Holiday in Lisbon, Portugal. Any recommendations?

I have nothing to offer... but I definitely want to read some stories after you get back!

 

nothing useful, sorry. i recommend that you do the thing!

 

Never been. But I heard the driver's are crazy there. Be safe.

 

I actually won a trip to Portugal back in 1990 (business sales contest prize). Our group stayed in Lisbon and there were a number of day trips that we took from there. Now, the mind ain't what she used to be, but I'll share what I can remember.

The people were pretty nice overall. The one thing I remember is that anytime we had "free time" to explore and got off the of typical path language was a bit of a problem. At the time at least, English wasn't used widely outside of the tourist areas. The people were cool, just a bit of a struggle getting on the same page because of language.

The food was a mixed bag. Now, we were part of a tour, so most meals were planned out already. Seafood... Lots of seafood... Lots of really good seafood. The bread/rolls always seemed bakery fresh, and wonderful. Good deserts too. Beef... well, not so much. We really didn't see much of any on the planned meals, so one of the last night when we had an unplanned meal I went out in search of a steak (my inner carnivore was calling!) Found a nice little place not far from the hotel and there was ribeye on the menu! Well, it was the stringiest, gristle filled thing I ever ate, but it was a steak, dang it!

A far as things to see, again, being a tour we didn't get too far out of the box. Like most of Europe, history is a huge thing. I'm a history nerd, so that was right up my alley. High points I remember: the Tower of Belem, St Jeronimo's Monastery, the monument to the explorers (has a name, but it not coming to me) right by the water, St. George Castle (cool place and does meal there as well with entertainment). If you're looking for more out of the way stuff or nightlife, I'm afraid I didn't get a chance to delve into that with the way out time was scheduled.

Anyway, hopefully that may help a least a little bit. I hope you gave a great time. I know it was one of my favorite trips.

John

 

Have you tried using this? TB mapped! map
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