Lisbon in November, staying near Universidade de Lisboa: Recommendations?
 

I'm traveling to Lisbon with my boyfriend for a conference in November and I will be staying close to the Universidade de Lisboa. Any suggestions or recommendations for hotels in Campo Grande or nearby? It's my first time traveling to Lisbon and I'm not sure which areas would be most appropriate and conducive to going to the conference at the university AND experiencing the city life. I'm also interested in finding out if people have suggestions about transportation and possible day and evening trips. I'll be in Lisbon for 7 days/6 nights. I'm a little overwhelmed by all the possibilities and I'm not sure what's feasible or possible for a work trip/vacation.

Any suggestions or recommendations for dining, lodging, and sightseeing/activities are most definitely welcome! Thank you!

It isn't totally clear to me from your post whether both you and your boyfriend will be attending the conference, or whether he will be heading there every day and you will be on your own.

Also, you say you are staying near the university, but you also seem to be asking whether you should stay there or someplace else?

Whichever, if you want a hotel room near Campo Grance, you should try looking at booking.com for reviews of hotels in your budget. Also, since you don't mention what you wish to pay for lodgings, it is rather hard for people to make recommendations. (Even if they do, you should look up reviews on booking.com).

For a 6 night stay, you might want to consider renting an apartment. They are usually quite inexpensive, huge, modern and well appointed. I used the rental agency Rent4Days.

Lisbon has a superior public transportation system and taxis are cheap and plentiful. In the Campo Grande area you are close to 2 separate metro lines, that will zip you all over the city. There are good restaurants all over the city, in all price categories.

I am not sure why you are overwhelmed. If you know the conference agenda, then you know how much time is left over to sightsee. If you will be entirely on your own for most of the six days, count your blessings. Lisbon is filled with fascinating museum, walks, markets, views, historic sights, easy day trips. The town is safe and, like I said, it has zippy public transportation. Take a chance of some of its unique museums. If you are bored, you can always leave and go shopping or strolling, or seat in a cafe and read. It is lovely town for that.

Hope you get nice weather!

hotel villa rica lisboa
quality hotel lisboa
both walking distance from university

Sandralist,
Thanks for your response. This is my first post here, so thanks for the tips about what I need to include in my posts in the future.

I'm looking to spend somewhere around 80-100 euros per night if possible (less is always better). I will be attending the conference (and since there's no agenda yet, it's hard to figure out the times I will be free to sight see), while my boyfriend will be free to roam (lucky him).

I will be checking out your recommendation for apartments. Thanks.

Lobo_mau: thank you for the recommendations! Much appreciated.

Sure. I often go to conferences with my spouse and something we have found works for us is that the "free" party who goes out roaming while the other is in a conference session is really almost like a scout. Both of us have been really excited to show each other something we discovered in the city. Yes, it means one of us ends up seeing something twice, but it really doesn't matter. It is fun to share.

The other thing we learned is that the party going to the conference may have more of his or her time swallowed up than anticipated. Depending on the type of conference, you have to leave open the possibility that colleagues will want to continue conversations over unplanned lunches, or new items will be added to the agenda. So your husband might just have to eat some meals by himself even when he thought you'd be free to join him.

Lastly, there are usually other spouses tagging along, some of whom might propose interesting excursions (sometimes conferences actually arrange for spouse excursions). I usually only enjoy them if they include transport to some distant sight I otherwise wouldn't get to see. Don't know what your husband enjoys, but I really enjoy going to museums and historic sights by myself.

Although Lisbon has great transportation, if you need to be at conference sessions early in the morning, you might really appreciate staying as close as possible to the conference, even thought that area is not in the typical tourist areas of the city. Actually, some of the typical tourist areas tend to feel a bit too touristy, so it won't be a hardship I think to be out of them. Your husband won't have any trouble navigating himself to the tourist sights. You might find better restaurants away from the tourists areas as well.

You can search booking.com for hotels in Lisbon by budget and dates and location. It has an excellent search feature. But like I said, an apartment might be a real bargain.

oh: And it's all works best if you both have working cell phones. You probably already know all this. Lisbon is a great capital city so you'll find it easy I think.