1. Grab some food at the Time Out Market.
Some people say it’s overrated, but I actually liked it. It is going to be super touristy, and crowded, but I liked that you have all of these different food spots in one location. I wouldn’t recommend going with a large group because it’s cafeteria style seating, so it’ll be hard to find seats together if you have more than four people. Would be great for solo travelers though.
2. Admire all the tilework around the city.
Known as, “azulejos”, this art form is all throughout Portugal, but especially Lisbon. You’ll see it on/in churches, in subways, and buildings everywhere.
3. Grab some coffee or a drink at the cafes, restaurants, and shops of LX Factory.
LX Factory is a complex of about 50 different shops. Make sure you don’t miss the bookstore, Ler Devager.
4. Hop on a funicular, or the ‘elevador.’
These are cable cars that help you climb the steep slopes of the city. The Elevador da Bica is one of three of the most popular ones. The other two are Elevador da Glória and Elevador da Lavra. Bica did not seem to be running on the Saturday afternoon that we went, but it was still fun taking some pictures on the slope.
5. Ride the Santa Justa Lift (Elevador de Santa Justa).
Unlike the three funiculars mentioned above, Santa Justa is an actual vertical elevator you can go up to get a view of the city. It costs €5.30 roundtrip, and had mixed reviews, so we didn’t end up doing it. But it was still cool to look at the structure from the ground.
6. Explore Sintra and the Pena Palace.
It’s a 45 min to 1-hour drive from Lisbon, depending on traffic, but about an hour and 45 minutes by public transportation. The actual train ride from Rossio Square in Lisbon to Sintra isn’t the bad part. That only takes an hour. It’s when you arrive in at the train station in Sintra. What should be a 15 minute drive to the palace turns into a 45 minute ordeal. The only bus from the station that goes to the palace is a hop on/hop off bus that stops at multiple castles in the area. This costs €13.50. We found out after the fact, that an Uber from the train to the castle would have just been €10. So we paid almost 7x the price for 5 people to take the bus, when we could have taken an Uber, which would have been way cheaper and much quicker.
From the bottom of the palace, it’s a steep slope up, or you can also pre-book a shuttle ride for a few extra Euros, which I recommend. Once you’re there, the castle is really lovely. It was very cloudy the day we went but it made the palace look more mystical. The layout of the palace is a one-way pathway, so you can’t really wander as you please. You just go with the flow of foot traffic. Book an early time slot to try and avoid as much of the crowds as you can. We booked a 10 AM slot in December, and it wasn’t bad but I read that it gets super crowded or even sold out during the summertime. We spent about 1.5 hours there, which I thought was plenty of time.
7. Take a day trip to Cascais.
I highly recommend combining this with Sintra/Pena Palace. Think of Cascais, Sintra, and Lisbon as a triangle on the map. Cascais is only about a 30 minute drive away from Sintra, and Lisbon is another 30 minutes drive from Cascais. Cascais is pretty small, so there’s not much to do, which is why I say to combine the two. You only need half a day there, and half a day for the palace. When you’re done, Uber back to Lisbon.
8. Get a view of the city at Miradouro da Senhora do Monte.
It’s best to take the tram or an Uber up because it’s very steep with A LOT of steps going up to the top.
9. Get into the Christmas spirit at the Christmas Markets.
These start popping up in November. Wonderland Lisboa and Rossio Christmas Market are the two more popular ones, since they are the most centrally located. There are other ones throughout the city but those may be a trek if you’re staying in the city centre.
10. Check out all the different cans of sardines at O Mundo Fantástico da Sardinha Portuguesa.
They have cans from each year dating back 100 years, and the birthday of a famous person on each of them. Even if you don’t end up buying anything (we didn’t because sardines at the supermarket were a fraction of the price), it’s still fun to see all of the wacky decor.
11. Go shopping at Il Corte Ingles.
Originally from Madrid, this is the only department store chain left in Spain and Portugal. When we went to Barcelona, the food court there was awesome, so we wanted to check out the one in Lisbon. Sadly, this one was a little lacking.
12. Shop for ceramics.
Portugal is known for their ceramics, especially their tiles. They’re also relatively inexpensive, and the quality is great. I’m sure many places can ship for you but we went the DIY route – wrapping it in dirty laundry. Luckily everything came back intact. We bought a few small plates and some coasters as souvenirs from Ceramicas na Linha.
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