PORTUGAL | Three days in Lisbon

Easter Holiday 2024. Danny and Sam visited Porto in February, I visited the capital, Lisbon, in April with Steve, Philippe and Nicolas. I had my free week during a school holiday and as the boys work in education, I made the best of it. We chose Portugal for its convenience and our hope for fair weather. It wasn’t our first time in Lisbon, but my last visit dated from 2004. Twenty years is a long time. We had three full days.

Flags of Portugal, the Assembly of the Republic and of Lisbon.

This Lisbon trip was very different than other trips I do. Not because of Lisbon, but because it was very unplanned. We didn’t prebook any museum or site. We perhaps should have bought tickets and plan a time slot for the Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) in advance.

Following the inspiration of the moment leads to nice walks, relaxing pauses with drinks and snacks and enjoying the fair weather. Except in Belém, that is. The first day we had quite a downpour.

Except for touring the Estádio da Luz of the SL Benfica football team, we didn’t properly enter any site. No monastery, nu church, no cathedral, no basilica, no museum. MAAT was closed on Tuesday, otherwise we would have entered.

Lisbon though has several ‘inside’ sights worth some time.

Too many people?

Running up to this Lisbon trip, Instagram pushed me reels of recent floods, mega crowded places, overfull trams – tram 28E – and tourist traps.

Yes it was crowded. Very crowded at times. But this is 2024. People travel. We were there on a school holiday. We heard a lot of Flemish Dutch, Italian and French. English, German and Spanish less so.

So you will not be alone, no. But the crowds were never suffocating.

Too many short rentals (aka B&Bs)?

Lisbon is sometimes cited as an example of a city where short-term rental apartments are disrupting the housing market. I can attest we saw many. I’m pretty sure our building was completely used for such bed & breakfast flats (although breakfast is not included). Every apartment on our floor had a safebox for the key.

I didn’t photograph ours, but I saw many on the streets as well.

So yes, we participated in a problem.

Should you book and plan in advance?

We didn’t book time slots before travelling, but we did book restaurants for the evening itself or for the day after. For Misc by Tartar-ia that was a good idea. For the other restaurants – Fidalgo and Pão de Canela, I don’t think it was necessary. And at Oui Mais Non, there were some tables reserved.

We were there on a midweek. If you’re in Lisbon Friday and / or Saturday night, it’s probably wise to book restaurants.

But I did not have this pressuring feeling I had in Florence (Firenze) or other culture cities in Italy where if you don’t book, you miss out.

Are three days enough?

On day three, we felt we had ‘explored everything’. Well not quite, but we had wondered the neighboourhoods you should see. A fourth day would have been nice for Sintra, a fifth day for another excursion.

But three days felt allright. If I had travelled with Danny, Oriol or Thanh, I would have seen more.

But that’s okay. Lisbon in 2024 was my second time in Portugal. There’s leeway for a third visit.

Any practical tips?

Uber and Bolt are way cheaper than in Belgium. No need to book an airport transfer. And certainly when you’re a group of four, taking an Uber or Bolt may be easier than figuring out public transport.
You can tap in and out the metro system with your Visa or MasterCard. On modern trams there are vending machines. On old trams, you pay the driver. In April 2024, the tram fee was 3.10 euros. To be paid cash.
Speaking of cash. Many places take card, but on the tram and at one bar we had to pay cash.
Bring a foldable shopping bag so you can go to convenience stores.
Not all pastéis de nata are worth the calories.
A Padaria Portuguesa is a decent bakery, breakfast, patisserie chain. The Portuguese Le Pain Quotidien in a way.