Trip to Portugal and Spain (Days 10): Lisbon

 Getting back

We didn't want to risk getting a flight delay or cancellation on our way to Lisbon so we decided to fly back at least one day before our flight back to the US. I found a direct flight from Valencia to Lisbon in the evening. We also bought the family fare which includes checked in luggage and because we bought this a few weeks ahead of time we got a very low fare of about $50 per person. 

Jeronimos Monastery

We had not visited the Monastery so we took an Uber that way. We purchased our tickets ahead of time. The monastery is gorgeous from the inside so I do recommend going it if you have time. You can also get a nice view of the inside of the church of Santa Maria de Belem while you are there.

After the visit, we got in line to enter the Church of Santa Maria de Belem which is next door. That entrance is free, and you do have to exit the Monastery in order to get in. The line wasn't too bad and it is also worth a visit. The tomb of Vasco de Gama is inside the church, you will see it when your way out the church.

Santa Maria de Belem Church (view from inside the Monastery)

Vasco de Gama tomb

Torre de Belem

We couldn't live Lisbon without visiting Torre de Belem, which is 1km away from the Monastery. We read that the best view of the tower is from the outside, so we chose not to enter.

Where to eat

We had so many places where we want to eat our second to last meal in Lisbon. One of them was Ramiro which was highly recommended but we chose to leave that for our next visit. A second choice was Portugalia Cervejaira which has multiple locations. We ended up going for a less conventional location which turned out to be a great choice. The name of the restaurant is Rosa da Rua. This was a small buffet restaurant and we definitely recommend it.

Church of Sao Roque

We had been exploring most of East hills of downtown Lisbon where the Cathedral is located, but we had not been on the west hills, which also have some very nice views from Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara. We also discovered by chance the Church of Sao Roque which is one of the earliest Jesuit churches in the world.

View from Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara

Church of Sao Roque

St Anthony's Church

We then headed into St Anthony's Church which we had seen from the outside only. This is on the east hills of downtown a block away from the Cathedral. This church was built on the site where St Anthony of Padua was born.

Heading back

Afterwards we chose to have our last dinner at Fabrica de Nata and we stopped for one more sunset at Cais das Colunas before heading back to our hotel. Our flight departed the next morning. Luckily the US had just dropped their COVID test requirement so that was one less logistic to worry about. The airport lines were not too bad, including the Passport Control line, which was about 20 minutes, but something to account for.

This concludes our trip. We really enjoyed this visit to Portugal and Spain. We would certainly love to go back to Lisbon in the near future. I would say it is an underrated tourist destination that deserves more praise. I hope you enjoyed my tips and hope you are able to leverage some recommendations. Do not hesitate to comment or ask for more details if you are venturing that way!

<< Days 8-9 (Valencia) | Trip Itinerary

Trip to Portugal and Spain: Day 1 (Lisbon)

 Lisbon Airport

Our trip arrived almost an hour ahead of time before 10am. European airports always confused me in that you arrive at the terminal and can walk through the terminal instead of going through immigration first. The reason is because you are arriving at an International terminal and you must go through passport control to exit. The passport control line did not look too bad but we ended up in line for about 40 minutes. The good news is by that time our luggage was waiting for us.

Getting around Lisbon

Unlike other European cities getting around by train did not seem to be the fastest and not significantly cheaper option. When I checked for ride share options in the Google Maps app, Uber did not come up as an option. However I tried the Uber application directly and to my surprise the ride from the airport to our hotel was less than €10 euros. Granted the Lisbon airport is within the city, but it was still 8 km (15 minutes) away. Compared to rates in the US, the Uber fares were significantly lower. The pickup spot from Terminal 1 was at a parking outside the terminal named "Kiss and Fly". It's hard to miss, because it is very crowded.

We arrived at our hotel around noon and our room was not ready. We left our luggage and ate at a restaurant nearby named Banze. It was actually pretty good, but in general most restaurants we went to in Lisbon were pretty good. 

Lisbon Sightseeing

After we settled in our hotel room we decided to venture downtown walking. Our first stop was the Observation Deck at Park Eduardo VII which has a really nice view of the city.

From there we decided to walk towards the pier walking through Liberdade Avenue, which is one of their main streets with many stores and restaurants. In our way there we discovered "Fabrica da Nata" which sells the typical "Pasteis de Nata", which are pastries with Boston cream and are pretty good. They also sell croissant sandwiches and baguettes and it is very inexpensive so we ended up having dinner there. 

We walked past the Sant Justa lift on Aurea street and eventually made it to Cais das Columnas on the pier which is another landmark you can't miss! From there we took an Uber back to the hotel which was also surprisingly cheap (around €6 EUR).

Santa Justa lift

Cais das Columnas

Trip Itinerary | Day 2 (Fatima) >>

Trip to Portugal and Spain: Day 0 (Itinerary)

This June 2022, my family of 4 took a trip to Portugal and Spain with a custom itinerary. In this blog series I'll share some tips and suggestions in case you are venturing on a similar trip.

Our itinerary

Day 0: Washington Dulles (IAD) - Lisbon (LIS)

Day 1: Lisbon sightseeing

Day 2: Fatima

Day 3: Sintra

Day 4-5: Porto

Day 6-7: Seville

Day 8-9: Valencia

Day 10: Lisbon

Day 11: LIS-IAD

Pre-flight tips

We decided to fly out of Washington Dulles because we live 4 hours away driving and United had a direct flight. We booked our flight around February and was able to get a very good air fare ($600). 

Parking

Parking at Dulles is not prohibitively expensive compared to other major US airports ($12/day at Economy parking). However we were able to find much cheaper parking ($6) using SpotHero by parking at a nearby hotel. Specifically we parked at the Fairfield Inn Dulles and their shuttle service was very convenient and fast since it is a short drive away. 

Covid requirements

As of June 2022, the requirements to travel to Europe were fairly flexible. You essentially have 3 options: 

1. Provide a negative PCR or rapid (antigen) test
2. Provide proof of full vaccination no older than 270 days (unless you have a booster)
3. Provide a certificate from a doctor indicating that you had COVID and were already recovered

All of these 3 options can be provided no earlier than 72 hrs ahead of your flight time and only required for passengers older than 12 years old.

Our flight to Lisbon

Our flight to Lisbon was uneventful which is always good. It departed on Sunday 10:20pm. We arrived at the airport around 8pm and there were barely any lines or wait times. Our flight was on time and boarded promptly 40 minutes ahead of departure. The airplane was a 757-200, which is a relatively old plan, but it had TVs on all backseats as well as the option to use your device for in flight entertainment. We got served dinner close to midnight which is one of the few times I've declined a meal on a flight. Our total flight time was slightly under 7 hours which is not bad for a transatlantic flight. We were served a breakfast snack (yogurt and bread) around 9am local time, just one hour before landing.

Day 1 (Lisbon) >>