Fall Trip to Lisbon (and Sintra), Portugal

Took a fall trip to Portugal in 2025 and it ended up being one of those vacations that just clicked.

We went up to Sintra to see the National Palace of Pena and got lucky in a way I didn't expect; it was completely fogged in. When I say fogged in, I mean you could barely see twenty feet in front of you. My partner was bummed about the views for a bit, but honestly the fog made the place look ten times more dramatic. The yellow and red towers kept appearing out of the mist like something out of a fantasy game. Hard to beat.

Back in Lisbon we hit São Jorge Castle and walked the walls for a while. The whole city stretches out below you from up there. Peacocks just wandering around the grounds too, which I wasn't expecting.

Commerce Square was the big open one down by the river. Nice spot to just sit for a minute and people-watch with a coffee. Big arch, yellow buildings, easy to lose track of time.

The streetcars are everything everyone says they are. We took the 28 and the views along the way were unreal.

We also visited the Santa Justa Lift, this old iron elevator stuck right in the middle of downtown. Felt like an antique amusement park ride.

Highly recommend Portugal in the fall. Weather was great (cloudy for Pena palace, but so it goes), crowds were manageable, and the food was a whole other situation I could write about separately.