Barcelona or Lisbon?

grimm2005

Hey,

So I'm thinking of doing a 4 night stay in Barcelona or Lisbon in mid-April. Just wondering which city people prefer? I've been in Lisbon once on a day trip from the Algarve but it was so short that I didn't really get to explore properly but it seemed like a really nice place. Would be going for general sightseeing and nightlife. Going alone and on the cheap so would be staying in a shared dorm in a hostel. Found a popular one in Lisbon that organises a lot of sightseeing trips/tours and also has pub crawls and BBQs in the evening. Also found a very highly rated one in Barcelona that seems to offer events etc as well.

For some reason I'm leaning towards Lisbon at the moment, even though flights are slightly pricier. Can folks convince me of one over the other?

veetwin

Madrid

grimm2005

Well I had originally planned to do a week between Barcelona and Madrid but flight prices to and from Madrid during that period are just a bit too pricey for my budget.

veetwin

Lisbon in that case. Didn't like Barcelona that much. Huge amount of criminals hanging around the main tourist areas looking for easy pickings.

grimm2005

veetwin wrote: »

Lisbon in that case. Didn't like Barcelona that much. Huge amount of criminals hanging around the main tourist areas looking for easy pickings.

Cheers, ended up going for Lisbon, figure I'll do my original plan another time when I have a bit more cash or when flights are a bit lower!

Strumms

Went to lisbon back in October for 5 nights. Nice city but after day 3 we really ran out of stuff to do. The day trip to Cascais is a must and go for a long walk up along the coast.

I was in Madrid and Barcelona last year too. Madrid is an amazing city and on my go back to list maybe as soon as this year. Loved it. Liked Barcelona too another great city but very poorly policed you need to be on your guard at night but otherwise had a great time there too...

sarkozy

Been to Barca twice, Lisbon once. I'd go back to Lisbon in a second. Real atmosphere there. It's worth getting south to the wine areas along the coast. Sintra is also quite interesting for an afternoon trip - accessible by local bus. I hope to be back to Lisbon again sooner than later.

grimm2005

Cheers for the replies, have booked to stay Wednesday to Sunday in a hostel in the Alfama district, about 15 minutes walk from the centre, and on the old 28 tram route. Has a rooftop terrace with hammocks etc, looks pretty chilled out and they have free walking tours, trips to Sintra, pub crawls, Belem bike tours and some other stuff too like a BBQ party on a Friday so between that and just generally checking out the city and it's sights I reckon I should have plenty to keep me occupied!

Any good museums or such I should definitely check out? I did see the big church, the monument with a view at the top (can't remember the name!), the elevator and the modern art museum in my short time there before but suggestions for anything else are much appreciated!

P. Breathnach

A note of caution on the 28 tram: it's notorious for pickpockets. Alfama is a nice interesting place to wander around a bit. You'll probably notice the castle there.

If you have a big hole in your programme buy a day ticket for public transport. Then try an activity that Herself and I have tried in various cities: trambling (rambling by tram).

Big yesses for Sintra and for Belem.

I hope you like fish.

grimm2005

P. Breathnach wrote: »

A note of caution on the 28 tram: it's notorious for pickpockets. Alfama is a nice interesting place to wander around a bit. You'll probably notice the castle there.

If you have a big hole in your programme buy a day ticket for public transport. Then try an activity that Herself and I have tried in various cities: trambling (rambling by tram).

Big yesses for Sintra and for Belem.

I hope you like fish.

Cheers, I was recently pick-pocketed in Krakow on a late night stroll back to my hostel and have just got back from Paris which is full of them so I'm on high alert these days!

Cool, will definitely consider that! Not a huge fish fan, pretty much like all white fish but I'm not overly adventurous with it, but I'll see how I get on :P