THINGS TO DO IN AND AROUND LISBON
Jan 24th, 2006, 08:12 AM
#22
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Useful websites for those coming to Lisbon/Portugal:
National railways - www.cp.pt
eg Lisbon to Algarve: 22.50 euros, 3 1/2 hrs, Lisbon to Porto: 23 euros, 3 1/2 hrs, 17 euros.
Lisbon Metro - www.metrolisboa.pt
Rural tourism and B&Bs
http://www.pousadas.pt/pls/wse/wsewh...me?p_lingua=en
Quiant hotels and old castles etc.
Basic road map (Not sure how recent)
http://www.travel-images.com/portugal-map.jpg
More updates to come...
Matt
National railways - www.cp.pt
eg Lisbon to Algarve: 22.50 euros, 3 1/2 hrs, Lisbon to Porto: 23 euros, 3 1/2 hrs, 17 euros.
Lisbon Metro - www.metrolisboa.pt
Rural tourism and B&Bs
http://www.pousadas.pt/pls/wse/wsewh...me?p_lingua=en
Quiant hotels and old castles etc.
Basic road map (Not sure how recent)
http://www.travel-images.com/portugal-map.jpg
More updates to come...
Matt
Jan 25th, 2006, 08:39 AM
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A Portuguese breakfast:
You will find a coffee shop every few hundred metres - I sometimes wonder how each survives so close as they are to each other. Anyway:
Coffee comes in two general types:
Bica - small cup of strong creamy black coffee somewhat like an expresso. With a small packet of sugar. Stir and drink in two gulps. 50 cents on average.
Meia de leite - Cup of steamed milk and coffee, a half and half, whilst most Portuguese prefer a bica a meia de leite is just right to sit out on the pavement table and watch people go past. 95 cents or thereabouts.
To eat - try
"um queque simples" a little sweet hard sponge cup cake.
"Bolo de arroz" made from rice flour and sugar.
"Pastel da nata (Pastel de Belém)" Lobo Mau's favourite. Sometimes good, sometimes excellent - especially in Pasteis de Belém. A little egg custard tart, best served warm with a sprinkling of cinamon on top. 1 isn't enough, 2 is just about right!
Depending on what you have and where, (local coffee shops are always cheaper than the tourist traps) you'll pay around 2 euros or less.
Lobo Mau, what did you have this morning? Me - it was a bica and queque simples...
Matt
You will find a coffee shop every few hundred metres - I sometimes wonder how each survives so close as they are to each other. Anyway:
Coffee comes in two general types:
Bica - small cup of strong creamy black coffee somewhat like an expresso. With a small packet of sugar. Stir and drink in two gulps. 50 cents on average.
Meia de leite - Cup of steamed milk and coffee, a half and half, whilst most Portuguese prefer a bica a meia de leite is just right to sit out on the pavement table and watch people go past. 95 cents or thereabouts.
To eat - try
"um queque simples" a little sweet hard sponge cup cake.
"Bolo de arroz" made from rice flour and sugar.
"Pastel da nata (Pastel de Belém)" Lobo Mau's favourite. Sometimes good, sometimes excellent - especially in Pasteis de Belém. A little egg custard tart, best served warm with a sprinkling of cinamon on top. 1 isn't enough, 2 is just about right!
Depending on what you have and where, (local coffee shops are always cheaper than the tourist traps) you'll pay around 2 euros or less.
Lobo Mau, what did you have this morning? Me - it was a bica and queque simples...
Matt
Jan 25th, 2006, 09:53 AM
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When we were in Belem enjoying a coffee and pastry (we just couldn't settle for our favorite egg custard tart and had to try more than one) we saw people buying them to go. They pack them in a clever tube.
Do they travel well....that is saying if they really make it far without being eaten. But of course, that is another matter.
Anyway, I thought that they would get a little soggy being put warm into that tube and eating later.
Anyone have an opinion.
Do they travel well....that is saying if they really make it far without being eaten. But of course, that is another matter.
Anyway, I thought that they would get a little soggy being put warm into that tube and eating later.
Anyone have an opinion.
Jan 25th, 2006, 09:55 AM
#28
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A comment to ElleD9. July and August are not the high season in Lisbon. In fact it is the low season, spacially August, when Lisbon seams a ghost town. But, bearing in mind that many restaurantes are closed and it might be too hot, I follow Matt_from_England's suggestion that June is a good time to show up. His description of 13th June evening is excellent. While readind it, I almost felt I was there.
Jan 25th, 2006, 10:35 AM
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Sher:
In my opinion ( and I am Portuguese and live in the Lisbon zone) pasteis de Belem are only good eaten while still hot or somehow hot. The next day they aren't that good, don't taste so good ( I don't like them at all the next day). That's my opinion and most of the Portuguese people opinion!!!
In my opinion ( and I am Portuguese and live in the Lisbon zone) pasteis de Belem are only good eaten while still hot or somehow hot. The next day they aren't that good, don't taste so good ( I don't like them at all the next day). That's my opinion and most of the Portuguese people opinion!!!
Jan 25th, 2006, 12:16 PM
#32
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You know Pasteis de nata are just not the same. In my local coffee shop they are cold and baked in the morning. Whereas in Pasteis de Belem it seems like it has just come out of the oven. So all I have to do is get to Trafaria, take the ferry, five minute walk and start having my morning coffee in Belém!
And you know Lobo I used to work for Benfica... Shared a box with Michel Preud'homme after he retired. Still go to the odd game - I'll be at the Liverpool match in Feb.
BTW small coffee, cream croisant, reading a Bola for the Benfica news all before work - or something like that. Hey I'm not a translator you know. Tha's my wife's job!
And you know Lobo I used to work for Benfica... Shared a box with Michel Preud'homme after he retired. Still go to the odd game - I'll be at the Liverpool match in Feb.
BTW small coffee, cream croisant, reading a Bola for the Benfica news all before work - or something like that. Hey I'm not a translator you know. Tha's my wife's job!
Jan 27th, 2006, 08:29 AM
#34
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Okay so in the shops:
Buy Extra virgin olive oil: very cheap compared to back home. Just take it on as hand luggage and not in the suitcase...
Vintage Port. Again so much cheaper than back home and even in the supermarkets will you find thirty or forty year old varieties.
A bottle of Aguardente - a very strong local brandy: be careful it is like firewater.
A bottle of Vinho Verde. Not green in colour but referring to the fact that it very young and slightly sparkly - acidic too. Serve really well chilled, perfect with fish and seafood.
A bottle of Ginjinha which is a sweet liquor made from some small fruit like cherries. Sometimes drunk from a cup made of dark chocolate.
Madeira wine. Not unlike Port, sweet and smooth and thick.
Next, table wine reccomendations for your evening meal...
Matt
Buy Extra virgin olive oil: very cheap compared to back home. Just take it on as hand luggage and not in the suitcase...
Vintage Port. Again so much cheaper than back home and even in the supermarkets will you find thirty or forty year old varieties.
A bottle of Aguardente - a very strong local brandy: be careful it is like firewater.
A bottle of Vinho Verde. Not green in colour but referring to the fact that it very young and slightly sparkly - acidic too. Serve really well chilled, perfect with fish and seafood.
A bottle of Ginjinha which is a sweet liquor made from some small fruit like cherries. Sometimes drunk from a cup made of dark chocolate.
Madeira wine. Not unlike Port, sweet and smooth and thick.
Next, table wine reccomendations for your evening meal...
Matt
Feb 2nd, 2006, 05:38 PM
#35
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Matt - thanks for this thread, it's great. Some questions for you (and the other Lisbon experts) - I'm planning on being there this coming July. At first I was thinking about 6 days and then I'd move on to my next destination. But the more I research, the more there seems to be. So now I'm thinking 10-12 days. Does that sound like too much? It seems most tourists only spend 3-4 days. Also, can you recommend any centrally located hotels under €100 (under €80 would be even better). I'll be traveling alone so it has to be somewhere safe and easy to get around from. Thanks
Feb 2nd, 2006, 05:50 PM
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Thanks Matt for all the great info. and everyone else too. We will arrive is Lisbon on May 28th and be visiting Portugal for three weeks. Plan to rent a car and try to sample the whole country. I'm just starting our planning. Have my Fodors, Green Guide and Rick Steves'. For our last couple of trips, I have found this website as important if not more so than the books. Your discussion of the Festa de Stē Antonio has me thinking we would do better to plan our trip so our time in Lisbon will be on the tail end of our trip. We leave the 20th. We could spend the last eight days in Lisbon and do day trips using public transportation and have the car for the first two weeks? Is that a good division of time? Thanks for sharing!
Feb 3rd, 2006, 05:41 AM
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Isabel, hi.
I haven't actually stayed in any Lisbon hotels but I now of one on Avenida de Liberdade called Hotel Dom Sancho -
http://www.domsancho.com/index.html
I only know this hotel for I did the website for it many years ago, though it has been changed somewhat since. It was a family run business in a good location close to Metro stations etc and very convenient for downtown. The prices I recall (from 5 years ago) were reasonable but I don't know what they are now. Please note this is not a reccomendation nor am I in anyway connected with them. But worth checking out.
With regard to the amount of time it depends if you like to rush or take things leisurely. I've been here a decade and haven't seen everything. For me it's nice to take lunch with a half bottle of wine in one the restaurants with tables on the streets, watching the people walk past. Portuguese food can be heavy and filling and "doze inducing" especially with the red, so a coffee to finish and then a slow afternoon before going to Bairro Alto for the night. For instance Belem you can spend one day, as with Sintra. A couple of days downtown, a day on the beach in costa, it all adds up. I'd say ten days is fine then go on elsewhere.
Of course feel free to email and I'll help the best I can.
Take care
Matt
I haven't actually stayed in any Lisbon hotels but I now of one on Avenida de Liberdade called Hotel Dom Sancho -
http://www.domsancho.com/index.html
I only know this hotel for I did the website for it many years ago, though it has been changed somewhat since. It was a family run business in a good location close to Metro stations etc and very convenient for downtown. The prices I recall (from 5 years ago) were reasonable but I don't know what they are now. Please note this is not a reccomendation nor am I in anyway connected with them. But worth checking out.
With regard to the amount of time it depends if you like to rush or take things leisurely. I've been here a decade and haven't seen everything. For me it's nice to take lunch with a half bottle of wine in one the restaurants with tables on the streets, watching the people walk past. Portuguese food can be heavy and filling and "doze inducing" especially with the red, so a coffee to finish and then a slow afternoon before going to Bairro Alto for the night. For instance Belem you can spend one day, as with Sintra. A couple of days downtown, a day on the beach in costa, it all adds up. I'd say ten days is fine then go on elsewhere.
Of course feel free to email and I'll help the best I can.
Take care
Matt
Feb 3rd, 2006, 09:03 AM
#38
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Thanks for the offer to email you Matt, I probably will with questions as I get further into my planning. Right now I am just trying to map out how long I want so I can buy my airline tickets in the next couple of months. You mention several day trips - Obidos, Marvão, Santarem, and Ericeira - all of which (plus Evora) I would like to take. But I will definitly not be renting a car so will have to be by public transportation. So how hard will it be for someone who does not speak Portuguese (I will of course learn basic phrases, but obviously will not be able to really actually speak or understand it)? I've been to a lot of Europe and am fairly comfortable traveling around, but less so when I'm alone (which I will be on this trip) and I've never been to Portugal or Spain (going to Barcelona in March) so am not familiar with the type of public transportation there. If you think these days trips sound reasonable given my limitations than I will definitly plan on about 10 days. Thanks for your advice.
Feb 3rd, 2006, 09:20 AM
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Isabel. Something I think worth mentioning.
Many of the restaurants have half portion meals. I traveled with my husband, but sometimes we would each order a half portion and thought the servings were very generous. Both of us are healthy eaters.
Many of the restaurants have half portion meals. I traveled with my husband, but sometimes we would each order a half portion and thought the servings were very generous. Both of us are healthy eaters.
Feb 3rd, 2006, 09:43 AM
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Yes indeed Sher - half portion is called a "meia dose" Pronounce phonetically something like <i>may er do so</i> for about 2/3 of the full portion price and more than enough for one person. I think budgeting max 10 euros per meal if inc wine is about right and that would include coffee and a dessert to. Many places offer a set "Ementa turistica" tourists menu which will include starter, main, dessert drink and coffee.
For the day trips to narrow things down I would list Sintra, Obidos and Evora. I think Marvao will be hard to get to without a car - even with it is a bit of a pain but well worth it though. If you learn a few basics it will get you far, a lot of people of my generation (33yrs) speak good English here - it is not like Spain where sometimes you will be ignored. I will look into Public transport to the places mentioned, (Sintra is easy though, just a train ride away). I know there are some companies that do day trips and I'll look into that and post details here: should I forget just nag me...
Look foward to speaking soon,
Matt
For the day trips to narrow things down I would list Sintra, Obidos and Evora. I think Marvao will be hard to get to without a car - even with it is a bit of a pain but well worth it though. If you learn a few basics it will get you far, a lot of people of my generation (33yrs) speak good English here - it is not like Spain where sometimes you will be ignored. I will look into Public transport to the places mentioned, (Sintra is easy though, just a train ride away). I know there are some companies that do day trips and I'll look into that and post details here: should I forget just nag me...
Look foward to speaking soon,
Matt
