Lisbon Day 1: Belém and the City Center
Let’s start with a quick word association game: vibrant, joyful, classy, delicious; all words we would use to describe our several days in the southern region of Portugal. You could argue that we came for the history and culture, but would have stayed for the food! It didn’t take us long the next day to truly be humbled to be in this fantastic area — one made up of majestic castles, unique culture, and historic names first learned in history books. We spent the first day in Lisbon, the second as a day trip to Sintra, and then back to Lisbon again for day three and have split these posts up accordingly.
Lisbon got off to a rocky start with us witnessing a car accident happen right in front of us on the drive into the city. (Luckily, everyone was okay!) Juliette and I exchanged glances, hoping that it wasn’t an ominous sign, and then proceeded cautiously to our hotel. The following day, we traded the car for an Uber, our trusty feet, and a few public transportation passes to take us all over the city. Our first stop was the famous Belém neighborhood near the water on the western side of Lisbon. Note: This neighborhood is difficult to get to on foot because it’s outside of the main city center, so plan accordingly.
Known for its charming streets and colorful, tiled buildings, Belém is home to Pastéis de Belém, the original purveyor of the famous Portuguese Pastéis de Nata custard tart. Here we made our first rookie mistake of not eating at the shop and taking our pastries to go! We spent way too much precious time trying to find somewhere to sit and enjoy said custardy goodness. (We also inadvertently making enemies with nearby restaurant owners who were very protective of their outdoor seating, even though they weren’t yet open for business. Good grief!)
After managing our mischief, we crossed the main road to explore the nearby Padrao dos Descobrimientos (Monument of Discovery) dedicated to all the famous Portuguese maritime explorers: Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and Ferdinand the Holy Prince, to name a few. Here we claimed our first of four towers for the day, enjoying the misty view of the Tagus river and setting our sights on the nearby famous Torre de Belém. Note: Here we purchased city passes (highly recommended) which gave us entry to the tower and several other sights, along with a daily transportation pass which would let us hop onto any bus, tram, or other form of public transportation.
The Belém Tower played an instrumental part during the Age of Discoveries (15th-18th century), is a Unesco World Heritage site, and is a case study in defensive architecture. Though it seems deceptively small, Juliette and I were surprised at how it was designed to feel large and spacious behind its walls. It was not hard to see how difficult it would be for an attacking force to storm the fortress!
With close proximity to the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, we spent the next hour or so exploring and admiring the beautiful architecture and atrium. It wasn’t until we were on our way out when we did a quick double-take, having walked right past the tomb of Vasco da Gama. Again, it was a weird but awesome feeling figuratively walking through pages of our middle and high-school history books. For being in such a small country, we had forgotten about the massive impact that Portugal had on the shaping of the world!
At this point, we were feeling ravenous and popped into Pao Pao Queijo Queijo, a highly recommended local sandwich shop, for a quick bite. (And, yes, it deserves every bit of hype and is a great stop for lunch!) It was nice to get off our feet for a bit and people watch over glasses of lunch wine. The restaurant was also right across the street from the tram stop, making for an easy getaway towards the main part of the city.
About 15 minutes later, we found ourselves in the heart of bustling Lisbon and in major need of some coffee. A colleague from work had recommended Bettina & Niccolo Corallo coffee, which was only about a 20 minute walk from where we got off the tram. This walk took us through beautiful parts of Lisbon, passing iconic yellow trolley stops, and several scenic overlooks. The coffee, served with a complimentary piece of chocolate, was absolutely delicious and well worth the walk. After coffee, we jumped on a trolley headed back down the hill to do more exploring.
We explored the open air Mercado da Ribeira (also called “Time Out Market” and full of food stalls) and walked through the Arco da Rua Augusta (with complimentary entry to the viewing tower), built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the earthquake of 1755.
We’d also find our third — and favorite — coffee of the day at Fábrica Coffee Roasters. Hopefully, by now, you know where our priorities are at!
After a long day of walking and as it started to get dark, we’d claim our 4th “tower” of the day, the famous Santa Justa Lift. We didn’t actually get to climb stairs to the top because this is actually a free-standing elevator nestled between buildings, but the sweeping views of beautiful Lisbon from the top made it worth the wait and the ride. It was lovely to see the streets light up for Christmas — every street looked spectacular!
Tuckered out physically, but energized by the spirit of Lisbon, we made it back to our hotel ready to try something very different the next day with a visit to the mystical, magical Sintra region to see all the castles!
-GP