One Day in Lisbon: How to Spend a 9 Hour Layover in Lisbon

Many people asked me why I chose to go all the way to Europe for a 4 day weekend trip. To be honest, I found an amazing flight deal ($449!), which would have put me in the same price range as many domestic flights (ahem San Francisco/Miami). However, as part of this flight deal I had to leave Madrid at the crack of dawn on Monday and spend 9 hours on a layover in Lisbon. Traveling this way isn’t for everyone- while it did give me basically a bonus opportunity to visit a second city, the whole experience exhausted me completely. To preface, although my layover was 9 hours in totality (7-5pm) I obviously was not able to explore Lisbon for the entire 9 hours. Subtracting the time it took for me to de-plane, find the airport exit (for some reason I did not have to go through customs?), commute to and from downtown Lisbon via Uber, and arrive back 2 hours early to the airport for my connecting international flight- I had about 5 hours left. Now 5 hours may not seem like a lot, but to me it felt like forever. My legs actually ended up giving out because I was so exhausted from having such an early morning flight and then hiking up and down those steep Lisbon hills. Yes, Lisbon is STEEP so bring your sturdiest pair of walking shoes and prepare to have sore legs the next day. Because there wasn’t too much time in my layover I didn’t want to waste time figuring out public transportion so I mainly walked everywhere hence the sore legs. In my opinion, walking is by far the best way to explore a new city and find out new things the tour guide books didn’t tell you about before.

Pro Tip - The last thing anyone wants to do when exploring a city on their layover is to have to lug their carry on luggage around. It’s actually what prevents many people from taking advantage of their longer layovers. Most airports actually have a Left Luggage storage facility in one of their terminals where passengers can pay to store their bags for the day. The Lisbon airport had one of these storage facilities so I paid $10 to leave my 2 bags behind. Bags are tagged and customers are provided with a matching ticket to retrieve their bags later. I would suggest leaving any valuables (like passports) behind, but I’ve never had any issues with using the storage option. It made my explorations so much lighter!

Santa Justa Lift and City View

My Uber dropped me off right in front of the Lift just as it was opening so I was able to beat the crazy lines of tourists that usually wait in front. Another perk was that the viewing platform was basically empty this early and I had space to take pictures and fully snjoy the beauty of Lisbon. While it costs 5.30 Euros to ride the Lift up to the platform, there is another option to simply hike up the steps and cross a bridge to get to the same viewing platform and then pay for the platform separately. This would be a great alternative if the line had been extremely long, but since there weren’t too many people there yet I chose to get the full experience.

Manteigaria Egg Tarts

Words can’t even begin to describe how DELICIOUS these egg tarts or pasteis de natas are. I’ve had some pretty good egg tarts in the former Portugese colony, Macao, as well as in other parts of Asia, but Manteigaria tops the cake. The creaminess of the inside of the egg tart matches perfectly with the crispy shell. It wasn’t too sweet, yet sweet enough. There is even the option to add powdered sugar! While the most famous Portugese egg tarts are located at Pasteis de Belem, the bakery is in the Belem neighborhood and it isn’t feasible to go there on a layover trip (unless I wanted to spend my entire time in that area) so Manteigaria was an equally delicious alternative.

Comercio Plaza

It seems like every European city has a giant meeting square surrounded by colorful buildings. Madrid has Plaza Mayor, Brussels has Grand Place, and Lisbon has Comercio Plaza. I arrived at the Plaza pretty early in the morning (thank you 7am flight) so the Plaza wasn’t crowded at all and it was enjoyable walking around and just soaking in the fresh Lisbon air. The Plaza is located near the waterfront and you walk under the Rua Augusta Arch to reach it. The Arch actually doubles as a viewing platform so if you have 3 Euros its an extra way to see the city. Since I had already gone up the Elevator earlier, I decided to skip this Arch.

Chiado Shopping District

Zara, Mango, H&M, Pull & Bear- you name it and its located along Chiado. While not as grand as Madrid’s Gran Via or as busy as New York’s Fifth Avenue, Chiado is still a great spot to look for trendy clothing and pick up some Lisbon themed souvenirs. I walked by Chiado on my way to Rue de Bica de Duarte Belo so even if you don’t plan on buying anything it is still a convenient walking path.

Rue da Bica de Duarte Belo

Probably the most famous and most photographed street in all of Lisbon. Its on all the postcards and magnets so stopping here was definitely a must! While I chose to walk down the steps instead of paying for one of the iconic yellow trams (next time!), I throughly soaked in the classic-ness of Lisbon this street offered. I felt like I had been transported back to old Lisbon with its cobble stoned streets, its outdoor cafes located on random ledges, and its colorful (but mostly yellow) buildings.

Comoba Cafe

I had no idea what a charcoal latte was until I stopped in Comoba , but it was definitely an interesting drink choice so I went with it. The latte actually tasted like… charcoal. The taste can’t be described any other way. Comoba is an adorable white themed cafe that is the perfect spacious spot to chill with a coffee and a book. It is located at the bottom of Rue de Bica de Duarte Belo so if you’re walking down the street, treat yourself to a cold drink at the bottom!

Rue Nova do Carvalho

I had heard there was a pink painted street in Lisbon, so naturally the pink lover in me had to go and take a look. Rue Nova do Carvalho use to be a seedy area of Lisbon filled with sleazy bars and prostitutes walking the street, but the government made a huge effort to revitalize and clean up the area but filling it with trendy bars and cafes and of course, painting the street pink. The street is a 5 minute walk from the TIme Out Market.

Time Out Market

One of my favorite things to do in any new city is to eat a variety of local foods. The best way to do that is definitely to visit a food market so that everything is more easily accessible. I’ve been an avid reader of the Time Out online publication for a while now and when I found out they had their own market with tons of food stalls in Lisbon, I knew I had to make a stop to eat and enjoy. The Time Out Market is located in a beautifully renovated former warehouse and there are several Michelin starred chefs cooking here. Since I was by myself and on a time crunch I wasn’t able to go to every stall I wanted to, but I for sure made a dent!

9 hours in Lisbon was simply not enough! Where else should I visit the next time I’m here?