Lisbon is Europe's most interesting city right now
Yes, everyone's going. But for good reason. Food, trams, miradouros and a hotel scene finally matching the hype.
9 min read
Lisbon has been Europe's "it" city for long enough that the backlash was supposed to have arrived by now. It hasn't — or rather, it arrived and the city absorbed it without losing the things that made it interesting in the first place. The light is still extraordinary. The food is still exceptional value. The trams still climb hills that would defeat most other forms of transport.
What has changed is the hotel scene. A city that five years ago was dominated by converted azulejo-tiled guesthouses and budget hostels now has a proper range of mid-to-upper options, including several genuinely excellent design hotels that can hold their own against comparable properties in Barcelona or Paris. Prices have risen to match, but are still meaningfully below comparable European capitals.
The neighbourhoods to know. Alfama is the historic heart — steep, photogenic, touristically dense but genuinely beautiful. Mouraria, immediately adjacent, is less visited and more interesting: the original Moorish quarter, with excellent restaurants and a weekly market that serves the neighbourhood. Príncipe Real has become the design and gallery district; LX Factory, slightly south in Alcântara, is the converted industrial complex that does the "creative hub" concept better than most.
The food case. Portuguese cuisine has been systematically underrated for decades. Bacalhau (salt cod) prepared well is one of the great European dishes; the pastéis de nata from the original Pastéis de Belém bakery are not the tourist-grade imitations you find everywhere else; the natural wine scene centred on the Bairro Alto has international credibility. Eating well in Lisbon is both easy and affordable, which is a combination increasingly rare in Western Europe.
When to go. Spring (March–May) and autumn (September–October) offer the best combination of good weather and manageable crowds. July and August are very hot and very crowded; December is mild and quiet. The famous November-to-February grey season is shorter and less severe than Lisbon's reputation suggests.
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