Visit Lisbon, Portugal

What to See & Do as a Tourist in Lisbon, Portugal

The Five Things You Will Love & Hate About Visiting Lisbon

Five Things You Will Hate About Visiting Lisbon: 1. The Crazy Drivers: be careful crossing the street, driving, standing on the street corner the Portuguese are little rally drivers, so be careful. 2. Dog poop on the slippery streets: Watch your step walking around town as the slippery when wet cobblestones or piles of dog poop will get you. 3. Restaurants closed from 3-8pm: A lot of non-tourist restaurants close their kitchens from 3pm to 7pm, so you may find it hard to get some of the traditional dishes like Acorda or Porco Preto at 6pm, but there are numerous cafes that will have sandwiches and snacks open 24 hours a day. Also, vegetarians may have a hard time in the meat and fish capital of Europe. 4. No good medium or cheap accommodation: This is improving in Lisbon over the past few years there has been a boom in Hostels and decent hotels, however you will still need to look for them. 5. Drug dealers on Rua da Augusta (the pedestrian street) they will harass you and ask you again and again. It is disgusting.

Five Things You Will Love About Visiting Lisbon 1. Cheap eats and shopping: Lisbon is chock full of great Portuguese restaurants with cheap seafood (I recommend the Robalo or Dorada fish, but Grilled Sardines (Sardinhas Assadas) are pretty good too this time of the year. 2. Great weather: Whether you come in January or June you will be blessed with great weather and lots of sun. So bring sun block! 3. Going out in Bairro Alto: having drinks, dinning and having a good time there at night is THE thing to do in Lisbon. 4. Cheap good transport: buses, trams, metro, and even the taxis are cheap. 5. Easy access to beaches: Estoril and Cascais are two “beach towns” you can easily reach on the suburban train that hugs the riverfront from Lisbon to the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The Top Ten Tourist Sites in Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon has a bit of everything, there is a world class zoo and oceanarium for the kid in all of us as well as nice museums and beaches to enjoy a cocktail at. Here are Wolters World’s Top 10.

1. Belem District: Mosteiro de Jeronimos Church, Torre de Belem (Tower of Belem), Pasteis de Belem (Custard Tart Restaurant).

2. Alfama District: Se (Catherdal), wander the windy and hilly streets for cafes and tascas (restaurants).

3. Baixa District: The “Low” district with Rua Augusta (pedestrian street), trains to Sintra.

4. Bairro Alto District: The bar district in Lisbon, home of the nightlife of Lisbon.

5. Castelo Sao Jorge: Views from the castle are amazing, more ruins than castle, but again great views.

6. Sao Vicente da Fora: Amazing church with great collection of Azulejos (Blue Portuguese Tiles) of fables.

7. Jardim Zoologico: The Lisbon Zoo is great for all ages.

8. Museu de Arte Antiga: Stock full of European art.

9. Gulbeinken Museum: Eclectic collection of thousands of years of art.

10. The Expo: Home of the World Expo 1998 this district has been built as a modern oasis in Lisbon. It has shopping, restaurants (the Brazilian restaurants are the best) and the largest Oceanarium in Europe (great for kids).

Top Ten Tourist Sights in Lisbon

And If you are in Lisbon you should learn a few words of Portuguese to make nice with the locals. Here are the Top Ten Portuguese Words that Tourists should know.

Top Ten Portuguese Words for Tourists

The Top Ten Portuguese Words

1. Please – Por favor 2. Thank you – Obrigado (for a man), Obrigada (for a woman). 3. Yes – Sim 4. No – Nao 5. I am – Eu sou 6. I want – Eu quero 7. How much – Quanto? 8. Where – onde? 9. Toilet/Bathroom – Casa de banho (Portugal) – Banheiro (Brasil) 10. Beer/Wine – Cerveja/Vinho

 

Other Helpful Links

EMAC 2012 Lisbon Webpage – http://www.emac2012.org

Wolters World’s Portugal Country Page – What to see and do in Portugal, from the tip top of Porto and Braga to the very south on the beaches in the Algarve.

Wolters World’s Lisbon City Page – Insider tips on what to see and do in Lisbon (Wolters World home for five years).

Wolters World Learn Portuguese Videos – Learn Portuguese while seeing various locales all over the country. Good for beginners to advanced Portuguese speakers.

The Official Lisbon Tourism Website – the official run down of what is going on in town.

The Official Portugal Tourism Website – See what is happening all over the country with this helpful website.

Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/woltersworld and “Like” Wolters World on Facebook!

 

Five Things You Will Love and Hate about Portugal

 

We have not had time to embed all the videos yet, but follow Mark and his friend Sebastian as they see all the main sites in Lisbon in one day.

Lisbon in a Day Playlist with Sites around Town

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FFEB4D4231ECCEC1

Great to give you ideas for a quick weekend trip to Lisbon. www.youtube.com/woltersworld and click on the “in a day: Lisbon” playlist.

And if you want to have a few things for your little ones, try Lisbon for Kids. Mark shows a lot of wonderful places for little ones.