Three days in Lisbon

DAY ONE

Start the day with a quick coffee or three (espresso, of course) sitting in the shade outside A Brasileira in the Chiado, watching people rushing off to work, waving off the sunglass sellers, and soaking up the atmosphere of being back in Lisbon...

Next, a very short metro/train trip to Bel�m, where you can spend an hour or so wandering around the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, the most beautiful building in Lisbon. With any luck, mass will be on in the Church of Santa Maria, which is attached to the Monastery. There are few churches more beautiful than this one when it is filled with music and the swirl of incense smoke in the light streaming through the windows facing the Tejo. (Even better, when mass is on there are less tourists in the church, and you can get in as long as you know how to genuflect properly.)

After that, it's time for more coffee, accompanied by two perfect Pastéis de Belém (portuguese tarts) from Casa Pastéis de Belém just down the road. Hot from the oven, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar, these are the best pastries in the world (but unfortunately, mean that you will never be able to stomach the inferior lumpy versions made anywhere else).

Next, hop on the tram outside Casa Pastéis, and trundle back to the city, walking back up the hill to the Chiado to burn off those pasteis. At this point, you can either visit the charmingly odd Museu Arqueológico do Carmo (with its roman and renaissance artifacts randomly stuck all over the walls of an earthquake ravaged ruin, and a wonderfully chilly museum space with some highly disturbing South American mummies)...

or wander the shops in the Chiado, slowly making your way up to the little shops in the Bairro Alto (which are just now reopening after their mid morning break). Try Casa das Velas do Loreto, a candle shop on Rua do Loreto, a short walk up from A Brasileira. Their candles are wonderful (particularly the scented ones) and the shop is tiny and perfect and very very old.

Once you are a little bored with shopping, it's a quick taxi ride to the Gulbenkian Museum in order to see its astounding collection of medieval books, asian pottery, european furniture, a particularly fine Turner canvas and the finest collection of Lalique jewellery anywhere. Lunch is in the cafeteria in the Modern Art museum just next door, after a wander in the grounds.

Time for a nap! Awaking refreshed, go for a drink at the rooftop bar in the Bairro Alto hotel, where you can drink cocktails, while watching the sunset and the river with Lisbon's beautiful people.

Dinner will be at about 9pm at the tiny O Barrigas in the Bairro. The food is wonderful, and the owner is quite lovely, always happy to offer wine suggestions, and (with typical Portuguese hospitality) she usually throws in a complimentary aperitif if you try to speak Portuguese to her.
Stuffed from a late dinner, it's time to walk down the hill to the bottom of Rua da Atalaia or a little further to Rua Bica de Duarte Belo - both will be full of happy, friendly people standing in the street and drinking. After a few capirinhas, and a lot of crowd watching, you can stumble home and sleep.
DAY TWO

For day two, how about a trip to Sintra after breakfast? It's an easy trip on the train - no less than an hour - but it will probably take most of one whole day to see it (unless you want to really rush - which is no fun).

Pick a weekday if you can - it apparently gets busy.

Catch a taxi from the train station up to the Pena Palace at the top of the hill, or alternatively there are buses which do the circuit. The Pena Palace is spectacularly lovely and odd - a very surreal building.

Then walk down the hill, through the Moorish castle, and to the town. The path is reasonably well maintained, well marked, and relatively easy - the route is generally not steep, but there are some steps that might pose problems for the less mobile. However, you will be glad you didn't decide to walk UP the hill - there are always a lot of very puffed people straining their way to the top looking like they regret it.
Then into Sintra town to visit the other palace, stop somewhere nice for coffee and pastries, and back into town.

Dinner? How about....

... Chafariz do Vinho? It's a bit of a hike, and take a map as you may get horribly lost. However, the restaurant is housed in part of the aqueduct, and so is wonderfully interesting. Good simple food, great wine list. Order the 4 course degustation, and just let them feed you.

... or Manifesto?
At Santos, near the river, you can try magnificent modern Portuguese food. The restaurant is perhaps a little too self consciously cool, but the food is some of the best in Lisbon. For the ultimate experience, try the "Stairway to Heaven" where the food just doesn't stop. Make sure to ask the sommelier for her special wine recommendation.
Afterwards, how about a visit to....

... or ...

... to dance the night away.

DAY THREE

Day three is the day to pick and choose the things that you haven't managed to do from the massive list of Lisbon attractions. Take your pick from:

Huge, very well done, great fun, huge fish.

The Sé plus another church (maybe ....

so you can see the wonderful austerity of the Sé, compared to the insane and beautiful decoration in São Roque). Don't miss the Roman excavations out the back of the Sé.

Castelo and in particular...

the Panteão (the National Pantheon), which is a bit of a walk behind the castle, but is a simply beautiful and peaceful building, with the strains of Amalia reverberating around the building (and great views from the roof).

Great views, crap coffee.

For dinner, wander around the Bairro Alto until something catches your eye. Avoid anywhere that has a bouncer or a menu out the front with a union jack on it. These things spell bad food and tourist trap.

Sprinkle liberally with moments sitting in a cafe sipping the best coffee in Europe.

Be nice to the locals - they are, almost without exception, friendly and lovely and happy to help a slightly bewildered tourist.