Food, Fortresses & Funiculars: 3 Days in Lisbon
I was recently on an amazing trip tthrough Portugal and Spain. Lisbon was the first city I explored and I was blown away by the architecture, food and people. Come join me on a recap of my 3 days in Lisbon!
Arrival
I flew in direct from Newark Airport (EWR) to Lisbon Airport (LIS) on an overnight flight. Landed around 10:30 am local time in Lisbon. Flew through customs quickly, walked through the airport and was able to get on a metro train, since there is a station right at the airport. Easy peasy.
I took the metro down to Rossio Station, which has a very nice open public square surrounded by old architecture and new architecture designed to blend in – really beautiful! My hotel was just a block away from the station and turned out to be a great location for walking around the oldest section of Lisbon.
Since it was only noon, I was not able to check into my hotel room yet, but I was able to leave my bag there and start to check out the city. Started walking around and the first thing I noticed were the mosiac tiles lining the sidewalks and even some of the buildings.
The architecture is grand, beautiful and very old. I stopped for a bite to eat at a restaurant called El Clan. The food was very decent, I had spicy shrimp and codfish with greens – I learned that codfish, or bacalhau, is very integral to Portuguese culture and it was on most menus.
After a few hours of galavanting around town, I was able to check in to my hotel. The room was the perfect size for me and had a comfortable bed. Also, had a great view of the Castelo de São Jorge, which is a huge castle up on top of a hill. I was very tired at this point since I didn’t sleep much on the plane, so I took a 3 hour nap ☺️
Praça do Comércio
After my nap, I walked around the neighborhood towards the river front. I walked past a couple of old churches and then stumbled upon Praça do Comércio, or Commerce Plaza, which is a huge open public space right next to the river. There is a giant statue in the center and a huge archway (Arco da Rua Augusta) that leads to a walking merchant street, or R. Augusta.
This square has the river at one end and restaurants with outdoor dining on the sides. I walked around a bit then selected the restaurant next to the street. Got a table for myself very quickly, then ordered myself a beef samosa, chorizo and seafood rice.
The food was so delicious and the restaurant had a great ambience. I was able to watch the sky go from light to dark and do some people watching while having my dinner. After my meal, I decided to walk around a bit and do some more exploring before retiring for the evening. I walked up Rue Augusta, which is a popular walking street with lots of restaurants and shops. Even at night this road was full of people.
My friend recommended to me that I try the pastel de nata from Manteigaria. I noticed there was a short line coming outside the building so get on and try out these delicious pastries. The line only took about 5-10 minutes, then the delicious treats were in my hand.
I sat down on a bench to give them a try and WOW! They are so delicious – the shell is light and crispy, and the custard itself is smooth and creamy. I ate 2 of them before retiring for the evening. I also put 2 of them into the refrigerator for later – I ended up eating them 2 days later and they were still amazing!
Castelo de São Jorge
The Castelo de São Jorge, or Saint George’s Castle, is a massive castle high up on a hill that can be seen from many parts of Lisbon. I had booked a walking tour around the streets of Lisbon, stopping at different points of interest and ultimately leading up to the castle. When I arrived at the meeting point in the morning, no one was there and I was informed that the tour was canceled.
Not a huge deal for me since I can make my own walking tour! And I was also refunded the money for the canceled tour. The starting point was the Fado Museum, so from there I started walking uphill until I saw a big church and decided to investigae. It ended up being the Church of St. Vincent de Fora, which is very beautiful and deceivingly massive church. I walked around the back of it and there is a parking lot that overlooks the bay.
That was when I got my first glance at the National Pantheon which is a huge domed cathedral. I walked down the road a bit more and made a pit stop at a cafe that had a nice view of the National Pantheon. I enjoyed my iced latte and cardamum bun while sitting outside. The weather was great that day with a slight breeze coming off the water. There was a small park across the street I checked out after my mid-morning treat.
After that, I started heading towards the castle. The roads are very narrow in this section of Lisbon. There are also stairs intertwined between the roads. I saw a peacock walking around next to an old phone booth.
I was loosely following a map, then I started seeing signs towards the castle. There was a short line to wait on to get ticket – I would recommend buying tickets ahead of time so you don’t have to wait on line at the entrance.
I finally got entry to the castle grounds and it is a large space with fantastic views of Lisbon. You first walk into a wide open green space and there are terraces along the edge where you can see the city. There is a main terrace that turns into an uphill walkway to the actual castle ruins. There is a restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining but I didn’t partake in any meals there.
The castle ruins are surrounded by a moat which you can cross from a short bridge. I also got distracted by a cute kitten before walking into the castle. The inside of the ruins are wide open – no roofs on the rooms. You can climb up to the top the castle and walk around the edges, which was pretty cool! It’s definitely the highest vantage point in the city and makes sense that they built a castle there.
I walked all around the different parts of the castle and noticed there is a lot of fine details in the masonry. The sun was very hot that day and there is very little shade up there. After seeing all edges of the castle, I started walking down. There was a shady picnic area in the back of the castle, so I bought a ice pop and enjoyed it while looking at the castle.
Before leaving, I checked out the active archeological site. They have a small section of the land where they are digging up earth and finding artifacts from the past. No one was working that day, so I just walked around a little then hit the exit. The exit is a bit further up hill than the entrance. The walk down hill was not too bad. Also, the ticket line was a lot longer than when I was on it, so I lucked out by going early.
Ascensor da Glória
It was my last full day in Lisbon and I didn’t feel too well. I had a cough and didn’t sleep well the night before, so I decided to go see a doctor. I found a great doctor in what turned out to be a very fancy area. There was a lot of high end shopping along this park lined boulevard. The doctor was great and I was able to get medicine from the pharmacy up the block. It was a pretty simple process – the meds did help me and I felt fine within a few days.
After the pharmacy, I decided to check out a big park that is on an incline. It’s called Eduardo VII Park and I walked all the way to the top. Such beautiful views from the top of the park. Lots of people were taking pictures and there was a trumpet player as well. It was lovely, just lovely.
After soaking in the views, taking lots of pictures and taking my meds, I decided to walk down the park and back to the boulevard. For reference, the boulevard is also on the same incline and lines up directly with the park. I thoroughly enjoyed my stroll down through the parks that line this wide boulevard.
As I started to get to the bottom, I noticed a crowd of people standing at the base of a steep side street. Then I saw the funicular coming down the street. People got off and people got on, and I instantly wanted to ride it up the hill. It looks like a trolley, but it’s tilted up to account for the steepness of the road. It probably holds about 20ish people, so I had to wait for the second trolley for my turn to get on.
You can pay to get on with tap payment and I believe it was about 4 euros. The seats are wooden and the setup is two long benches on each side. There were a lot of languages being spoken on that trolley ride but not much English. I may have been the only American on that ride. It was great vibes though, everyone was enjoying themselves, including myself!
This funicular was built in 1885 and has been in operation for 140 years. The ride itself takes 3 minutes to the top and there is a great park at the top, called Garden of San Pedro de Alcantara, which has really stunning panoramic views of the city. I thoroughly enjoyed those views with a pastel de nata and cafe latte in hand.
I am extremely grateful for my experience on this particular funicular because a couple weeks after my ride there was a tragedy on this very same funicular. On 3 September 2025, one of the cars derailed and collided with a building, resulting in 16 deaths. A national day of mourning was observed in Portugal on 4 September while Lisbon observed three days of mourning. Not only am I grateful for the experience, I’m also grateful to be alive.
Life is crazy that way, one minute you’re enjoying a fun funicular ride and the next minute it’s game over. My heart goes out to the victims families. I’m terribly sorry for your losses.
This tragedy saddened me and made me re-think about how I travel in the future. Specifically, what activities I want to participate in. There are certain boundaries I have for myself. I don’t generally engage in extreme sports while traveling, instead I like to walk/bike through new cities and towns.
If I am being honest with myself, and if I was given the opportunity to go on that came funicular ride again, I would do it. In my opinion, life is too short not to take that ride. There are a million freak accident ways you can die, but you can’t let that stop you from having new experiences. That’s why I started this blog – to have a space where I can share my new experiences with the world.
Overall, my trip to Lisbon was fabulous – the food, the people and the architecture is just wonderful. I’m a big fan of the tile on the sidewalks and the Pastéis de Nata are incredible! From my hotel I was able to walk to the Santa Apolónia station and I took the train up to Porto. Please come and join me on my next adventure in Porto. Thanks for reading!
