Help Needed Lisbon and Barcelona: Stay in town or nearby?

[Spedprof]

Two reasonably active youngish(late 60s) active couples looking to visit Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona next Spring On previous visit to Tuscany, we stayed in a villa outside of Florence where we met locals, shopped locally, and most importantly, ate locally. On 2 days or so, we traveled into Florence to see the sites but really enjoyed being away from that craziness. Madrid is set with an apartment rental, but not sure where to stay in Lisbon or Barcelona. If there are neighborhoods in each that are less "touristy", that might work or might we stay a reasonable distance outside of the cities and visit on day trips? Are there some villages with an easy commute (public or car rental) from Lisbon and Barcelona? One more thing, since one of the party is somewhat limited in much hard walking, are the "Hills" of Lisbon going to present a problem that might be avoided by staying outside of town.

Thanks, all!

 

[Giulia da Urbino]

Hi!
Even if I normally like to stay in the centre or within easy walking distance to the places I want to visit, a few years ago I went to the Lisbon area and enjoyed very much staying in Cascais instead of downtown Lisbon... Public transport to Lisbon (and Sintra) is very very good and it makes it easy to visit.
Never experienced doing something similar in Barcelona, but I probably would not go that far away from the centre and stay in a residential neighbourhood in town with easy underground (or easyish walking) access to the very centre and the sea...

 

[Dennis]

For our last two visits to Barcelona, We stayed in the Gracia district. We were satisfied with the area. Metro and bus connections to all the sights were good; markets, bars and restaurants were in abundance; it was quiet (as compared to the old city) at night. Once we stayed in Castelldefells for a couple of nights. Local rail connections into Barcelona were good but the town itself was drab and uninspiring. It has good access to the airport.
In Lisbon the Baixa area is flat and easily walked. There are elevators, funiculars and trams to get one to the higher areas in the city.
If you decide to stay outside the city, for both cities, I would counsel against driving into the city on day trips. Traffic is heavy and parking at a premium. As Guilia mentions public transport is good from any number of towns surrounding both cities. However, if one is going to "see" Barcelona and Lisbon, it's my opinion it's best to stay in the city if it is one's first time there.

 

[Jan55612]

I have recently had extended stays in both Lisboa and Barcelona. During the winter of 2016, we spent a month in Lisboa. While the Baixa area is flat and easy to navigate, I found it noisy and always tourist-packed. The Chiado, while hillier, is more interesting. Another flat neighborhood is the Campo de Ourique. It is accessible by the tram system and a bit quieter. While you could stay in Cascais (it is really beautiful and on the sea) it would mean a train ride (I think it took about 40 minutes) every time you want to see something in Lisboa or Belem.
During the winter of 2017, we rented an apartment in the Eixample area of Barcelona for six weeks. We had rented in Barcelona a couple of times before, but for shorter stays. We liked our apartment and "our" neighborhood so much we are returning for a longer stay this winter. Our apartment is on the right side of the Eixample (the side the Sagrada Familia is on) and only a few blocks from Gracia. We had great metro connections and the buses were convenient, but we also walked a lot because Barcelona is a very walkable city. I have issues with noise at night (I am a light sleeper) and the Eixample worked well for me.
As a side note, if you haven't used Spotted By Locals yet, you might want to try it because there are good listings for all three cities you are planning to visit.