Too many posts and travel blogs here are just telling facts or aren’t based on personal experiences, they are very informative but they don’t give you many recommendations or tell you what to avoid. A lot of times they also neglect to mention tips and best practices and feature picures that aren't even taken by the person who created the post. I want to help you get the most out of your journeys, ensure that you’re hard earned time off is spent to it’s full potential.
Starting today I will do regular posts with destinations I have actually visited and tell you from my personal experiences how much time you should reserve to visit the place, what you should really do and what is overrated.
I want to keep my posts short and to the point with pictures and facts, but if you feel anything is missing, I welcome your feedback, especially if you have also visited these places, together we can create a guidebook that will help those who have never been.
Many destinations I really spend a lot of time in, so I will split them up as much I feel fit to do so.
You can also contact me for tips on places to eat or other questions, but my goal will be to provide you with the information you want and need.
The reason why I want to start with Lisbon is because of the fantastic memories and the amazing people. We went here when my wife was 5 months pregnant and our daughter was still in the first stages of being able to walk. By all means, Lisbon is not an easy city for prams and children, however the friendliness and helpfulness of it’s people make up for a lot.
- Category: City break
- Recommended length of stay: 3 nights
- Currency: Euro
- Timezone: GMT
- Perfect for: Long weekend; stopover combining with other cities (Europe and Portugese); romantic trip
- Target group: Really everyone, but beware of the older parts of the city as they're not easily accessible with prams or wheelchairs
We stayed at the Mundial Hotel, it is centrally located, so everything is quite easy to reach by foot. The food is good and the staff were amazing, very friendly and helpful. It is a 3 star hotel and offers good value for money. Our room had a nice view over the square in front of the hotel and the castle on the hill. I have put a picture taken from our balcony below.
The old town is situated around the hill, combined with the cobblestone roads around it, makes it a difficult part of the city to navigate with a pram or with a young child just starting to learn to walk. The trams are very old and crowded and we had to fold our baby-carrier each time, so at some point we stopped using the trams as it’s quite uncomfortable.
Once you’re in the heart of the city it’s very easy to navigate with straight streets all leading down to the coast. There are shops everywhere and most people speak and understand English. It is a small centre, but you can find anything you need. There are loads of restaurants, so take your time to look for a less touristic place, if you don’t have a hungry toddler on your arm.
What should you do:
- Take a tram ride, it’s a nice experience how these old carriages are handling the steep slopes and one way streets of the old town, narrowly avoiding scratching cards
- Visit the castle, it’s very basic and empty, but the area around it is very nice and there are also excavations which are very interesting to see
- Visit Belem, I will do a separate post on Belem
- Take the ferry accros to Almada/Cacilhas, this is close to the Jesus statue/Cristo Rei. Have lunch over there in the harbour (I can personally recommend restaurant Farol, fantastic seafood and a good price) and then make your way up by foot to the statue.
- Go to the acquarium, one of the most beautiful ones in the world
In my next post I will write about Cape Town or Prague, I will let you decide. The place with the most votes will be featured in the next one.
Obrigado (thank you in portugese)!
Doron