Planning a trip to the Lisbon area -- need your insights?
 

Planning a trip to the Lisbon area for late November. We will be based out of an apartment in (central) Cascais for 6 full days, and I am seeking advice, insights, must-do recommendations, and cautions for our time there. Our plan is to spend some time in Cascais and also to make day-trips to other areas.

I have only just started researching the area, but it looks like 2/3 day trips into Lisbon should give us sufficient time for the city. I understand that Lisbon is a 30-minute one-way train ride from Cascais with frequent service. Also thinking 1 day to Sintra. What else? From what I've read, public transport seems to be plentiful and frequent, correct? We are not planning to rent a vehicle.

Our interests are hiking, culture, and food. While we enjoy history and architecture, we also have a tendency to get "churched-out" or "museum'd-out" if we have too many days in a row. We normally also enjoy kayaking but I don't think this is the right time of the year for water sports ;).

Is it worthwhile to take a "guided tour" for portions of our time there? I'm thinking specifically about the history/architecture parts since sometimes a guided tour with someone pointing out things to you can be more interesting than if you just wander around by yourself.

Advice and insights appreciated!

If you plan to spend 3 days in Lisbon, get the 72-hour travelcard for the trains (doesn't work on buses or trams) so you can get into and out of the city easily. The trains are frequent (30-40 mins, depending on whether it's a limited [rush hours] or a local [other times])

kayaking in cascais (November should be good for kayaking - I do sailing year round). See if there are other kayaking places. There are also tons of surfing schools along the coast if you want to learn or just rent a board.

Guided tours - maybe a walking tour in Lisbon.

We were in Lisbon in 2014 and stayed in the Alfama area which we really enjoyed. We used public transport throughout our stay & feel we missed nothing we wanted to do & had none of the potential hassles of having a hire car.
Re Sintra-we used rail & bus. Frequent reliable services, plenty to see. We walked from Moorish Castle to Pena Palace
We trained it to Estoril & walked to Cascais -yes regular trains, we found this area catering more to the British tourists via their bars & menus. Loved some of the sand art
We caught the train back to Belem-from memory not all stop at Belem-In Europe I am iclined to "get museumed out" sometimes but the Maritime Museum was an absolute highlight-something like 17,000 items displayed including royal barges & historic aircraft/seaplanes near our exit

Thank you for the information palal and RussellJ, appreciate it. Please keep the advice coming!

Relax - you'll enjoy your visit just playing it by ear: Lisbon is a compact city.

Public transport is good, but if you need to save time, taxis are pretty cheap (uber even better).

If you do only one museum, I rate highly the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (azulejos are decorative tiles) - it's off the beaten track, but you learn a bit about Portuguese and Iberian history while enjoying some exquisite art in a delightful venue.

Kayaking? There are some opportunities on the river, just 20 minutes by train from Lisbon at Vila Franca de Xira. The town has developed its waterfront position with a marina, and the great advantage is that tourist traffic is virtually zero. AND you can see a glorious display of azulejos on the main building of the rail station :)

They have a bull-running festival, but i think that's in October.

https://www.virtualtourist.com/trave...a_de_Xira.html

Palal, RussellJ and IAN-UK already gave great advice. I agree with all and won't repeat here.

You mentioned kayaking. There is a non-profit water sports club based in downtown Cascais, with their kayaks based right there at Praia dos Pescadores (the most downtown beach, in front of city hall and Hotel Baia and adjacent to the Naval Club). Not at all like the commercial outfits you will see renting kayaks, most based out of Guincho beach for €50 and up and Summer only. I have rented kayaks from these guys for €5-€10 for a couple of hours. They are ADN Cascais, and won't come up in any reasonable Google search because they are not geared towards tourists. It's really a local club, but they are super friendly and real water sports enthusiasts. The trick will be getting them excited enough about serving you in November. If you're serious about kayaking, reach out to ADN during Summer and perhaps you will strike a relationship with someone who will be willing to help you out in November. As for kayaking, the bay is quite well protected with beaches and coves to explore, but as soon as you turn the breakwater you're in open Atlantic waters and it can be a difficult and wild ride, especially in November. Be extra careful, as winds and currents can be pulling you out sea or onto rocky cliffs. You'd better be a good experienced ocean kayaker and in very good physical shape. And you may want to get one of the experienced local guys to go with you, they know the currents and where not to go.

You also mentioned hiking. There are some superb hiking opportunities in the mountain between Cascais and Sintra. Without your own transportation it will take planning to get to the trailhead, and even more planning to get picked up for the return. You may want to rent bikes, and the Cascais municipality has an excellent bike rental service "BiCas". You can't reserve them, they're first come first served, but in November there will be little to no demand. You could use a bike to get to the trailhead. You could also use a taxi to get to a trailhead, but getting one to come back is a challenge. You could also rent a car, and in November in Cascais you should be able to get them for less than €10/day.

Alfama and Bairro Alto
 

You've received great advice, so I'll just add two little bits. If you like culture and food, you shouldn't miss having dinner in Alfamadistrict in a small restaurant with a live fado music performance. Avoid the touristy restaurants at all costs and you'll have a unique experience. I haven't met a single person who did not enjoy Portuguese food! (dislcaimer: I am Portuguese....:) )

In Bairro Alto (another district) you will find a very eccletic and buzying ambience with different kinds of bars and all kinds of people, if that is your thing.

Just note that in Portugal, life happens late... No dinner before 7, best after 8 or 9. And the bar scene also starts even later, so that might be a problem arranging transportation back.

Anyway, do not miss Alfama for dinner at any cost.

Finally, do not miss:
- Castelo de Sao Jorge by the end of the afternoon for a great view over the city and river
- all Belem monuments - AND not do not miss the traditional custard "Pastel de Belém" in the original pastry shop that invented them

Good luck!

I've also had some excellent food in Bairro Alto. Great place to have dinner and a few drinks one evening. If I recall, I had an excellent meal at Bistro 100 Maneiras.

Not sure if you consider that "touristy" or not, but I enjoyed it! :)

Not your traditional tasca, but a very good place.

Yes, I think it was trying to be a little less traditional, but the food was excellent.

There was another more traditional tasca that I enjoyed in the Belem area, but I'll never recall the name so no use posting here. All I can remember is it was a few blocks north of the tourist sites on the river, and I just stumbled upon it looking for lunch and a place to sit. I need to be better at writing down names or snapping photos for things like this.

The Mercado de Ribeira next to Cais de Sodre in Lisbon is also a must-visit - a huge covered market with dozens of restaurants all serving dishes that are eaten in the big communal tables in the middle. Also a couple of bars for liquid refreshment, wine store etc. A great atmosphere and a great place to spend a couple of hours in the evening.

We have taken several tours by the wehatetourismtours.com people. The one to Sintra/Cascais/Estoril starts in Lisbon at Rossio Square and the guide will tell you all sorts of cultural info on the ride to Sintra. There are usually 6-8 people on the tour. Since you're staying in Cascais, you could just end the tour there, if you wish. Plus, I feel that the taxis in Portugal are quite reasonable, so that makes it easy to get around when you'd like to save some time. Have fun.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but my wife and I just decided to stop off in Lisbon on the way to see my parents for Christmas. Well, be there for about 2.5 days, arriving mid-afternoon on a Saturday, and flying out first thing Wednesday morning.

I have started to do research, but I thought I'd ask here since I am sure there are some of you that have been to Lisbon plenty of times.

What would you say are 'must do' things? We like good food (especially seafood), wine and beer. We are city more than country people, and I like to take photos of cityscapes.

I've started looking at hotels, budget is not a huge concern, but I don't really have an idea of which part of the city would be best to stay in. We have no problem with using public transport (tram/metro etc) however since we are only there a short time would prefer not to have to take transport to get to everything we want to do.

Any insight anyone can provide would be great, and I'm sure once I start doing more research I'll have more questions.

You say 2.5, but the dates suggest 3.5. Makes quite a difference. Which is, 2.5 or 3.5?

See guide books and internet resources for 'must do' and see what fancies you. You will see recommendations for Lisbon center (Alfama, castle, Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto) and Lisbon monumental area of Belém, and also a side trip to Sintra and Cascais. This are the normal tourist staples. See if anything catches your attention along those lines and let us know.

Seafood, wine and beer are all very strong in Portugal, so you could not have chosen a better place for that. Plenty of excellent seafood at every budget level, good and cheap wine Wine and beer are cheaper than bottled water.

For cityscapes look for Lisbon's "miradouros" and get immersed in the local flavor of streets of Alfama, Bairro Alto, or baixa. Plenty of city photo ops.

Anywhere from Saldanha to Baixa to Belém would be fine. I would avoid the newer areas, as you would not be so in the center of cityscapes. Among international hotels, the Sheraton, some Best Westerns, the Clarion, the Sofitel are all well located. A Doubletree is also near the Sheraton. The Four Seasons and an Intercontinental are well located but a good hill to climb. I would avoid the locations of the Marriott, the Radisson, the Holiday Inn, the Novotel, the Mercure. Good hotels, but if you want location for tourism they are not it. There are many good local boutique hotels that are very well located, and Airbnb is also flourishing. Pestana and Sana are local chains with some interesting hotels. If budget is not a huge concern you'll do well.

Trust me, you will prefer to take transport to get to everything. Metro/tram/bus but also taxi/Uber. Much easier than dealing with traffic on your own, finding parking, or finding your way through a maze of one-way streets. Taxis and Uber are cheap and plentiful.

A word of caution on airbnb in the winter- make sure they have good heating available. Same thing for hotels. It doesn't get super cold, but the temp inside is not much warmer than the temp outside. Older places also tend to have more humidity.

Tram 28 is a definite 'must do'. Other than that I agree - cabs and uber and cabify (a competitor) are cheap and good.