, and the rooms vary greatly in size. Rooms facing the street can be very noisy, at least they were last July, but if you are going soon that might be less of an issue, especially with the windows closed. We paid 75 euros per night in August through an internet booking site, http://lisbon.nethotels.com.
That hotel is directly above the landmark cafe A Brasileira. Nearby is the restaurant Trindade, Rua Nova da Trindade 20C, in an old monastery covered with beautiful tiles inside. This is in all the guide books so has many tourists as well as locals, and I enjoyed meals there twice.
In the Bairro Alto, just past the Chiado, there are many restaurants, bars, and fado clubs. My husband and I enjoyed an evening at Caldo Verde, Travessa Poço da Cidade, with Fodors poster Lobo Mau and his wife, who live in Lisbon. It is a low key place to have a meal and listen to fado sung by people who work at other jobs during the day but gather to sing in the evenings. Members of the audience sometimes get up and sing as well.
We loved our meal at the restaurant Stop do Bairro, rua Tenente Ferreira Durao 55A, in the Campo de Ourique neighborhood. A storefront restaurant filled with regulars who kissed the staff as they came in. Daily menus typed with long lists of dishes. Fantastic food. Very informal.
Adega das Gravatas, another Lobo Mau recommendation, was a great place with a festive atmosphere (leave your tie and it will hang from the rafters) and terrific food. I went there last year with a friend and her kids. The taxi driver we used had to stop other drivers along the way to ask if they knew where it was, but when he found it, it was worth the trip. http://www.adegadasgravatas.com/contactos.html
You might be interested in the Lisbon part of my trip report from this past August:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35062668
The Borges is an older, large hotel, and the rooms vary greatly in size. Rooms facing the street can be very noisy, at least they were last July, but if you are going soon that might be less of an issue, especially with the windows closed. We paid 75 euros per night in August through an internet booking site, http://lisbon.nethotels.com.
That hotel is directly above the landmark cafe A Brasileira. Nearby is the restaurant Trindade, Rua Nova da Trindade 20C, in an old monastery covered with beautiful tiles inside. This is in all the guide books so has many tourists as well as locals, and I enjoyed meals there twice.
In the Bairro Alto, just past the Chiado, there are many restaurants, bars, and fado clubs. My husband and I enjoyed an evening at Caldo Verde, Travessa Poço da Cidade, with Fodors poster Lobo Mau and his wife, who live in Lisbon. It is a low key place to have a meal and listen to fado sung by people who work at other jobs during the day but gather to sing in the evenings. Members of the audience sometimes get up and sing as well.
We loved our meal at the restaurant Stop do Bairro, rua Tenente Ferreira Durao 55A, in the Campo de Ourique neighborhood. A storefront restaurant filled with regulars who kissed the staff as they came in. Daily menus typed with long lists of dishes. Fantastic food. Very informal.
Adega das Gravatas, another Lobo Mau recommendation, was a great place with a festive atmosphere (leave your tie and it will hang from the rafters) and terrific food. I went there last year with a friend and her kids. The taxi driver we used had to stop other drivers along the way to ask if they knew where it was, but when he found it, it was worth the trip. http://www.adegadasgravatas.com/contactos.html
You might be interested in the Lisbon part of my trip report from this past August:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35062668
Oct 18th, 2007, 04:11 AM
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Hi Richard
I think you may run into some rain in November.
The "Lisbon" posts are wonderful.
If you click on my name in the search, all three extensive posts about Lisbon will come up. So many people contributed to these posts.
From my limited experience, I would stay in Chiado/Baixa for a first hand experience of Lisbon.
The prices in Lisbon are very reasonable. You can still find B&B's for E75 a night. Of course, you can spend more if you like.
Have a great time. The people are very welcoming.
I think you may run into some rain in November.
The "Lisbon" posts are wonderful.
If you click on my name in the search, all three extensive posts about Lisbon will come up. So many people contributed to these posts.
From my limited experience, I would stay in Chiado/Baixa for a first hand experience of Lisbon.
The prices in Lisbon are very reasonable. You can still find B&B's for E75 a night. Of course, you can spend more if you like.
Have a great time. The people are very welcoming.
Oct 18th, 2007, 04:59 AM
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Hi richardab, I still remember your great Vienna/Austria trip report and I'd be happy to give fast help.
We stayed in an apartment hotel, Real Residencia Suite Hotel. Close to the Gulbenkian museum in a residential neighbourhood a subway stop or two north of 'downtown.' Don't miss the Gulbenkian, it is a human-sized art gallery which will offer you a lot in just 2 hours.
Poster 'lobo mau' is of course the definitive resource on Lisbon as he lives there.
We stayed in an apartment hotel, Real Residencia Suite Hotel. Close to the Gulbenkian museum in a residential neighbourhood a subway stop or two north of 'downtown.' Don't miss the Gulbenkian, it is a human-sized art gallery which will offer you a lot in just 2 hours.
Poster 'lobo mau' is of course the definitive resource on Lisbon as he lives there.
Oct 21st, 2007, 07:31 PM
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For an upscale dinner, try the restaurant at the Lapa Palace. We sat on the outside patio overlooking the pool and gardens--very romantic.
For a trendy place, try Stravaganza. Awesome Italian food, great staff, and they have real limoncello--you may have to ask for it--not sure if it's on the menu.
For a trendy place, try Stravaganza. Awesome Italian food, great staff, and they have real limoncello--you may have to ask for it--not sure if it's on the menu.
Oct 23rd, 2007, 01:30 AM
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There are Pastelerias all over Lisbon, some great, some not so good. Pasteleria Versailles is on Avda. Republica at Duque de Avila, next door to where I stay when in Lisbon: Residencial Estrela do Saldanha. I recommend both! Carlos Ferreira, co-owner/manager of the Residencial speaks English.
A little known fact: Portuguese Pastries are among the world's best.
For dining, I like the Portugalia Brewery Restaurants. There's one on the riverbank about 500m from Caís do Sodré, the original on Almirante Réis near Metro Alameda and the newest at Colombo Mall.
Sagres Brewery building has a small restaurant on the ground floor for Excellent Mariscos.
Allow at least a half day for Belém, another half day for Oriente, site of Expo'98, now with Vasco da Gama upscale shopping mall.
A little known fact: Portuguese Pastries are among the world's best.
For dining, I like the Portugalia Brewery Restaurants. There's one on the riverbank about 500m from Caís do Sodré, the original on Almirante Réis near Metro Alameda and the newest at Colombo Mall.
Sagres Brewery building has a small restaurant on the ground floor for Excellent Mariscos.
Allow at least a half day for Belém, another half day for Oriente, site of Expo'98, now with Vasco da Gama upscale shopping mall.
