← Fourteen Days from Lisbon to CasablancaConfirmation codes, room numbers and cost are excluded from this view by default.
Day 1 Arrival
TAP Air Portugal Flight TP204 — Newark to LisbonOvernight, landed 8am, and we made the classic mistake of booking a room we couldn’t get into until three.
Time Out MarketLisbon — Where you go when you have four hours and a suitcase. Fine. Loud. We would not go back with a choice.6/10
UntitledSlept badly on the plane and spent the first day in that useful fog where you agree to anything. Walked most of Baixa without meaning to.
Day 2 Alfama, properly
Miradouro da Senhora do MonteLisbon — Get there before nine and you have it. After eleven it is a queue for the same photograph.9/10
Cervejaria RamiroLisbon — Garlic shrimp, and then more garlic shrimp. The best thing we ate all trip and we ate very well.10/10
UntitledTwo hours of getting lost on purpose. The 28 tram went past four times and we never got on it, which felt like the right call.
Day 3 Sintra
Train — Rossio to Sintra40 minutes, runs constantly, costs almost nothing. Go early; the town fills by ten.
Quinta da RegaleiraThe initiation well is the thing everyone photographs. It earns it. The gardens above are emptier and better.9/10
Pena PalaceBeautiful from a distance and a scrum up close. We queued 50 minutes and saw it mostly over shoulders.5/10
UntitledSintra is a day trip that wants to be two days. We tried to do three palaces and did one and a half properly.
Day 4 Belém and the last Lisbon night
Pastéis de BelémLisbon — Yes it’s the tourist one. Yes they’re better warm and they only are here.8/10
LX FactoryLisbon — Good bookshop, good coffee, more gift shops than it needs.7/10
Day 5 North to Porto
Alfa Pendular — Oriente to CampanhãBook a window on the left going north. Comfortable, punctual, and the last hour is worth staying awake for.
Livraria LelloPorto — A beautiful staircase and a hundred people photographing it. Ten minutes inside, and we paid for the privilege.5/10
Day 6 The river
Ponte Luís I, upper deckPorto — Walk it at dusk from the Gaia side. Free, five minutes, and the best thing in the city.10/10
Port lodge tasting, Vila Nova de GaiaVila Nova de Gaia — We learned the difference between tawny and ruby and forgot it by Madrid, but the terrace was worth the ticket alone.8/10
UntitledIt rained for two hours and we sat it out under an awning with a glass of white port and tonic, which nobody had told us about and which we then ordered every evening.
Day 7 Matosinhos
Metro to the coast, grilled fish for lunchTwenty minutes on the metro and you are at the Atlantic eating whatever came in that morning. Barely a menu.9/10
Day 8 East to Madrid
TAP Air Portugal Flight TP1094 — Porto to MadridShort and unremarkable, which is what you want. There is no good train on this leg, and we checked twice.
Mercado de San FernandoMadrid — The neighbourhood market rather than the famous one. Cheaper, better, and nobody was photographing their food.7/10
Day 9 The Prado, and only the Prado
Museo del PradoMadrid — Three hours, one wing, no attempt at the rest. Best museum decision we have ever made.10/10
Retiro at duskMadrid — Rowing boats, a busker doing Leonard Cohen badly, and the light going orange behind the Palacio de Cristal.8/10
Day 10 Toledo
Train — Atocha to Toledo33 minutes. Book the return before you go; the afternoon trains sell out.
Toledo old townSteep, medieval, and almost empty by six when the coaches leave. Stay for the evening if you can.9/10
Day 11 A day with nothing in it
We had booked nothing and nearly filled it anyway. Instead: coffee, a long lunch, a nap, and a walk with no destination. The best day of the trip and the only one with no photographs.
Day 12 Across the water
AT971 — Madrid to CasablancaTwo hours and a different continent. Get dirhams at the airport; the medina is cash.
Rick’s CaféCasablanca — We knew exactly what it was and went anyway. The piano is good. The rest is the film.6/10
Day 13 Hassan II
Hassan II MosqueCasablanca — Take the guided tour — it is the only way inside, and the scale does not read from the outside.10/10
Old medinaCasablanca — Working, not curated. We bought nothing and it was the most interesting hour of the day.7/10
UntitledThirteen days in and the Atlantic is the same ocean we started on. That took a moment to land.
Day 14 Home
AT200 — Casablanca to New YorkDirect, eight hours, and we slept most of it for once.