Travel Diary: Lisbon — Modishly Mackenzie

Lisbon was pure magic ✨ It’s so hard to decide which city I liked the most, but all of the dreamy tiled buildings, windy cobblestone streets and stunning orange rooftops really won me over. We had two full days and two full nights in this breathtaking city. I break down all of my favorite things we did (no time for anything mediocre!) throughout the city.

Time Out Market. It’s like an open city market with tons of different vendors— food, drink and goods. It was PACKED when we went (on a Saturday during the day) and there is no air conditioning so be prepared on that one. Definitely a good spot though! We grabbed a quick bite to eat before exploring for the day.

Driving around in Tuk Tuk’s was our preferred mode of transportation. They’re EVERYWHERE and also provide guided tours/routes if you want to do that. Our driver drove us to Sé de Lisboa so we could quickly stop inside. It’s one of the oldest and most historic churches in Lisbon— it was absolutely beautiful on the inside. We also drove past Praca do Comercio, which is the big town square.

MUST SEE viewpoints of the city: Miradouro das Portas do Sol & Miradouro de Senhora de Monte, in order of distance above the city. Thank me later.

Two neighborhoods I recommend exploring: Chiado (my personal fav because of all the shopping) and Alfama (the oldest area in Lisbon with so much charm).

For dinner, a friend recommended Sea Me. OMG, it was the most amazing seafood of the whole entire trip. Tbh, a lot of the meat/seafood in Europe easily freaked me out, but theirs was sooo fresh and expertly prepared that there was no hesitation about trying it.

On our second day, we took a day trip to Sintra. Sintra is home to both Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle. Pena Palace was super cool to see how royalty lived back in the day, as it still contained all their furniture, trinkets and other memorabilia. Moorish Castle was also stunning! It showcased some amazing views. I was weirdly getting scared of heights though, because the stairs were so narrow, high and wobbly 😳 That normally doesn’t happen to me! Afterwards we very briefly checked out the City Center, but we were so tired from all that walking that we taxied back to relax before dinner.

Obviously there’s tons of stuff we didn’t get to see since we were limited on time (and also with it being the last leg of the trip, we were kinda over all the sightseeing and played it more by ear), but I feel so satisfied with all that we did get to!