One day/night in Lisbon - what shouldn't we miss?
 

We will be spending a full day and night in Lisbon before heading to the airport and would like to know if there's anything we shouldn't miss while there.
Any advice on:
Interesting things to see or do (boat trip? walking tour? Site to see? Section of town not to miss?)
Places to shop?
What to buy?
lunch recommendation?
Sunset spot?
place to get drinks & tapas that shouldn't be missed?
Best place for dinner (we prefer really good authentic with flare of region over modern formal)?

Thanks for any advice!

You have to get the little pastel de nata (sp?) in Belem (near the monastery). They are superb. www.pasteisdebelem.pt/

We did a tour in one of the cable cars that we enjoyed. We were there with a group so I don't have a lot of individual recommendations that I can make. We loved Sintra but you probably don't have time to go there with just one day.

Gulbenkian Museum

Take the Hop on, Hop Off bus tour. The two routes will stop at all of the major sites, and will at least give you a quick overview of the city.

You must see the Jeronimos Monastery with it's Manueline architecture. The Tile Museum and Fulbenkian are both wonderful and unique museums. Walk aeound the Rossio to the waterfront. Stop and have a bica ( coffee) in the Rossio too.

Its a great town to wander around, particularly of the main streets.
A walk to Castle of S. Jorge is a good step and gives a great view over the city.
There are many great little places where the locals eat that are tucked away all over town.
We went up the steep hill beside the train station and turned left at Rua Duque and found a fantastic little place. No need to spend a lot of money to get a great meal in Lisbon.

When will you be there?
When do you arrive?
Where are you staying?

These are great suggestions, thank you! We will be there the first week of August (it will be hot, I know) and I should have mentioned we prefer not to spend the day at museums or seeing castles/buildings , but prefer to experience other unique things we can only do/find/see in Lisbon or give us the best flare for the area (denisea, love the recommendation on the pastel de nata - happy tvlr like the idea of the rossio and waterfront for coffee - and Burta,the bus tour sounds like a good idea! Hando, glad to hear that -it's just what we were hoping to do so any other recommendations on places welcome!)

We plan to stay in Bairro Alto, but I didn't mention this because I don't want it to limit suggestions as we're happy to go anywhere.

We will be coming from Cascais and am happy to say WILL have the opportunity to see Sintra so this is just to figure out to do for our day in Lisbon.

If you can start fairly early in the day, it's great to take the 28E tram to Prazeres, then back again to the town centre via Castel Sao Jorg and through the Alfama district. This is a very easy way to see the neighbourhoods that are so hilly, without having to walk. We made a point of setting out early on this trip; in the middle of the day we’d seen just how crowded those little trams can get. If you don’t get a seat, the view from standing position would be very limited. Di

Great advice, thank you di2315!

Sinatra was wonderful....enjoy.

I have a great compact book "Top 10 Lisbon".
It gives a great overview. This is the kind of information you need for your short stay.

It might help.