Day 1 in Lisbon

My yesterday flight to Lisbon was rather late - I arrived at 22.30. I had flight by MAU airlines - I didn’t like it at all. If you have a choice - don’t use this airlines. I was surprised that there is no meal during the flight (that is not too short by the way, it takes 5 hours to get from Kiev to Lisbon). All what you can expect - is a free water on the MAU flights…

Unexpectedly I found myself in the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcantara with a spectacular views over the castle and city.

I bought tickets for the metro to reach center of the city. Please read my article how to get to Lisbon from airport if you are interested in.

I booked the room using Airbnb website. My room was situated in the house near Marquês de Pombal metro station. It was after midnight when I finally found the house (after a little bit of straying as I didn’t have a map), but the owner of the apartment came to meet me after I called him and checked me in.

I was very very hungry when I reached my new house, so I asked the owner to show me the place where I can buy something to eat. It was around 1.30 am and everything was closed, so we go the the 24h food machine where I buy wafel and tasteless croissant.

I liked my apartment a lot, it’s big and nice. I was reading about Lisbon till the dawn and then go to bed.

So as you may guess I wake up around 11 am. I didn’t know what to do in Lisbon… Again I was reading about "must see" places in the city and decided to ride 28 tram first. because it was my dream since I dreaming about Lisbon itself.

I came to the dining hall of my apartment with the hope to find a map of the city. One of the girl who lived here gave me a free map of Lisbon and I made my tracks for the exploring the Lisbon.

I made my way to the final stop of 28 tram at the end of the Rua Saraiva de Carvalho. Full route of the tram you can see here on the google map. I recognized that it is already 2 pm and I haven’t had breakfast yet. So I got into one of the numerous cafe where I had a breakfast - cappuccino with some sweet pastry.

After breakfast I continued walking and soon reached Basilica da Estrela. I was lost in the narrow streets again, but eventually I found myself on the Rua Saraiva de Carvalho, where I successfully catch the tram 28.

Small yellow trams are the hallmarks of Lisbon. If you want to fall in love with a city, to understand where you want to go and what do you want to see - tram 28 is a very good option. It goes through the most amazing places of the city, gradually revealing the whole beauty of the city in front of your eyes.

Of course you will see everything very quickly and superficially, but anyway this is a great attraction. I have never been in such old beautiful trams (that was born in 1930, and then improved in 1990 but still looks very authentic).

It costs 1.40 euro if pay with Viva card (you should fill it before use in tram!) or 2.85 if pay on board. If you buy Lisbon card or 24 hour ticket for 6 euro riding 28 tram is free of charge. The tram was not overcrowded as it was written in the internet.

After we reached the final destination of the 28 tram on the Martim Moniz Square I decided to visit Commerce Square. So I went by nice streets of Prata and Augusta and finally reached the square with its very nice Arco da Rua Augusta.

Arco da Rua Augusta was built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the great earthquake of 1755, that destroyed almost the whole city. By the way it is possible to go upstairs to the top terrace of the arch from where you could see the square and city from the bird's-eye.

Tuk tuks in Portuguese....

Then I continued wandering around the city.

It is very nice there, you could rest in the shadow of the trees enjoying amazing views.

Then I decided to find a shop where I could buy a food. So I went to the Amoreiras shopping center. There are some popular shops in this shopping center such as women secret, benetton, zara, levis etc. There is also good supermarket where I bought a food. Now it is time to come back home… I fried frozen vegetables for the dinner with white wine and brie.

Detailed map of my today journey.

Budget

Room - 20 euro
Metro from airport - 1.90 euro
Tram 28 - 1.40 euro
Snacks at night - 3 euro
Breakfast - 3 euro
Water and apples - 1.15 euro
A lot of food in supermarket (4 yogurts,wine, frozen vegetables, brie, cookies, instant cappuccino, water) - 17 euro

Total: 47.45 euro