Loquacious Lisbon

Advantages: A Vibrant City with a Cosmopolitan Atmosphere
Disadvantages: A bit hilly for some

...Lisbon or Lisboa is the capital of Portugal and enjoys a marvellous position. To the northeast of the city the River Tagus opens out to form the shining Mar de Palha (sea of straw). The city stands on the northwest bank of this lake just before it narrows and flows out into the Atlantic Ocean. For miles and miles, homes, factories, warehouses and port installations carpet the steep hills and valleys along the estuary. Lisbon is sometimes called the Cidade Branca, the White City but actually its colour is really a matt pastel shade. The best view of the city can be enjoyed from one of the many excellent fish restaurants in Cacilhas on the south bank of the river. Between Alfama (see my review), the labyrinth of narrow alleys on the citadel hill, and the elevated Bairro Alto, lies the flat plain of the city centre, the Cidade Baixa...

Praski 28.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

A long weekend in Lisbon

Advantages: Reasonably priced, lots to do, good food, great architecture
Disadvantages: Not really any

...We visited Lisbon this September having decided to go there instead of Rome. It has to be said that we were initially motivated by the fact that an equivalent holiday- same number of days, same rating of accommodation- was about HALF the price of Rome. Lisbon is a fascinating place, the overall impression being of a city of great style and architecture, the ancient (colossal old buildings, grubby but striking statues and monuments) rubbing shoulders with the modern (great trains and tube, some flashy restaurants). It may be because of this that it took a little getting used to. We arrived on the Saturday evening- admittedly a little late following various delays with the flight and then the bus, which became stuck in rush hour traffic- at our hotel, the Travel Pak in the Anjos area of the city. We ventured out to see if we could...

bagoproverbial 28.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

There is more to Portugal than the Algarve - visit Lisbon

Advantages: Easy to get around and different quirky places to visit, everyone speaks English
Disadvantages: The City seems a bit 'faded glory'- places uncared for and tired

...A Day trip to Lisbon We spent a week in the Algarve in June 2009 and during this week we chose to book a trip with ?Follow Me? tours to Lisbon for the day. The trip was 34 Euros per person which we thought was good value as the toll on the A2 is 18 Euros each way for a car and then we would have had to pay to park the car and of course petrol as well as the fact that we were not sure where all the sites were. We had to meet by the Dolphin roundabout in Albufiera for 6.55 and the coach was only 5 minutes late but we were virtually the last people to be picked up before heading for Lisbon. We made a stop about an hour away for coffee and the toilet. This was at a motorway service station so functional rather than interesting. We stopped at the same place on the return journey too. Initially our guide introduced herself and explained...

catsholiday 21.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

Lovely Lisbon

Advantages: a really nice city
Disadvantages: none

...Why Lisbon at all? Why a second time after twenty-odd years? The first time it was curiosity that made us choose this destination: what is that capital like at the edge of Europe? Not many details stayed in mind after such a long time but the ones that did were positive ones and we remembered a general sense of well-being, so when my husband and I discussed where to spend a week around Easter this year, Lisbon came to mind. Easter was very early this year, at the end of March, this means that we saw the first signs of spring, most trees had already green leaves, the grass was green with daisies, dandelions and clover, the temperature was between 18° and 26° C (one rainy day only), so we could sit outside in cafés and enjoy the sun, what more can a Central European want at that time of year? Situated where it is all the peoples that...

MALU 02.08.2005 · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

Lisbon - Capital City On A Human Scale

Advantages: Plenty to see, good food, the trams, nice people
Disadvantages: Can't think of any, unless you count having a really odd-sounding language!

...I?ve been to Portugal before, both the more popular Algarve in the south and some quieter regions in the far north on the border with Galicia in Spain. I?ve even been to Oporto, its other major city, but somehow, the capital, Lisbon, had always eluded me. Up until the weekend of the ?Glasgow Airport Security Alert? that is ? can I pick a great time to be dependant on planes or what? If there?s one thing more uncertain than how it will affect getting there, it?s wondering how it will affect getting home! Courtesy of some creative accounting at my wife?s school they ended up with a four day break, Friday being a ?SATS marking day? (my wife had done hers), and Monday being a bona fide ?occasional day?, which is not to be sniffed at since it?s an opportunity for those tied to school holidays by marriage, (i.e. me) to take a break when...

BNibbles 14.07.2007 (29.07.2007) · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

Lisbon - vibrant and relaxing

Advantages: Pretty easy to get to from UK
Disadvantages: Lots to see not enough time!

...Lisboa, as the locals call their city ? Lisbon to us British types ? was my latest holiday destination. Literally just returned at the time of writing (well 22 hours ago). We were looking for somewhere no too far away, warmer than the UK and reasonably priced. A friend had told me that Portugal was pretty inexpensive in terms of a holiday location. So, given that I plan to visit all European capital cities, I figured I?d add Lisbon to my list of those visited. Lisbon is situated on the banks of the River Tagus to the southern end of Portugal.. It?s also the capital city of Portugal ? which I?m pretty sure the majority of readers already knew! Getting there We flew from Edinburgh to Heathrow, then onwards to Lisbon. The journey took around 5 hours and included 1 and a half hours between flights in Heathrow. We flew...

John1958 25.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

Lisbon paradise

Advantages: Close to airport, city centre
Disadvantages: Small lifts

...On a weekend getaway in October, my wife and I had an amazing stay at the Holiday Inn Continental, Lisbon which is centrally located between Av. República/Av. Berna and is just 10 minutes away from Lisbon International Airport and walking distance from Campo Pequeno subway station, Entrecampos train station and main public buses busstop. At £65 a night inclusive of breakfast, this was a bargain which we could not pass up! From the outside the hotel is visually appealing with an elliptical glass front. Inside is beautiful with a large grand lobby, leather sofas, bar and has over 200 rooms. The lobby appeared to have a gorgeous marble floor, with a modern decor. The staff speaks a variety of language including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese and were quite friendly offering us travel advice before we even asked! We were checked...

ttspud 27.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Holiday Inn Continental Hotel, Lisbon

Lisbon with public transports

Advantages: Sightseeings starts at 3 Euros a day
Disadvantages: Avoid rush hours!

...of Lisboa's downtown (Baixa Pombalina); from that date the "Baixa" was a square designed blocks with two main plaza's, Rossio (Praça D. Pedro V and Praça dos Restauradores). In the late 19th century Av. da Liberdade was opened, expanding the city far from the river. (by curiosity, Av da Liberdade starts in Praça dos Restauradores and ends at Praça do Marquês de Pombal). In 1998 Lisbon hosted the World Oceans Exhibit (Expo 98), that rehabilitated the oriental area of the city. Transports Lisbon has a very good transports systems : by bus or by subway you can go anywhere in Lisbon. Before you come you can check those websites: Carris (Bus) - www.carris.pt Metro de Lisboa (subway) - www.metrolisboa.pt (also English website - very good info) Comboios (trains) - www.cp.pt Autocarros (intercities Bus) - www.redeexpressos.pt Transtejo (Ferrie...

jtogando 15.08.2004 (15.05.2005) · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

My honeymoon in Lisbon!

Advantages: Very comfortable hotel
Disadvantages: not central, but not far off

...BACKGROUND We surprised everyone by announcing we were getting married in six weeks time and 200 miles from home (Cornwall). Unfortunately we had already booked time off for our summer holiday, (the wedding was a surprise for us as well - no I'm not pregnant!) so we ended up getting married one Saturday, and my new hubby had to be back at work the following Saturday. Not much time for a honeymoon then. We trawled the internet with only the criteria that it had to be somewhere neither of us had been before, somewhere which would be sunny, and not terribly expensive! We started looking at the Isle of Wight, and ended up going to Lisbon… THE HOTEL The hotel was built in 2005 and has four stars. There are wooden floors throughout and it is very modern and stylish. It very much reminded me of "after" on a TV makeover programme...

Madge11 10.06.2006 (01.08.2006) · Read review
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Review of Turim Europa, Lisbon

A taste or two of Lisbon

Advantages: Atmospheric, great food and wine, public transport, historical
Disadvantages: Traffic

...Lisbon is a very attractive and fascinating capital city with a lot of Old World charm. It was once the hub of a world spanning empire that ranged from Brazil to Indonesia and has a great historical depth. This can clearly be seen in the old centre of Lisbon with its cobbled and narrow streets, historical buildings and many famous dead people on statues taking centre stage in many of Lisbon’s squares. To get a great view of the centre and indeed a vast portion of the city it is worth paying a visit to Saint George Castle (Castello de Sao Jorge) which is on a hill overlooking the old centre. That is if you can find a way to it through the maze like complex of alleys and streets surrounding it which don’t seem to have any signposts towards this notable attraction ! The castle was once the site of an old Islamic fortress which was...

zallin 27.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Food, Wine and Wanders in Lisbon