Loquacious Lisbon

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

...of the 20th century and the construction of faceless squares that could be anywhere in the world. Banks, offices and fashion houses now occupy these prime sites rather than fine blocks of flats and houses. When I worked in Lisbon this was the main street I walked up every day. I used to stroll up the Avenida as far as Praca Marques de Pombal which is a junction and often referred to as a Rotunda. This is the Portuguese word for roundabout and it is famous because of the huge statue of Pombal on horseback. Many important thoroughfares meet here. I used to work on the hill to the north of the rotunda close to the Parque Eduardo VII. Some of Lisbon's top hotels are to be found on the western edge while the terrace at the upper end serves as a lookout point with a unique view over the Avenida da Liberdade and the river. Just below lies Estufa Fria...

Praski 28.09.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
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
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Holiday Inn Continental Hotel, Lisbon

A conveniently located hotel at reasonable rates

Advantages: Location, food, waiter service
Disadvantages: Atmosphere, concerns about luggage being tampered with

...Stayed at this hotel for five nights, it is situated close to an underground station which is only a few stops from central Lisbon. From outside it has a modern look about it & the rooms were reasonably modern, clean & well equipped. There is good views of a local park from some of the rooms & ample shops & restaurants close by. The restaurant within the hotel served decent breakfast food & excellent meals in the evening, waiter service was first class but the atmosphere was a little dead for younger diners. There was a small bar along from the reception desk that would serve sandwiches & drinks but the atmosphere & decor was poor. The combination lock on our suitcases was tampered with twice from what I suspect was the room cleaning staff, it was reported to hotel managment & we were swiftly transferred to another room but never...

ScottishWestie 28.09.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Hotel Miraparque, Lisbon

Modern Hotel with Old World Service

Advantages: Wonderful Hotel and Food/Service; close to trains and busses, smoking rooms available
Disadvantages: Difficult to find from Airport

...INTRODUCTION We stayed at the Villa Rica Lisboa Hotel in Portugal about 2 weeks ago. It is a lovely, modern hotel near the center of busy Lisbon (if you can find a real center in that large, sprawling city!). Finding the hotel was a little difficult at night. We had asked directions from the Car Rental agency, but also had to ask from several pedestrians. The one who gave us the best and final directions was a young man who seemed to be a bit drunk or stoned (!). LOL But once we located it, it wasn't difficult to find again. But once we found it, we discovered that we were only around the corner from the underground train station..which is very cheap and very efficient. PARKING Luckily there is a free, very clean and well-lighted underground parking structure, which you enter directly next to the front door of the hotel. They...

dortrek 22.11.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Villa Rica Hotel, Lisbon

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
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
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
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

Lovely Lisbon

Advantages: a really nice city
Disadvantages: none

...important places making the city and the country unbelievably rich. One would assume that architectural gems mirror the former wealth, that the city is full of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings as is the case with so many other rich cities in Europe, alas, that is not the case. Tourists interested in ticking off sights in the afore mentioned styles are disappointed, they realise that they´ve come too late, in fact they should have come before 1st November, 1755 when an earthquake lasting nine minutes and a following tsunami destroyed most of the city; from what I´ve read I get the impression that this date is one of the - if not the - most important dates in the history of modern Lisbon. We began our first day walking from our hotel, Sana Executive, Rua Conde Valbom, (when we knew the layout of the city we always took...

MALU 02.08.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
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!

...-enabled PC and printer for 3?/15 minutes. We only drank once in the smart tranquil bar of the Restaurant Blú at mezzanine level, which seems like as good a way of getting a tray full of peanuts without cracking open the mini-bar as any! Of course, you had to buy a drink??.yeah, yeah, I know - ?it?s a dirty job etc.? Overall, it was about 100? /night for two, which for a smart hotel in a good location in a European capital city is pretty good. This may not be their standard room rate, but my wife negotiated a good advance booking deal off the internet. We also pre-booked a superb restaurant called Olivier in the Bairro Alto (High Quarter), but more of the nosebag later. GETTING AROUND LISBON As well as the predictable buses and taxis, Lisbon has a metro of four separate lines (Linha Azul, Amarela, Verde and Vermelha ? Blue, Yellow...

BNibbles 14.07.2007 (29.07.2007) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

Lisbon - vibrant and relaxing

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

...with BA and benefited from their sale - £332 total cost for 2 return flights. Taxi from the airport to our hotel cost 10 Euros for a 20 minute journey. Accommodation We chose to stay in the Holiday Inn as it was pretty central and very reasonably priced - £55 per night, bed and breakfast (per room ? not per person). The hotel was rated 4 star and well deserving of that rating. I?ll not go into why in this review, however. Getting Around Lisbon has a terrific public transport system (don?t most countries other than the UK?). We used the metro everyday. The cost for a 5 day pass was 12 Euros each which gave unlimited use of metro, trams and buses. The metro was amazing. Each station had unique designs in tiles and with some statues etc. It was also spotlessy clean for the most part! Weather February is winter in...

John1958 25.02.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

A Contemporary Hotel Near to a Beautiful Monastery

Advantages: Well situated - close to famous attraction and good transport links
Disadvantages: A bit pricey

...Jeronimos 8 is one of the most contemporary hotels I have come across in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It has a real 'designer' feel to the establishment and makes a refreshing change from the heavy wood furniture and long draped curtains that you come across quite a lot in Portugal. The hotel is well connected by tram, bus and train to the city centre. To save on costs whilst travelling to and from the hotel I suggest you purchase a Sete Colinas travel card from the nearest kiosk or newsagents. Location wise it is in a great situation - very near to some of the favourite and most famous attractions. For example: my favourite and one of Lisbon's most beautiful Manueline pieces of architecture - Jeronimos Monastery is only 200 metres from the hotel. Torre de Belem and the Monument of the Discoveries are a walk away at 1.5 kilometres...

Praski 19.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Jeronimos 8, Lisbon