a 10 day trip to the land of Bacalhau, Egg Tarts, and Port was filled with with an abundance of those things but also lots of walks, friendly people, and interesting sites!
Part 1 :
We arrived and easily made a subway trip to the Rossio station where a bus ride to the Hello Lisbon Castle Apartments location allowed us to check our bags.
Note: (Mayor Tory) that was a regular subway trip not an expensive express rail trip; regular cost and one transfer and we downtown.
This location, very close to the Alfama and Castelo neighborhoods was a good decision, and we starting our tourist’ing with a visit to Castelo de S. Jorge, a 11th century castle which very much dominates any view of downtown Lisbon.
Walking in the narrow streets and steps of the Alfama was a treat. Navigating was tricky but it was safe and, generally, as long as you knew whether you want to go up or down, I managed.
We ate dinner at Restaurante Lautasco
We also lunched next to the Portas Do Sol
and spent a few Port and Wine post dinner stops at Porto Alfama
The National Azulejo Museum (aka The National Tile Museum)
Part 2:
Our trip to Porto involved a buying, 2 days in advance, class 2 tickets on the high speed train. The trains run frequently and where not all expensive. The trip is around 3 Hours and the only bump is that to get to the Porto downtown train station (São Bento) you have to transfer at Porto’s São Bento Train Station (and the same on returning to Lisbon), but after a bit of confusion on my part it was easy.
We stayed at Hotel Vincci Porto for this portion of our trip.
Good resource for Lisbon neighborhoods :
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g189158-s204/Lisbon:Portugal:Neighborhoods.html