After a few hours waiting in the Lisbon airport, M and I found our way to the Uber pick up and waited for another hour to catch a ride to Alfama. Let me just tell you – leave plenty of time upon arrival before having time-specific plans.
M and I went the Airbnb route for accommodations on this trip. I am more of a hostel/budget traveler generally, but it was nice being so close to the historic area and we had the extra security. Our choice was: MY LX FLAT Castel Alfama 5 which was an absolutely amazing location! We were a 5-minute walk to the castle on a side street which was not very popular. I will warn you that many of the smaller districts do not allow vehicles without special access, so we had to walk up the hill 5-10 minutes to access the apartment after getting out of the Uber. This apartment had some reviews of people trying to break into the first-floor windows, but we did not have any scares.
Alfama is such a charming district of Lisbon. They have many streets of traditional cobblestone (or “calçada portuguesa“) which can be a pain if you have rolling luggage or want to wear heels, but it adds so much to the ambiance. There are also so many art murals made of hand painted tile. To top it off some of my favorite souvenirs were found in this area! Many of the shops are full of locally made items and at a fairly decent price. I will rave about the cheese/chocolate/garlic/just about anything graters.
Alfama, despite being mostly cobbled and full of buildings, had a few amazing plant finds! I have recently started a Basics of Botany class about plants of the Appalachian Mountains (spoiler: Portugal has very different flora). I loved seeing all the variety especially in spring with the flowers in bloom.
The first night in Lisbon meant we were trying new food. M is down to try just about anything, but they also know what they will like. So, we went for a Spanish dish called Paella. I personally LOVE this meal. It was made even better by eating on a patio with a portable fireplace and a lap blanket. To make the cuisine experience even better, we stopped for ice cream on the walk home. Ben and Jerry’s can never compete with an authentic European Gelato.
The star of the show in Alfama is Castelo de São Jorge. This Castle has been used for thousands of years and was one of the few sites that survived the tragedy of 1755. Tickets can be bought ahead of arrival or at the ticket window. We went in the late morning and had about 10 mins in line to buy our tickets. They have a free audio tour you can use to learn about the site so, in my eyes, the guided tour is an overkill. There is also a small museum on site with artifacts found on site. We spent about 3 hours exploring the area. Oh! and you can’t forget the special mention for the peacocks. There are multiple that live on site and can be heard while walking around the district.