Places to stay, things to do, and things to eat in Casablanca and Lisbon
March 6, 2017 7:31 AM Subscribe
My friend and I (both mid-30s F) were alerted to insanely cheap airfare, and so we spontaneously decided to take advantage of it and go to Lisbon, via a 48 hour layover in Casablanca, in June. We will be in Lisbon for 4 nights, and Casablanca for 2. Tell us things!
1. If you have any specific hotel recommendations or not-recommendations, please tell me what they are! We are hotel people, not hostel people and not airbnb people. We are friends who will be sharing a room, and would like two beds, not one. Under 100 a night for a room in a clean, nice, centrally located hotel would be nice. That looks entirely possible in Casablanca--not sure in Lisbon.
2. Where to eat and what to do in both cities! We are wandering people, not bus tour people.
3. Any other general advice. I've read that Casablanca is not super great and one should take a train to Fes or Marrakesh--I'm not sure we are up for that much travel, given that we are only there for 48 hours. But must we? Any other options?
Neither of us speak Arabic, French, or Portuguese. I speak okay Spanish; she speaks some Italian. We are not going to rent cars.
1. If you have any specific hotel recommendations or not-recommendations, please tell me what they are! We are hotel people, not hostel people and not airbnb people. We are friends who will be sharing a room, and would like two beds, not one. Under 100 a night for a room in a clean, nice, centrally located hotel would be nice. That looks entirely possible in Casablanca--not sure in Lisbon.
2. Where to eat and what to do in both cities! We are wandering people, not bus tour people.
3. Any other general advice. I've read that Casablanca is not super great and one should take a train to Fes or Marrakesh--I'm not sure we are up for that much travel, given that we are only there for 48 hours. But must we? Any other options?
Neither of us speak Arabic, French, or Portuguese. I speak okay Spanish; she speaks some Italian. We are not going to rent cars.
I'd also recommend Sintra: it's an easy train ride. There are brilliant views from the Moorish castle and the Quinta Regelaira is amazing if you like wandering in a strange place.
In Lisbon the Alfama is great fun for wandering about and there are tons of restaurants and things to see there, with the castle on the top of the hill.
posted by selfnoise at 8:11 AM on March 6, 2017
In Lisbon the Alfama is great fun for wandering about and there are tons of restaurants and things to see there, with the castle on the top of the hill.
posted by selfnoise at 8:11 AM on March 6, 2017
I have been to Lisbon for five days (loved it!), but not Casablanca.
1. Can't really help you with hotels, except to say that accommodation generally was surprisingly cheap in Portugal - at least by European standards. It'll probably be more expensive than Casablanca, though. I did stay in a great AirBnB (which was kinda hotel-y) if you change your mind about that.
2. Lisbon is a fantastic city for wandering around and eating. It doesn't have as many big-ticket sights as some other European capitals, but it is very scenic and atmospheric and the food is fantastic. Especially if you like seafood.
Some general ideas:
-Wander around in Alfama and Mouraria. You will get lost. That's the point.
-My favorite places to eat were in the Cais do Sodre neighborhood: Casa de Pasto (pricey, but worth it), and a place whose name I don't totally remember and can't seem to find on Google Maps that specialized in tinned fish (trust me, it's good, and pretty unique - Lisbon loves tinned fish). Ribeira Market, which is nearby, has a bunch of stalls with tasty food and some cool shops. There are also some good bars nearby if you go up away from the river; the ones one the same block as Casa de Pasto looked terrible.
-More food: Ze de Mouraria, on a little alleway in the Mouraria district. Everyone will tell you to go to Belem for pasteis de nata, but there's a place in Bairro Alto near Praca Luis de Camoes that's really awesome and doesn't have lines.
-We didn't get out to Sintra. Everyone who has been tells me it's amazing.
-The lines for the big-ticket attractions in Belem were long. I think you can buy tickets in advance; I'd strongly advise this.
-Probably my favorite tourist attraction in the city center was Carmo Convent: a mishmash of old artifacts in the ruins of a church that had its roof blown off in the 1755 earthquake.
3. I was pretty surprised at how widely English was spoken in Lisbon. It wasn't perfect English, but it was good enough. People were generally friendly and happy to help. We got some good recommendations from cabbies and waiters, so don't be afraid to ask.
posted by breakin' the law at 8:15 AM on March 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
1. Can't really help you with hotels, except to say that accommodation generally was surprisingly cheap in Portugal - at least by European standards. It'll probably be more expensive than Casablanca, though. I did stay in a great AirBnB (which was kinda hotel-y) if you change your mind about that.
2. Lisbon is a fantastic city for wandering around and eating. It doesn't have as many big-ticket sights as some other European capitals, but it is very scenic and atmospheric and the food is fantastic. Especially if you like seafood.
Some general ideas:
-Wander around in Alfama and Mouraria. You will get lost. That's the point.
-My favorite places to eat were in the Cais do Sodre neighborhood: Casa de Pasto (pricey, but worth it), and a place whose name I don't totally remember and can't seem to find on Google Maps that specialized in tinned fish (trust me, it's good, and pretty unique - Lisbon loves tinned fish). Ribeira Market, which is nearby, has a bunch of stalls with tasty food and some cool shops. There are also some good bars nearby if you go up away from the river; the ones one the same block as Casa de Pasto looked terrible.
-More food: Ze de Mouraria, on a little alleway in the Mouraria district. Everyone will tell you to go to Belem for pasteis de nata, but there's a place in Bairro Alto near Praca Luis de Camoes that's really awesome and doesn't have lines.
-We didn't get out to Sintra. Everyone who has been tells me it's amazing.
-The lines for the big-ticket attractions in Belem were long. I think you can buy tickets in advance; I'd strongly advise this.
-Probably my favorite tourist attraction in the city center was Carmo Convent: a mishmash of old artifacts in the ruins of a church that had its roof blown off in the 1755 earthquake.
3. I was pretty surprised at how widely English was spoken in Lisbon. It wasn't perfect English, but it was good enough. People were generally friendly and happy to help. We got some good recommendations from cabbies and waiters, so don't be afraid to ask.
posted by breakin' the law at 8:15 AM on March 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just remembered: aforementioned tinned-fish place was Sol e Pesce.
posted by breakin' the law at 9:31 AM on March 6, 2017
posted by breakin' the law at 9:31 AM on March 6, 2017
Everyone will tell you to go to Belem for pasteis de nata, but there's a place in Bairro Alto near Praca Luis de Camoes that's really awesome and doesn't have lines.
You're thinking of Manteigaria. Much better than Belem but Belem isn't just about the custard tart. The experience is a big part of it too.
I know Lisbon very well as my wife is from there and we go there every few months (my last three haircuts were from these amazing barbers) Funnily enough, we were both admiring this blog post as a perfect way to spend four days in Lisbon - that is, it covers most of the places we would take people as well. So I'll just leave that here.
posted by vacapinta at 9:56 AM on March 6, 2017
You're thinking of Manteigaria. Much better than Belem but Belem isn't just about the custard tart. The experience is a big part of it too.
I know Lisbon very well as my wife is from there and we go there every few months (my last three haircuts were from these amazing barbers) Funnily enough, we were both admiring this blog post as a perfect way to spend four days in Lisbon - that is, it covers most of the places we would take people as well. So I'll just leave that here.
posted by vacapinta at 9:56 AM on March 6, 2017
I haven't been to either city, but my parents and brother had a wonderful time at Zuzabed, a bed and breakfast in Lisbon.
posted by Desertshore at 11:16 AM on March 6, 2017
posted by Desertshore at 11:16 AM on March 6, 2017
You absolutely must go to Pasteis de Belem in Lisbon and eat the custard tarts. This from someone who normally hates custard!
posted by heatherlogan at 6:25 PM on March 6, 2017
posted by heatherlogan at 6:25 PM on March 6, 2017
In Lisbon: strongly suggest eating at Bairro do Avillez (Avillez is the local restaurant entrepreneur whiz. All of his restaurants are good; my favorite is Minibar, but that is molecular-type cuisine, and if it's your first time in Portugal, the more "normal" fare of Bairro do Avillez might be preferrable).
If you want to shop for gifts/things to remember Portugal by, strongly recommend A Vida Portuguesa (and, to a lesser degree, Paris em Lisboa). The soaps from Claus Porto are particularly wonderful.
Casablanca. Urgh. It is the least visitable city in Morocco, but if you are there for just 48 hours, a train to Fez or Marrakech is probably not feasible, so let's try to make the best of it. Definitely visit the Hassan II mosque, which is the only on in the country open to non-Muslims; visits are only at specified times, but they have English language tours. If you enjoy the movie Casablanca, go for dinner at Rick's Café, a reproduction of the one in the movie - it's gimmicky, sure, but fun, and the food is not at all bad. I'm afraid I'm not sure where to go for really good Moroccan food in Casa - it's the go-to city in Morocco for international cuisine, but I can't think of anywhere with exquisite Moroccan. One restaurant I went to and enjoyed very much - contemprary reinterpretations of French cooking - is Le Rouget de L'Isle.
One proviso: Morocco is an amazing, wonderful country, but doing things is difficult, especially if you're used to the way things operate in the US. I don't have a specific hotel to recommend, but try to make use of the hotel concierge to help you make restaurant reservations, get you taxis and arrange with them where you are going, when to bring you back and how much it will cost, etc. Outsourcing this kind of thing - at the cost of a few tips here and there - is the key to an ejoyable, low-stress time in Morocco.
posted by LingeringMoon at 4:03 AM on March 7, 2017
If you want to shop for gifts/things to remember Portugal by, strongly recommend A Vida Portuguesa (and, to a lesser degree, Paris em Lisboa). The soaps from Claus Porto are particularly wonderful.
Casablanca. Urgh. It is the least visitable city in Morocco, but if you are there for just 48 hours, a train to Fez or Marrakech is probably not feasible, so let's try to make the best of it. Definitely visit the Hassan II mosque, which is the only on in the country open to non-Muslims; visits are only at specified times, but they have English language tours. If you enjoy the movie Casablanca, go for dinner at Rick's Café, a reproduction of the one in the movie - it's gimmicky, sure, but fun, and the food is not at all bad. I'm afraid I'm not sure where to go for really good Moroccan food in Casa - it's the go-to city in Morocco for international cuisine, but I can't think of anywhere with exquisite Moroccan. One restaurant I went to and enjoyed very much - contemprary reinterpretations of French cooking - is Le Rouget de L'Isle.
One proviso: Morocco is an amazing, wonderful country, but doing things is difficult, especially if you're used to the way things operate in the US. I don't have a specific hotel to recommend, but try to make use of the hotel concierge to help you make restaurant reservations, get you taxis and arrange with them where you are going, when to bring you back and how much it will cost, etc. Outsourcing this kind of thing - at the cost of a few tips here and there - is the key to an ejoyable, low-stress time in Morocco.
posted by LingeringMoon at 4:03 AM on March 7, 2017
I haven't been to Casa but have heard precious little about it being a good place to visit.
ONCF (the Moroccan train company) says the train from Casa to Fes is 4 hours; I took the train from Fes to Rabat (scheduled to take three hours) and it was five hours after delays. I don't think I would recommend spending that high a share of a trip to Morocco on a train.
Rabat is only an hour from Casa by train (quite frequent) so it could plausibly be a day trip. It's a smaller, more modern city than Fes/Marrakech, but it does have a modest old town, so you can get a bit of the flavour of Morocco - markets, etc - complete with the touts who will say anything to try and get some of your money.
Another option worth looking into is hiring a driver and guide for a private tour to Fes or Marrakech. I would describe myself as a wanderer not bus tour type, but the four days I had a private tour were some of the highlights of my trip to Morocco; I got to see a lot, wasn't hassled because I already had someone with me, and I didn't feel generally too on rails. It wasn't super cheap but it wasn't an arm and a leg either, something like $150/day including driver, guide, accommodation and food. That would get you to Fes/Marrakech in a short amount of time (I wouldn't recommend driving yourself BTW), and let you see at least something of one of the great cities on your tight timeline.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 8:16 AM on March 10, 2017
ONCF (the Moroccan train company) says the train from Casa to Fes is 4 hours; I took the train from Fes to Rabat (scheduled to take three hours) and it was five hours after delays. I don't think I would recommend spending that high a share of a trip to Morocco on a train.
Rabat is only an hour from Casa by train (quite frequent) so it could plausibly be a day trip. It's a smaller, more modern city than Fes/Marrakech, but it does have a modest old town, so you can get a bit of the flavour of Morocco - markets, etc - complete with the touts who will say anything to try and get some of your money.
Another option worth looking into is hiring a driver and guide for a private tour to Fes or Marrakech. I would describe myself as a wanderer not bus tour type, but the four days I had a private tour were some of the highlights of my trip to Morocco; I got to see a lot, wasn't hassled because I already had someone with me, and I didn't feel generally too on rails. It wasn't super cheap but it wasn't an arm and a leg either, something like $150/day including driver, guide, accommodation and food. That would get you to Fes/Marrakech in a short amount of time (I wouldn't recommend driving yourself BTW), and let you see at least something of one of the great cities on your tight timeline.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 8:16 AM on March 10, 2017
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Lisbon centre is readily wanderable and there's plenty to see, although be aware a number of the famous tourist sights (notably the Jeronimos Monastery and the Belem tower) are a ways out of the city along the coast to the west - but public transport is decent; there are trams and trains and they're both pretty easy to find your way around.
The Bairro Alto is a maze of twisty old streets on the side of a hill and is made for exploring; the Castle Sao Jorge is impressive enough but a bit of a tourist trap. The Church of Sao Roque has some really outlandishly decorated (and reputedly most expensive) chapels and is worth a visit if that's your sort of thing.
I'd also maybe recommend taking a trip out to Sintra to see the Pena Palace and Moorish Castle - it'll be a train or bus trip out there but again, public transport is decent.
For eating, fill up on pasteis de nata, of course :)
posted by parm at 8:04 AM on March 6, 2017