Lisbon - Ship Tour vs "on your own"

[sailaway5]

We will be in Lisbon for only one day. Would appreciate opinions of ships tours vs "on your own" in Lisbon. What are the "must sees"? How close is the ship port to town? All advice is welcome.

[teacherman]

We did this in September. We were there for about 6 hours. Not sure about ship tours. It depends on what you want to do. We caught a cab to the Monastery. We saw it, walked around the Monument of Discoveries, enjoyed some of the famous "pastries" at the shop next to the monastery, walked around the area, caught a cab back to the ship. Did all of this in about 4 hours. Easy. Our ship docked right near the big bridge.

[grogers11]

It is maybe 2 miles to the center of Lisbon (or what seemed like the center to me!). We walked it, but it was quite hot that day and rather unpleasant. Once you get there, you can hop on the HOHO bus to take a tour of Lisbon. We did see alot of interesting things from the bus.

[Susan-M]

This website will provide some answers to your questions: http://www.europeportreviews.com/Lisbon.htm

[Taxguy7]

Thanks for the website. We will be staying in Lisbon 2 days and will use your hint to the site.

[Morgans]

One of the nicest do it yourself tours is the Red Tourist Tram from Black Horse Square (where the ship's shuttle usually stops. It is an easy & very interesting trip around the city - there are 2 choices "Hills & City" or "Belem." As I recall the tram leaves every half hour so it's just a question of a small wait & costs approx 16 euros for an hour & a half. More info can be found on the Carris website (porteguese website but you can select an english option.) Depending on where you dock it may be possible to walk into the city centre - there are several berths and each one is a different distance. If its far a shuttle is usually provided.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

Watch your days of the week. Almost all the tourist attractions are closed on Monday.