FEBRUARY 2020
It’s been years since I last visited Lisbon and besides the elevators and yellow tones I don’t remember a whole lot. So it was about time to head back again, as I had some time left before starting my new job. My mother and I booked a spontaneous flight, when we noticed that the weather in Portugal would be absolutely lovely at the beginning of February. Over the years I have grown an obsession with decorative tiles, so our time in Lisbon was mainly spent looking for the most beautiful tiles. I also had a second mission and that was to convince my mother that Lisbon is a beautiful city, as she did not come to that conclusion the last time she visited.. Read my blogpost to check out which things we did in Lisbon.
Where we stayed
I was super surprised about the good value of hotels you can find in Portugal. We booked a large room at Indy House for € 60 per night including breakfast. Indy House is located in the Intendente neighborhood of Lisbon. The Intendente neighborhood borders on the famous Alfama neighborhood. From Intendente you can take a walk to Alfama, passing all sorts of tiled buildings, so it was right up my alley. The hotel had all sorts of attentive details, such as having fruit, a water carafe, a blow dryer, a long mirror and Netflix in the room and a happy hour with free wine!
Torre de Belém
I visited the Torre de Belém for a sunrise mission with my tripod and self timer. When visiting in the early morning you have the monument totally to yourself, I only ran into one other girl with a tripod 😉 The Torre de Belém was built around 1500 and was used as part of the defense system. You can also visit the inside from 10AM-5PM daily, except for Mondays, but I just went to admire the views instead.
Museum of Portuguese Tiles
Ever since I heard this museum existed, I knew I had to visit. It’s location is a bit off the beaten path in Lisbon, but you can use Uber in Lisbon and be there in no time. The only thing I did not like about the Museum of Portuguese Tiles is that not everything is explained in English. Most of the rooms have an English explanation, but many of it is in Portuguese, so I couldn’t understand the full history of the tiles. The museum is in a former monastery and it also features a tiled church, which is quite a sight. My favorite artwork is the enormous tiled panorama with city views of Lisbon which can be found in the second floor. The entrance fee of the museum is € 5 per person.
Alfama & Miradouros
Alfama is the hilly neighborhood which features a lot of the quintessential street views of Lisbon. If you see pictures of Lisbon in a travel magazine, they are probably from Alfama. Alfama & Intendente also feature many beautiful lookouts (miradouros) with city views. We did not take the famous Tram 28, but we often saw it passing by when doing a walking tour of this neighborhood. Alfama is a particularly good area to visit around sunset, as you can see the skies coloring orange, while sipping on a glass of port on the terraces of one of the miradouros.
Chiado
Chiado is the main city center of Lisbon, if you want to do some shopping you can find everything you are looking for in the streets of Chiado. It doesn’t have a main shopping streets, but there are lots of little streets where you can do your shopping. I can imagine the shades of these streets being absolutely lovely in summer time. In Chiado you will find the beautiful Santa Justa Elevator. This elevator is designed by Gustav Eiffel, who also designed the Eiffel Tower and I love the Art Nouveau elegance. A ride up and down costs about € 5. In this area you can also find the Pink Street, which is quite an Instagram hit, but I found it incredibly lackluster. We did like having lunch at the famous square Praca de Comércio, you pay a premium price for lunch, but we enjoyed the sunshine and people watching at the square a lot.
LX Factory
LX Factory is a former fabric production plant, which is now reused as an area with lots of restaurants, art exhibitions, design stores and bars. I find it really interesting that every large city seems to have an old factory, that is now hip and happening. If you want a change of pace, this is definitely the place to go. We wanted to visit the rooftop bar under the bridge for sunset, but found it too crowded, so we took some pictures and left again. If you are into drag queens, there is a drag restaurant with workshops at LX Factory, which I found pretty original!
Time Out Food Market
I always like to have food at a Food Market, as I like not having to make a decision about the sort of food I want to eat beforehand. Of course Lisbon also has a food market, as the Time Out Food Market is a trendy place for a meal. We had original meals for a fair price (€ 15 per person including drinks) and liked the diversity of the stalls! I have to admit that this is more of a tourist hot spot, than a local tip.
