Eyewitness Lisbon. Sam and Zab of Indefinite Adventure


Sam and Zab are the travel writers behind Indefinite Adventure. They are slow travellers and give in-depth advice and inspiration to long term travellers as well as to tourists. 


The British couple writes about vegetarian/vegan food, eco-, and LGBT travel. They went to Portugal on a research trip for their vegan guide to Lisbon, and they were
so lovely to answer a few questions.
 
THE TOURISTIN: Three words that characterize Lisbon?

Sam and Zab: Hilly, crumbling, colourful.

THE TOURISTIN: How do you get around Lisbon?

Sam and Zab: Mostly we walked. Since we were staying in the oldest district of Alfama which is pretty central, most places we went were within 30-40 minutes’ walk. If we wanted to get further, we took the metro, which is modern, easy to use and very cheap at just €1.25 for a single journey! There are also the famous yellow trams, which are attractions in themselves, but unless you’re really in a rush, I recommend just walking around Lisbon. Going up and down the hills will keep you fit too!

THE TOURISTIN: What is the best kept secret about Lisbon?

Sam and Zab: That there are vegetarian restaurants everywhere! It is the mission of our blog to find the best vegan eats whenever we travel, and when I started researching options for Lisbon, I was pleasantly surprised how many there were. It took us a month, but we managed to visit almost all of them to determine which to include in our vegan guide to Lisbon

THE TOURISTIN: What is your favourite borough/suburb/area in Lisbon and why?

Sam and Zab: It depends what for. We really liked Alfama, the oldest part of the city, and where we rented our Airbnb apartment. It’s a great place to find a cosy fado bar, drink wine, eat typical Portuguese food or just get lost in the labyrinthine cobbled streets and alleyways. For something more modern, with cool, bright cafés, shopping opportunities and plenty of friendly vegetarian eateries we liked the area by Jardim da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in the north of the city.

THE TOURISTIN: The best place for a hot chocolate or coffee in Lisbon?

Sam and Zab: We tried out several different cafés while we were in Lisbon to find the best place to work on our laptops from. We liked Largo Café for the cheapest coffee we found (€1 for a regular latte macchiato!) in the city and it was also a good workspace for us digital nomads. Unfortunately, though, they don’t offer soy milk, so it’s not super vegan friendly.

THE TOURISTIN: What is one restaurant we must try out while in Lisbon?

Sam and Zab: Only one?! Since we were searching for the best vegan eats in Lisbon during our time there, we visited some really excellent restaurants, many of which offered vegetarian buffets with vegan options. I can’t choose only one! I would say that Terra, Paladar Zen, Jardim dos Sentidos and Miss Saigon are all fantastic options for high-quality vegetarian and vegan food with both Portuguese and international twists.
THE TOURISTIN: Where would we meet you on weekends?

Sam and Zab: We actually tended not to go out so much at weekends as it was usually the busiest time to be out and about in Lisbon, like most cities. However, a nice place to hang out with friends at weekends is Café Tati where they play live jazz every Sunday afternoon and into the evening. It’s a café that also serves food and the music is cool without being pretentious. We used to go there, or do some other alternative activity in Lisbon at the weekend.

THE TOURISTIN: Do you have a favourite museum/gallery we all have to visit when in Lisbon?

Sam and Zab: We actually didn’t end up visiting that many museums or galleries in Lisbon, but one we liked and that wasn’t so busy, despite offering free entry and being in an area with lots of tourists, was the Museu Berardo in the suburb of Belem to the west of the centre of Lisbon. It’s an area most famous for the pastéis de Belém, a typical Portuguese custard tart, but tourists also visit for the Belem Tower, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos and the Jerónimos Monastery. We would recommend visiting the museum too if you go to Belem, as not only is it set inside a really interesting modern building that’s also used as a concert venue, but it doesn’t seem to be a place where the majority of tourists visit, so it’s a great place to escape the hordes of tour groups!

THE TOURISTIN: Thanks so very much. Good luck with everything and safe travels.

Jump onto their blog Indefinite Adventure, if you would like to read more from the duo.

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From Berlin with love