We happened to arrive in Lisbon in early March, just before the lockdown due to Coronavirus started to be instituted across Europe. We had only 3 days booked, but it was enough to discover the city. Indeed the atmosphere was a little tensioned to to the virus evolution, we could feel people protecting themselves and keeping social distancing even if cases in Portugal at that time were under 70 and no measures where in place.
The weather in March was pretty warm, we had 20 degrees Celsius during the day. We stayed in the historical district of Baixa/ Rossio, in Praça da Figueira, right in the heart of the city. We took a bed and breakfast apartment at the A Toca Do Polvo B&B, in a historical building from 18th century. The location was ideal for visiting the city centre and also for getting good connections towards public transport for visiting nearby places. Some things to try while in Lisbon:
- Take a trip with the 28 tram, it will take you on a 45 minutes trip through amazing places through the city, such as the famous districts of Graca, Alfama, Baixa and Estrela. The Remodelado trams are dating from 1930s, but instead being in a museum, they keep to be a part of the public transport in Lisbon.
- If you like seafood, you must go to A Marisqueira do Lis, it’s a great restaurant with a lot of options to choose from. You will find below some pictures with our plate, we choose a plate with a variety of seafood. A plate is around 85 euro, but for two persons was a little too big. You could have it easily for 4 persons.
- Visit the Pena Palace, a castle you can visit it by taking a hike from the historic centre of Sintra
There is also a video at the end of the post, feel free to watch it and get more insight regarding the atmosphere:)
