The Travel Blog

Lisbon.  Just hearing the name conjures visions of a romantic weekend getaway and this Portuguese city delivers.  We visited Lisbon on a long weekend over Valentine's day 2016 while we were living in Manchester in the UK.  We stayed at Casa do Barao in the heart of Bairro Alto within easy walking distance of Praça do Comércio main port square and the water front.  When we arrived we were greeted with beautiful Lemon Trees that are so prevalent in the region in the hotel courtyard.  After a brief walk around the area to get our bearings, the hotel concierge recommended Lisboa a Noite as a local restaurant for dinner and the evening just kept getting better.

We started our first full day with a walking tour of the Bairro Alto with Inside Lisbon, a local tour company, with a very knowledgable local guide who spoke excellent English and was obviously very proud of his city and his Portuguese heritage.  We spent about 4 hours making a winding loop through the Bairro learning about Lisbon's rich history and seeing sites and markets to come back to for more exploration and sites that we probably did not need to come back to. We spent the rest of the afternoon self touring and shopping in the many markets and touring Castelo de Sao Jorge.  We then took a train to the seaside town of Cascais on the coast for a romantic Michelin Star, Valentine's dinner at Hotel Fortaleza do Guincho, which was outstanding.

Our final day in Lisbon, we took the quick Ferry accross the river to Cristo Rei, the famous Statue of Christ the Redeemer atop a hill on the other side of the river, very similar to the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro.  The views from the top of the statue looking back to the city are spectacular and shouldn't be missed if you go to Lisbon.  That afternoon, we found a local seafood restaurant and ordered a sharing platter of crab, shrimp and clams that filled us until our next visit to Lisbon.

You can learn more about Lisbon and our trip on our Destinations web page under the Lisbon tab.

Phil & Diane