Lisbon Christmas Markets

December 16, 2023 Lisa Comments 0 Comment

Kelly M and I decided to go to Lisbon to see the Christmas markets. We took the Flixbus from Lagos to the Lisbon Oriental station. The bus stops at Portimao and another location before taking the highway north. It’s about a 4 hour trip. I thought the train would be faster but from Lagos you have to take a fairly slow train to Faro then can catch the express to Lisbon so it can take just as long.

We left Saturday the 2nd, arriving around seven. We were close to the mall so had a late dinner at the Cortes Ingles food court after taking an Uber to the hotel, quite a distance from the station.

Sunday we made the rounds of all the markets, starting with Wonderland Lisboa, close to our hotel. We walked over, visited the stalls, had some cherry liquor, called ginja, or ginjinha, served in a chocolate cup. We rode the Ferris wheel for great views of the area including Parque Eduardo VII and Praça Marquês de Pombal. They also had an ice skating rink set up, plenty of food stalls, and Santa, of course.

We walked up to the old bullfighting rink, Campo Pequeno. The Market Mercado de Natal is set up in front. This is a bit different than the other markets, it’s set up inside tents, and cost €2. We both got a €1 voucher on the ticket for purchases and both of us forgot to use them. We put our tickets in our bags and didn’t look at them until later. There are lots of stalls with crafts and Christmas items, plus some family activities for people with children. Kelly bought some special liquor, flavored like their custard tarts, and I bought some seasoned salts. I was hoping we’d get to walk through the bull ring, it looks like a beautiful building (despite its barbaric use) but the market is set up in front in the big open square.

We took an Uber back to our hotel to drop off a few things then went on to Rossio Square Christmas Market. This was beautiful. Lots of stalls, lights, the square has two large fountains, there are many lovely decorations and a large tree. We decided to eat lunch at one of the stalls, there were many stalls but they all seemed to have the same ham sandwiches. We had some very forgettable crepes and some good gluhwein before walking over to Praca da Figueroa, which is just a couple blocks away.

We both wished we had skipped eating at Rossio because Praca da Figueroa is a year round market for food. There are plenty of special Christmas decorations and Christmas pastries and more, but the had a great selection and wide variety of food stalls and lots of open seating.

We walked down the Rue da Prata to get to the Praca do Comercio, the main square of Lisbon on the waterfront. The huge Christmas tree is in front of the Triumphal Arch or Arco da rua Augusta. We visited the Museu du Cervaja, to learn a little about the history of brewing then tried 3 local beers. We walked along the waterfront to Time Out Market and had dinner. There is a huge food court here and we walked through the entire market looking at the great selection. I chose a great bao bun with brisket.

The lights were on everywhere after dinner so we enjoyed the tree lighting at Praça do Comércio. We walked back up Rua Augusta to Rossio Square again before catching an Uber to our hotel. Beautiful lights everywhere!

Monday, since we had seen all the markets, we went over to Belem. We started at Belem Tower. Unfortunately, we should have taken the time Sunday since the tower is closed Mondays. Still beautiful to see. We walked along the waterfront to view the Monument of the Discoveries, built in 1960 for the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator.

We tried visiting the Monastery of St. Jerome. I had seen this amazing building in 2004 when I visited but wanted to go back. Despite Google maps and their ticketing website showing open Mondays, they are not. Glad we didn’t buy tickets online.

We wandered around the area, seeing the small Belem Christmas market, and walked through the Garden of Alfonso de Albuquerque Square. There is a great monument here. We were close to the Pasteis Belem bakery so stopped in for a mid morning treat to try the original Pasteis Belem; elsewhere this is just known as Pasteis de Nata. The crust is very different than what I had in Lagos, more flaky and crunchy like layers of phyllo dough instead of crust. The building is huge and has lots of rooms for seating. There is a take-away counter that is always busy.

We returned to our hotel to check out, and put our bags in the storage room then walked over to Museu Calouste Gulbenkian. What a great museum! We only had about two hours before we needed to return to the bus station but that was enough time. Great collection of Egyptian items, Rembrandt’s, Manet’s, great furniture, some beautiful Rene Lalique glassware and more.