Sunny Lisbon

I know a lot of Lisbon visitors come here as a start for a bigger travel thorugh Portugal, including most of the times spending some days in the warm beaches of Algarve. It’s common to search a car rental right at the airport, specially if you are not planning to spend any time is Lisbon (oh, you shouldn’t do that).

For those of you that need to rent a car, here is some info about the dealers you can find at the airport :

Budget

Open from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Phone : +351 210 32 36 05

Europcar

Open from 6:30 a.m to 12 p.m. Open from 12 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. for an extra cost.

Phone : +351 21 8401176  Fax : +351 21 8473180

Guérin

Open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Phone : +351 21 848 61 91 Fax : 351 21 019 27 14

Auto Jardim

Phone : +351 21 8462916 Email : lisboadesk@auto-jardim.com

Hertz

Open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Phone : +351 21 8438660

Sixt

Open from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Phone : +351 21 8407927 Fax : +351 21 8407923

Avis

Open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Phone : +351 21 8435550

Well it’s true, I been away for a while, and the blog has been kept frozen and I’m sorry for that. But a recent comment from rika asking information about the Novotel Lisboa hotel, has prompted me to write a new post. So here it goes, hope you enjoyed it and for rika, I hope that it turns out useful.

First, you can check this hotel prices here.

Location

Novotel Lisboa is an  hotel located in the José Malhoa street, between the Sete Rios area (where you can find the city Zoo) and the Praça de Espanha. This area has a lot of hotels of bank headquarters, and it’s a quite modern part of the city, with high and modern buildings. Still it’s a nice place to stay, with great transportation to get to and from the airport, to Sintra or to Lisbon downtown area.

You can check it’s location on Google Maps.

From and To The Airport

The AeroShuttle has two bus stops at Av. José Malhoa, which is the street where the hotel is located.

Transportation

The hotel has a good access to public transportation. The street where the hotel is located is only served by buses (Carris), but you have a train station close by (Sete Rios) and two subway stations at the each end on the street (Jardim Zoologico and Praça de Espanha). The Sete Rios train station provides direct trains to Sintra, the south margin of the Tagus river or Oriente, from where you can take long course trains to the North of the country.

Getting To…

• Downtown – You can get to downtown using the subway. Take the blue line in Jardim Zoologico or Praça de Espanha, taking the Baixa-Chiado direction and exiting the subway in the station with the same name. If you share my opinion and prefer to avoid subways (sorry but dirty underground walls are not my scene), you can take the 205 bus (Cais do Sodré direction)  and exit on the Rossio square.You have to take that bus on Av. Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, which is a parallel to the José Malhoa one.
• Belém Area – The quickest way should be to take the train in Sete Rios to Alcantara-Terra, and from there take another train to Belém. Using the same line you can also reach Cascais and Estoril.
• Sintra – You have direct trains from the Sete Rios train station.

Surroundings

It’s an office and hotel street, but still with a lot of commerce. Don’t expect to find here souvenirs or postcards, since this is not a tourist district.

On a short walking distance you can find the Twin Tower shopping center, which is not a big place to shop but it’s close by. Also very close, you can find the El Corte Ingles shopping. Close by you also have the Zoo (Sete Rios direction) and the Caloust Gulbenkian museum, one of Lisbon finest art collections (close to Praça de Espanha). On the José Malhoa street you can also find the Mesquita de Lisboa, the principal muslim temple in Lisbon.

This is a safe neighborhood, so security shouldn’t be a problem.

Would I Stay There?

Yes. The only downside of this location is that it is not on the downtown area, which is more touristic and has a more lively nightlife, specially after dinner time. Still, using the bus, subway or even a taxi can take you from a place to the other in less than 20 minutes.

In my last post, written some weeks ago, I’ve talked about starting a topic on Lisbon hotels. And here it is the first one. For this first one, I’ll start with one I see everyday from my office window, the VIP Zurique.

You can check this hotel prices here.

Location

VIP Zurique is a big hotel located in the Entrecampos area. This area is one of the most active parts of the city during the daytime, being the close-by Avenida da Républica and Avenida 5 de Outubro two of most lively streets in town, filled with office and government buildings. This is Lisbon “second downtown” area, providing it with a lot of transportation and a nice sense of safety.

You can check it’s location on Google Maps.

From and To The Airport

The AeroBus bus stops at Av. Da Républica, which is close to the hotel.

Transportation

This is one great location in terms of public transportation. The hotel is close to the Entrecampos train station (too close?), that provides direct trains to Sintra, the south margin of the Tagus river or Oriente, from where you can take long course trains to the North of the country.

There are two main subway stations, Entrecampos (entrance on the train station) and Campo Pequeno. Avenida da Républica is well served with Carris buses.

Getting To…

• Downtown – You can get to downtown using the subway. Take the yellow line to Marques de Pombal and there change to the blue line, taking the Baixa-Chiado direction and exiting the subway in the station with the same name. If you share my opinion and prefer to avoid subways (sorry but dirty underground walls are not my scene), you can take the 745 bus (Est. Sta. Apolonia direction)  and exit on the Rossio square.
• Belém Area – The quickest way should be to take the train to Alcantara-Terra, and from there take another train to Belém. Using the same line you can also reach Cascais and Estoril. If you are a bus guy, take the 727 bus (Restelo direction) and exit on the Belém area.
• Sintra – You have direct trains from the Entrecampos train station.

Surroundings

Being a busy area means that you can find a lot of commerce in this surroundings. Still don’t expect to find here souvenirs or postcards, since this is not a tourist district.

On a short walking distance you can find the Campo Pequeno building, Lisbon bullfighting area and now also a shopping center where you can find shops and fast food restaurants. Close by you also have the Nossa de Senhora de Fátima church and the Caloust Gulbenkian museum, one of Lisbon finest art collections.

As stated before this is a safe neighborhood, so security shouldn’t be a problem.

Would I Stay There?

Yes. The only downside of this location is that it is not on the downtown area, which is more touristic and has a more lively nightlife, specially after dinner time. Still, using the bus, subway or even a taxi can take you from a place to the other in less than 20 minutes.

Last April I had to travel to Amsterdam for a few days, and lived a little nightmare while trying to book my hotel. It was the Queens Birthday, everything was in either one of two states : central and extremely expensive or in the middle of nowhere and under my price range. So I tried to decide which one was the best middle of nowhere, and let me tell you, it is hard. Since I’ve never been to Amsterdam before, I had no idea of how the city transportation worked, if the hotel X was really close to the train station or if hotel Y was really only at a 10 minutes walk to the nearest bus stop. Online booking systems can give you some help, as user reviews help you understand how many 10 minutes it really takes, and how badly the free hotel mini-bus really work.

I made my choice, based on a couple of user reviews, but even tough, I as totally insecure about my decision. What a shot in the dark! I ended up booking a small hotel in a distant Amsterdam suburb. In the end, it was not a bad experience after all, but it could have been. As this is always a risk you travel to a country that you don’t know and of which none of your contacts has an well informed opinion.

So, I’ll start a new topic in this blog, where I will try to produce some hotel reviews, not as if it is seen from the inside, but seeing it from the outside, analyzing it’s location, surroundings and transportation available. So if you are visiting Lisbon and feel like choosing an hotel will be a shot in the dark, search the blog, maybe I’ve talked about it. If I didn’t, well, just leave a comment and I’ll try to make a post of it as soon as it is possible.

As I have said before, I usually travel on a tight budget, and this year was no exception. Still I try to enjoy as much as I can, living those days with as much comfort as my wallet allows.

One of the easier places to cut your expenses it’s the food. I always try to eat something traditional of the area I’m visiting, but I don’t do it everyday. And since my days are spent in historical neighborhoods, it’s kind of hard to find cheap places to eat. It then that fast-food comes to my mind, as a safe and inexpensive solution.

On this year vacation I found myself in a situation where I had to have dinner and had no idea where could I eat : it was late, and I didn’t want to go around searching for a place to spend my money. I wanted a McDonald’s, and I want it fast. So, to avoid that you have this same problem, I leave you a collection of McDonalds addresses in Lisbon!

• Allegro Alfragide – Ok, this is not really Lisbon, but it’s located in a big shopping mall close to Lisboa Camping, so it may be handy if you are staying there.
  Schedule : Everyday from 10 am to 11 pm.
• Chiado and Rossio – Both are located in the downtown area and are easy to find.
  Chiado : Rua do Carmo, 2
  Rossio : Praca D. Pedro V, 83
  Schedule : Everyday from 10 am to 11 pm (Chiado) and 10 am to 02 am (Rossio).
• Belém – Between Jeronimos Monastery and the Belem Palace, close to the Pasteis de Belem shop.
  Schedule : Everyday from 10 am to 12 pm.
• Colombo, Vasco da Gama and Amoreiras – Located in the shopping malls with the same names.
  Schedule : Everyday from 10 am to 12 pm.
• Airport – If you think that airplane food isn’t lousy enough.
  Schedule : Everyday from 06:30 am to 11 pm.
• Av. Padre Cruz – Good if you are traveling by car, it is open 24h a day.
  Schedule : Everyday, all day.
• Saldanha – In the uptown part of the city, the economic center.
  Av. Republica, 10F
  Schedule : Everyday, from 11 am to 23 pm
• D. Carlos I – Close to the river, in the Santos area.
  Av. D. Carlos I, 17
  Schedule : Everyday from 11am to 12 pm (02 am from thurday to saturday)