Questions for upcoming trip to Lisbon
 

With all of the encouragement I received from you helpful Fodorites, I am going to Lisbon in less than four weeks! I've been studying guidebooks and webites like crazy, but still have some questions.

1) Are you required to carry your passport with you at all times? Will a photocopy suffice?

2) Looks like it will be pleasantly warm in September. From what I have read, shorts are generally not worn in Europe, so I assume capri pants or skirts are best for day. Are capris with nice shoes and dressier tops acceptable for dinner? Or are only slacks, dresses, or skirts acceptable for dinner?

3) My husband will be attending his conference at the Lisbon Conference Center which looks like it is close to Belem. Is anyone familiar with its location? I am wondering how close it is to the attractions in Belem.

4) Have any of you purchased a five day pass for the public transport system? Does it only work within Lisbon, and not for travel to Sintra or Estoril?

Any other tips or advice is appreciated! Am sure I will be back with more questions as my trip gets closer!

The Lisbon transport card is good for "anything that moves" within Lisbon-trams, elevadors, metro, etc.Its inexpensive and easy to use. You'll need a separate ticket to go to Sintra , and I think, Belem. Lisbon is a wonderful city.

See http://www.golisbon.com/transport/transport.html for info on transport in Lisbon. As best I remember the pass is good for Belem. For Sintra I bought a day pass at Rossio station that was good for trains and buses to Sintra, Cascais and Estoril.

How dressy you need to be for dinner probably depends on where you eat. I wasn't especially dressy, but I didn't eat in really pricey places. (I didn't even take a skirt or dress!)

Suggest you buy a Streetwise map of Lisbon and/or a guidebook with good maps.

Janenicole writes: " ... My husband will be attending his conference at the Lisbon Conference Center which looks like it is close to Belem. Is anyone familiar with its location? I am wondering how close it is to the attractions in Belem."

It's right there, in Belém! If you stand with your back to the Conference Center facing East, the Jeronimos Monastery is on your left & the Explorers Monument is on your right, across the road. You get a good view of Torre de Belém from there. There's an underpass you can take to cross the road.

The Lisbon Tour Buses that advertise many attractions spend much of the 'Tour time' parked in front of Jeronimos Monastery.

If the People Sponsoring the Conference have scheduled some sort of Banquet, be prepared to dress appropriately. I'm an Irish Pub kind of guy: there are two at Caís do Sodre, and one (Hennesy's) has an Annex near the Conference Center.

There's also a Portugalia Restaurant at Caís do Sodre that I like: It's about 300m West of the Ferry Terminal. If you're walking you should be on the river side of the fence

Hi, janenicole,

I'll take a stab at your questions.

#1 -- I lived for a year in Lisbon and never carried my passport with me. If anything, I carried a photocopy. Sometimes when using my credit card, I was asked for id, but a drivers license was always sufficient and much easier to carry than a passport.

#2 -- I do think people tend to dress up more than we do in the states, it's a more formal culture in many ways. But simple black pants or a skirt is fine. Most restaurants will take you no matter how you're dressed but you might feel out of place in jeans in a nice restaurant.

#3 -- The Centro Cultural de Belem has a big conference center, but I don't know if that's where your husband's meeting will be. If it is, it's right across the street from the Jeronimos Monastery.

#4 -- In Dec. 2008, the metro combined with the bus and tram system to have one single ticket that can be used on any of those three. Now you just buy a ticket at any metro station (and at some major bus terminals) for the amount that you want, and the rides come out to somewhere around 70 centimos each (the variation depends with how much you spend, the more euros you put on the ticket the cheaper each ride becomes, but I don't think it's a huge amount). This ticket is also valid on the trams or buses out to Belem from downtown Lisbon.

I don't know what the prices of the 5 day pass are, but unless you're really going to use it all the time, it might be cheaper just to buy a metro ticket and charge it with money (can be easily recharged if you run out). Lisbon is such a great walking city, you will probably frequently prefer your feet to public transit.

Going to Sintra or Cascais/Estoril will require a separate ticket. Actually, that's not exactly true -- there is a way to use that general ticket for the out of town trains, but I have always found it too complicated and just bought separate tickets for those trips.

Hope you have a wonderful trip, Laurie

I read somewhere that showing a passport was required to purchase a transportation card. Think I will take my chances and use a DL and leave the passport in the hotel safe.

Thanks, thursdaysd, for the link - it's much more clear than the Carris website. I'm trying to get it somewhat figured out before I go so that I'm not standing there looking stupid while a pickpocket rifles through my bag!

My husband's conference is not in the Centro Cultural de Belem, but I think I've figured out where it is - it looks to be east of the Coach Museum, very close to Ponte 25 de Abril. So, still within decent walking distance of the sites. The maps in the guidebooks I have cut off right at that spot. I do plan to get the Streetwise map.

Good to know about the dress. Am sure that most restaurants realize that tourists have a limited wardrobe, but I don't want to stick out as tacky. We are not into the whole expensive restaurant scene, but when my husband travels for business, he's not afraid to pick a little more upscale places, as long as they have good food. I'll make note of your restaurant recommendation, nedsireland!

Thanks, all!

Sorry, janenicole! I thought it was in the Centro Cultural de Belém; so most of my description was oriented from there.
BTW
I also got the name of the Discoveries Monument wrong, calling it the Explorers Monument (where did I get that?)

Have a great trip! Be sure to ride MetroLisboa: each line has a theme, and MetroLisboa is very 'User Friendly.'

Spend a little time around Oriente (Expo'98 site): There's a Mall (Vasco da Gama) and the World Class Oceanarium is still open for business

>>>4) Have any of you purchased a five day pass for the public transport system? Does it only work within Lisbon, and not for travel to Sintra or Estoril? <<<

Is there a five day pass? How come I remember it is a three day pass? Anyway, a three day pass is VERY worth it. It takes everywhere (except Sintra), Estoril and Cascais included. BTW, there is nothing in Estoril except the casino, so if you are not into gambling go to Cascais. And then have a nice stroll along the beach boulevard to Estoril train station and the train back to Lisbon. And Belem is part of Lisbon, so of course the pass covers also that. We used every possible means of tranportation, metro, bus, train, tram, and even funiculars and the old lift.

Just checked: we didn´t have a "pass", we bought a three day Lisbon card, it gave also free (or reduced price) access to many sights.

I think I read about a five day pass/card in the Fodor's guidebook. But, I have been reading a lot, so I might not be recalling things correctly!

We were just in Lisbon for five full days and just purchased a Viva Lisbon card and loaded it. We kept the pass for the whole time but really only loaded it two of the days at about E3.40 or so as a day pass for the next 24 hours. Because on some of the days we just walked everywhere. Depending on where you are staying and as a first time visitor, you will probably use the day pass more than we did. We have been there a couple of times before and did not revisit Sintra or Belem.

I was asked at one or two of the grocery stores for ID when we used our credit card for purchases but never asked for any at the restaurants. A driver's license is good.

Our companions wore shorts everywhere. We did not. We saw very few people in shorts (besides them) but it was very hot while we were there. Most people were dressed casually and I wore skirts and capri pants. We don't dine at particularly fancy restaurants and I felt very much in place.

Ned, we have been to Portugalia before but decided on this trip to go to the one near Cais do Sodre. Great view! But it was so hot that the 300m seemed liked miles!

Thanks for the further info, Sher!

Sher:
I didn't mention other Portugalia Restaurants to janenicole: the original one on Almirante Reis, near the Alameda Metro Station, and another in Colombo Shopping Mall. Like you, I loved the view from the one on the bank of the Tagus.

We dined with relatives at the Original Portugalia back in 1974. It was more like the Restaurant on the ground floor of the Sagres Brewery building back then.

Ned. We have dined at the one in the Colombo Shopping Mall a couple of years ago.
We had visited the tile museum that day and we got off at Cais do Sodre hoping to visit the market but were too late. That is when I remembered your mentioning that particular restaurant.
I was familiar with the food but the view was an added plus.