Exploring Lisbon on Foot

After a very long week(+) sailing the Atlantic Ocean, we finally made it to our first destination – Lisbon, Portugal! We opted to explore the city on our own, and it turned out to be a great, but long, day!

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We ended up with an extended day in Lisbon, due to the cancellation of the Azores. So we got up bright and early, and we were able to watch the ship sail into port, including going under the largest suspension bridge in Europe.

As we started our walk through the city, there were quite a few things that stood out immediately.

First, the city was incredibly clean and pedestrian-friendly. Zero garbage, walkways were HUGE, and tons of seating areas that were designed with comfort in mind. There were dozens of lounge benches for people to use, and even the concrete edges were designed so people could sit, but so that people couldn’t damage them by grinding.

Second, Lisbon was not a morning city. We thought we would beat some crowds by getting out around 9/10 am, but there was hardly anyone walking out and about.

Just this plaza was a great example. It was clearly designed to host thousands of people, but it was empty at this time.

We did circle back later in the day, and it was noticeably busier, but I do think traveling in January is not exactly prime time for this area to be overrun.

Third, the attention to detail was incredible! Lisbon was absolutely designed with beauty in mind, all the way down to the streets and walkways. Designs were built into the tile wherever we went, even functional items like the turn indication were built into the road with tile instead of painted on.

We spent the next hour or so just walking the area and taking in all of the sights.

As we walked, we did come across the classic McDonald’s, so we stopped in to see what kind of fun options they would have. Everything was noticeably cheaper here, but I thought it was funny that you could get toast or a beer!

It did take some getting used to walking up and down all the hills! There is The hills took some getting used to throughout the city. There is an old cast-iron elevator designed to take you from a lower city area to a higher one.

At 8 euros a person to ride up, we said “Pass!”, but it was still cool to see.

Our one regret of the day was not actually buying all the cool candy we saw! There was a local candy shop with barrels of options, plus tons of gluten-free and Vegan options, which were perfect for me! At this point,t we figured we would have plenty of time to come back and buy some at the end of the day. Spoiler, that did NOT happen.

However, it was right after the candy store that we made it to the top recommended food spot! Lisbon is very well known for the Pastel de Nata, so of course we had to try it. We opted for Manteigaria (website here), which was said to be the best quality ones, but not technically the original, which was in a different neighborhood.

The Pastel de Nata is like a little custard pastry that has been baked, so it is warm and has a glaze-like top, not quite like a crème brûlée but close. Nathan was a big fan, and we were actually able to get them throughout the trip.

Unfortunately, the coffee situation was a bit more problematic for Nathan 😂. What you see above is how much coffee Nathan got with his pastry. More of an espresso, but still! It was barely a swallow to wash down the food. We quickly learned that Europe favors espresso and then hot chocolate, but rarely a latte or any kind of drip coffee.

After our quick bite, we made our way to the other side of the city where the Castelo De S Jorge was located. This was the original fort that Lisbon used for protection, and it is now a museum that you get to walk through and explore.

Before we got there, though, we stumbled on a legitimate archeological dig! We turned a corner, and all of a sudden, there was a decent-sized area that was blocked off, and they were working on clearing things out. It is constantly mind-boggling to try and comprehend how old some of these areas are and the amount of history there.

We finally made it to the top of the hill and the castle. Fair warning to anyone else attempting this, it is no small feat to walk up that hill, though I can’t imagine a car getting there with the tight streets and switchbacks 🫣.

It was immediately obvious why this location was chosen for their defense, and it made for incredible views!

The fort was pretty much as you would expect. I could have gone without the heights and narrow steep staircases everywhere, but still fun to explore.

Now is when we started to realize how far we had walked, and we were feeling it! I think at this point we were around 8ish miles, but I know we finished the day at 11 😳.

We also needed food and a restroom, and Lisbon doesn’t really have public facilities, so we made our way back to the ship to rest for a bit.

Somehow, Nathan convinced me not to stop and to finish out some of the sights we had originally missed, so on we go!

It was fun to walk past the same areas and see the differences from morning to late afternoon. One that stood out the most was seeing the tide change in the same spot. The left/first photo was taken first thing in the morning, and the right/bottom shows later in the afternoon and how far it had risen.

Sadly, we probably should have stopped while we were ahead. One of the key sights that I wanted to see but we missed was a big marketplace that had different food and vendors. In past cities, we have loved exploring these and seeing what local options there are. So naturally they were closed for a 2-day renovation project 🤦‍♀️. It looked beautiful, but sadly, we couldn’t do anything.

After that, we decided to take a quick break as I wasn’t feeling great. It turned out well though, Nathan was able to get his coffee fix by stopping by Starbucks and they had a cute little courtyard that we could relax in.

We decided to call it for the day; the candy wasn’t worth another few miles to get to. We made our way back to the ship, and it wasn’t until dark that we were set to sail away to our next destination, so we were able to get a few more pictures as night fell and we left.

Lisbon was another great place to check off our list, and turned out to be Nathan’s second favorite place of the entire trip. We would definitely go back, as there is still much that we weren’t able to explore in one day.

Until next time!