Belem Tower: this ceremonial gateway to Lisbon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the
important part it played in Portugal’s Age of Discovery (Photo: Antonio Karmos, Pixabay)
By Leanna Carroll
This summer brought intense heat waves to various parts of Spain. For those living in Madrid (such as myself), the heat was particularly scorching as Madrid is situated in the center of Spain and is, as a result, hours away from the nearest beach. Given this, Madrileños are faced with choosing a summer vacation destination. Do they spend hours traveling to one of Spain’s coasts or opt to visit a different country altogether?
We’re now at the tailend of summer. But there’s still that dilemma of what to do in view of the famous Spanish golden sun’s losing little of its fiery heat. While local coasts and foreign destinations are equally great choices, I opted for the latter and found myself in Lisbon, Portugal.
Here’s what I learned there.
Modes of Transport: find what works for you. If you’re worried about how you’ll get around in Lisboa, don’t. Like in Madrid, there are several easy ways of navegating the city: buses, metro, trams, and trains. So it’s just a matter of choosing what works best for you. Personally, I used the metro and trains the most. The metro is easy to understand as each station is equipped with large maps (similar to the metro in Madrid). The trains aren’t hard to figure out either. But if after all this you’re still in doubt, look for people wearing blue shirts on the train. They’re part of an organization called “Ask a Local” and can answer any questions you might have in a variety of languages. Additionally, both rail options are fairly inexpensive: a 24 hour metro pass will cost you about €6.00; train tickets (depending on your destination) will cost about €10.00.
If you’re feeling more adventurous you may want to board a tram. Trams criss-cross Lisboa. While convenient, they are usually terribly crowded and do not provide the most pleasant ride as certain parts of Lisboa are extremely hilly which make for literally bumpy ride. They are definitely fun, but can alsp be dangerous. Be warned: a tram I was on in Lisboa was involved in an accident with a passenger car.
Torre de Belém (Belem Tower)
Monsteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery)
Castelo de Sāo Jorge (Saint George’s Castle)
Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries)
PARK Bar: Restaurante Esplanda (PARK Bar/Restauraunt: Elevated Garden Terrace)
Cascais: Beach Town
Texts, prints, photos and other illustrative materials depicted in GUIDEPOST have been either contributed by the authors of each published work or, to the Magazine’s good-faith knowledge, are in the public domain or otherwise benefit from the allowances of Articles 9(2), 10, 10(bis), and applicable others of the Berne Convention for the Protection of literary and artistic works.