With two little kids, picking vacation destinations became trickier and less flexible. As much as we love to explore less touristy towns and villages, we also try to avoid having to carry the car seats. We chose Lisbon and Madrid based on their low airfare (via TAP Portugal’s stopover), easy access to public transportation, and numerous day trip options. Our last trip to Portugal was back in 2016, so it has been 9 years and we were very looking forward to their seafood rice (Arroz de Marisco). This was a big family trip with 7 adults (my aunt and uncle) and my 2 little ones.

We arrived in Lisbon early in the morning at 10:15 AM, the passport control line was so long; Lisbon became a vacation hot spot since we visited 9 years ago. There was a fast lane for families traveling with little kids and people with disabilities. I asked the airport staff and he pointed me to that lane. The wait was around 15 minutes and when our turn to the immigration officer, he was being a jerk and said only the kids with their parents, not even grandparents! So I told Jason to take the kids and I’ll take the rest of the family to line up at the normal line….that took another hour!!! I should’ve queued in the normal line at the start right? I found out as we got near that they implemented electronic gates for US, Canada, and a few more countries’ citizens, my kids won’t be able to use those so we would need to split up!

Done with that hurdle, we walked to the tourist information desk to purchase the 72 hr Lisboa Card. You can purchase it online but with the TAP Portugal’s stopover flight, we get 15% off which can only be redeemed in person. After the discount, it was around $61 per adult. I did the math and it was cheaper and more convenient as it includes unlimited trains/metros/trams/buses and skip the ticket line for attractions. For more information, check out this website: https://www.lisboacard.org/ to do your math to see if it makes sense.

To get from the airport to our apartment, LV Premier Chiado, we used Bolt (similar to Uber but usually cheaper than Uber). Normally, it’s already cheap for around $10, but they were having a promo of 70% off which we ended up paying only $3-$5 each for our rides. We had to book two cars and what I like about Bolt is that there’s a category for car seat cars (more expensive of course but not too bad). We followed the signs to Uber/Bolt pick up area and it was a mad house there. The downside of Bolt is that it only gives 2 minutes of “free wait time” to find the driver; they charge extra over that. And the drivers were scamming on that, we got in the car before the 2-minute counter was over but the driver didn’t start the journey until later which I only noticed after I got the receipt of the extra charges so beware of that! It was €1.89 extra so I didn’t file any complaint since the ride was already cheap. The ride took 25 minutes and both of the drivers dropped us off at the street before actual street, I showed the driver on the map that it is the next street over so he had to make another loop to get there. Our apartment is located in the pedestrian only section of the street so the driver dropped us off at the beginning of the street and we had to walk a little to get to the apartment.

Luckily, our apartment was ready when we reached it at around 1:30 PM so we dropped off our bags and then headed out for a late lunch. I searched TheFork and made a last-minute reservation at Sebastiao nearby with 30% discount. We ordered the following:

The garlic shrimps were overcooked 🙁

The fried squids were crunchy and not bad:

But, the squid ink rice was too salty and the portion was super small for its price!

The Portuguese steak was salty urg!

The lunch cost $135.67 after the 30% discount and wasn’t filling at all. I totally not recommending Sebastiao!

We walked over to Manteigaria for its famous Pasteis de Nata and there wasn’t a line so it was good timing.

I bought 9 so one for each, but they were too sweet and not milky/creamy like the ones we had at Pastéis de Belém years ago!

Afterward, we walked to Praça do Comércio for sightseeing and pictures. My son is a car maniac so he was interested to see the old-fashioned trains in Lisbon.

The beautiful plaza with the view of Arco da Rua Augusta on the back.

Our Lisboa Card includes access to Arco da Rua Augusta so we decided to check it out…that started the validity of the 72 hour! We took an elevator up to the “2nd floor” where it has the mechanics of the clock that was interesting to show our kids.

Then, it was a 150? steps up in the spiral and narrow staircase to the rooftop. It wasn’t too bad even with the kids and we were rewarded with good views of the historical center.

The Castle of São Jorge can be seen on the back (top of that hill).

A small group photo of our extended family 🙂 It was super hard to get both kids looking at the camera, not to say, smiling!

The Golden Gate’s twin: Ponte 25 de Abril further away:

After the arch, we were on a mission to buy fresh fruit, so we stopped by a few “fruit markets” that I saved on Google Maps and were surprised to say, not much fresh fruit! We made our way to “Baixa Market” and it wasn’t really a farmer’s market that I thought it was. It was more like food stalls instead.

Then, our last attempt was at the Pingo Doce supermarket where we finally found some basic fruits like grapes, strawberries, bananas, and watermelon. We did our grocery shopping there as well to get breakfast items, water, and milk for the kids. From there, it was a short walk back to our apartment to drop off our groceries and noticed that from our kitchen’s window, we have the view of the Carmo Archaeological Museum. Sadly, at night, we saw lots of homeless people taking shelter there!

To maximize the value of our 72 hr Lisboa Card, we went to take the Santa Justa Elevator as the line wasn’t as bad as compared to earlier in the day!

It was Jason and my 2nd time so we weren’t impressed or anything, but for 1st timer, it was an experience I guess. Right out of the elevator, we stayed a few minutes on the platform for the views.

The sun was lighting up the castle on the back.

The view of the elevator from above!

We walked down a steep street back to the main street for our dinner at O Arco which I made reservation for at 7 PM via Google Maps. I was essential to make reservations given our group size, the restaurant was fully booked! We ordered grilled shrimps (much better than the ones we had at lunch):

The mussels were alright, I preferred the simple steamed mussels in garlic white sauce.

We didn’t have this previously but saw on the review photos, the seafood pot, it was tons of seafood!

The star of the dinner was the Portuguese seafood rice (Arroz de Marisco), it tasted just like 9 years ago with a little bit of spicy taste to it (black pepper I think). But my kids couldn’t eat any spicy food so we ordered a side of white rice for them….it worked out. The dinner cost $205.6 and we were full!

After dinner, we took a walk around to digest the food before heading back to our apartment to rest.

The next morning, we got up early and ready to head out by 7:15 AM to catch the 15E tram from Pç. Figueira at 7:36 AM to Belem, arrived at 8:08 AM. My plan was to have breakfast at the infamous Pastéis de Belém (opens at 8 AM) and then to Jerónimos Monastery (opens 9:30 AM). When we arrived at Pastéis de Belém, there wasn’t a line and we followed the waiter to our table, passing rooms after rooms, that place is HUGE inside! It was our first time eating inside the bakery/restaurant. Although the room wasn’t full (yet), the waitresses and waiters already looked super busy. We waited so long until I had to walk up to flag down a waiter to take our orders! We ordered different pastries to try them out.

It took a while for our order to come…urg we were running out of time! All the pastries were too sweet for us except their infamous Pasteis de Nata!!! This was the Pasteis de Nata that I missed, milky, flaky, and just the right amount of sweet!!! All those pastries plus more on the other table cost $34.27, not bad for breakfast for 9 people!

One of the rooms inside the bakery/restaurant!

We got a glimpse of the kitchen with hundreds of Pasteis de Nata:

Immediately, we walked over to Jerónimos Monastery and it was 9:40 AM (opened 10 minutes ago) and unbelievably, the line was super long already! It was hard to wait in line with little kids, we tried to entertained them and shielded them from the sun. Today’s temperature was hotter than yesterday but thanks to the sea breeze, it was doable. While we waited in line, I took some pics with my daughter, she was super excited to explore palace today!

Even arrived at 9:40 AM, it took over an hour to get in!!! The line got insanely long by the time we reached the entrance, look at that line! It wasn’t like this at all 9 years ago!!!!

I remembered this beautiful facade and the detailed sculptures of the door.

Jerónimos Monastery looked beautiful and amazing in detail in every arch, spiral, column, etc. Another group photo after a few minutes of waiting for the guy to move away:

Lucky to have those two smiling together 😀

My daughter usually was camera shy (hard to believe that when you have a photographer mommy right?) but she loved to take photos of her favorite palaces during this trip with her signature “princess poses” hahaha!

The central courtyard was roped so we couldn’t walk out.

A chapel inside one of the rooms:

This room was filled with beautiful paintings on tiles!

We spent an hour inside the monastery and then headed over to Padrão dos Descobrimentos. That was under restoration when we were there last time so glad to see it without scaffolding.

It was a quick stop for photos and then we walked to the lunch restaurant, O Prado. We walk across a park and saw a flee market there selling all kinds of stuff!

We also saw the performances of the guards on horses!!!

O Prado was packed once we got there, but luckily we got tables outside the restaurant. We ordered the clams with garlic sauce, it was good.

Their seafood rice, Arroz de Marisco, was okay.

While their seafood pasta was the same ingredients and taste as the rice but with elbow pasta 😛

Lunch was pretty good for $145.20.

Next, we caught the bus nearby to Palácio Nacional da Ajuda; it was up a steep hill so I don’t recommend walking, especially with small kids and the elderly. Once we got there, I was surprised to see there was no line at all! I scanned our 72 hr Lisboa Cards and got in. Even more surprisingly, there were probably less than a dozen tourists inside so in most of the rooms, we were the only group!!! Woah it was night and day compared to Jerónimos Monastery, we took our time admiring each beautiful room and took photos of each, of course!

This room was filled with chandeliers, huge carpet artworks hanged on the wall, it showed the wealth of the kingdom back in the days.

Every inch of the ceiling was covered with beautiful paintings and arts. Family photo inside the palace 🙂

My daughter started piano lessons so she was very happy whenever she came across a piano! Yep, princesses played the piano very well!

Each room has a different color/theme and is furnished with lavish decor.

This one was the “Blue Room”:

Then a “red” room:

The porcelain room was beautiful, especially this custom display desk:

The “pink porcelain” room; look close to each edge of the mirror, table, chair, all covered with painted porcelain WOW!!!

The king’s bedroom:

The bathroom:

One of the many painted ceilings:

One of the queen’s many rooms:

My daughter’s princess pose haha!

The thorne room was so grand!!!

What surprised me the most was this banquet room, it can probably fit a hundred people in there!!!! It looked so luxurious a fit for royalty!

Huge chandeliers!

A rounded ball room:

That was the last room in the Ajuda National Palace but not done yet! On the other side of the building is the Museu do Tesouro Real (National Treasure Museum). It is also included in the Lisboa Card so we have to make the card’s worth 😉 To get in was high security, not only that all our purses were scanned (bigger bag stored in locker), we went through an x-ray machine, and thick glass door where we had to scan each ticket to go in, one person at a time! We were told to hold onto those tickets as we need them to get out too!! After we got through security, we took the elevator up and that was where the exhibition started.

At each floor was a long hallway to get into a long-shaped room where the royal jewelry were displayed. Pieces like those:

Those two black jewelry sets were quite different than others I have ever seen.

This brooch is huge!

See the size compared to my daughter?

Each piece was a work of art!

The king’s cape:

This floor was all silverware (should I say goldware as well)?

We visited each floor and then on the top floor, there was a cafe to take a rest. We took the elevator down and got out with the same high-security process. Once again, there were only a dozen tourists inside. Ajuda National Palace and the National Treasure Museum were hidden gems, not far from the Jerónimos Monastery and you can have the places all to yourselves! It was hard to believe tourists don’t know about this palace yet (we met a couple with their kids on the ride up Pena Palace and they never heard of this palace)!

We took the bus down and stopped at the beginning of the street which is next to the National Coach Museum. We checked it out too. My daughter loved the beautiful carriages; all the princesses ride in a carriage after all 😉

The view of the carriages up from the 2nd floor. It was not a big place but a good free quick visit (also included in the Lisboa Card).

After a full day of visiting the monastery and the palace, it was time to head back to Lisbon. The colorful street of Belem:

The tram was super crowded by then, heading back to Lisbon! We went back to our apartment for a break before heading out to dinner at Mar ao Carmo at 6 PM (reserved via TheFork for 30% off). The restaurant looked empty (not a good sign) but maybe we were early? Well, even with only a few tables of guests, it took forever for our food to come out!

The seafood pasta was just average, not much variety of seafood and the quality was stingy:

My aunt said her chicken risotto was yucky!

The razor clams was good at least:

The clams were fine:

The garlic shrimps were overcooked:

They forgot about my uncle’s Portuguese steak and took them a while to make one. Overall, not a good dining experience and the food quality was not good for $176.85 after 30% off.

In summary, we had a busy day exploring Belem. Breakfast at Pastéis de Belém is a must; their Pasteis de Nata is the best!!! I don’t think Jerónimos Monastery is worth the hour wait since it was our 2nd time visiting but for the rest of our family, it was their first time. Get there early, before it opens, as the line already started. To avoid the crowd, head over to Ajuda National Palace and the National Treasure Museum, they are beautiful and have no line at all! We absolutely enjoyed Ajuda National Palace!