The ultimate packed weekend in Lisboa, Portugal. The most spontaneous trip I’ve ever taken–planned less than a week in advance for a weekend in Lisbon! Here’s what we did and what we loved:
DAY 1
WHERE TO STAY: Try to arrive as early as possible (preferably before the city opens up) to maximize time. We arrived to our hotel, Fontecruz Lisboa (in the Avenida Liberdade area) at 8am. We used some points to upgrade so that we could sleep the whole flight and would be well rested to start the day. Try to stay in the heart of the city to make it easier to get to and from all the must see sites!
1. Walk around Santa Justa, Praça do Comercio, and the neighboring areas, of course stopping at each pastéis de nata bakery (more on this below). Both are super touristy spots so be ready to bargain at the souvenir stores. Be weary of pick pockets and random people trying to sell you all sorts of drugs. My husband got approached to buy cocaine several times!
Lisbon’s Tram in Praça do Comercio
The Santa Justa Lift
Praça do Comercio
Walking around Santa Justa
The Gateway to Praça do Comercio
Rossio Train Station
2. Take the bus to the National Tile Museum. Bus 144 and 148 both stop off at the National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional de Azulejo).
3. Take the bus to Alfama and just keep climbing the stairs for some incredible city views. Visit the Castelo de Sao Jorge, where you can do a self-guided tour of the castle, and even have some run ins with peacocks.
The entrance to Castelo de Sao Jorge 
Standing atop one of the towers at the castle 
The cutest cobble streets of Alfama
4. Make dinner reservations in advance at Belcanto (2-Michelin starred restaurant in the Chiado area). Ranked as one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Belcanto serves a flavor profile like nothing we’d ever experienced before. This very experimental 17 course tasting menu left us refreshingly satisfied and our minds curious. Our waiter, Joao (Portuguese equivalient of John), was extremely attentive and made sure our dietary restrictions were taken into full consideration. If you know you’re going to Lisbon in advance, book early! We booked 2 weeks in advance and got the last reservation for that Saturday.
5. Take a post dinner walk around LX Factory. A cute little market/area with boutique shops, restaurants, and dessert spots, LX Factory is a vibe. It took us a couple of buses/trains to get there but well worth it!
Welcome to LX Factory 
Cute little bookstore in LX Factory
DAY 2
6. Take the early morning train to Sintra to go to Peña Palace.
This is the famous palace everyone thinks of when you think “Lisbon.” It’s actually about 45 minutes outside of Lisbon itself, but pretty easy to get to by train. We took the Rossio Station train to Sintra and then from the Sintra station took a bus up to Peña Palace. Once there, you can do a self-guided walking tour, explore, and take pictures. The views are just beyond stunning! We then took a hike up through palace gardens to get the view that you can see below (right). The earlier you go, the better your chances are of being around crowds (and, you get better photos with no one else around).
7. Take an Uber to Belem, where you can devour some more pasteis at Pastéis de Belém (the best ones we had), and then tour the Jeronimos Monastery. This gorgeous Monastery is in fact a UNESCO World Heritage Site with stunning Gothic/Renaissance style architecture. The gardens in and around the monastery make for a nice spot to take in the beauty that is Lisbon.
The entrance of the Jeronimos Monastery 
Hallways in the Monastery
8. Have lunch at the Time Out Market, followed by dessert at Landeau. The chocolate cake at Landeau has been applauded as the “best chocolate cake in Lisbon.” Not sure I’d go that far (mostly since we didn’t really try other chocolate cakes there), but it definitely hit the spot.
9. Took the train to A Severa FadO, a must do in Lisbon! Fado is a Portuguese music genre performed live with dinner. The singers exude passion in every performance and it’s great to watch the audience also getting into it when some better known Fado songs were performed. We picked A Severa because it was less touristy and more authentic. The food was rather average but the entertainment made up for the place!
10. HAVE ALL OF THE PASTEIS DE NATA!! See below!
PASTEIS DE NATA
Lisbon sparked our love affair for pastéis de nata–essentially, custard tarts, but so much more deliciousness than that. They’re egg custard tarts with cinnamon on top and the perfect crispy layered dough to complement the custard.
Here were all the spots we got pastéis from (in order of our favorites):
1. Pastéis de Belém (Belem)
2. Manteigaria (various spots around the city)
3. Fábrica de Nata (various spots around the city)
4. A Padaria Portuguesa (various spots around the city)
5. Confeitaria Nacional – one of the oldest pastry shops in Lisbon (Santa Justa)
