There’s a lot of information out there about sights in Madrid and Lisbon already, but I wanted to share some of the logistics and some other information out there about my first solo trip that I could not find super easily online so it may be of use to other travelers in the future. Hopefully this will be of help!

Flying on Norwegian to Madrid: This was not my first time flying on Norwegian. Things to note:

They weighed my bags; never had them do it before. Before checking in at the kiosk they routed everyone to go to a scale where your carry on AND personal item was weighed. Norwegian limits their low fare to 10kg for the carry on and personal item COMBINED. However, they were a little inconsistent about weighing the personal item; if it was something disposable like a plastic bag, they didn’t care. However, if it was a purse, backpack, camera bag, etc they weighed the personal item. Per the person doing the weighing, there is about 1kg of leniency.

A few things I learned from that, I probably could have just kept using my old Norwegian Approved Baggage sticker on my bag if I made a point of saying I did come from the weighing station already. Also, I noticed some people just emptied a few stuff out of their bag and just kept left it with a friend (e.g. they handed their laptop to their friend around the corner and re-weighed it and went back and put stuff back in).

Standard Norwegian Experience. I brought food on board. Power outlets are under the seats in economy (2 outlets for 3 seats; seats are in a 3-3-3 configuration on the 787). Low power output USB-A output from the touchscreen. Can charge a phone/ iPad, especially if not in use.

On the way back from Europe to the USA, they just took a quick glance at my bag and did no weighing.

Madrid impressions: I was pleasantly surprised how many places took Google Pay. Most of the places I went to (except the really small hole in the walls and train station coffee for 1 EUR) accepted card and NFC payments.

Wifi in Madrid: If I really needed free wifi on the go, beyond just McDonalds, the blue EMT buses have wifi along with the Carrefour supermarkets.

Madrid Chamartin Train Station Note that you can print out a copy of your renfe tickets in station with just your confirmation code.

Left Luggage (Consignas): there is a left luggage area just opposite the main train building (it’s on Google Maps). You put your bags through the X-ray and pay with coins to store your luggage. The Small lockers (3.60EUR) are the cheapest located to the right and easily stores a standard carryon luggage plus more. You must pay with coins, but there is a change machine that does not charge any commission next to the x-ray/ security attendant.

Power: There are standard Spanish power outlets scattered throughout the station, but not all of them work. It seems acceptable to camp next to the escalators down to the tracks where the power outlets are. There are also some outlets next to the main pillars where all the screens are, but not all of those worked reliably.

Wifi: The ADIF wifi never worked for me for whatever reason, but the restaurant near track 10(?) conveniently is also next to a couple power outlets has a public wifi network. You can put in any phone number, it never actually sent anything to verify.

Bathrooms: There are free public bathrooms at this station, which are not exactly clean but will do its job.

Getting to El Escorial: I took the ALSA bus 661; nice indoor waiting area. Not much seating. Paid cash for bus fare: 4.20 EUR one way. The ALSA buses seemed to generally have a power outlet between seats. One of the buses even had a standard outlet plus 2 USB-A ports.

El Escorial: I bought the tickets online. It was a pretty easy process; the only thing was that I booked for 10:15, but they did not seem to open on time (10AM).

El Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen): Take the 660A bus (5.20EUR cash roundtrip) from the El Escorial bus station (Estación de Autobuses de San Lorenzo Escorial-Est.Autob) leaves at 3:15PM and returns 5:30PM (only 1 bus a day!). They will give you a receipt for your return; don’t lose it! They will stop at the gate of El Valle and allow people to get off to purchase tickets (Credit Card/ NFC accepted) 9EUR entry; they don’t seem to really “sell out” so no worries about buying ahead of time. Of note, they didn’t force everyone to get out to buy tickets as some seemed to have maybe already purchased it online and one couple said (admittedly my Spanish isn’t great) that their son was in the Valley and refused to pay (bus driver didn’t care and they started talking about Franco). There was no further ticket check. Technically no photos inside, but definitely some people talking photos and doing sieg heils etc. Really unique experience. You’ll have too much time there since there isn’t much explanation etc. I just read a guidebook while inside. There is also a café by the bus drop-off point that is cash only. No wifi. Mediocre reception, especially inside the café.

Segovia: make sure to get the Ponche Segoviano 3EUR from Limon y Menta. Wifi, power outlets, bathroom. Really great dessert and place to take a break.

Madrid – Lisbon “Lusitania” night train: I read a lot about this, mostly negative, but I really liked my experience. I was not expecting a luxurious modern experience… and it was not. Tourist class bed is 4 beds/ cabin with sink in cabin and 1 bottle of water and toiletry kit. Each bed had a power outlet at the head. Bathrooms get nasty from sloshing. It was a bit bumpy, but just took a diphenhydramine and had a great night of sleep. They woke us up at the Portugese border crossing for a quick check of passports by Portugese National Police. On the way back, I took the Tourist class seats, found almost nothing about this online. Seats are old but fine without reclining (but are already angled back a bit). No power outlets. They are much larger than an airline seat (2 by 2 configuration). It gets chilly at night when the doors open. Again, it was a perfectly fine experience. Not luxury, but would have no problem doing it again. Café car is only open for a few hours; food is reasonably priced. All food freshly microwaved.

Overall impression of Lisbon: a lot of pickpockets and a lot of scammers. I don’t know why they say “Hello Friend”—maybe this is a non-US thing, but I never hear anyone say that, and it screams you’re trying to scam me. Great food. Not as hilly as I expected.

Lisbon Chill-Out Free tour: normally really like free walking tours. This one tries to be really "authentic." I think there was a disconnect in terms of the humor of the tour guide and the North Americans/ non-Portuguese Europeans in the group. Openly suggested a 10EUR minimum tip at the end. Most gave 10EUR. Focused a lot on the background and very little on what we were seeing, so we felt like we learned a lot yet learned almost nothing; not great for orienting yourself to a new city. It seemed like they made an effort not to point out major sights. Not sure I would recommend, but not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. Later used Rick Steve’s Free audiotour app and found it much more enlightening (and great food recommendations as well!)

Getting to Sintra: Make sure you fill up your Via Viagem card the day before since the line is really long in the morning. You can just use that balance to zap.

Sintra: honestly, it felt extremely touristy. Tourist office is adjacent to the train station. Can purchase an all-day pass for the buses. The buses took very roundabout routes. I bought the all-day all-inclusive bus pass since I wanted to go to Cabo da Roca. Pena palace, check out the gardens, I thought they were more delightful than the actual palace.

Cabo da Roca: About an hour bus ride from Sintra. Get there early to get a seat. Leaves the Sintra bus station about every hour. Really gorgeous views and spectacular sunset. Sneak under the wooden guardrails and carefully take pictures where others have previously fallen to their demise then sit somewhere and enjoy the view. Photos do not do the place justice.

Cascais: I just took the bus from Cabo da Roca to Cascais instead of back to Sintra. It was a nice walk at night along the ocean from Cascais to Estoril. Lots of small places to eat. Not the cheapest city.

Dos Prazeres Cemetery: end of the Tram 28 line. Actually a really lovely place to visit. It’s like a city of the dead with some tombs falling into disrepair. Interesting to also see that some coffins are stored above ground. Of note, not all tombs are well maintained or vandalized so don’t go if you’re deathly afraid of seeing a couple bones. Lots of history, really unique.

Lisbon Apolonia Train station: this is an older train station but closer to the city center and also on the subway. Supermarket in the station is nice. Didn’t find any wifi areas (the cafes that had wifi were closed when I was there really early or really late in the day). I did notice some of the cafes had power outlets and claimed free wifi. Left luggage is a small room, again pay with coins but no change machine. About 6EUR for their small box (1.50EUR up front, +4.50 to open for 7-24 hours). Definitely take a picture of the receipt with your access code since I found the ink seemed to wear off super easily on this one.