Having lived in many countries and being lucky enough to have quite a few foreign friends, I've been frequently asked for advice on what to do in my hometown. I've had a standard e-mail that I typically forward to my friends for a while, but it seemed to be about time for me to write a blog post about my favourite city in the entire world: Lisbon. So here it goes! Enjoy!
Belém
- What? Old neighborhood by the river, full of historical monuments, a few good museums, and the best pastry in town
- Duration? 1 afternoon
- What to do?
- Walk by: Torre de Belém, CCB, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Padrão dos Descobrimentos
- Pick one to visit: probably Torre de Belém
- If you like art: great modern art exposition inside CCB
- Eat: Pastel de Belém (the most famous Pastel de Nata – a traditional sweet pastry – in Portugal)
Baixa & Praça do Comércio & Alfama & Castelo de São Jorge
- What? Centre of Lisbon. Baixa is downtown, Castelo de São Jorge is the Lisbon Castle and Alfama the neighborhood surrounding it. Giving you some context, in 1755 there was a massive earthquake in Lisbon, followed by a massive fire and a tsunami that pretty much destroyed downtown Lisbon. The only parts that resisted were the neighborhoods around the castle (in a hill). Baixa was then totally reconstructed and was rebuilt into a pretty architecture and urbanism organization. Alfama remained chaotic, with tiny little streets, disorganized urbanism and amazing views.
- Duration? 1 day
- What to do?
- Take good walking shoes
- Walk and shop around: Rossio, Rua Augusta and the streets parallel to it, towards Praça do Comércio. Go up the arch in the end of Rua Augusta (Arco da Rua Augusta) to get a cool panoramic view of that area. Avoid all the touristy restaurant in Baixa. Portuguese food is much better (and can be much cheaper than that). If you're hungry there, go to Bastardo, a cool restaurant in Rossio.
- Eventually take Elevador de Santa Justa, a metallic lift from where you have nice views. I would not go up, but just the monument instead. There are cooler places to get a panoramic view.
- Take the electric yellow tram (Eléctrico 28) up the hill towards the castle
- Leave the tram by Sé de Lisboa, Lisbon's oldest cathedral (an old mosque converted into a cathedral after the city was conquered from the Arabs)
- Walk towards a few viewpoints and stop for a few pictures (Miradouro das Portas do Sol)
- Walk up to the castle (Castelo de São Jorge) and get a ticket to get inside the castle walls. The view from there is breathtaking!
- All that neighborhood around Sé and Castelo is called Alfama. It has tiny streets (Arabic influence), and many restaurants with typical food and people singing Fado (Portuguese traditional music). Avoid the tourist traps.
- Grab a drink at Memmo Alfama (a cool rooftop bar in a trendy hotel over there)
- (If you're not tired yet, walk towards Graça, another neighborhood close to the Castle, where you have another 2 or 3 really cool viewpoints (Miradouro da Graça, Miradouro de Nossa Senhora do Monte, etc.)
Príncipe Real & Bairro Alto & Chiado & Cais do Sodré
- What? The place to be. Chiado and Príncipe Real are currently the two coolest and trendiest neighborhoods in town. It's the place for shopping, eating at a fancy restaurant, and seeing the views. Bairro Alto is a tiny typical neighborhood, packed with little bars and restaurants. It's where all the foreign students live so it's known for lots of partying and crowded streets in the evening.
- Duration? lunch + 1 afternoon + dinner
- What to do?
- Start at Príncipe Real: stop at any garden and check all the corners for cute streets and good views
- Go inside one or two modern alternative department stores, namely Embaixada do Príncipe Real. My favourite bikini brand ever (Latitid) has a store there
- Keep walking around for Príncipe Real for cool stores, restaurants and bars
- Start walking down and stop at a viewpoint called Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara
- Go down to Chiado by walking the streets of Bairro Alto (tiny streets, in June probably adorned with colorful tapes and Summer decoration, with many restaurants and alternative shops)
- Check all the main streets in Chiado: Rua Garrett, Rua do Carmo, Largo do Carmo, and all the other streets surrounding the area
- As the evening approaches, walk to Cais do Sodré, a neighborhood that used to be quite dodgy and that is now packed with cool restaurants, a nice food court (Mercado da Ribeira) and many, many bars
- Pick one of the restaurants for dinner there
Cascais & Sintra
- What? Romantic trip to a wealthy village 20/30 minutes away from Lisbon, by the sea (Cascais) and to a lovely hilly place packed with palaces and old houses (Sintra)
- Duration? 1 day (worth renting a car)
- What to do?
- Drive to Cascais, check the city centre, and take the street by the sea to get to Guincho (a lovely beach). Before Guincho, the neighborhood around Marina is worth a stop. There are plenty of monuments and museums in the area. Once in Guincho, and in case you are interested, eat at one of the amazing fish restaurants.
- Keep driving west, towards Sintra, through a hilly road, surrounded by trees and bushes
- Visit one or two palaces. I would definitely recommend Palácio da Pena and Quinta da Regaleira. If I am not wrong, it is possible to buy passes for more than one palace.
- Go for a hike, if you are in the mood.
- Also in Sintra, try 2 other famous pastries: travesseiro de Sintra & queijada de Sintra. A good place to eat them is Piriquita.
This post could not close without a few tips on FOOD:
- Portuguese food: Solar dos Presuntos (Restauradores), Taberna da Rua das Flores (Chiado), Ramiro (Av. Almirante Reis), Peixola (Cais do Sodré), Água pela Barba (Bica), Sea me (Chiado)
- Trendy places: Jncquoi (Av. da Liberdade), Minibar (Chiado), Cevicheria (Príncipe Real), O Asiático (Bairro Alto), Bairro do Avillez (Chiado), Cantinho do Avillez (Chiado), Alma (Príncipe Real), Tapisco (Príncipe Real), Bistro 100 Maneiras (Chiado)
- Japanese Food: Yakuza First Floor (Príncipe Real/ Rato), Confraria (Cais do Sodré), Kanazawa (Restelo), Hikidashi (Campo de Ourique)
- Mexican Food: Cascabel (El Corte Ingles), Pistola y Corazon (Cais do Sodré)
- Food markets: Mercado de Campo de Ourique (Campo de Ourique), Mercado da Ribeira (Cais do Sodré)
- Icecream: Davvero (Cais do Sodré, Santos, Belém)
- Bars: Try bar hoping in Cais do Sodré (namely a pink street that we call Rua Cor de Rosa, although that's not the proper name of the street). For signature cocktails, check out Toca da Raposa (Chiado)
- Rooftops: Topo (Martim Moniz), Topo (Chiado), Topo (Belém), Hotel do Bairro Alto (Chiado), Hotel Tivoli (Avenida da Liberdade), Hotel Mundial (Martim Moniz)
- Clubbing: Lux (Santa Apolónia)
- Brunch: Amélia (Campo de Ourique), Comoba Lisboa (Cais do Sodré), Heim Café (Santos), Dear Breakfast (Cais do Sodré), Hello, Kristof (Cais do Sodré), Fauna e Flora (Santos), Chèrie Paloma (Santos)
Note 1: All the tips below should be complemented by a tour guide or some google searches. These are just guidelines on what not to miss
Note 2: Taking a tour bus in the beginning of the trip may be a good idea in order to get an overall view of the city before checking a few neighborhoods in further detail
