OnTheGo100 Posted August 16, 2010 #1 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Hi there. For those of you who have been in Lisbon, I'd love some advice. We'll be docking in Lisbon in May 2011 from 11am - 7pm. Lisbon looks to be a port city that might easily be done on your own using trams and good old walking. Or, would anyone advise that arranging our own excursion using a local guide be advisable instead. Would love to hear some opinions. Thanks! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted August 16, 2010 #2 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Tim, if you enjoy walking Lisbon is a fun city to walk on your own. We started at the main entrance to the downtown area and spent hours walking around and up and down many hills. There was a lot to see by foot. If waking is an issue, then a tour might be better. We've been there on two different cruises and the last time was this past April and just enjoyed our time there. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted August 16, 2010 #3 Share Posted August 16, 2010 I've been to Lisbon on a land trip, not a cruise, but I would highly recommend doing it on your own. The trams are easy and fun to use. Taxis are inexpensive (although guides do not always speak much English -- good to have the name of your destination written down). There are several distinct neighborhoods, all of them good for walking on foot -- get a Lisbon guidebook and consider Belem, Alfama (my favorite for wandering and gorgeous views) and Bairro Alto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambs2 Posted August 16, 2010 #4 Share Posted August 16, 2010 We had an absolutrly fabulous private tour of Lisbon arranged by someone from our roll call. Besides all the Lisbon sites it also included a tour of the fabulous Pena Palace in Sintra and then an hour or so of free time in Sintra. If you are interested I have the name of that tour company. This couple had used them on a previous cruise stop in Lisbon and enjoyed the tour, and particularly the Pena Palace (NCL did not offer any tours to this beautiful palace), that this couple organized basically the same tour again for members of our roll call! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheGo100 Posted August 17, 2010 Author #5 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Thanks Keith and Cynthia. We are definately walkers, so doing it on our own sounds great. However, we are travelling with others who might want to consider a private tour. Lambs2, yes, please tell me who you used for your private tour. Thanks so much. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare carlmm Posted August 17, 2010 #6 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Even if should to decide to take a private guide, I would highly recommend not to include Sintra or anything else outside Lisbon. The city itself has so much to offer, you can spend weeks here. Even just one small part like for example Belem can easily take more than a day. Yet, like others have said, you can cover everything by tram, bus, walking or the occassinal taxi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naval Aviator Posted August 18, 2010 #7 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Can you please provide the name of the company, I am looking for an independent tour in Lisbon. Thanks, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheGo100 Posted August 21, 2010 Author #8 Share Posted August 21, 2010 We had an absolutrly fabulous private tour of Lisbon arranged by someone from our roll call. Besides all the Lisbon sites it also included a tour of the fabulous Pena Palace in Sintra and then an hour or so of free time in Sintra. If you are interested I have the name of that tour company. This couple had used them on a previous cruise stop in Lisbon and enjoyed the tour, and particularly the Pena Palace (NCL did not offer any tours to this beautiful palace), that this couple organized basically the same tour again for members of our roll call! Hi again, Lambs2 - would love to get the name of the tour compnay in Lisbon you mentioned. Thanks! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheGo100 Posted September 7, 2010 Author #9 Share Posted September 7, 2010 We had an absolutrly fabulous private tour of Lisbon arranged by someone from our roll call. Besides all the Lisbon sites it also included a tour of the fabulous Pena Palace in Sintra and then an hour or so of free time in Sintra. If you are interested I have the name of that tour company. This couple had used them on a previous cruise stop in Lisbon and enjoyed the tour, and particularly the Pena Palace (NCL did not offer any tours to this beautiful palace), that this couple organized basically the same tour again for members of our roll call! Hi again, Lambs2. You kindly offered to provide the name of your Lisbon tour guide, and then never came back :-(. If you do come back and see this post, I would love the name of your tour guide/company for Lisbon. Thanks! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Psoque Posted September 7, 2010 #10 Share Posted September 7, 2010 Hi. I hope I'm not hijacking this thread, but I wanted to know if anybody can tell us if the tram or bus can pick us up near the ship on the dock. We are planning to check into the ship early, then do some sight seeing off the ship (witout our luggage!!) the day of embarkation in Lisbon. Is it best to just take a cab from the cruise ship terminal? Or is there a tram station nearby? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoãoYazalde Posted September 7, 2010 #11 Share Posted September 7, 2010 you have the sight seeing bus close to the dock. any questions, contact me. i know the tour that visit pena palace! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer-kraut Posted September 8, 2010 #12 Share Posted September 8, 2010 I know Lambs hangs out over at the NCL boards, you might want to post something over there for her. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted September 9, 2010 #13 Share Posted September 9, 2010 You can easily do Lisbon on your own. The streetcars are great. The restaurants are wonderful. Doing Lisbon, Sintra, Estoril etc in one day would be a lot and you would probably need a tour. Lisbon was a surprise for us. We spent four days there and enjoyed every minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesi Posted September 11, 2010 #14 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Hi. I hope I'm not hijacking this thread, but I wanted to know if anybody can tell us if the tram or bus can pick us up near the ship on the dock. We are planning to check into the ship early, then do some sight seeing off the ship (witout our luggage!!) the day of embarkation in Lisbon. Is it best to just take a cab from the cruise ship terminal? Or is there a tram station nearby? We just got back (last Sunday 9/5) from our cruise with embarkation in Lisbon. We were there two nights pre-cruise to see some of the sights. There is a metro stop right outside the door (across the street) from the cruise terminal. The cruise terminal is actually right at the foot of the Alfama section of Lisbon. So we dropped our bags on ship and walked that part of Lisbon. Metro is very easy to use and we used it during our pre-stay in Lisbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoãoYazalde Posted September 13, 2010 #15 Share Posted September 13, 2010 cheesi your cruise terminal was santa apolonia, we also have alcantara, that dont have metro close. but have a bus to take you downtown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanDreaming2 Posted September 21, 2010 #16 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Hi again, Lambs2. You kindly offered to provide the name of your Lisbon tour guide, and then never came back :-(. If you do come back and see this post, I would love the name of your tour guide/company for Lisbon. Thanks! Tim I posted a question for lambs2 on the main NCL board. Her response: Sorry about that! I posted it several other places and must have forgotten that thread. The tour company's website is insidelisbon.com. We had a slightly shortened tour day in Lisbon and the company did a great job getting us to all the highlights of Lisbon plus time in Sintra and a complete tour of the gorgeous Pena Palace where our cruise ship did not even offer a tour when we were in Lisbon! http://insidelisbon.com/walking-tours/original-lisbon-walk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwds Posted September 22, 2010 #17 Share Posted September 22, 2010 We have done walking tours with Inside Lisbon and with Lisbon Walker, http://www.lisbonwalker.com/ Both gave excellent tours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted September 22, 2010 #18 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Even if should to decide to take a private guide, I would highly recommend not to include Sintra or anything else outside Lisbon. The city itself has so much to offer, you can spend weeks here. Even just one small part like for example Belem can easily take more than a day. Yet, like others have said, you can cover everything by tram, bus, walking or the occassinal taxi. We must respectfully disagree when it comes to Sintra. We do enjoy being in Lisbon, have been there many times, and hope to again visit in the near future. But Sintra is a totally different experience, an absolute delight (particularly in good weather) and is a UNESCO World Heritage site for good cause. Its also easy to access from Lisbon by train. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoãoYazalde Posted September 23, 2010 #19 Share Posted September 23, 2010 in sintra you can spent 1 or 2 days for sure. but if you only have 7/8h in lisbon, definitely pick for exemple a private tour. just choose the right one...that takes you where you want, and not where the driver wants john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanDreaming2 Posted September 26, 2010 #20 Share Posted September 26, 2010 Does anyone have experience with this tour company? THey rent 2 person cars with built-in GPS guidance. Several tours are available. Tripadvisor gives them 5 stars. We thought it would be fun to rent some with our M&G bunch and have a caravan through Lisbon and have lunch on the sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltatango Posted September 26, 2010 #21 Share Posted September 26, 2010 We did Lisbon over 10 years ago, and we got a tram just outside the Port on the main st, we only did the downtown shops, but our next visit in November we want to go higher up for the views, I think you can get tram to there, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the view alto something ? anyone know the tram number ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoãoYazalde Posted September 27, 2010 #22 Share Posted September 27, 2010 turistic tram 28 - bairo alto, baixa, alfama. tram 15 - baixa - belem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltatango Posted September 27, 2010 #23 Share Posted September 27, 2010 turistic tram 28 - bairo alto, baixa, alfama. tram 15 - baixa - belem Thanks very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belleretraite Posted September 30, 2010 #24 Share Posted September 30, 2010 We spent a wonderful day in Lisbon 2 years ago by sightseeing Lisbon on our own using the recommandations from Frommers for the walking portion http://www.frommers.com/images/destinations/maps/jpg-2006/54_walkingtourthealfama.jpg and using tram 28 afterward ! If your ship is docking at Alcantara you will have to walk for 15 to 20 minutes for the closest tram/bus station ! Better Google yourself a plan before leaving ! Buy the day pass for the tram ! You could use it for the funiculars and bus or tram to get back to the ship ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy4cruisn Posted July 3, 2011 #25 Share Posted July 3, 2011 you have the sight seeing bus close to the dock. any questions, contact me. i know the tour that visit pena palace! Do you have suggestions for a Sintra tour guide? Nan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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