letter 002
portugal. the woman.
Ok, hi, I know it’s been quite a while since my last letter. This letter is going to be a little different from the last one. Also lol I feel like Carrie Bradshaw writing these newsletters. Should I move to New York? Getting side tracked lol.
Anyway, one of my favorite things to do is planning trip itineraries. The pay-off of doing days of research for a perfectly executed trip honestly keeps me going. This letter marks the first of hopefully many shared itineraries on this newsletter! Today, I’ll be sharing the Lisbon, Portugal itinerary I planned for a four to five day trip I took with my boyfriend in April earlier this year.
Personally, I hate reading travel blogs that don’t just list out all the places to go to, so that’s what I’m going to do at the end of each day’s section! I’m also including a Google Maps link with all the destinations we went to per day for your convenience! Favorites are marked with a star.
Day 1: Baixa-Chiado
We arrived at the airport in Lisbon, and took the metro to our hotel, Hotel Solar dos Poetas, located in the Baixa-Chiado district in Praça Luís de Camões. It was super central with many eateries, shops, and cafes all around it — the cable car pick up for Tram 28 was actually right outside our hotel’s doorstep, excitingly enough! The hotel itself was really cute — it had a really nice lobby bar, where I wish we had had a chance to grab a drink but unfortunately didn’t. Our room was perfect with all the amenities we needed, including a cute little balcony that overlooked the plaza.
After checking in and dropping our stuff at the hotel, we went to grab dinner at Dallas Burger Joint, which, as the name might suggest, serves burgers and has the decor of a typical American diner (Europeans are very fascinated by the American diner. I mean they are arguably, probably the only okayish thing to come out of America, so that makes sense). The restaurant rating (4.7 on Google Maps) matched the food and vibe. I was very satisfied, and I’m generally a very picky eater. Robin, who is not as picky of an eater, was also satisfied, for those wondering.
Afterward, we walked around the neighborhood (Baixa-Chiado), closer to the water. We checked out the Pink Street and Timeout Market briefly, and walked up and down the area’s steep hills, which reminded me of my dear home, San Francisco. Side note: Lisbon’s sidewalks are super narrow and slippery. I found this out the hard way. Pro tip: wear shoes with good grip.
Since this was the first day we were here, we then turned in for an early night.
Day 1 Summary: Baixa-Chiado
LIS Airport
Hotel Solar dos Poetas ⭐️
DINNER: Dallas Burger Joint ⭐️
Nighttime Stroll through Baixa-Chiado (Pink Street, Timeout Market)
Day 2: Alfama
Compared to Day 1, Day 2 was packed.
I am a strong believer that walking and taking public transportation are the best ways to visit a city. Lisbon was extremely walkable, I simply recommend bringing a comfortable pair of walking shoes.
We spent most of the day in the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon.
We started off the day eating breakfast at Manteigaria, a bakery (there are several of them in the city) well-known for their Pastéis de Nata or creamy egg tarts. We got coffee and hot chocolate as well, for a yummy meal. Of course this wasn’t super filling, so if you need more of a hearty breakfast to start your day off, you might want to go to a bakery with more options.
After, we walked to the Castelo de Sao Jorge which sits on a large hill, and boasts a beautiful view of Lisbon, including the fake Golden Gate. Another thing that reminded me of home. We spent 1-2 hours here, walking around in and around the castle itself. There were also a ton of peacocks walking around, which we didn’t expect!
Afterward, we walked to the Sé de Lisboa, but didn’t go inside. Here, we people watched for a bit, and also observed that this was a destination along one of the infamous cable cars’ routes.
Then, we went to the Miradouro Das Portas Do Sol. “Miradouro” literally translates to “viewpoint” in Portuguese, and is exactly what you might expect. There are several of these viewpoints scattered throughout the city with spectacular views of the city. In all honesty, stumbling upon one of these miradouros after trekking up a long escandinha (staircase) was my favorite part of Lisbon. This one in particular offered a great view of several murals, rooftops, and the ocean.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called A Fermentação - Restauração e Eventos Culturais. We initially wanted to go to __ but the wait time was too long and we were too hungry. In hindsight, it wasn’t my favorite meal, but there were vegetarian options. (Pro tip also — restaurants in Lisbon will offer you bread by leaving it on the table, but it is not complimentary! Tell the server you don’t want it at the beginning, otherwise you will be charged for it, even if you didn’t eat it.) Afterward, we wanted to try the local cherry liqueur called ginja, and we found a cute little bar called Ginjinha D’Alfama where we were served shots by a cute Portuguese grandma. But beware, it was cash only.
We continued our day by walking to the Panteāo Nacional, then to Augusta Street, and Praça do Comércio with the Arco da Rua Augusta. I loved the yellow colored buildings and the cobblestones of the plaza.
At this point, we needed a pick me up, and what better place to go for a pick me up than Amorino — my favorite gelato place in all the land. I was first introduced to Amorino in Paris, but they have many locations throughout Europe and the US too! They serve as many flavors of gelato as can fit, in the most beautiful flower design! It’s the baby of two of the best things in the world — gelato and flowers. You can’t not like it.
A few more stops at the Carmo Convent and Igreja de São Domingos, just off of Praça do Rossio, and then we were back at our hotel to freshen up for dinner.
For dinner, we were meeting some friends who lived in Lisbon to celebrate a birthday! We celebrated with dinner and drinks at a rooftop restaurant called Java Rooftop. Lots of great views and yummy food. Also, they were playing very niche Bollywood music at a certain point, which took me by surprise. We asked the server if the restaurant owner was Indian per chance, but she just said that the owner was a guy who loved listening to music from all around the world. What a great way to make people from all over the world feel comfortable in your restaurant!
Day 2 Summary: Alfama
Manteigaria ⭐️
Jardim do Castelo de São Jorge ⭐️
Sé de Lisboa ⭐️
Miradouro Das Portas Do Sol ⭐️
A Fermentação - Restauração e Eventos Culturais
Ginjinha D’Alfama ⭐️
Panteāo Nacional de Santa Engracia
Augusta Street
Praça do Comércio + Arco da Rua Augusta ⭐️
Amorino ⭐️
Carmo Convent
Igreja de São Domingos ⭐️
Praça Dom Pedro IV / Praça do Rossio ⭐️
Break at Hotel
Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcantara ⭐️
Java Rooftop ⭐️
Day 3: Belem
On Day 3, we visited Belem, a town a bus- or train-ride away from Lisbon.
We started off the day with brunch at The Mill. I had a bagel with many toppings and iced latte, and Robin had avocado toast and a smoothie. Pretty good, I’d give it a 7/10.
Afterward, we bussed to Belem to see the Jerónimos Monastery and Torre de Belem. We didn’t go inside either one, but they were both beautiful pieces of architecture. The intricacy and detail of the Jerónimos Monastery was my favorite part, and the Torre de Belem really felt like you had been transported to the olden days (whatever that means). The tower in the water which somehow just makes it even more cool. Behind the Torre de Belem was a large patch of grass where people were hanging out, playing with their kids, and sipping on spiked pineapples that were being sold nearby. We laid there for a few hours before heading back to Lisbon.
After returning to the hotel for a quick freshening up, we Ubered to the Costa de Caparica to meet the same friends from the previous night for continued birthday festivities at the beach bar called Posto 9. We then headed to a restaurant on the beach called Irmão Beach Club, where a lot more people joined the birthday group for dinner. We Ubered back to Lisbon after a few hours of celebrating by the beach. It did take a while to get an Uber (it was pretty late), so I will recommend being prepared to wait a bit, or maybe even figuring out a secondary option to get back to Lisbon. Getting a ride to the coast, however, did not take too long.
Day 3 Summary: Belem
The Mill ⭐️
Bus to Belem
Jerónimos Monastery ⭐️
Torre de Belem ⭐️
Costa de Caparica
Posto 9 ⭐️
Irmão Beach Club ⭐️
Day 4: Sintra
On Day 4, we went to Sintra, another town a train-ride away from Lisbon. Trains leave from Lisbon about every hour from Rossio Station. The train ride was about an hour long, and was extremely pleasant.
Filled with castles and architecture reminiscent of a fairytale book, Sintra made me feel like I had been transported to a magical faraway land. In Sintra, there are 3 main monuments people usually see - the National Palace, Castelo dos Mouros, and Peña Palace. Sometimes people rent cars or buggies to visit all 3. Robin and I, however, decided to walk, as the furthest one was only an hour away by foot. But first, we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant called O Cantinho Lord Byron where we tried Portuguese delicacies like sheep cheese, local wine, olives, and bread.
After, we trekked to Castelo dos Mouros, which was extremely beautiful and peaceful. This was similar to Castelo de Sao Jorge in Lisbon, but felt more remote and medieval since it was in the middle of nowhere with views of a forest and Lisbon faraway. You could walk around the actual fort, peer out of little look outs, and only occasionally would you run into someone else. Who would have thought that it was here that I would meet a fellow San Jose-native. Crazy. The universe was like “that’s definitely part of her journey today.”
You could also see Peña Palace from the fort, which was super cool. I do wish we saw Peña Palace from the inside as well, but we were starting to run low on energy so we didn’t end up going. I was a big fan of the red and yellow exterior though.
After seeing the sites of Sintra, we took the train back to Lisbon, freshened up at our hotel, and met a friend for dinner at the Timeout Market in Baixa-Chiado for a final dinner in Lisbon.
Day 4 Summary: Sintra
Train to Sintra from Lisbon’s Rossio Station ⭐️
National Palace ⭐️
O Cantinho Lord Byron (sheep milk cheese, local wine)
Castelo dos Mouros ⭐️
Peña Palace (from a distance) ⭐️
Train back to Lisbon’s Rossio Station
Timeout Market ⭐️
Day 5: Misc + Gift Shopping
On our final day, there were a few miscellaneous spots we wanted to check out before leaving, as well as some gift shopping we needed to do for our families.
We first bussed to LxFactory, which is supposed to be a hip, modern spot with restaurants, shops, and hostels. LxFactory seemed like a cool spot, but we went there on a Monday morning so it was pretty empty. Notable mentions, the Wish Concept Store and Let Devagar bookstore, were open, but that was pretty much it. If I were to redo this trip, I’d try going in the evening or on a weekend for a more lively atmosphere.
We had breakfast at a super hole-in-the-wall place called Galão just outside of LxFactory. It ended up being pretty delicious, and they were playing old 90s hits on MTV. Win-win.
After we bussed back to Baixa Chiado, we went to 3 different gift shops: Comur, Ceramics Na Linha, and A Vida Portuguesa. Comur was a sardines shop. I am a veggie-tarian so I opted out of buying anything, but honestly, the tin packaging was so cute, I almost did. Then, we went to Ceramics Na Linda, which sells affordable Portuguese ceramics, some that you can even pay for by the kilo, a cool concept I had only seen before at thrift stores. We both ended up buying a few things from here for our families! I literally had to stop myself from buying the whole store, I was obsessed. Last, we went to A Vida Portuguesa, where it was also so hard not to buy everything. It had the cutest prints, homeware, perfumes, cosmetics, even jewelry and stationary all made in Portugal. I bought a perfume from here of the brand, Claus Porto, and I swear to god, it’s my favorite scent I’ve ever found. I am obsessed, and I am already running low.
We then booked it back to our hotel, and metroed back to the airport, where we caught out flight back home.
Day 5 Summary: Misc + Gift Shopping
LxFactory
Wish Concept Store
Ler Devagar
Galão
Comur
Ceramics Na Linha
A Vida Portuguesa
Metro back to Lisbon Airport
Trip Summary
Overall, I think four to five days in Lisbon are more than ideal. I do wish we had time to explore other Portuguese cities like Porto but at least there’ll be a reason to come back to Portugal another time.
For a lot of the monuments or churches we saw, we were pretty picky about which ones we actually went into. Of course, if you’re interested in the history of the monument, I recommend going inside, but in order to save time (and money), as well as to get to everything we wanted to see, we were pretty selective.
My favorite discoveries of Lisbon (or as I like to call it: San Francisco in an alternate universe) included:
Tiled + Colorful buildings, murals, & escandinhas (staircases)
Pastei da natas
Amorino
Ceramics Na Linda
A Vida Portuguesa
Claus Porto
Some things I wish we did but we didn’t have the time for were
Azulejos Museum (I’m a sucker for a good museum)
Tram 28 Ride (I go back and forth on this one — on the one hand, it seems like a must do. But then on the other hand, I compare it to the equivalent of taking a Cable Car from Union Square in San Francisco and I mentally gag a bit. Idk. Up to you.)
Spending more time at the beach
If you read this far, you must be planning a trip to Lisbon. If you’re not planning a trip to Lisbon and you still read this far, it’s probably because I forced you to. If still none of those apply to you, I am so grateful for your time and eyeballs. Thank you and come back soon!
My Monthlies
Listening To
Anything Goes by Emma Chamberlain
Watching
Abbott Elementary (so good)
Amazing Vacation Rentals
The Kardashians (lol)
Bling Empire (lol again)
Reading
The Power by Naomi Alderman
The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara
💌