Lisbon excursions-help me choose between two

[cruisegal415]

We are flying into Lisbon for a 9 day cruise (Celebrity Infinity) in May.  We arrive at 8 am on a Sunday.  Monday is embarkation day, we have to check in at the ship no later than 4 pm.  We overnight in Lisbon and are there all the next day.  I am trying to decide between two different excursions on Tuesday.  One would go to Fatima, Obidos and Natare, a shore excursion from the ship. The other would go to Sintra, Cascais and the Estoril coast.  

 

With the Fatima, Obidos and Natare excursion, the plus is it included Fatima which is a must for us.  However, we could do a half day tour from Lisbon to Fatima on Monday, before we have to go to the port. But I'm not sure it makes sense to drive for an hour and a half, spend the same amount of time in Fatima, then drive an hour and a half (or more) back to Lisbon as opposed to seeing Fatima as part of a larger excursion.  However, the private tour of Fatima would pick us up at our hotel and drive us to the port at the end of the tour.

 

On the other hand, I am interested in seeing the Pena Palace, which is included in the Sintra excursion. There are a few different Sintra excursions that I am looking at.  One goes to both the Pena Palace and the Regaleira, another goes to Sintra and Cascais but doesn't include the Regaleira.

 

Any advice or suggestions?

[marazul]

The question is what are you planning to do on Sunday?  You can easily do the Pena palace and Sintra tour on Sunday.  Then on Monday you have time to see the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon early and then take a tuk-tuk tour through Alfama.  Even after you embark you could go back into the city.  Tuesday, take the excursion to Fatima, Nazare and Obidos (which is a fabulous place). 

 

Another alternative is Fatima on Sunday. Lisbon on  Monday, and Pena, etc on Tuesday.

 

BTW - do go to the Regaleira.  It is close to the Pena Palace and it would be a shame to miss it.  On the way back, they can drive you through Cascais and Estoril.  

 

Ideally, you could fly in a day earlier to give you more time, but it is probably too late to change your tickets.

Edited March 17, 2023 by marazul

[cruisegal415]

17 minutes ago, marazul said:

The question is what are you planning to do on Sunday?  You can easily do the Pena palace and Sintra tour on Sunday.  Then on Monday you have time to see the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon early and then take a tuk-tuk tour through Alfama.  Even after you embark you could go back into the city.  Tuesday, take the excursion to Fatima, Nazare and Obidos (which is a fabulous place). 

 

Another alternative is Fatima on Sunday. Lisbon on  Monday, and Pena, etc on Tuesday.

 

BTW - do go to the Regaleira.  It is close to the Pena Palace and it would be a shame to miss it.  On the way back, they can drive you through Cascais and Estoril.  

 

Ideally, you could fly in a day earlier to give you more time, but it is probably too late to change your tickets.

I thought we would do a three hour tuk tuk tour on Sunday, seeing as we would just be getting there after flying from Miami I don't think we'll be up to anything more strenuous than sitting in a tuk tuk and seeing the city.  Our plan is to get an early dinner and go to sleep early so that we can be ready to see the sights on Monday.  The problem is, we have to be at the ship no later than 4 pm for embarkation, so we can't do an excursion longer than 5 hours on Monday.  

[marazul]

2 minutes ago, cruisegal415 said:

I thought we would do a three hour tuk tuk tour on Sunday, seeing as we would just be getting there after flying from Miami I don't think we'll be up to anything more strenuous than sitting in a tuk tuk and seeing the city.  Our plan is to get an early dinner and go to sleep early so that we can be ready to see the sights on Monday.  The problem is, we have to be at the ship no later than 4 pm for embarkation, so we can't do an excursion longer than 5 hours on Monday.  

You could still go to Fatima on Sunday and sleep in the car.  😉  Probably your best bet for Fatima is your plan to go on Monday.  Of the Tuesday excursions, the Sintra, etc is by far the better one. 

 

On your current plan, since you get in at 8 am, you could go to Jeronimos first (it opens at 10) and go on the tuk-tuk tour after lunch.  You will still be back at the hotel early. Jeronimos is closed on Mondays.

 

[cruisegal415]

28 minutes ago, marazul said:

You could still go to Fatima on Sunday and sleep in the car.  😉  Probably your best bet for Fatima is your plan to go on Monday.  Of the Tuesday excursions, the Sintra, etc is by far the better one. 

 

On your current plan, since you get in at 8 am, you could go to Jeronimos first (it opens at 10) and go on the tuk-tuk tour after lunch.  You will still be back at the hotel early. Jeronimos is closed on Mondays.

 

Thanks that's what I was wondering, Sintra versus Nazare and Obidos.  I will check out Jeronimos, hadn't heard about that.  Thanks!

[Celialeah98]

If you are overnighting in Lisbon, after checking in and getting settled on the ship you could go out again in the evening to see the Alfama section of Lisbon as it is across the street from the port area and up the steep hill. The castle St. Jorge has the best views over Lisbon and is open until 9pm in May (closed May 24). We took an uber (Ubers and taxis are cheap too) to the top as close as they would take us to the castle, visited the castle then walked down stopping for pork sandwiches and sardines at a streetside cafe with grills on the sidewalk and the best homemade gelato somewhere at the bottom of the hill. There is also great cheap food in the Alfama section, some with Fado shows. Eat dinner in Lisbon not on the cruise ship.

 

Don't want to do the hills, the Baixa section/Praca do Commercial has some great Portuguese food too.

 

If you are on time constraints, probably safer to do ships tours then to book independently as ship tours guarantee to have you back at the ship on time. Mondays tend to be more crowded in Sintra because many of the Lisbon museums are closed on Mondays.

 

I loved both Sintra (we went with We Hate Tourism Tours-- we did not see Pena palace, we went to Monserrate) and Fatima (stopped for a few hours on our way back to Lisbon in June 2022). I preferred my visit to Fatima with a pilgrimmage in July 2019. 

 

Happy Planning!

[cruisegal415]

We decided on a four hour Tuk Tuk tour on Sunday, when we arrive (booked for the afternoon in case our flight is delayed); found a private excursion to Fatima on Monday which will pick us up at the hotel, take us to Fatima, then drive us to the port; and on Tuesday I am looking for a small group excursion that will take us to Sintra, let us tour Pena Palace and the Regalerio, and maybe do a drive by the coast.  The excursions I have found through Get Your Guide or Viator seem to be a pick up from the hotel, not a shore excursion (as in, pick up from port) and most are too long a time to get us back in time for sail away.  I'll look in to We Hate Tourism Tours, never heard of them!

[marazul]

45 minutes ago, cruisegal415 said:

We decided on a four hour Tuk Tuk tour on Sunday, when we arrive (booked for the afternoon in case our flight is delayed); found a private excursion to Fatima on Monday which will pick us up at the hotel, take us to Fatima, then drive us to the port; and on Tuesday I am looking for a small group excursion that will take us to Sintra, let us tour Pena Palace and the Regalerio, and maybe do a drive by the coast.  The excursions I have found through Get Your Guide or Viator seem to be a pick up from the hotel, not a shore excursion (as in, pick up from port) and most are too long a time to get us back in time for sail away.  I'll look in to We Hate Tourism Tours, never heard of them!

Good plans.

Try to book directly with the local company, not through a consolidator like Viator or Get Your Guide.