Belém Tower, Pastéis de Belém, the Jerónimos Monastery, tram 28, St George’s Castle, or even the statue of Fernando Pessoa in Chiado, with which everyone wants to take a photo: all of them are Lisbon landmarks that are almost compulsory stops for anyone passing through the Portuguese capital, which is increasingly popular with travellers from all over the world.
Yet they all share the same problem: tourists, lots of tourists. So many that at times it can be hard to move, the queues are long and you will struggle to feel you are in Portugal at all, as all around you you will hear plenty of French, English, Italian or Spanish… but very little Portuguese.
As for the 28, we won’t dwell on it here, as every guidebook or website about Lisbon goes on about this tram line that threads its way through the city’s historic quarters, climbing and descending hills from Prazeres to Martim Moniz via Chiado, Alfama and Graça.
It is indeed a cheap way of getting a feel for some of the city’s most characteristic neighbourhoods in a short time, on a charming, century‑old means of transport. To dodge the crowds, our only real tip is to go as early as possible.
The saying “God helps those who rise early” could have been coined for travellers. If you like photography, you can also make the most of the beautiful early‑morning light.
When it comes to other places to visit, and without taking anything away from the “classics”, here we try to give you a few insider tips that will have you exploring Lisbon through the eyes of those who live there and discovering a few spots well off the most beaten tracks.
Here are seven suggestions, one for each of Lisbon’s seven hills:
1. Go to a fado house without breaking the bank
Going to a fado house is a must for anyone who wants to get to know Lisbon and hear the most Portuguese of musical genres, which UNESCO declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011.
There are many fado houses, some better reputed than others, scattered across the city and usually concentrated in Bairro Alto and Alfama. That guidebook you bought will no doubt recommend a few, and it’s not wrong: they are indeed excellent, historic fado houses, with good food and top singers. But there is a snag: the price. Booking a night with dinner and a fado show can work out expensive.
Tasca do Chico in Bairro Alto is an alternative that combines reasonable prices with the authentic atmosphere of “fado vadio”, fado sung informally. There is no entrance fee, but you are required to spend a minimum of 10 euros. And don’t expect a full menu: they only serve snacks such as caldo verde, grilled chouriço sausage and cod fritters, to go with the drink of your choice.
As you walk in you feel like a privileged guest who has been granted access to a secret club: the lights are very low and the singers are not on a stage but in the middle of the room, whose walls are covered with photos of the celebrities who have passed through.
The audience is a balanced mix of tourists and locals. Scattered around the various tables (don’t be surprised if you are asked to share with strangers), they chat between performances and fall religiously silent when the singing starts – fado is always listened to in ABSOLUTE SILENCE – all the more so as there are no microphones or any amplification.
Tasca do Chico has its own resident singers, but every evening it also invites members of the audience to perform. That can mean complete unknowns or international stars such as Carminho, Cuca Roseta or Mariza. The owner, Chico, is on first‑name terms with the whole fado world.
Precisely because it is the cheapest and most authentic option, Tasca do Chico has one big drawback: it has become a victim of its own success. It does not take bookings and entry is on a first‑come, first‑served basis.
To avoid having to wait too long for a seat, we suggest two strategies:
- Go early: Tasca do Chico opens at 7 pm and the performances start at around 8.30 pm. By 6.30 pm there is already a queue at the door.
- Go late: the other option (and in our view the better one) is to go after the peak time. We suggest booking a table at the restaurant directly opposite, Retiro dos Sentidos. Although it does not have Tasca do Chico’s intimate atmosphere, this restaurant also has live fado and makes for a good “opening act”. It serves typically Portuguese dishes at very fair prices. While you eat and listen to the music, you can keep an eye on the pavement outside to see how long the queue is. From about 10.30 pm you should have no trouble getting in. Once inside, you will realise the wait was worth it.
More recently, the Tasca has opened a second venue in Alfama.
2. Eat the best grilled fish you have ever tasted
In Portugal we are not keen on over‑complicated fish dishes. As you have probably realised, simplicity is the key: the fish is simply grilled or boiled and seasoned with olive oil and vinegar or lemon – and pepper, if you like.
Almost every restaurant in Portugal serves fish, but you need to choose carefully. If sea bass or gilt‑head bream seem suspiciously cheap, they are most likely farmed.
Farmed fish is something you definitely won’t find at an address that, although slightly hidden away and keen to stay under the radar, is becoming more and more popular.
If you don’t know it, Cabana das Paixões is not easy to find: in front of Carcavelos railway station (on the Cascais line), you need to look for a dirt track that takes you to the football pitch of GS Carcavelos.
When you reach the sports complex you will see a shed with smoke billowing out, a tell‑tale sign that something is being cooked inside.
The smell doesn’t lie: whatever is cooking in there is good.
Cabana das Paixões does not take bookings or card payments (so take cash) and is only open for lunch (except on Fridays and Saturdays, when it also opens for dinner). On weekdays it is easier to find a table. The earlier you arrive, the better your chances of getting a seat. You will most likely end up at a table on the terrace, which can be very pleasant even in the cooler months of the year, as the climate is quite mild.
Especially in good company, lunches here tend to stretch well into the afternoon and ideally finish with a coffee, “rinsing out the cup” with a shot of the house aguardente. We recommend going there and back by train; the few steps you will take to and from the station will help with digestion, and you avoid having to get behind the wheel. In Lisbon you can catch trains on the Cascais line from Cais do Sodré, Santos or Belém stations.
As for the menu, it depends on whatever fish – always fresh off the boat – is available. Turbot and grouper are usually safe bets. Everything here is grilled to order over charcoal. For those who are not keen on fish, there are also good meat options. Closed on Mondays.
3. Soak up a derby atmosphere without buying a ticket
While fast food hardly changes from one country to another – burgers, hot dogs, kebabs – Portugal has come up with its own staple in this field: the bifana. It is typically a pork sandwich in a spicy sauce, served in a traditional crusty roll. Nothing fancy.
The Scottish chef Gordon Ramsay recently stirred up some controversy by creating a version with cheese, salad and a more upmarket bun… we’ll stick to the classic.
Usually washed down with beer, the bifana – and some less famous cousins such as courato (pork rind) or pork crackling sandwiches – is often synonymous with match day. Grabbing a bifana from the food trucks is part and parcel of going to the football, before or after the game.
In Lisbon (with a few exceptions), everyone, even those who don’t care much about football, tends to have a soft spot for either Sporting or Benfica, the two eternal rivals. The clash between them, known as the “Segunda Circular derby”, is the city’s big classic.
Around the Estádio de Alvalade, Sporting’s ground, you will find a host of food trucks whenever there is a match. As well as soaking up the typical football atmosphere, you can tuck into a freshly made bifana.
To reach the vans, when you come out of Campo Grande metro station, walk in the opposite direction to the stadium and head for the Campo Grande gardens. There (on the opposite side to the City Museum) you will find around twenty food trucks and a large crowd of fans gathered around them.
Between bites of bifana and sips of beer (served in a reusable plastic cup bearing the club crest, which you can take home), you can chat to them and compare score predictions. Needless to say, the bigger the game, the livelier the atmosphere.
You can check the fixtures list here. Bear in mind that the final date and kick‑off time of each match are only set two weeks in advance. If you want to take the experience a step further and watch a game, you can buy tickets here. Be wary of tickets sold elsewhere, especially on social media, as they are often fraudulent.
If you would like to try a bifana but the football chaos is not for you, you can sample the one at Cervejaria O Trevo on Largo do Camões (which Anthony Bourdain tasted and recommended), to name just one of many possible spots.
Finally, if instead of a bifana you fancy something else with your beer, especially towards the end of the afternoon, don’t be afraid to try snails, a delicacy Lisboners love just as much as people from the north tend to loathe it. From late May to September you will find them in virtually every café or local bar in the city. Here is a (non‑exhaustive) list of places where you can try them.
4. Walk down Calçada do Combro and come away with top‑quality tinned fish
Portugal is known for the quality of its canned tuna and sardines, but the range also includes many other products such as octopus, mackerel or anchovy.
You can pick up any brand in the supermarket, but it is worth paying a little more and going to a specialist shop. Not the one full of coloured lights – that one is for tourists. Go instead to somewhere like Conserveira de Lisboa, where you will find traditional brands not sold in supermarkets, such as Tricana, Minor and Prata do Mar.
One of the many treasures you will come across here (and will hardly find anywhere else) is sangacho de atum. This is meat taken from the area next to the fish’s backbone, darker and therefore often overlooked and cheaper. But don’t be misled: it is a real delicacy, with a strong, distinctive flavour.
One of Conserveira de Lisboa’s two shops is at the bottom of Calçada do Combro, which slopes down from Largo do Calhariz in Bairro Alto to the area around Parliament. Since you are heading there, we suggest you first stroll down the street slowly, taking in the views on your left and right. Start in Largo do Camões, walk past the Bica funicular (on your left) and then down Calçada do Combro. If you have time, you can make a short detour through the Bica neighbourhood and to the Adamastor viewpoint.
Even if this route does not really count as “off the beaten track” – we are in one of the most touristy parts of the city – it is still highly recommended. Especially if you stick to the left‑hand side, you will see some of the most quintessentially Lisbon views you can imagine, including the Bica funicular. The funicular, which has been at a standstill since the tragic Elevador da Glória accident, is now a magnet for tourists keen to get a photo next to the carriage.
Along the street traditional shops still survive, notably second‑hand bookshops and antique dealers, where you might unearth a few gems.
Just after you pass Conserveira de Lisboa, look to your right and admire Rua do Vale, with the Igreja das Mercês at the far end. Here you will also find the Atelier‑Museu Júlio Pomar, dedicated to the major 20th‑century Portuguese painter.
When you reach the end of Calçada do Combro and continue along Rua dos Poiais de São Bento, you will find, at the junction with Rua de São Bento and Calçada da Estrela, the shop run by Juliana Penteado, a well‑known Brazilian chef who is a regular on Portuguese television. Her fleur de sel (in various flavours) and lemon savoury granola are treats you will not want to miss. A few metres further to the left is another must‑visit shop, Companhia Portugueza do Chá, with a wide range of teas and herbal infusions produced locally.
You are now close to the temple of Portuguese democracy. The Assembly of the Republic is housed in the Palácio de São Bento, a 16th‑century neoclassical building rebuilt in the 19th century and home to Parliament (then called the Cortes Gerais) since 1834.
If you are interested in politics, plenary sittings (usually on Wednesdays and Thursdays) are open to the public. You can consult the agenda here.
5. Explore the Campolide neighbourhood: award‑winning street art and the best cozido in Lisbon
You are unlikely to find Campolide in your guidebook. With a skyline dominated by the Águas Livres Aqueduct, this part of Lisbon is a mix of housing, shops and offices. Halfway between the centre and the outskirts, it is wedged between Praça de Espanha, Campo de Ourique, Amoreiras and the Monsanto Forest Park. New developments sit alongside old apartment blocks and the odd patch of wasteland, and several fast roads cut through the area. At first glance, there seems to be little of interest to visitors.
But that doesn’t mean you should skip it – quite the opposite. The district, immortalised by Sérgio Godinho in the album of the same name, released in 1979, hides several gems.
Campolide has plenty of restaurants, one of the best‑known being Tasquinha do Lagarto, where you can eat one of Lisbon’s most highly rated cozido à portuguesa.
More than just a dish, cozido à portuguesa is an institution and a ritual. It is a hefty plateful – best eaten at lunchtime rather than in the evening – combining several cuts of meat, a variety of sausages, vegetables and cabbage. Many restaurants serve it, but not every day. Each one keeps cozido for a specific day of the week; in the case of Tasquinha do Lagarto it is on Wednesdays (and again on Saturdays).
Other specialities you can try here include broad beans with spare ribs, Trás‑os‑Montes‑style bean stew and octopus fillets “with rice cooked in the same broth”. The desserts are also worth a mention, particularly the crème brûlée‑style leite‑creme.
Campolide is also home to numerous pieces of graffiti and, since 2025, to a work of street art singled out for praise by the Street Art Cities platform. As well as winning the prize for best work of June last year, Calipso by Patrícia Mariano played a key role in Lisbon being ranked the world’s third‑best city for street art by the same platform, behind only Madrid and Athens.
Inspired by Greco‑Roman mythology, Calipso was created, according to Lisbon City Council, to “celebrate the beauty and the importance of the seas, thereby encouraging reflection on sustainability and the preservation of water resources”, according to Lisbon City Council.
Campolide is a large, heterogeneous neighbourhood: if you feel like walking from Tasquinha do Lagarto to the mural, it is an excellent way to work off your lunch, though be aware it is a good 25‑minute walk. On the way you will have the experience of walking beneath the iconic arches of the Águas Livres Aqueduct, the 14‑kilometre‑long structure built in the 18th century to supply the city with water.
6. Stroll along the Tagus in Belém and end the afternoon with a cocktail
Want to visit San Francisco and Rio de Janeiro without leaving Lisbon? Take a walk along the River Tagus in Belém and admire the pairing of the 25 de Abril Bridge, opened in 1966 (initially called the Salazar Bridge and renamed after the 1974 revolution that toppled the dictatorship), and the Cristo Rei statue.
The statue (1959), gazing at Lisbon from the south bank, bears some resemblance to Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer but is considerably smaller. As for the bridge, the similarities with the Golden Gate are striking in colour and design. This is no coincidence: both were built by rival US steel companies.
You can enjoy this view by walking or cycling along the riverside path on the far side of the railway line, reserved for pedestrians and bicycles, which runs as far as the MAAT, the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology opened in 2016 by the EDP Foundation next to the pre‑existing Electricity Museum, housed in a former power station. We recommend visiting the exhibitions and admiring the exterior architecture of both buildings, from very different periods yet wonderfully complementary.
If you prefer to do the route by bike, there are several hire points along the way, such as Biclas.
Pedalling or walking will certainly make you thirsty, so why not treat yourself to a little luxury to round off the afternoon (you deserve it): a cocktail on the terrace or rooftop of Sud Lisboa, one of the city’s most exclusive restaurants. For 14 euros, the price of a spritz, you will feel – and be treated – like royalty. You can choose between the terrace facing the Tagus or the rooftop with a pool (use of the pool is reserved for customers who book the space privately), one of Madonna’s favourite haunts during the time she lived in Lisbon.
And if you are in the mood to splash out a little, why not have lunch there as well? The fusion cuisine, with Portugal and Italy as its main influences, is overseen by French chef Patrick Lefeuvre and is mouth‑watering. Even though it counts as “fine dining”, it is relatively affordable if you opt for the “Riverside Executive Menu” served at lunchtime from Monday to Friday, with options at 40 or 45 euros. The beef carpaccio and the confit salt cod are to die for.
7. Steer clear of most restaurants in Baixa (with a few exceptions)
Rua Augusta is the main pedestrian street in the Baixa Pombalina, the “new centre” of Lisbon laid out by the Marquis of Pombal after the devastating 1755 earthquake. It links Rossio to Praça do Comércio and is practically impossible to avoid. You can stroll down it and climb to the top of the arch to look out over the square before continuing on to Cais das Colunas and a short riverside walk.
However, if your walk coincides with mealtime, avoid the many restaurants with terraces lining this street.
Until a few years ago, there were relatively few restaurants in Baixa. With the tourism boom they started springing up like mushrooms, created solely to meet rising demand, with little concern for quality. There are two simple rules of thumb, valid in any city, that can help you cross a restaurant off your list. The first is if it has bright photos of the dishes displayed at the entrance. The second is if staff stand outside trying to coax passers‑by in. Meeting one of these criteria should already set alarm bells ringing. Meeting both is a clear sign you should eat elsewhere. No good restaurant, in Lisbon or anywhere else, needs touts to drum up trade when the quality of the food and service speaks for itself. Bear in mind that an honest “ethnic” restaurant will always be a better option than a fake “typical” one.
The same scene is repeated in another of Baixa’s main pedestrian streets, Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, home to several theatres and performance venues, such as the famous Coliseu dos Recreios. Here too you will find dozens of restaurants that have opened very recently with the sole aim of attracting tourists, and you will often be approached by staff urging you to come in and sit down. Avoid them.
There are, however, a few good exceptions in this street and the surrounding area, including historic restaurants ranging from higher‑end options such as Gambrinus, Pinóquio or Solar dos Presuntos to the more affordable Casa do Alentejo, an “embassy” of Alentejo culture and cuisine housed in the Palácio Alverca. As well as sampling the region’s specialities, you can admire the beautiful Moorish‑style courtyard built between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to the restaurant, Casa do Alentejo has a tavern where you can sample various snacks.
A little further up, on Avenida da Liberdade next to the Cinema São Jorge, Cervejaria Ribadouro also offers good value for money for seafood or simply a plate of goose barnacles and a prego (steak sandwich).
Follow these tips and, when you are packing your suitcase at the end of your trip, you will have only one thing on your mind: your next visit to Lisbon.