Lisbon, two thumbs down!
 

What do you think of Lisbon and Portugal in general? We just left Portugal where we went to Lisbon and the Algarve. We found Lisbon to be very dirty and run down, even in the main tourist areas. We were offered drugs several times and saw someone shooting up on a street. The hotel in the center of town reccommended by the tourist office and a guide book we had was very dirty and musty. We left there for a pension where I saw roaches and then they tried to cheat us by charging double the quoted price the next morning. We refused to pay double. Prices in general were more than double which were listed in current guidebooks, probably in anticipation of tourism for the expo. We went to the Expo and were quite unimpressed. While we expected crowds, some lines were up to two hours long in the hot sun. Of course, we were there in August and your experience may be entirely different in a different month. The Algarve (Salema) was pretty nice. We did stay in one dirty place and then switched to a terrific place the next night.

We are planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in April or May and your comments concern me. Do you think that because of Expo there were more unsavory people and practices or do you think we should just not go to Portugal? What abourt Spain? <BR>

I've been to Lisbon and Portugal several times, both for work and tourism. Last time in september 1995 and I must tell you that I never experimented such a mess. I think that is because of the expo (the higher prices). Maybe you've been unlucky with the hotels. Lisbon is an old town, but very charming. I think that views such as the one from the miradouro Santa Luzia or from the Sao George Castle are worth a trip... <BR>Dear Erni, I think that to go in Portugal in the April-May period is a great choice. You won't see too many tourists, but just experiment the quiet and yet lively Portuguese way of life.. <BR>The weather is great and if you rent a car and travel in the interior you'll see the Alentejo with flowers (this region is too hot during the summer), and the wonderful Douro region in the North. <BR>Even the very touristic Algarve will be nice in that period of the year. <BR>I could probably give you more detailed information, depending on where you decide to go. My advice is: don't worry at all, you'll love Portugal (and also Spain) <BR>Anna <BR>

My boyfriend and I spent 10 great days in Portugal in the beginning of June. We thought Lisbon was great fun (a little run down. The people were so nice to us also! After 5 days in Lisbon (with days trips to Sintra and Cascais...must see Sintra) we headed to Lagos and Tavira in the Algarve. Both nice places also. <BR> <BR>In Lisbon we stayed at the Lisboa Tejo and found the people very nice even after the airlines lost our luggage for over 2 days! Get the Eyewitness Guide to Lisbon and/or Portugal also. <BR>

Emi, we are in Granada right now and love Spain. We´ve been to Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Cadiz, Tarifa, Granada, and will go to Barcelona next. Every place we have been has been great. I don´t know if the expo is to blame for our experience. However, we did not have one isolated experience, we had several. Also, how could one event that lasts a few months totally corrupt and disrupt the entire custom and way of life of a city? I have been in plenty of old and older places and they never seemed to be as run down and uncared for. I have also been in other "poor" countries and have not had a similar experience. Plenty of people do love Lisbon. However, I am in no rush to go back.

I haven't been to Lisbon, but wanted to say that Spain is a beautiful country. I have been there twice (3 weeks each) and have been to Barcelona, Zaragoza, Madrid, Avila, Salamanca, Toledo, Segovia, Seville, Ronda, Granada, Cordoba, and Jerez. Great places, great food and lots of things to see an do. Looking forward to returning to Spain within the next 2-3 years.

Caryn or Monica-I will be heading for Spain at the beginning of September and will be going to Madrid, Seville, Cordoba and Costa del Sol and will probably take day trips to Toledo, Granada, Ronda and Tangiers. As my time in each place is quite short, I would appreciate any hints on what to see, good restaurants and the best way to travel between Costa del Sol and Granada, Ronda and Tangiers. Thanks for any suggestions! <BR>

Kris: We also did the day trip to Tangiers. As all the guidebooks advised, we did not go alone and took a tour. It cost about $46. However, regardless of the cost, I'm really not sure it was worth it. The ferry advertised as 55 min was an hour and a half. And the seas were calm, so we didn't get slowed down by weather. I expected a bad tour that would take us to set up tourist traps and shops they had agreements with. It was this and more. It's a long story but here is the short version: First of all, they TOOK our passports from us on the boat and KEPT them all day. However, they didn't take everybody's passport. ONly about 25% of us for some unexplained reason. We were all very uncomfortable about this but we did get them back. What really disappointed me was that there really didn't seem to be much to see except garbage which was everywhere. I have NEVER seen such a filthy, dirty, littered place except maybe a dump. While I expected to be whisked from place to place, I also expected that while we were walking through all those streets in the Kasbah, that there would be all types of shops and interesting things to see and a different culture. Yes, the culture was different, but not shocking. Also, there was nothing distinctive to see. I can't describe what we saw because we didn't really see anything. The architecture was nothing. Just concrete buildings. There were lots of "hustlers" but they were basically harmless (probably because we were in a group). You'd be better off seeing all the Moorish architecture in Spain, which is spectacular. Spain is a terrific country. And it is spotless! You may want to consider the following: 1) Take the tour to Morrocco anyway 2) Go by yourself to Morrocco, you'll probably see more or 3) Don't even bother. Email me for even more info.

<BR>Thanks for all your good advise. We are not going until April but I wish it was sooner. Thanks again.

<BR> <BR>I just read your comments about the trip to Morocco sine we will being goint to the Costa del Sol in late Sept. and our travel agent is a big package- tour booster. Going to Morocco seems like more trouble than it's worth but what about other tours? We won't be renting a car and sionce we are pressed for time, thinking about taking a tour to Granada for the day. Does anyone have any info?

We honeymooned in the mediterranean for a month in mid April to Mid May. I must say it's a great time of the year to travel Europe. Not nearly the mass of people. Among the places we visited were Lisbon and Barcelona. Lisbon was nothing spectacular. Barcelona,Italy, Turkey, Greece were a lot better. I would have traded Lisbon from Southern Spain. But then agian to each his/her own.