What to do in Portugal :)

[kane22]

In 2 months im visiting my girlfriend for the first time in her country ( first time we met was in Malaysia) Lisbon,Portugal now she's only been living there for 2 years and really hasnt checked out the city so im just asking what is the best thing to there for 18 year olds seeing soccer is defiantly a priority but would love some advice from you guys on other things to do there, thanks.

[mllebamako]

I'm just going to copy/paste what I wrote to another LFAD member who was visiting Lisbon:

-I recommend learning just a little Portuguese (my brother and I just wrote down some key phrases and practiced on the plane). People were genuinely excited when we greeted them or tried ordering food in Portuguese. Just knowing how to say good afternoon and how are you led us to some great conversations with locals.

-My favorite place in Lisbon was the Oceanarium (I am kind of obsessed with aquariums). Take the metro to the Oriente metro stop (great building too) and then you are in a park that was built a World Expo in the 90s. Lots of cool architecture and one of the best aquariums I’ve been to. https://www.oceanario.pt/

-Lisbon is a great city to walk around (although lots of hills). But the neighborhoods are really unique and I love the trams and elevators all over town.

-I found Belem to be a bit overrated, it was just so crowded that it felt more like cattle-herding than historical sites.

-I HIGHLY recommend a day or half-day trip to Sintra. It’s only about 40 minutes by train and it’s a gorgeous town with several palaces to visit. We only went to the “Quinta da Regeleira” and it was one of the best days of the trip. The palace is nice but the real treat is the huge estate that you can wander. There are beautiful lakes, fountains, towers to climb, AND hidden doorways, secret tunnels, etc. Don’t forgot to take a flashlight with you, descend into the “initiation well” and go through the tunnels.

-For food: lots of yummy pastries and cafes com leite, bacalhau (cod) dishes, chicken piri-piri, and vinho verde.

[Jess!]

Hey! Im portuguese. to be honest just wandering in the city is amazing itself I totally second what mllebamako wrote. Once you're there you'll find plenty of things to do! and if the weather is nice, hit the beach! I believe ''Cascais'' would be the nearest. If you have the time to visist other cities that's quite interesting too, since Lisbon is not that big and the other cities are smaller! The second biggest city is Porto. tottally different but very cosy!

To eat... any seafood or fish related is delicious!
Port Wine is amazing too.

There also museums which you can google and decide wether you want to visist.
I believe doing a Sightseeing bus tour is one of the best 'complete' ways of knowing Lisbon and I believe the tickets are not expensive.

If you have any question you can write me even for some Portuguese basics ahah!
Good trip!

[kane22]

Hey! Im portuguese. to be honest just wandering in the city is amazing itself I totally second what mllebamako wrote. Once you're there you'll find plenty of things to do! and if the weather is nice, hit the beach! I believe ''Cascais'' would be the nearest. If you have the time to visist other cities that's quite interesting too, since Lisbon is not that big and the other cities are smaller! The second biggest city is Porto. tottally different but very cosy!

To eat... any seafood or fish related is delicious!
Port Wine is amazing too.

There also museums which you can google and decide wether you want to visist.
I believe doing a Sightseeing bus tour is one of the best 'complete' ways of knowing Lisbon and I believe the tickets are not expensive.

If you have any question you can write me even for some Portuguese basics ahah!
Good trip!

Thanks guys and my girlfriend is teaching me a bit of Portuguese it's so hard! and her uncle is in Cascais so defiently visiting there i'm very excited and i heard all the old neighbourhoods is very nice i'll be staying in the Benfica area so can't wait to see the stadium! and is there much english spoken there?

[mllebamako]

and is there much english spoken there?

I was really impressed with the amount of English that the (younger) Portuguese people spoke. I had some great conversations with random people, in English, and they had a great level of English. Also, everyone working in tourism spoke at least a bit.

[kane22]

I was really impressed with the amount of English that the (younger) Portuguese people spoke. I had some great conversations with random people, in English, and they had a great level of English. Also, everyone working in tourism spoke at least a bit.

Haha thanks, i'm trying to learn Portuguese but it's just so hard i think i should go to a Portuguese learning school so i can impress my girlfriends family