2 Perfect Days in Lisbon

It's rare that I travel for work, so it's always extra exciting to get a few days away on my own. Unfortunately, I caught the flu during my much-anticipated Munich trip (meant to be 3 days), and so did my youngest. After miserably attending a presentation for half a day, giving up and going back home a day early (which led to a different fiasco thanks to Deutsche Bahn, involving being stuck at Frankfurt central station at 1 am. Which is typically a less than ideal place to be after dark... and taking a pretty expensive taxi ride home from there... ), I was far too excited about my recent 3-day trip planned to Lisbon for a team offsite.


I knew most of the days would be spent in a conference room at the lovely Hotel Tivoli, but we were able to carve out time to see many of the city sights. The hotel was a bit of a walk to many touristy sights, but fortunately Uber is all over Lisbon to save the day (and legs).

Day 1: 
The first day, our group did an organized scavenger hunt during which we saw most of the city sights. We walked about 12k, raced from miradouro to statue and back again, and enjoyed a beer in the sun in the middle. The weather could not have been better, and it stayed that way throughout the week. The upside of running around the city was spotting places I planned to return to when I had more time.

After a short break at the hotel, we walked up an extremely steep hill to the delicious (and deceptively huge inside) Pateo do Bairro do Avillez restaurant for Portugese food. The cod (and the 'exploding olives' cod) dishes were great, and it was reasonably priced for the amount of food and wine we consumed.

Day 2/3:
The next day was mostly spent inside a conference room, with the occasional breath of fresh sunny air between meetings. Luckily we finished early, so I scooted out for 2 hours of wandering past the Monument to the Great War Dead, for shopping at Lojo Real and Embaixada for "local" products (I ended up buying a pair of Italian made sunglasses. Hey, at least it's still made within the EU!), walking down to the Elevador de Santa Justa, and people watching along the barrio alto on my way back up the extremely steep hill to the Tivoli. Dinner that night and breakfast the next day were at the hotel, but we finished up in time for another several-hour wander on the last day.

I headed out by taxi to make sure I got to the Miradouro da Santa Luiza, one of my favorite spots from the scavenger hunt. After taking time to really soak in the view, the plaza, the street art, and the luxury of peace while I traveled, I wandered up a small alley towards the Sao George Castle. I didn't go inside, choosing to wander around in search of the Miradouro da Graca and Igreja nearby. I almost didn't venture up the steep hill, but was so happy when I got to the top. The castle view was perfect, and the convent/ church next door was beautiful and well-organized. It was really neat to learn about the history of Portugese missionaries; although I have mixed feelings about their former empire, the stories were honestly and succinctly told.

I wandered back in search of a few touristy items - cork bag (check), shoes (check), and hotel for a bit of rest / iPhone charging before catching an Uber to the airport.

Having loved Porto, I found Lisbon a lot more challenging to explore. Hills are steeper, the city is larger, and there are tourists everywhere. I enjoyed exploring one pocket of a city at a time, but I can't imagine traveling there with little kids - the narrow sidewalks, cobblestones everywhere, and endless walking would just be exhausting. Luckily, I could wander at my leisure - and I soaked in every moment!

If you liked this post, you might like reading on about our visit to Porto!