Off to Lisbon on a stag do in 2 weeks. But having not been before going for a bit of time either side of the stag then onto Porto.

Looking for recommendations both in terms of bars and activities for the stag in Lisbon and then more touristy stuff outside of that there and in Porto.

Heard surfings good in Lisbon. So looking at activities and watersports and any geeky sightseeing type stuff. Also if the stadium tours are worth it. Any restaurants etc.

Thanks in advance.

"Looking at activities and water sports", nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more squire! Shouldn't cost you more than 100 euros. Say no more!

Vino blanco wrote:"Looking at activities and water sports", nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more squire! Shouldn't cost you more than 100 euros. Say no more!

I charge double that!

If you want surfing head out towards Cascais and a beach called Guincho or Paria de Carcavelos. In Lisbon there's the Park Bar (on top of a car park!) Time Out is a great place to eat but really busy, boat trip and a few drinks good way to start the night

Porto - depends how much you want to spend the Yateman is beautiful and a trip round the Port houses is good

Just returned from Lisbon.

There's plenty of nightlife so I guess you will be well catered for in that area.

We did Benfica stadium tour - it worked out at about 7 quid per head and then an extra 3 if you want to visit the museum too. It was well worth it, tour guides spoke really good english and were very knowledgeable.

There's all the usual things that you might want to do during the day as part of a group - Karting, Paintballing, Jeep Safari, Quads, etc.

We found it to be a lot cheaper for things like food and drink than other major cities.

Yes heard its cheap by western standards and even in comparison to many eastern european places.

Stadium tour sounds good. Was hoping to fit at least one in.

Any beach recommendations?

Anyone done Lisbon and Porto and if so comparisons between the two.

Thanks again

Don't forget the windows .... : )

I’m being dragged kicking and screaming to Porto at the end of the month. I’ll be looking for a bar with a decent lager and football on the telly, the rest of them can do what they want.

First went to Porto last September and it's now one of my favourite places to visit, been 3 times since. It can be quite expensive, certainly the first time I went I didn't take enough money to fully enjoy my trip.

The port house tours are brilliant. We have been to 3 different ones now and they were all great. White port is the best!

Can't remember the name of the place but there was an extremely busy restaurant down by the river in the main city that we eventually got to try out. It was full of locals which is a good sign. It serves the best sea food I've ever had. I'll try to find the name of the place for you.

There's plenty of museums to visit if that is your thing. We went up the clock tower for some great views over the city.

We stay in Foz do Douro, about a half an hour brisk walk or 10 minutes on the tram in to the city centre. The beach here at sunset is always deserted and the views are spectacular. Can get some great deals on Air BnB.

Sorry I'm no help on Lisbon, although I do want to visit soon!

tim_noone wrote:Don't forget the windows .... : )

Thats Amsterdam!

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Thats Amsterdam!

of course what was I thinking!

Just got back from a stag weekend in Lisbon and had a great time. Our activities involved and catamaran trip, booze bike and stadium tour so nothing particularly cultural there.

We did a tour of Benfica’s stadium which I thought was pretty average but it was cheap. The adjoining museum was good.

In terms of nightlife - the Time Out food market looked great but we couldn’t get seated together so ate elsewhere. In terms of bars, there’s a street festival on for the entirety of June so we spent the evenings in the Bairro Alto area drinking caipirinhas on the streets. That was the highlight of the weekend so if you are visiting in June I would highly recommend. Spent significantly less money than we would have done in bars too.

The restaurant I mentioned was called Terra Nova. Enjoy!

Rileybobs wrote:Just got back from a stag weekend in Lisbon and had a great time. Our activities involved and catamaran trip, booze bike and stadium tour so nothing particularly cultural there.

We did a tour of Benfica’s stadium which I thought was pretty average but it was cheap. The adjoining museum was good.

In terms of nightlife - the Time Out food market looked great but we couldn’t get seated together so ate elsewhere. In terms of bars, there’s a street festival on for the entirety of June so we spent the evenings in the Bairro Alto area drinking caipirinhas on the streets. That was the highlight of the weekend so if you are visiting in June I would highly recommend. Spent significantly less money than we would have done in bars too.

Excellent sounds great.

How much approx was the catamaran sounds like a good option for us.

We are staying in Bairro Alto - PERFECT!

Food markets sound excellent too.

SalouClaret wrote:The restaurant I mentioned was called Terra Nova. Enjoy!

Great thanks will be sure to take a look. Love seafood so thanks for the recommendation.

For the non-stag bit, 45 minutes on the train from Lisbon gets you to Sintra. That's a great day out.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Excellent sounds great.

How much approx was the catamaran sounds like a good option for us.

We are staying in Bairro Alto - PERFECT!

Food markets sound excellent too.

Just checked and we paid £56 per person. There were 7 of us and all the events were booked on Chilli Sauce. I’m sure you could get better value booking directly. It was good fun though, we got 2 hours and drink and food included.

Non stag.
Bus out to Belem,about 4 miles. Torre de Belem, Monastery de Jeronimo, Pasteis de Belem and Portugals eternal flame. All touristy stuff but worth a day.
In a previous thread on Lisbon somebody mentioned a Claret has a bar at Cascais.
We loved it there.

lisbon:
can't go wrong just wandering round bairro alto at night and just going into any bars that take your fancy
lux is a cracking club
for non-staggy stuff walk along the river to belem, its not far and there's bars and that along the way. get the train out to caiscais - check out estoril on the way, the casino was the inspiration for casino royale
there's a cracking wine bar just under the castle run by two brazilian lads who really know their stuff - wine bar castello or something

porto:
its a really small city and all the things you'd want to see are about 10-15 mins walk from the centre. we had an airbnb on rue das flores which was the perfect location. make sure you walk over the top of the dom luis bridge alongside the metro line and then its worth going up to the top of the park on the other side for the view back over porto.
the beach at foz is lovely in the evening for sunset and its worth going out to serralves (on the metro line to the airport). ace modern art museum and colourful houses and that. lovely place.
the port houses are decent, no need to do more than one though really. depends how long you're there but we went to the douro valley to a few wineries, which i'd recommend. beautiful place.
there's some great places to eat in porto:
cantina32 on rue das flores - book or get here as it opens, superb tapas style stuff
ribiera square - near the back of the square by the river, the guys here know their stuff
yours bistro - attached to a guest house but has a lovely chilled garden to eat in which isn't what you'd expect
wine quay bar (yes, i know) - this is on the wall by the river. great wine and the do excellent cheese/meat boards. you get a guillotine to cut your cheese with and if you get one of the outdoor tables it comes with a water pistol to shoot at the seagulls who swoop in to try and rob your scran.

can't go wrong with either city tbh, very different, but ace.

I like Porto and would recommend visiting a few of the old port houses. If I was picking one it would probably be Taylor's. Most of these are on the same side of the river. You can cross the high bridge over the Douro and there are some goo restaurants on the quay side. There is also the football stadium which is quite unusual looking.A trip inland from there and you see some of the real Portugal. Please share your feedback of Lisbon as would like to go there one day.

quoonbeatz wrote: for non-staggy stuff walk along the river to belem, its not far and there's bars and that along the way.

We walked out to Belem and it was hot and there wasn’t really much to see on the way. There is also a lot of walking at Belem. Which is why I recommended the bus.

piston broke wrote:We walked out to Belem and it was hot and there wasn’t really much to see on the way. There is also a lot of walking at Belem. Which is why I recommended the bus.

yeah i think it took about an hour to walk there but it was a nice walk in the sun along the river. There were a few bars/stalls and stuff along the way as i remember but it might depend on when you go. i think there was a museum of the sea or something as well? it was about 4-5 years ago...

sorry, i wasn't arguing against getting the bus!

In Lisbon, get yourself a day travel pass for less than 10 euros. Covers all the trams, buses and furnicular. Get Tram 28 right to the top and walk to the terrace behind the church overlooking the coast. Best view you will get of Lisbon -- and there's a little kiosk bar selling beer & wine. Buskers pass by in turna nd you can spend an enjoyable hour or two there. As for stag recommendations I'll leave that to the young people! I'd resist getting dragged into a Fardo establishment unless you like morose music that makes you want to stick a fork in the side of your head.....

Benfica and Sportling Lisbon Stadium tours are well worth a go.

Really enjoyed it when I went.

Lisbon is class. Went on a stag do the other year. Didn't do much in terms of activities, but plenty of good places to booze.

Bairro Alto at night.

Make sure you have loads of those custard tarts that they make over there.

I can't understand people who rave about Lisbon, but then I suppose having lived in Portugal, it lost its exotic appeal. It's okay, but there are far more interesting places in Europe.

Ditto - Bairro Alto is the best place to be in Lisbon for a night out.

Second day today. About to head for a beach if anyone has a good recommendation (lisbon).

What an amazing city. In love with it after just one day.

Lisbon is amazing city. The old town in Oporto is similarly steeped in history.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Second day today. About to head for a beach if anyone has a good recommendation (lisbon).

What an amazing city. In love with it after just one day.

Did you fly to Porto yesterday by any chance? If so I was maybe sat in front of you. There was a stag group on the flight...

JellyBaby wrote:Did you fly to Porto yesterday by any chance? If so I was maybe sat in front of you. There was a stag group on the flight...

Wasnt me we fly out of porto but flew into lisbon. Well I say we about 30 of them are flying in today. 2 of us culture vultures came for the sights a few days early

Just back now from both.

Lisbon - absolutely phenomenal place. Loved every thing about it. And the food was as good as anywhere Ive been. Not a single bad meal.

Porto - Nice place. Quite interesting. But nowhere near as 'cool' or vibrant as I was expecting and not as much going on. Also didn't rate the beaches in Porto. Weather didn't help as it was surprisingly wet and cloudy and the food wasn't a patch on what we had experienced in Lisbon (an unbelievable steak aside). A nice city but wouldn't rush back. Lisbon I could imagine living in and will definitely holiday there again.

The custard tarts are something else. Brought some back

cricketfieldclarets wrote:
The custard tarts are something else. Brought some back

Pastel de nata - gorgeous!! I was pleasantly surprised to find that you can actually get these from the bakery sections of most supermarkets.

Rileybobs wrote:Pastel de nata - gorgeous!! I was pleasantly surprised to find that you can actually get these from the bakery sections of most supermarkets.

Think I averaged 2 a day!