Lisbon - Trip report

[EasternPromises]

So I was just in Lisbon for a few days and thought it might be helpful to share an update on the tourist and cigar scene. It was my first visit to Lisbon FWIW.

General thoughts:

- Lisbon feels like a poor man’s Spanish city. The streets and architecture feel very similar but in Lisbon, there are a lot of poorly-maintained and derelict buildings. Even within the main tourist areas there are buildings which look unoccupied and derelict (e.g. boarded-up doors, broken windows, tattered curtains blowing in the wind, etc)

- The food is not terribly diverse. Almost every restaurant we went to served the same 4-5 dishes: rice in a seafood soup, prawns in garlic oil, clams in garlic butter, peri peri chicken, etc). You will occasionally run across some more uniquely Portuguese dishes like Francesinha (a club sandwich on steroids, minus the vegetables plus tomato soup and cheese) and the Sao Miguel steak (steak from the Azores islands cooked in a chilli, tomato sauce)

- Restaurant service staff and even restaurant touts are not pushy and tend to be quite polite and easy going. With the restaurant touts, a polite “no thank you” is usually met with a smile and a “no worries”. Service staff at retail stores, however, seem fairly apathetic and more interested in chatting with each other rather than serving customers. Interestingly, most of the restaurant staff / touts appear to be immigrants while retail service staff are locals. This might be of interest to some: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/05/21/portugal-europe-migration-undocumented-work-residency-citizenship-south-asia/

- Our favorite restaurant was Casa da India. It seems to be a family-run restaurant serving hearty Portuguese food but executed much better than other restaurants we went to in Lisbon. We went for lunch and were the only tourists in the restaurant. Lots of local, older regulars and also “tradies” / blue collar workers. Another restaurant worth checking out would be Maria Catita

- Lisbon weather reminds me of Melbourne. It’ll be 35C during the day but with the ocean breeze helping to cool things down, before dropping to 17C at night when the cooling breeze turns into a biting wind chill. Lisbon is also unexpectedly windy which is an odd thing to say but there you go

- Lisbon Airport is a zoo. We had a 7am flight out to Seville and at 5:45am in the morning, it took 35 minutes just to check-in. And we were flying the national airline, TAP Air.  Immigration and customs was another 10-15 minutes. Nonsensical design choices and inefficiencies everywhere you look. 

Cigars:

As others have noted, Lisbon is not a great city for cigars (or smoking in general). I thought this was odd given Portgual’s proximity to Spain. I didn’t encounter the sweet waft of cigar smoke during my 4 nights there and I didn’t see ash trays on many outdoor tables. I managed to check out two cigar stores while I was there:

- Casa Havaneza Chiado: Casa Havaneza is a chain / franchise that has a few stores across Lisbon. The Chiado branch is just off the main tourist strip in Lisbon. The stock was somewhat limited. Lots of Cohiba, Trinidad and RyJ Linea de Oro but not much else. They had 2 of the QdO Imperiales travel humidors and at the other end of the spectrum, quite a few boxes of Quinteros Brevas. Service was attentive.

- Cigar World: this store is inside the department store, El Corte Ingles. More NC than CC stock. Again, lots of Cohiba and Trinidad and various cigarillos but not much else. The attitude of the service staff could only be described as indifferent (at best)

- LCDH: there is a LCDH but it was about 20 minutes from where we were staying so i didn’t get the chance to check it out. There didn’t seem to be much else around the store so i think you would need to be fairly motivated / determined to trek out there

If you are planning to smoke in Lisbon, you should definitely bring your own sticks.

Conclusion:

All-in-all, Lisbon would probably rank fairly low in my list of favorite European cities. One visit was enough. We’re now in Spain and Andorra for the next week or so. Will report back.

[avitus]

38 minutes ago, EasternPromises said:

As others have noted, Lisbon is not a great city for cigars (or smoking in general).

Interesting, I had quite opposite impression visiting Lisbon couple years ago.

Imagine my surprise entering Castelo de São Jorge, the main city tourist spot, and seeing two gentlemen smoking cigars in the yard 😳

Also the hotel where I stayed (Eden Aparthotel) had a cigarette vending machine close to the rooftop patio entrance door. Funny thing, the door itself has a big "No Smoking" sign 😁 Needless to say, lots of people smoked cigarettes & cigars on the terrace enjoying awesome city view.

Something unthinkable here in Toronto 😔

[Li Bai]

It's a shame you seem to have completely missed Portugal's charm.

To each his own I guess.

[chasy]

Did Lisbon 2 summers ago and Barcelona last year. Highly preferred Lisbon.

[EasternPromises]

I’m in Seville right now and for my money, Seville beats the brakes off Lisbon. Lisbon has its moments with the various lookout points over the city but really nothing particularly special and memorable.

Off to Granada and Cordoba tomorrow. Haven’t been to Barcelona or Madrid so can’t compare those two cities.

[Stevieboy]

Only been to Lisbon once. Loved it and will be going again.

[ubiquito]

Love Lisbon. Have eaten at many fantastic restaurants there from Michelin star to otherwise. 

[Fuzz]

13 hours ago, EasternPromises said:

- Lisbon feels like a poor man’s Spanish city.

Ooooohhh! I can hear my Portuguese ancestors rising up from their graves!

[chasy]

The Spanish cities are wealthier primarily due to a propensity for pick pocketing!

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Fuzz said:

Ooooohhh! I can hear my Portuguese ancestors rising up from their graves!

......how many bloodlines to you have?

Chinese, Portuguese, Mexican?.....how many more 😁

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

......how many bloodlines to you have?

Chinese, Portuguese, Mexican?.....how many more 😁

Don't forget Mongolian!

[Li Bai]

It's the first time I hear someone leave Lisbon with such a poor opinion of the city and I'm a bit confused and offended tbh...

"A poor man's Spanish city"... Words can hurt @EasternPromises you know 🥲 Of course there are places in Lisbon that would need renovation works to be brought back to their former glory but you'd find those in nearly every major city in Europe too.

Seriously, you probably won't go back but if you do, let me help a bit because your trip just feels like a poorly planned one to me 🤔

[EasternPromises]

Perhaps my expectations were too high for Lisbon as everyone I’ve met seems to love the city. With that said, I’d be curious to hear when was the last time some of you have visited. 

From what I understand, the city has changed a lot over the last few years. Airbnb has made priced out a lot of locals from housing within the main part of the city whilst immigration has helped to suppress wages. A double whammy from both sides. The relentless stream of tourists, “digital nomads” and hybrid workers have also apparently helped push up inflation. Most of the locals I met seemed jaded and weary. 

Parts of Lisbon also felt a lot like Melbourne (i.e. cobblestoned alleys, alfresco dining, trams, etc) which took away some of the magic and “wow” factor for me. 

Also, and perhaps most importantly, the coffee in Lisbon was very, very ordinary. 

[Glass Half Full]

We went to Lisboa last fall. Loved it. Even in the rain, which (I learned) is not uncommon in October, you can enjoy a street car tour across the whole city (Tram #28). The people are friendly and fun. There are great museums, public art and squares...The dining was wonderful, though we focussed on places frequented by locals.  

Loved the whole country of Portugal. We spent 6 days bicycling through it. Also, Porto is a must, and if you go to Sintra, which is charming though busy, I recommend staying in a pension (with an outdoor deck!) and experiencing it via tuk-tuk. (Our guide there was Pedro Lopez, whom you can book through Daniel Ponce of youdeservetours.com.) Also, if staying in Sintra, try to do it over a Sunday so it's less crowded and so you can have dinner Sunday evening at Cafe Adraga in Colares. (That evening is popular for family dining by locals.) It is well worth the cab ride for some of the freshest seafood imaginable, plus the fun environment. 

As to enjoying cigars in Portugal, I agree bringing your own is worthwhile. But enjoying them there is easy and fun. I always try to book a place with an outdoor area, and in Lisbon ours was independent and quirky (in a great way; live music playing constantly for example, and so many sets of stairs it was dizzying) -- it was Colégio Charm House. It was quite quirky (in sort of a Wes Anderson way) so this place may not be for everyone, but the outdoor space to enjoy cigars was wonderful, as you can see...(and it's a block from the best LCDH). And note that those are ash trays already available for you outside

[BrightonCorgi]

5 hours ago, Glass Half Full said:

 ...Also if staying in Sintra, try to do it over a Sunday so it's less crowded and so you can have dinner Sunday evening at Cafe Adraga in Colares. (That evening is popular for family dining by locals.) It is well worth the cab ride for some of the freshest seafood imaginable, plus the fun environment. 

 

Did you try any Colares wines?

[Glass Half Full]

8 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Did you try any Colares wines?

This one was recommended at Adraga. It was light but distinctive and paired nicely with their delicious seafood.   

Forgot to add that Adraga is the only restaurant in Portugal where we found it best to arrive early, to enjoy the beach and sunset before dinner.