Hi there,

I'm planning a Friday - Sunday trip to Lisbon. I'm curious if anyone has already made this trip. Any recommendations on what to see or where to go? I have the Lonely Planet book, but I am always curious about first hand experiences. Anything outside of the city worth seeing?

Thanks!

[quote=Deckhawk;331759]Hi there,

I'm planning a Friday - Sunday trip to Lisbon. I'm curious if anyone has already made this trip. Any recommendations on what to see or where to go? I have the Lonely Planet book, but I am always curious about first hand experiences. Anything outside of the city worth seeing?

Thanks![/quote]

Hi I do it every time I goo back home :)

There's plenty to do in Lisbon depends on what you are after.

Since you are arriving on Friday (evening I suppose) head out to Bairro Alto for dinner and drinks. Bairro Alto is a neighborhood that is full of restaurants and bars where people stay out until late and if the weather is good you just grab abeer and drink on the street. It is also a neighborhood where people are not so pretentious and you see "prepies" with "punks". In terms of dinner remember its southern europe so this only starts around 20h or 21h and in Bairro alto you need to book. I suggest Lisboa a Noite
[URL]http://www.lisboanoite.com/eng/LisbonByNight.html[/URL]

On Saturday you should check out the old town and the neighborhoods of Graca, Madragoa, all the way up to the castle (Castelo de Sao Jorge). From here you will have a great view of the city. Then you can come down near the river and have a nice lunch on the area called Docas. Basically there are a bunch of restaurnats on the marina. This is close to Belem where you can see several national monuments and museums. Here you must have a Pastel de Belem ([URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_Bel%c3%a9m[/URL])

You can also check out the Parque das Nacoes. This is on the north side of the city and was completely revamped during the Expo in 1998 and is now home to several stores, restaurants (yes we love to eat), bars and is always a nice place to visit.

Regarding places to visit outside Lisbon there are definitely 3 I would recommend and they are all within 30km from Lisbon. Estoril is home to the biggest casino in the Europe (Casino Estoril). It is a small town on the beach and it is nice to visit. Just next door to Estoril (about 3-4km) is Cascais which is beautiful. The center is mostly walking streets and its a very nice town. The third place is Sintra which is is a UNESCO world heritage. This perhaps the best of the 3 and if you are short of time choose Sintra over Cascais and Estoril. Here you can visit Palacio da Pena ([URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_da_Pena[/URL]) which is really nice. In Sintra you can also find several open houses to taste cheese and wine.

Hope this is helpful

Enjoy

As a tourist with family in Lisbon, I've seen most of the things that a pround local would want to show you.

The palace in Sintra was ok but not worth making the trip just for that. It really needs a good paint! The town charged us EUR 4 for coffees :eek:

The coastline nearby was beautiful - a very nice drive if you rent a car there.

I didn't enjoy the casino - paid entrance to card gaming room and the most pokies I had ever seen.

Castelo de Sao Jorge and Docas are worth visiting. I enjoyed the night clubs in Docas where I was the tallest person in there :D There is also a big shopping centre by the Expo that has an amusement park with rollercoster and a bungee flinger.