Tips to Visiting Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon felt like the New York of Portugal. Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of this city is the architecture, but there’s more to it than that. It’s the detail of the smallest things to the largest structures, from the colorful tiles, the vibrant buildings, the façades, the décor, and the painted streets.

This isn’t the usual, “things to do in Lisbon,” this is a slow-travel your way through one of the most vivacious gems in Europe. The truth is, even though we spent several days exploring Lisbon, we didn’t hit all the major landmarks. We walked, we got lost, we ended up in gorgeous neighborhoods, in not so great areas, hiked some major uphill streets and stopped at every shop, restaurant and stall that was on the way.

So here’s an unusual guide to slow-traveling your way through Lisbon, seeing some pretty cool attractions but mostly taking it all in. Just remember, that at every turn, you’ll end up in a new neighborhood waiting to be discovered. To make that a little easier for you, we’re going to highlight what to do in each neighborhood and how to enjoy your time in Lisbon!

Where to stay

Although there’s a pretty straightforward center in Lisbon, our two favorite neighborhoods to stay were Alfama and Bairro Alto. We liked each for different reasons. Let’s talk about why.

Alfama is what you imagine an old crumbling, but very cute town would look like. This is the oldest district in Lisbon. It’s where old ladies are still dangling baskets out of their windows with strings to pick up groceries from the shop downstairs. It’s where the locals get together at night, sing Fado, dance in the narrow streets and offer passersby drinks and sweets. Where neighbors hang their clothes to dry from one building to the other, blessing tourists with dripping clean speckles of water. As you can imagine, there aren’t many hotels in Alfama, but here are our top recommended lodgings in the district: the Prime Apartments and the Inside Out Apartments. If you’re still looking for ideas, make sure to stay close to the Museu de Fado, this is where the heart of the Alfama district is.

Then there’s the complete opposite. The bustling night scene, the hipster cafes, the dive bars and chic restaurants are all in Bairro Alto. Of course understandably so, as Bairro Alto was historically the bohemian center of artists, writers, and creatives. This was certainly the more luxe part of town, but one that resonated perfectly with our European vacation vibe. You can’t go wrong with a place to stay here, but again we won’t keep you hanging so here are our suggestions: Selena Secret Garden and the Chiado 44 Guesthouse!

Neighborhood Guide – from East to West

Start your tour of Lisbon at the far Eastern side end – at the Alfama district. If you aren’t staying here, it’s especially important to just wander this little town.

As you walk downhill from Alfama towards the center of Lisbon, you’ll walk past several must see landmarks, the first being the Miradouro das Portas do Sol. This is where you can snap the famed postcard panoramic view of Lisbon. Keep in mind that Miradouro means viewpoint, and there are plenty of them in Portugal.

Just further down Rua Limoeira, the Sé Catedral de Lisboa or the Sé stands tall overseeing the city and the Tagus River.

Enjoy this walk as it’s probably the only time you’ll be going downhill in Lisbon! Further downwards, is yet another viewpoint, the Miradouro de Santa Luzia. This quickly became our favorite sunset spot and we came at least twice. Do not leave without indulging in jumbo shrimp drowning in warm chili sauce at Canto da Vila just across the street.

Make your way over to Campo das Cebolas, probably the most underrated park in Lisbon. Not only does this park have a stunning backdrop of lively Alfama homes, but it’s a great place to grab a scooter to head over to your next stop.

Now onto the proper center of Lisbon, where you’ll be greeted by the massive Praça do Comércio or Commerce Square. If you’re lucky to be exploring this part of town over a weekend, then have some spare change handy. Tens of stalls prop up selling handmade goodies and souvenirs beneath the arches of the square. And speaking of arches, you won’t miss the Rua Augusta Arch.

Rua Augusta is the busiest pedestrianized street in Lisbon, thanks to all the shopping stores, bakeries, restaurants and literally every other shop you can think of. It wasn’t really our scene, although I must admit European fashion was quite tempting.

Since you’re in the heart of Lisbon, head over to another bustling shopping area that comes with a treat. Elevador de Santa Justaor the Santa Justa Lift. Literally surrounded by hundreds of stores, the lift towers a whopping 45 meters above Rua de Santa Justa (that street with hundreds of stores).

Okay, behold a pro tip: we waited in line for an hour and a half to take the lift up. We even paid for this obscene wait in the sweltering heat. The trick is, you can see the lift from below, enjoy it, take photos of it, ponder its’ 19^th century build, then you walk away. Yes, you walk away. And walk over to the entrance of the Convento do Carmo a stunning church, but we’ll talk about that in a second. On the right side of the convent is a straightforward, no wait, entry to the lift! TA-DA! We were baffled, and mostly frustrated, but hey that’s life. We took a breather and enjoyed lunch at Topo Chiado. A beautiful restaurant with a terrace overlooking the lift. Again, no wait, totally free (except for the food bill), but a much better option.

Back to the Convento, which is located in the Chiado neighborhood. A magical church that is one of the few remaining reminders of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake that took out most of the city. Although often referred to as “ruined,” its beauty is nothing of the sort.

Let me say it again, if there was one hip part of Lisbon where you’d want to stay it’s between Bairro Alto and Chiado! Home to the iconic, and probably most famous mode of transportation, Lisbon’s yellow 19th-century cable railway. Welcome to the Elevador da Bica. Catch the cable car for a short, but steep, ride and down a quaint road. Don’t miss out on some delicious coffee at COMOBA right at the entrance of the cable ride.

While you’re in the neighborhood stop by one of these cafes for a scrumptious breakfast or lunch. Dear Breakfast, Break, or The Mill. If it’s a little later in the day, check out Madame Petisca’s beautiful rooftop restaurant and lounge.

If you visit the Elevador da Bica in the evening, and you should at some point, stroll down Rua Mal. Saldanha. A narrow street bustling with entertainment, pubs, and cafes. Our favorite stop was Café Lapo.

Get outside of Lisbon! Well not entirely, but there are some cool things to check out outside of downtown. Make the trek over to the Tower of Belém. Entry to the tower was, to put it in nice words, evil. It’s safe to say that this is one of those attractions you need to visit early in the morning.

Luckily, there are other things to do around the tower, but our top recommendation is to skip the tower line and get behind the crowds waiting for some delicious sweets at Pastéis de Belém. Just steps away, this establishment has been serving up the glorious Pastel de Nata since 1837. And if you find yourself yearning for the warm flaky custard delight at any point in Lisbon, Pastelaria Alcoa is a massive chain all over Lisbon that can tend to that need. Right next door you can also enjoy a tour of the Jerónimos Monastery. A stunning structure dating back to 1501, although it was completed 100 years later. We suggest grabbing your ticket ahead of time here to skip the wait.

Here comes another tip, we opted to take Tram 28 from downtown over to Belem. Mistake. It took over 50 minutes with all the stops. Be practical, grab an uber and get there in 10 minutes time. You might even land a kind driver who will take you on a tour, or make a pit stop at the Monument to the Discoveries or Padrão Dos Descobrimentos which is on the way into town.

For history fanatics and attraction seekers, don’t skip out on a visit to Castelo de S. Jorge. Although it was a bit out of the way for us to visit, we marveled at it from every viewpoint and wished we had the time. 

We’ve purposely left this little tip on visiting Lisbon until the end. The Historic Tram 28 – a humble vintage yellow tram that literally takes you to every inch of Lisbon. There are 34 stops on Tram 28’s route that extend from one corner of the city to the other. There are two best options for riding the tram. One is to get the Lisbon Card here which will give you access to several attractions around the city but also free access to public transportation. The second option is to buy a daily ticket at any of the stations and treat it like a hop on hop off bus.

What we did do, was visit Sintra and that is something you cannot miss!

Your trip to Sintra should undeniably start off with a little bit of planning. Here’s a full post with tips on visiting Sintra! Buy your train ticket ahead of time, even the night before to avoid miserable long queues at the station. There are two main stations that offer direct routes to Sintra: Rossio and Oriente. The Rossio Railway Station is in the heart of the city center and much more convenient for travelers. The train from Lisbon to Sintra is a little less than an hour!

So what do you do when you reach Sintra? This part was absolutely overwhelming. Hundreds of tourists poured out of the Sintra train station, all with one goal: to get to Palácio Nacional da Pena. Thankfully, the locals are aware of the popularity of this gem and provide a designated tourist bus: Bus 434. The bus operates in a loop, connecting the station, the historic center of Sintra, and the massive hill where both the Pena Palace and the Moors Castle are located.

Let me tell you, at first glance you’ll be tempted to just walk over to the Palace, don’t be tempted. That drive is steep and we can’t imagine how much time it would take to get the top just to wait in another line to actually enter the palace. Pro tip: Buy your Pena Palace tickets here ahead of time to skip the line (and you can thank me later). Make sure to purchase a ticket for both the park and palace!

Trips from Lisbon throughout Portugal and the Region

If you’re already traveling through Portugal, truly take the time to explore the Algarve. Our surprise detour through Lagos, was by far our favorite aspect of this Portuguese adventure. And of course, there’s always the picturesque Porto! You’ll also be very close to the neighboring Spain, so why not tack on a trip to visit the Andalusian region of Spain? Read our tips on Southern Spain here!