While most young and bored uni students would rather invest their money and let loose on a mad party holiday to Ibiza, me and my friends were hiking around the hilly landscape of Lisbon in the sweltering heat for 5 days... whilst also enjoying our (almost Ibizan) nights out... and I loved it.
I always had an image of the ideal holiday as one that involved minimal effort - lying on the beach all day long, soaking up the sun with a Desperados in one hand and a romantic novel in the other - but after spending not even a week in Portugal's capital city, it's clear that sightseeing has become more desirable.
Rather than lazing around by the pool all day like I usually do, we took each day as it came and made the most of our time to explore as much of Lisbon as we could. Whilst on the long steep walks to reach our destinations, there would always be a coffee shop or a bar to stop at to regain your strength; whether that be with a coffee or a small glass of wine (or ten). And although the city's architect is very old and traditional, there are of course the stores that we all know and love:
Brandy Melville, Zara, Sephora.
So even if walking isn't really for you, there's still always time for a little retail therapy.
Of course, Lisbon is famous for it's seafood cuisine, so with me being a massive foodie and a vegetarian, I found it hard to resist the temptation (but I did. I'm an honourable veggie and continue to be so). I've found that since ditching meat from my diet, eating out is a struggle, especially in foreign countries. There's usually about ten meat dishes, and one - maybe two if we're lucky - veggie dishes, which is hard, as it's usually always either Margherita pizza or cheese and tomato pasta. If you search hard enough though, you'll find plenty of unique restaurants and bars tucked away around almost every corner of Lisbon with plenty of options for meat lovers, veggies and vegans.
If you're a fan of rooftop bars then Lisbon is the place to be - there are dozens of them with beautiful views of the orange and pink sunset reflecting off the surface of the ocean, surrounded by trees and flowers of every colour imaginable. And even better, drinks are extremely cheap, ranging from 1-2 euros for beer and no more than 10 euros for cocktails/wine/sangria - which makes Lisbon one of my favourite cities for that reason alone.
Lisbon has it all, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to go on a city break with good views, cheap food and strong alcohol!
