Lisbon and Porto, Portugal, March 2017
We both had holiday days to use up before the end of March, so a cheap European break was on the cards. Inspired by a Portuguese colleague and an episode of Michael Portillo’s Continental Railway Journeys, we settled on a few days in Portugal.
Our flight out was full of that modern menace - the Stag Lads. It was 7am so they were mostly docile, but that level of unnecessary posturing always makes me feel uncomfortable. The flight was short so we arrived at Lisbon in no time. Unfortunately our first interaction with the locals was a bossy metro ticket guard who forced us into buying the wrong ticket. Bit frustrating, but if we wanted to get past him we had very little choice. Lisbon has Oyster card style top up payments (called Viva) for its metro, and this integrates with most of the other means of travel around the city, which was such a convenience.
We landed at around 10am and our check-in wasn’t 2pm, so we had a few hours to explore before we could ditch our bags. We started at Martim Moniz with a view to getting on one of the famous old trams, but the queues soon put us off that. Each tiny carriage was rammed to bursting point, which looked uncomfortable, especially as we were still lugging our bags around. So we decided to follow the tracks instead and walk our way up to Castelo de Sao Jorge. Again, once up there the crowds put us off actually going inside the castle itself (a recurring theme). Instead, we made our way back down the cobbled streets to the waterfront. The city was bustling with people taking in the sights, but it never felt too crowded. You just had to turn a corner to walk down a more quiet street. It was around this time we were asked if we wanted to buy weed for the first time, to then be repeated on what felt like every third street corner. I’ve felt less hassled in the Stone Circle at Glastonbury. Apparently possession is legal out there, hence the brazen pushing.
We caught a ferry across to Cacilhas, getting a better view of the impressive Golden Gate-esque Ponte 25 de Abril. It was then a brisk climb through winding alleys up to the imposing Cristo Rei statue. The elevator to the very top was shut, but it was that windy I doubt I could have coped with it. Heights scare me at the best of times, and being on top of Massive Jesus would not have helped. Still, it was a great view of the bridge and across to the city, just a shame it was so cloudy.
It was finally check-in time, so we went to our hotel and heard the word every traveller longs to hear: “we have no record of your reservation!” Thankfully they could see we clearly had booked, and they had a spare room to give us, so it was only a brief panic. We were right next to a metro station, which is all you need in terms of quickly getting around the city. Some lines have a better train frequency than others, we were on the blue line which was one of the more regular ones.
Bags dumped, we went back for a walk under increasingly heavy skies. What started as a drizzle turned into a full on thunderstorm, so we hid in a nearby craft beer pub. It was also a hostel, so naturally it was full of Stag Lads, with all the joys they bring. It was like I’d never left York! Still, the beer was good. We went round the corner to Cervejaria da Trindade initially for a drink, but took one look at the menu and ended up staying for a meal. It was a former monastery that became a brewery, and the food was sensational. I had garlic fried prawns followed by a delicious cod/potato/scrambled egg concoction, washed down by a few pints of Sagres. Absolute heaven. I thought they were incredibly generous giving us complimentary pesto and cheese, but then they turned up included on the bill. Totally worth it, one of the best meals I have had on any holiday. It had been a very long day, so we finished up at another bar with a stein of Super Bock to see us off.
Saturday began with a bus ride to Jerónimos Monastery and a lesson that you should always check your Viva card has enough money at the start of every day. Luckily we had some change. It was a short walk down the road to the famous Torre de Belém, another attraction you can get more than enough enjoyment from outside for free rather than paying to get in. Another walk along the waterfront took us to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument which looked absolutely pristine, you’d never guess that it was actually built in 1960, and again no real need to pay to go up to the top.
A short train ride got us back to the city centre and to the important issue of lunch. We went to the Time Out Market which was naturally overflowing with hungry tourists. Finding a quiet corner, we had croquettes with a variety of fillings before the main event: pastel de nata from Manteigaria - the best of the best. I was in heaven. By the end of the trip I must have eaten dozens of these sweet bastards, but these ones were definitely the superior stock.
Recharged, we went for a big walk. Like I said, we don’t feel the need to pay to get into places in order to get “a nice view”, because you can so often get them for free, and a hilly city like Lisbon is no different. First we walked up steep hills to Miradouro da graça which had a glorious panoramic view of the city, and then we headed for Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara to get a similar vista from the opposite direction.
Over the weekend, the city was filling up with Hungarian football fans over for the qualifier. If it was England, I would have been worried, but these guys were no trouble at all. Our meal in the evening was the one place I booked in advance - Coimbra Taberna. My Portuguese colleague recommended this as the best place to see the “fado” style of singing that was advertised in many bars and restaurants. I booked the table for 7pm, and we arrived to a near empty restaurant, albeit one with most of the tables also reserved. It turns out the performances didn’t start until 10pm, so we had a little while to wait. In the meantime, we had another spectacular meal. I had a baked cheese with balsamic bread followed by fried fish with a chickpea puree. And several Super Bock. It had been another long, exhausting day, so unfortunately we didn’t have the energy to stick around for the singing. It was a shame, but also gives us something to do next time we go back. We did have time and energy for one more drink, spent in a small bar up one of the hills. A combo of Pulp, Pixies, Bowie and free wi-fi made me feel right at home. Walking back, we panicked that the metro has closed, but found out that most stations just close one of their entrances after around 9pm.
Sunday had the worst weather, and the worst hangover. Hopping over to Estação do Oriente, we boarded a high speed train to Porto in the north. The 300km journey was covered in less than three hours on one of their high speed trains - sleek, cheap and beyond comfortable. As someone who spends most of his life crawling between York and Leeds on TransPennine “Express”, I remain in deep envy of continental Europe’s approach to high speed rail travel. Still, only around 20 years until HS2 (maybe) gets to Leeds.
Arriving at Campanhã, we made the short Metro journey to our hotel at Trindade. Porto has their own top-up payment card for travel too, but as it has a much more compact city centre, we found ourselves not using transport so much. The rain wasn’t doing much to begin with, so we went for a walk through the city centre to the Ponte Luís I, designed by the same man who made the Eiffel Tower. As the showers picked up, we headed underground to one of the many cave tours showcasing the city's signature drink. Full disclosure, I don’t think I’d ever tried Port before, but our tour at the Croft Port centre won me over. Naturally my favourite turned out to be the most expensive one. It was now chucking it down, every attempt to stay indoors to dry off was ruined the moment you stepped back outside. Remembering that we’re making a half arsed attempt at vegetarianism at the moment (excluding holidays and hangovers) we went to DaTerra to sample their meat free buffet. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much for 9.99, there was an amazing range of dishes, naturally washed down with Super Bock.
Monday was thankfully drier, so we took in the rest of the city, stopping off at The Most Beautiful McDonalds In The World, the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, then back along the river to see the bridge in clearer skies, before walking over the very top level to get another reminder of just how terrified of heights I am, especially when there’s a breeze on. It had been an exhausting few days of walking and drinking, so we had a few hours back at the hotel to chill, watching subtitled imports of late night US talk shows. After a quick beer to wake us up, we went on another walk up to Praça Mouzinho de Albuquerque and then back down through more side streets and shopping arcades. Passing through these retail areas and quirky architecture made me feel like I was seeing more of Porto compared to Lisbon, where we felt we were walking through tourist-aimed stores or residential areas and little in-between. Porto has a bit more character from what I experienced. Acting on another tip from our local knowledge, we headed for Lado B and “the best Francesinha in the world”. If you have never experienced this taste sensation before, it is advertised all over the city, but Lado B claim the best. I would not argue. It was another unbelievable meal, somewhere between a cheeseburger and a toastie, covered in chilli sauce and a fried egg to boot. Food was certainly the highlight of this trip, never has it stood out so much before.
Our final holiday days are usually get up, go to the airport, go home. This time, our flight wasn’t until gone 4pm, so we had most of the day to explore, bags now back on our backs. We walked up to Serralves, skipping the museum to have a tour of the gardens for only five Euros. The best weather was finally shining down on us as we walked around the beautiful grounds with sculptures, forests, ponds and immaculate lawns. It was very relaxing and near silent, you’d never believe a city was just beyond the gates. From there we walked to the beach and along the coast, stopping for lunch in a restaurant looking out to the Atlantic sending in some fierce waves. The holiday was beginning to end, but I was impressed with how much we fitted in, sights and distance wise. A short metro journey took us to the airport, and then home. I’d recommend a similar long weekend to anyone.
We both had holiday days to use up before the end of March, so a cheap European break was on the cards. Inspired by a Portuguese colleague and an episode of Michael Portillo’s Continental Railway Journeys, we settled on a few days in Portugal.
Our flight out was full of that modern menace - the Stag Lads. It was 7am so they were mostly docile, but that level of unnecessary posturing always makes me feel uncomfortable. The flight was short so we arrived at Lisbon in no time. Unfortunately our first interaction with the locals was a bossy metro ticket guard who forced us into buying the wrong ticket. Bit frustrating, but if we wanted to get past him we had very little choice. Lisbon has Oyster card style top up payments (called Viva) for its metro, and this integrates with most of the other means of travel around the city, which was such a convenience.
We landed at around 10am and our check-in wasn’t 2pm, so we had a few hours to explore before we could ditch our bags. We started at Martim Moniz with a view to getting on one of the famous old trams, but the queues soon put us off that. Each tiny carriage was rammed to bursting point, which looked uncomfortable, especially as we were still lugging our bags around. So we decided to follow the tracks instead and walk our way up to Castelo de Sao Jorge. Again, once up there the crowds put us off actually going inside the castle itself (a recurring theme). Instead, we made our way back down the cobbled streets to the waterfront. The city was bustling with people taking in the sights, but it never felt too crowded. You just had to turn a corner to walk down a more quiet street. It was around this time we were asked if we wanted to buy weed for the first time, to then be repeated on what felt like every third street corner. I’ve felt less hassled in the Stone Circle at Glastonbury. Apparently possession is legal out there, hence the brazen pushing.
We caught a ferry across to Cacilhas, getting a better view of the impressive Golden Gate-esque Ponte 25 de Abril. It was then a brisk climb through winding alleys up to the imposing Cristo Rei statue. The elevator to the very top was shut, but it was that windy I doubt I could have coped with it. Heights scare me at the best of times, and being on top of Massive Jesus would not have helped. Still, it was a great view of the bridge and across to the city, just a shame it was so cloudy.
It was finally check-in time, so we went to our hotel and heard the word every traveller longs to hear: “we have no record of your reservation!” Thankfully they could see we clearly had booked, and they had a spare room to give us, so it was only a brief panic. We were right next to a metro station, which is all you need in terms of quickly getting around the city. Some lines have a better train frequency than others, we were on the blue line which was one of the more regular ones.
Bags dumped, we went back for a walk under increasingly heavy skies. What started as a drizzle turned into a full on thunderstorm, so we hid in a nearby craft beer pub. It was also a hostel, so naturally it was full of Stag Lads, with all the joys they bring. It was like I’d never left York! Still, the beer was good. We went round the corner to Cervejaria da Trindade initially for a drink, but took one look at the menu and ended up staying for a meal. It was a former monastery that became a brewery, and the food was sensational. I had garlic fried prawns followed by a delicious cod/potato/scrambled egg concoction, washed down by a few pints of Sagres. Absolute heaven. I thought they were incredibly generous giving us complimentary pesto and cheese, but then they turned up included on the bill. Totally worth it, one of the best meals I have had on any holiday. It had been a very long day, so we finished up at another bar with a stein of Super Bock to see us off.
Saturday began with a bus ride to Jerónimos Monastery and a lesson that you should always check your Viva card has enough money at the start of every day. Luckily we had some change. It was a short walk down the road to the famous Torre de Belém, another attraction you can get more than enough enjoyment from outside for free rather than paying to get in. Another walk along the waterfront took us to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument which looked absolutely pristine, you’d never guess that it was actually built in 1960, and again no real need to pay to go up to the top.
A short train ride got us back to the city centre and to the important issue of lunch. We went to the Time Out Market which was naturally overflowing with hungry tourists. Finding a quiet corner, we had croquettes with a variety of fillings before the main event: pastel de nata from Manteigaria - the best of the best. I was in heaven. By the end of the trip I must have eaten dozens of these sweet bastards, but these ones were definitely the superior stock.
Recharged, we went for a big walk. Like I said, we don’t feel the need to pay to get into places in order to get “a nice view”, because you can so often get them for free, and a hilly city like Lisbon is no different. First we walked up steep hills to Miradouro da graça which had a glorious panoramic view of the city, and then we headed for Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara to get a similar vista from the opposite direction.
Over the weekend, the city was filling up with Hungarian football fans over for the qualifier. If it was England, I would have been worried, but these guys were no trouble at all. Our meal in the evening was the one place I booked in advance - Coimbra Taberna. My Portuguese colleague recommended this as the best place to see the “fado” style of singing that was advertised in many bars and restaurants. I booked the table for 7pm, and we arrived to a near empty restaurant, albeit one with most of the tables also reserved. It turns out the performances didn’t start until 10pm, so we had a little while to wait. In the meantime, we had another spectacular meal. I had a baked cheese with balsamic bread followed by fried fish with a chickpea puree. And several Super Bock. It had been another long, exhausting day, so unfortunately we didn’t have the energy to stick around for the singing. It was a shame, but also gives us something to do next time we go back. We did have time and energy for one more drink, spent in a small bar up one of the hills. A combo of Pulp, Pixies, Bowie and free wi-fi made me feel right at home. Walking back, we panicked that the metro has closed, but found out that most stations just close one of their entrances after around 9pm.
Sunday had the worst weather, and the worst hangover. Hopping over to Estação do Oriente, we boarded a high speed train to Porto in the north. The 300km journey was covered in less than three hours on one of their high speed trains - sleek, cheap and beyond comfortable. As someone who spends most of his life crawling between York and Leeds on TransPennine “Express”, I remain in deep envy of continental Europe’s approach to high speed rail travel. Still, only around 20 years until HS2 (maybe) gets to Leeds.
Arriving at Campanhã, we made the short Metro journey to our hotel at Trindade. Porto has their own top-up payment card for travel too, but as it has a much more compact city centre, we found ourselves not using transport so much. The rain wasn’t doing much to begin with, so we went for a walk through the city centre to the Ponte Luís I, designed by the same man who made the Eiffel Tower. As the showers picked up, we headed underground to one of the many cave tours showcasing the city's signature drink. Full disclosure, I don’t think I’d ever tried Port before, but our tour at the Croft Port centre won me over. Naturally my favourite turned out to be the most expensive one. It was now chucking it down, every attempt to stay indoors to dry off was ruined the moment you stepped back outside. Remembering that we’re making a half arsed attempt at vegetarianism at the moment (excluding holidays and hangovers) we went to DaTerra to sample their meat free buffet. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much for 9.99, there was an amazing range of dishes, naturally washed down with Super Bock.
Monday was thankfully drier, so we took in the rest of the city, stopping off at The Most Beautiful McDonalds In The World, the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, then back along the river to see the bridge in clearer skies, before walking over the very top level to get another reminder of just how terrified of heights I am, especially when there’s a breeze on. It had been an exhausting few days of walking and drinking, so we had a few hours back at the hotel to chill, watching subtitled imports of late night US talk shows. After a quick beer to wake us up, we went on another walk up to Praça Mouzinho de Albuquerque and then back down through more side streets and shopping arcades. Passing through these retail areas and quirky architecture made me feel like I was seeing more of Porto compared to Lisbon, where we felt we were walking through tourist-aimed stores or residential areas and little in-between. Porto has a bit more character from what I experienced. Acting on another tip from our local knowledge, we headed for Lado B and “the best Francesinha in the world”. If you have never experienced this taste sensation before, it is advertised all over the city, but Lado B claim the best. I would not argue. It was another unbelievable meal, somewhere between a cheeseburger and a toastie, covered in chilli sauce and a fried egg to boot. Food was certainly the highlight of this trip, never has it stood out so much before.
Our final holiday days are usually get up, go to the airport, go home. This time, our flight wasn’t until gone 4pm, so we had most of the day to explore, bags now back on our backs. We walked up to Serralves, skipping the museum to have a tour of the gardens for only five Euros. The best weather was finally shining down on us as we walked around the beautiful grounds with sculptures, forests, ponds and immaculate lawns. It was very relaxing and near silent, you’d never believe a city was just beyond the gates. From there we walked to the beach and along the coast, stopping for lunch in a restaurant looking out to the Atlantic sending in some fierce waves. The holiday was beginning to end, but I was impressed with how much we fitted in, sights and distance wise. A short metro journey took us to the airport, and then home. I’d recommend a similar long weekend to anyone.
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