I’ll start off sharing my thoughts on Lisbon by saying that, 3 days was not long enough. I’m not sure why everyone repeatedly told me to cut down some time in Lisbon for Porto, but personally- I felt like I could spend a whole week exploring all the hills and alley of this colorful city.
Whenever I pick a European city to visit, because I actually don’t get to travel to that part of the world too often, I always choose one that’s not too big or central. Lisbon, being on my radar for quite some time now, garnered a lot of attention through all the travel publishers and among my friends these past few summer months. This made me excited to cross it off my list but reduced some of my expectations (since I felt like I got the gist of it through all the social/media coverage).
It’s been a while since I went on a trip with Shun as well -and with our last really fun one being Taipei, all we looked forward too was having a few good relaxing days of exploring and chomping down some delicious food. I’ll be honest though, I didn’t quite connect well with Portuguese food at all, so that left me a bit disappointed by the time we were leaving. That said, it made me justified allocating a lot of our time to taste-test some of Lisbon’s best restaurants (Prado, Alma, and Belcanto).
On the first two nights there, we stayed at a super local Airbnb- and though it was beautiful, it was a bit uncomfortable for us- but we really couldn’t complain since we pretty much just ate and slept. Of all the places we ate in Lisbon, Alma was our favorite. If I remember correctly, we were at lunch from 1 pm until 4 pm (course menu because they’re a Michelin place), walked around for about an hour, and passed out until 4 am the next day. This repeated for another day or two because we pretty much had a big lunch reservation for every single day that we were there.
Lisbon was more inclined than I thought it would be, so we got tired of walking around really easily. I know everyone raves about the viewpoints in Lisbon, but I love walking around all the low points of the city and admire all of their facades and doors (hence so many of those photos in this photo-diary). By the second day, we started to Uber everywhere (so so cheap and convenient) even though we were right in the center of Bairro Alto.
Amongst everything else that I have to say- the top two things that I have to mention about visiting Lisbon at the top of my head would be how kind and generous, the people here are, and their orange juice is amazing (I think it’s why I don’t have a photo of it because I chugged my glasses every time I got one, or two). The next time I visit, I’m going to make up for the lost time by allocating a week to leisurely get lost here and do a couple of day trips. I don’t regret not visiting Sintra this time though.
Whenever I pick a European city to visit, because I actually don’t get to travel to that part of the world too often, I always choose one that’s not too big or central. Lisbon, being on my radar for quite some time now, garnered a lot of attention through all the travel publishers and among my friends these past few summer months. This made me excited to cross it off my list but reduced some of my expectations (since I felt like I got the gist of it through all the social/media coverage).
It’s been a while since I went on a trip with Shun as well -and with our last really fun one being Taipei, all we looked forward too was having a few good relaxing days of exploring and chomping down some delicious food. I’ll be honest though, I didn’t quite connect well with Portuguese food at all, so that left me a bit disappointed by the time we were leaving. That said, it made me justified allocating a lot of our time to taste-test some of Lisbon’s best restaurants (Prado, Alma, and Belcanto).
On the first two nights there, we stayed at a super local Airbnb- and though it was beautiful, it was a bit uncomfortable for us- but we really couldn’t complain since we pretty much just ate and slept. Of all the places we ate in Lisbon, Alma was our favorite. If I remember correctly, we were at lunch from 1 pm until 4 pm (course menu because they’re a Michelin place), walked around for about an hour, and passed out until 4 am the next day. This repeated for another day or two because we pretty much had a big lunch reservation for every single day that we were there.
Lisbon was more inclined than I thought it would be, so we got tired of walking around really easily. I know everyone raves about the viewpoints in Lisbon, but I love walking around all the low points of the city and admire all of their facades and doors (hence so many of those photos in this photo-diary). By the second day, we started to Uber everywhere (so so cheap and convenient) even though we were right in the center of Bairro Alto.
Amongst everything else that I have to say- the top two things that I have to mention about visiting Lisbon at the top of my head would be how kind and generous, the people here are, and their orange juice is amazing (I think it’s why I don’t have a photo of it because I chugged my glasses every time I got one, or two). The next time I visit, I’m going to make up for the lost time by allocating a week to leisurely get lost here and do a couple of day trips. I don’t regret not visiting Sintra this time though.
If you’re planning on visiting Lisbon, I’ll jot down a few things below for you to keep in mind.
Where to stay:
Dear Lisbon - Valmor Palace
Where to Eat:
Prado - lovely designed restaurant. Small bites, and really good mineral wine recs.Alma - traditional Portuguese with a modern taste. If you’re like me and can’t do too much heavy food and big portion, this place is an amazing way to try and understand Portuguese food.
Belcanto - currently world’s top 50, at number 42. Don’t worry if you can’t get a reservation, I totally enjoyed Alma so much more.
By The Wine - went for small bites and a couple of glasses of wine. I loved their green wines from Portugal. Note that they only carry their own.
Where to Coffee:
Fabrica Coffee Roasters - came here twice on this trip. Picked up beans and had a really good latte.Copenhagen Coffee Lab - people watching here was nice as the tram passed right by the front window. Not a big fan of the milk in Portugal so had a cappuccino here and it was pretty good.
Comoba - the space looked cute but didn’t end up staying because it was pretty packed on a weekday afternoon.
What to try:
Orange juice - honestly, the number one reason I would visit Lisbon again as ridic as that sounds. Actually learned that their oranges are produced in the Algarve region. The abundance of sun and sea soil is the reason why it is so delicious and sweet. Another cool thing to note that ‘Portugal’ actually means orange in Arabic, Turkic and other Mediterranean languages with variations. Pasteis de Nata - this one is obvious, and my favorites are Mantegaria as opposed to the historic Bélem. If you’re not a fan of cinnamon, try Orion’s; their custard filling is my favorite out of these three.
Sardines - everyone will recommend that you try cod, and of course, you should, but I personally favor the fatty sardines that exist at every restaurant menu here so much more. Salted cods were just way too salty and dry for me.
Vinho Verde aka green wine - if you’re not a wine person, you might like to try these because they are from the country. It’s very crispy and aromatic, which makes it super easy to drink.
Seafood - this one goes without a doubt. I loved all of the clams and octopuses dishes. They are just cooked so well and simple here.
What to wear:
Sneakers - leave your nice shoes at home. Your feet will thank me for telling you so because most of the streets are either on an inclined or cobblestoned.Things I wore for my three days are (by order of days) - &Otherstories knitted dress, Mango (men’s) shirt jacket, Mango net wood beaded tote (pearl one), Nanushka tapestry slides, GRLFRND Denim jeans, The Frankie Shop jumpsuit, Common Project sneakers, Chanel WOC, and PS11 bag.
Camera Gear Used: Nikon D600 (body only) with 50mm F1/4 and 24-70mm F3.5 lens.
