After San Sebastián I decided to fly south to Lisbon to explore on my own for a few days. I visited in my early teens but don’t much remember that trip. I’ve wanted to visit again for ages - everyone’s photos look so vivid and interesting.
From a day of touring Lisbon’s oldest district to a day visiting a decidedly different area - the Parque das Nações site in North East Lisbon - home of the Expo ’98.
For my third day in Lisbon I visited the South West - home of the Belém tower and Maat museum. The whole area was unexpectedly photogenic - I could have spent so much more time exploring. The day was a great mix of historic buildings, industrial sites, and modern architecture.
When I landed in Lisbon it seemed everyone wanted me to take a day trip to Sintra. It’s a municipality to the west of Lisbon filled with historic palaces and castles. You can’t visit all in day - so I picked what seemed the two most interesting to me - Pena Palace and the Castle of the Moors.
At Sintra it seemed everyone wanted you to take the bus or taxi to get to Pena. After queueing for 20 minutes with no movement I asked about walking there. I got many not s positive answers ― “a two hour hard hike”. Nonsense! It’s a beautiful 1hr easy hike. Absolutely recommended to walk to Pena.
For my second attraction I visited the Castle of the Moors - an 8th century castle perched on the top of the hill. It’s something of a fairytale image with battlements stretching as far as the eye can see.