There is no tourist info centre at the train station (S. Apollonia) in Lisbon, nor is there one at the train station in Porto. There is also the sheer inconvenience of the location of both train stations which are located on the outskirts of town. The tourist info centre is located in the centre of both towns however, the tourist office in Porto is an utter waste of time - the info was outdated or just useless.
Nneka Harris, USA (May 99)
Santa Apalonia station might be the terminus for trains from the north and abroad, but the newer Garo do Oriente is far more convenient if you're going to or from Lisbon airport. It's a straight shot along Avenida de Berlin, connecting the airport with the Expo 98 site (Parque das Nacoes).
When I was heading back to Lisbon to get my flight back to the UK, I was on an IC train from Coimbra. I got off at the terminus, Santa Apolonia, realising too late that all the people who got off at Garo do Oriente must have done so because it's so much closer to the airport. If only I'd known, I could've saved time and quite a few escudos.
John Osman, UK (Jan 99)
A useful tourist toll free number in Portugal is 0800-296296. It's a free call within Portugal and they have loads of information about places, hotels, restaurants etc. It's open on Saturday, Sunday and national public holidays from 9 am to 8 pm and from Monday to Friday from 9 am to midnight. There are Portuguese, English, Spanish and French speaking operators.
Eduardo Soares, Portugal (Dec 98)
We agreed thoroughly with the very positive impression of the gay organisation, "ILGA - Portugal"in LP's guide to Portugal. The annual gay-lesbian film festival (every September) was of top quality. Please note that ILGA's metro and tram stop has a new name: SOCORRO is now MARTIM MONIZ. The new metro lines are excellent. ILGA is now open daily from 3 - 9 pm. It's a great and friendly source of all information on Portugal.
Ralph Scoggin, The Netherlands (Oct 98)
Very few people venture along the perilous highway that goes along the West Coast of Portugal from Lisbon to Sagres. But there are quite a few spectacular places there that deserve to be explored. If I could recommend one gem, it's Vila Nova de Milfontes, just a speck on the map, but a road-tripper's dream. It's popular with Portuguese vacationers, and offers wonderfully cheap accommodation for all sorts of travellers, usually in local homes with the sign "quartos" in the window.
The town itself is located where the river meets the seas, with stunning beaches backed by rugged red cliffs. The town is completely pedestrian, with cobbled streets and a relaxed atmosphere that immediately makes you want to blow off going to the hustle and bustle of the Algarve with all its tourists.
Finally, one of the best things about Milfontes is the food - cheap and delicious. The speciality is seafood, all wonderfully prepared in the regional way.
Further down the coast you'll discover more seaside towns, with absolutely no high rises or all-inclusive resorts. As you near Sagres, check out the beaches at Zambufeira do Mar or Odeceixe, with their incredible waves and black basalt cliffs.
Jennifer Ditchburn, Canada (Oct 98)
Sintra is indeed magic. The LP is right about not taking a car; parking is a nightmare even during weekdays. The best means of transport is the suburban train which is quite comfortable (A/C), fairly cheap and goes very frequently to and from Sintra.
While there they had just opened the Quinta de Regaleira to the public (briefly mentioned on P 131 of the LP Portugal guide). The house was bought by the city council at a very low price from Japanese developers who wanted to turn it into a hotel, but never got a license from the city elders to do so. Entrance fee is a bit steep at 2,000 Escudos (US$10), but it is well worth seeing. They have guided tours on the hour (except around lunch time) that last almost two hours. In my case, I was the only non-Portuguese but the guide was quite willing translate everything in English. She took us first through the garden where Carvalho, the then owner, basically recreated his vision of the garden of Eden. The garden and also the chapel inside the garden have some very interesting Freemason features. At the end of the tour, the guide also took us through some of the rooms of the house itself. Overall, a nice glimpse of how the like of late 19th century coffee tycoons lived like back then.
Kristiaan Helsen (Sept 98)
To visit the Christo Rei statue in Lisbon, the route requiring the least physical effort is to take a ferry to Cacilhas and then bus number 101 right up to the area on which the statue stands. If one takes the other route by bus from the Praca de Espanha and alights just after crossing the bridge, there is quite a climb to be faced.
Gordon Drumm (May 98)
The US embassy was very helpful with income tax services and income tax forms. Take advantage of the free help.
The Portuguese ATM machines are infamous for not accepting cards for reasons of "communication failure." Make sure and always have a backup resource and try the machine several times. In my experience the second transaction on a machine sometimes works.
In Lisbon the British Council Library has an excellent selection of the British/Irish literature classics - plus all the newspapers, magazines and CD's you could want. The membership for a student is only 3,000 escudos per year.
One of the cheapest forms of entertainment in Lisbon is the "Cinemateca Portuguesa - museu do Cinema" (tel: 354. 65 29 - metro Marquis de Pembal). Movies are only 350 escudos and show twice daily at 6.30 pm and 9.30 pm. They show the cinema classics from all over the world (with
subtitles) and often have monthly themes. The seats are luxurious and you can sip a cold beer while you watch.
At the Centro cultural de Belem, there are free concerts, dances and shows every evening from 7 - 9 pm
in the cocktail lounge. Great place to relax and meet people. (tel : 361 2400).
Espaτo Oikos -Cooperaτa⌡ e Desenvoluimento ( 9 Santiago in the Alfama tel: 886 6134) A nonprofit organisation with a beautiful cultural space that presents multicultural art exhibits, theatre, dance and dinners. Right up the hill from the Se'cathedral.
Docas in the Alcantara wharf area. This summery refurbished area has a dock lined with discos,
restaurants, cafes. It's a wonderful place to take kids for ice cream on the weekends or a great place to
dance all night in the open air.
Parque da estrela : The beautiful park in Estrela, across from the Basilica da Estrela. This is a great
park to people-watch on weekends. And a safe place to go jogging in the city without getting hit by a
car. Also a sure place to find a shoe shiner and a newspaper quuioseque.
Amy Valdez de Buono (Apr 98)
We were in Lisbon in early Feb on a short city break. As explained in the LP guide we found a lot of disruption in the city in preparation for Expo 98. Unfortunately due to this work on the metro in particular, we found our Lisbon Card a waste of money. Much of the metro was inaccessible or completely blocked off.
Sharon Laren - UK (Feb 98)
