Lisbon With Kids

Earlier this year we took a short trip to Lisbon, Portugal and totally fell in love with the city. It's small yet full of life, charming in the most authentic way, has amazing food and drink and is just lovely all around.

We had been avoiding Lisbon because of the steep hills and narrow sidewalks - both which are not especially stroller friendly - until our youngest was old enough to take at least short walks without one. So that time had come and off we went.

Let me start by saying this city is such a visual feast.  There is something beautiful to look at everywhere you turn.  It's also highly walkable which is a nice bonus on a short trip when you don't really want to have to learn the local public transit system.

One of the best decisions we made on this trip was staying at an apartment hotel that had a kid's club.  We weren't sure just how it was going to go but it was so wonderful to be able to drop the kids off for a few hours and have a nice dinner date or even just a walk around.  I found this hotel, the Martinhal Chiado Suites via booking.com and it totally made our trip one of the most relaxing we've ever done since having kids.  Aside from a spacious apartment in the heart of the city, the hotel leaves a few basics for you when you arrive (milk, juice, biscuits, etc) and was super flexible and accommodating to our changing schedule. Highly recommend this place!



Moving on from where we stayed, we spent a lot of time walking the city and exploring all of the different neighborhoods both with our feet and our mouthes! Lisbon is a city for eating. The seafood alone! We ate at several great restaurants but the food tour we took (booked a bit randomly at the last minute via tripadvisor) was completely fabulous. If you are going to Lisbon book with Treasures of Lisboa and you can thank me later. The guide is the owner and we really enjoyed the food and the company. We didn't take the kids (thank you again kids' club) but we totally could have as it was family friendly. Some of the other food related highlights were the Time Out Market (about 5 minutes away from our hotel), Taberna da Rua das Flores (a block from the hotel) and A Cevicheria. Although I think I would be hard pressed to have a bad meal in Lisbon.






While we generally avoid the big tourist sites because I'm just not that kind of traveler, we took a short tram ride over to see the Belem Tower.  It is beautiful but the lines were insane so we admired from outside which is totally fine with me. Instead I tried my first e-scooter ride and let's just say I'm lucky to make it out alive.  I'll stick with my feet for the near future.



Not quite as popular with tourists but closer to the city center and fascinating just the same was the Carmo Convent - an interesting architectural site with some interesting artifacts inside.  I took Aggie with me while Oscar napped and it was the perfect bite sized attraction for a 6 year old.





I'm sure it's pretty obvious by now we enjoyed our trip.  I don't have much more I could say that photos don't do a better job of conveying so here are some favorite snaps from our few days in Lisbon.














Much too soon it was time to pack up and go back home. But Lisbon stole a place in my heart and I can't wait to return.  Hope you find this recap helpful in your own planning.  If you have any questions or comments please add them to the post - I'd love to hear from you!