New Year’s Day in Lisbon
I was looking for a warmer destination to spend New Year’s Day and I found a good offer for Lisbon. It was a city I wanted to visit for a long time, so I took the opportunity, especially since my husband had some days off.
Even though I read a lot about it, the city was much more beautiful than I had expected and we ended up having a great time.
How did we spend our time there?
The first day, we rode the subway to the old city centre, where we climbed the streets to Castelo Sao Jorge. It was quite a challenge, especially with a baby stroller, but we found some escalators to help us. Sofia was very happy to see peacocks in the castle garden and the views of the city were amazing from the courtyard. Then we walked to the Lisbon cathedral, which we did not visit inside, and to the Rao Augusta Arch and Prada do Comercio, where we admired the sea.
The second day, we spent time at the Tower of Belem, The Monument of Discoveries, the Jeronimo Monastery and of course, we had to eat the famous Pastel de Belem, which was delicious. We then wanted to visit the Christ Statue overlooking the area over the bridge, so we ended up taking a bus, a train and a taxi. :) We arrived at dusk and the view was breathtaking.
The third day it was New Year’s Eve, and we started by going to the Palace of the Frontier, where only the gardens were open, but it was beautiful, like we were in Game of Thrones. Then we had a ton of fun in the Zoo Garden. I actually did not expect it to be this fun, we even rode a cable car and Sofia liked it too.
We spent New Year’s Eve with a festive dinner at the hotel. The celebrations were quiet, most people usually opt to go to the public markets to see the fireworks, but we decided against it since we thought it would be too crowded for the baby.
On January 1st, it was the only day that it rained, so we decided to go to the Aquarium, which seems to have been everyone else’s idea. I liked it very much, but it was a bit too crowded. At least we rode another cable car and it was nice.
The next day, we went to Sintra. We booked a coach tour, and I was a bit nervous about how the baby would react in a large group of people for many hours. I suppose some other tourists felt the same when they saw a toddler traveling with them, but it turned out good, since Sofia slept on the couch and was joyful during stops, she enjoyed the sightseeing.
We stopped at the Royal Palace in Sintra and a bit in the historical centre and then we went on to Boca da Inferno to see the rocks formation. I had hoped for Cabo da Roca but it was not possible during winter time.
Then we visited Cascais city centre which I absolutely loved. And the Christmas decorations were amazing.
When we boarded the coach on the way back, an American lady told me I did a great job with the baby, which I appreciated very much. I like American positivity, and I liked that she felt the need to acknowledge that. Too often, people take for granted what mothers do and do not realize that encouragement can go a long way.
In the last day, we went to their Christmas/winter fairyland, where we enjoyed the sun, some Pastel de Nata and then we went to Lisbon city centre to walk and to ride the old trams 🙂
The downside? We had a stopover in Frankfurt, which practically doubled our travel time. It was challenging on the way there, since Sofia did not sleep at all and needed to be entertained all the time. Coming back, we awoke at 2 AM to catch a 5 AM flight, but this time, Sofia slept on both flights entirely so it was much easier :)
We spent all our evenings in the city centre, near Rossio square, and I loved the atmosphere, with people eating out like it was springtime :) This is what I wanted, to eat great food, enjoy the warm water, visit some old castles and relax with my husband and baby :) I absolutely recommend Lisbon.