In Autumn last year I researched places to visit in January for a little warmth and sunshine that didn’t require long haul flights, and Portugal seemed ideal for a weekend getaway. My boyfriend and I went for 4 nights at the end of January, which gave us 3 full days of exploring. Lisbon is a lively and picturesque city of tiles, trams and delicious pastries! Read on for the full description or just enjoy the photos.

We flew out on a Friday, arriving in Lisbon late afternoon. We easily hopped on a train to the hotel before heading out for food. I managed to find somewhere close by thanks to the super handy mini Lonely Planet guide my sister got me for Christmas (I own many of these guides for different countries and would highly recommend!). It led us to Forno d’Oro, where we were lucky to grab a table for two without a reservation. We had delicious focaccia to start followed by amazing sourdough pizzas.

Day 1 – Old city sights in Alfama

We headed to Confeitaria Nacional for pastries and coffee for breakfast. Our plan was to ride Tram 28 to take in the sights of Lisbon, but there was a huge queue at the first stop so we swiftly decided to save it for another day. We wandered off the main square and into the older side streets, winding our way up to the castle, where we strolled round the parapets and took in the excellent views of endless terracotta rooves and the Ponte 25 de Abril (suspension bridge) in the distance. We were surprised to see an array of peacocks milling around outside the castle café, both on the ground and up in the trees!

Next we headed to Portas do Sol, a lovely viewpoint with a little garden, and then sat outside in the sunshine for a bite of lunch, which felt rather glorious knowing it wouldn’t be possible back in the UK! We wandered along the tram lines down past the cathedral and towards Praça do Comérico, the main square in Lisbon. I wasn’t expecting to see such a large open space, and I read that anyone arriving by boat used to disembark there and be greeted with an impressive entranceway to the city. Following that we headed to Fabrica for some espressos and our first taste of pastéis de nata, the famous Portuguese custard tart, which certainly lived up to my expectations!

We wandered further inland to the Chiado neighbourhood and had a mosey round the extensive Bertrand bookshop, which is the oldest operating bookshop in the world (confirmed by the Guinness World book of records!). We had a stroll inside the striking Convento do Carmo, with impressive arches exposed to the sky as a result of the destructive 1755 earthquake.

After dinner we finished our first full day with cocktails at Blue Restaurant & Bar, which we stumbled across unintentionally and were chuffed to discover they had a lovely rooftop terrace! It had a beautiful view over the city including a glimpse of the castle in the distance.

Day 2 – Sintra

We’d initially planned to visit Sintra on Monday thinking it would be quieter, but with Sunday having better weather forecast we swapped the plans. We grabbed some pastries to go from A Padaria Portuguesa. It was really easy to hop on the metro and then take a train out to Sintra, arriving there around 10am. About a ten minute walk from the train station is the Palácio Nacional de Sintra, with its striking white conical chimneys (part of the kitchen). The building has Moorish origins and was added to over the years, including adding Renaissance features. It was lovely and quiet with not many visitors, and there were endless pretty courtyards, terraces and small gardens with the sun beaming  down. Not to mention plenty of lovely azulejos (the famous tiles adorned on buildings all over Lisbon).

Next we decided to explore the extensive grounds of Quinta da Regaleria. It’s such a really unusual and mystical place with grottos, huge wells, and amazing cave tunnels running beneath the garden, along with a gothic house. We had a well earned rest for lunch, eating some delicious Portuguese tapas at Villa 6 back in the centre of Sintra.

Finally we headed to Palacio Nacional da Pena, which looks like something out of a fairytale with its bright colours, tiles, endless terraces, archways and domes. There were noticeably more visitors during the early afternoon. There are huge grounds and gardens surrounding the palace too. You could easily spend two or three days just exploring the many palaces, castles and buildings of Sintra, there’s so much to see.

We took the train back to Lisbon and on another Lonely Planet recommendation we went to Restaurante de Vicente by Carnalentejana which had amazing steaks, burgers and flourless chocolate cake, with a lovely interior to boot. We then went for a drink at the Time Out market, and were delighted to see people dancing to music in amongst all the tables!

Day 3 – LX Factory & Bélem

After once again picking up some pastries from A Padaria Portuguesa (good quality and very reasonable!), we headed to the start point of Tram 28, Martim Moniz and rode it all the way to the end, Campo Ourique. It was then about a 20 minute walk down to LX Factory, an arty industrial complex with loads of cool shops and eateries. It was a bit cloudy and the odd light drizzle of rain, but we were more than happy to tuck into more pastéis de nata and espressos! We came across the Ler Devagar bookshop by chance, which has a whole printing press and café inside.

We took a bus out to Belém and walked past the impressive Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. Turns out the Torre de Belém is closed on Mondays so we just saw the outside of that! After a jam packed Saturday and Sunday we were happy to take things a bit slower on the Monday. We had a tasty lunch overlooking the river at A Margem, and decided it was imperative we try the Pastéis de Belém (aka pastéis de nata) at their birthplace, they were served warm with little packets of cinnamon and icing sugar to sprinkle over yourself. We headed back to Chiado and passed the last of the afternoon reading with a coffee. For dinner we returned to the Time Out market and sampled a range of dishes including pork belly, fried squid, steak, prawns, and some more flourless chocolate cake. It was all absolutely delicious and the perfect end to our time in Lisbon!

On Tuesday morning we took an Uber back to the airport (we’d found Uber super useful for heading back from restaurants in the evenings, with short journeys only costing 3-4 euros). And then we flew back home to the UK, where it felt noticeably colder.

It’s good to know that in January you can fly only a couple of hours and get yourself somewhere warmer! I’d definitely like to return to Portugal and visit some smaller places for example Porto, and also the Azores.

Where’s somewhere you’d like to visit for some Winter sunshine?

Alexa