Sintra & Cascais, Portugal

Cascais is a laid-back fishing village known for it's coastal views. Taking the train out to there was such a simple process and we were there in about 30 minutes! 

We didn't have much planned here beyond renting a bike and stopping where we felt like it. There are bike lines everywhere, so it was very easy to follow the path out of town and toward Boca do Inferno. It was a pretty calm day (I've heard it's pretty crazy when the waves are higher!), but the coastline was still beautiful!

We had lunch at a wonderful place right next to the Boca - at Mar do Inferno. It ended up being one of our favorite meals! I had a prawn pasta dish and Jason had a catch of the day (finished off with a bottle of vihno verde of course)!

We ended up biking all the way to Guincho Beach, but wow, was it windy! This made our ride there much harder, but the way home was MUCH faster!

It was a bit cold to swim in the water, but we saw plenty of windsurfers out there!

Once the sun went down, we caught a quick train back to Lisbon. A round trip ticket was about $6, so definitely a day well-spent!

Our last full in day in Lisbon, we caught a slightly longer train to Sintra. Sintra used to be a royal sanctuary - a beautiful town situated in the foothills of a mountain. We had plans to hit a few of the major sites that day, but honestly, we would have loved spending the night in this picturesque town.

Quinta da Regaleira is 20th century home (also a UNESCO world heritage site) that is mainly known for the extensive gardens surrounding it.

The initiation well, series of caves, and towers throughout the garden were honestly fabulous! We had a great time exploring! The home was beautifully preserved as well.

It was a quick downhill walk back to the town, where we stopped at Piriquita to sample a travesseiro (a sweet puff pastry made with an almond cream filling) and another pastry for Jason.

For our next leg, we caught the tourist bus up to Pena Palace. We didn't pay to go inside, but simply enjoyed walking around the gardens and facade of the building. Everything was so vibrantly painted - it seriously felt a bit like Disneyland.

It was a gorgeous day, so we got some great views of the Moorish Castle too!

I think these are some of the day trips you can take from Lisbon! 

Up Next: Our 4 days in Porto!

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon was a fabulous start to our trip to Portugal. The bridge and all of the hills definitely reminded us a lot of San Francisco. We spent 5 days there, but we did take a few easy day trips out of the city as well.

We arrived in the early afternoon the first day and quickly (and cheaply!) caught an Uber to our hotel - The Lisboa Fontecruz. Once we freshened up from our flight, we set off to wander down to the Time Out Market. 

Our first stop was Manteigaria to get custard tarts. Wow - I will never forget that experience! They were hot out of the oven and you top them with powdered sugar and cinnamon. This would definitely not be the last time we had these!

We also made a stop to get a fabulous pork sandwich and some oysters at Balcao de Esquina, salmon tartare from The Tartar-ia, and some (rather bad) croquettes from a different stall.

Overall, a great meal sourced from different vendors and an easy, no-fuss first meal!

The next morning, we leisurely made our way up (and up and up) to Castelo de Sao Jorge. It definitely has the best views in the city!

We wandered around the walls of the castle for a few hours - spying more than a few peacocks walking around as well!

We had a nice lunch at Graca 77 - one of the few vegetarian restaurants in the city. Yum!

Later that day, we explored the Alfama (the oldest area in Lisbon). This is definitely the most charming area of Lisbon. There are tons of alleyways to explore that make everything feel less crowded. The tile work on the buildings especially stands out here as well!

We stopped at a little cafe and enjoyed a few glasses of our new favorite wine (vihno verde) for less than $3/glass. 

That evening, we took it easy - bringing a bottle to a miradouro (viewpoint) as the sun was setting and grabbing a quick bite to eat afterwards.

Our next day, we took a day trip to Cascais (kash-kaish), but we did still have time in the morning and evening to see the main Placa do Comercio and eat dinner at the Time Out Market again! It's right by the train station, so it's easy to swing by on your way back into town.

Our next adventure was a little further away from the town center in Belem! This has some of the "classic" sights that I'm sure you've seen pop up on Instagram.

We started our day with the hands-down *BEST* custard tarts at Pasteis de Belem. We literally ate 6 between us and I think I could have gone back for more.

Riding our sugar high, we walked across the street to Jeronimos Monastery. Luckily we had gotten there shortly after it opened (which I definitely recommend), so it wasn't too crazy (yet).

We walked around the Cloisters inside for a while and then made our way over to the church before checking out the museum. We paid a little extra to go to the museum, but I would pass if I were you. The cloisters and church were the highlights!

From the monastery, you can quickly walk to the waterfront to see the Monument to the Discoveries and Belem Tower. 

I had heard that it wasn't worth the wait/entry fee to go inside the tower, so we just walked around the waterfront. 

We grabbed another quick Uber (seriously so affordable here!) to the LX Factory for lunch at 1300 Taberna. Standouts from this meal were the 64 degree egg and my octopus dish!

This evening, we had special plans. After a walk by the stunning Santa Justa lift, we made our way to the highlight of our trip - ALMA. 

They had just been awarded their second Michelin star a few weeks before we arrived, so we knew we were in for a treat. We opted for the wine pairing (because why not) as well.

We had course after course of the best food we've ever tasted. The menu shows 5 courses, but by the time the "first course" had even started, we had multiple dishes and palate cleansers - each better than the last. 

I've included a few of our favorites here. Surprisingly, we didn't leave stuffed! Each dish was small and our meal lasted about 3 hours. I don't know if any other meal in our lives will compare.

Our last day in Lisbon, we actually caught a quick train out to Sintra, which I'll had a separate post on.

Up Next: I'll breakdown our day trips to Sintra and Cascais!