I'm traveling to Spain with friends in Sept. but have always wanted to go to Portugal as well. Is it safe enough for me to go by myself for 2-3 days before I meet up with my friends? If so, would Lisbon be the best place to go? I dont mind train travel ( a day in Lisbon, a day somewhere else) but dont want to rent a car...
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9222 posts
Do you feel safe in Alta Loma? What is it about Portugal that makes you think it isn't safe for a single female? Have you heard stories?
Posted by
Tucson
4183 posts
My husband and rented an apartment for a week in the Alfama area of Lisbon last June. Although I was with him, I never saw a reason for being concerned. The subways are fabulous. We rode to most of the stations just to see the amazing tile work. We also took the bus when it was more convenient. There are recommendations that you take a taxi if you are going home late at night. There are pickpocket warnings about the famous trolley ride through the Alfama. That's no different from any other major city Europe. We flew into Lisbon and flew (Easy Jet) from Lisbon to Madrid. The reason for that is that the train takes so long to get from, for example, Lisbon to Madrid, that we had skipped Portugal on our first trip. According to DB, the shortest time is at least 10 hours and all are overnight trains. You don't say where you will meet up with your friends in Spain, but the trip to Sevilla or Barcelona will be even longer. I didn't check this, but the flight might be cheaper than the overnight train, too. There was plenty for us to see in Lisbon and the immediate area to fill a week and keep Lisbon as a home base for all of it. The hard part for you might be ing from those things what to see in just a couple of days. There are lots of sources for the best things to see there, but send me a personal message if you would like to know what we saw and did. Nothing that we did was anything I would have been concerned about doing on my own.