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The final port of call for us is Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Sky Princess is docked for just eight hours – but that turns out to be more than enough.

As one of our fellow guests was told by a local tuk tuk driver, ‘this is a s****y city for wheelchairs’. And he’s not wrong.

Bump bump bump

We haven’t planned any significant excursions for our visit. Instead we were hoping to simply check out the local sights on the walk up to the Hard Rock Café.

In terms of architecture and ceramic tile work, there’s a lot to see. However, the pavements are a nightmare. The paving looks beautiful – but it’s treacherous and unnavigable on a mobility scooter. Especially when patches block paving are missing, or drop kerbs fail to meet street level – assuming they exist at all.

Our journey takes us past dozens of seafood restaurants, wine bars and bakeries. There’s also plenty of ‘tourist tat’ shops for anyone unfazed by their ‘Portuguese’ souvenirs being made in China (or Spain).

Christmas and Rock

We also pass two Christmas markets, neither of which is easily accessed by mobility scooter. We skip them both, instead buying a Christmas tree ornament from Guerreiro e Silveira, a gift shop specialising in locally made handiworks – particularly ceramics.

Arriving at our destination, it’s clear that Hard Rock Lisbon is in a different league to its Gran Canarian counterpart. They have a lot more music memorabilia on the walls for starters – and a car on the ceiling. The restaurant is not yet open, but the gift shop is, allowing us to purchase the all-important pin badge. 

By now, the hills and uneven pavements is beginning to grate on us both, so we turn and head back downhill towards Sky Princess. The return journey seems to be much faster than the outward one.

Lisbon in the off-season

We’re grateful to be visiting Lisbon in the winter for two reasons. First, the weather is quite pleasant rather than unpleasantly hot. Second, navigating the city on a scooter would be even worse when the pavements are packed by crowds. Today was bad enough when the city wasn’t very busy at all.

One last thing…

The sail in and out of Lisbon is impressive, well worth getting up early for. Sky Princess has just 5 metres clearance under the Ponte 24 de Abril bridge.

Accessibility info

Batteries used: -80%

Terrain: Highly variable. Very smooth at the marina, mostly block paving, narrow paths and hills everywhere else.

Be warned that several streets are separated by flights of stairs, so you may need to plan your route carefully to avoid them.

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