Curator’s statement
I did a tour of the facilities at Santiago de Alfama while visiting Lisbon in October 2024. The staff are incredibly welcoming and every room is beautifully decorated. The location is fantastic for exploring Lisbon on foot or having the hotel book your private driver, which they highly recommend. We stayed in a beautiful vacation home with an incredible rooftop terrace (pictured), so whether you are keen for the five-star hotel experience or a luxury home, I'd love to help you find the perfect spot for exploring this incredible city and surrounding area.
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With nearly a full week to explore Lisbon in October 2024, we found some real hidden gems and experiences worth highlighting.
Bring your best walking shoes — Lisbon is a city best explored on foot. Lonely Planet city guides have fantastic walking tours that take you through the best of the city, with fantastic descriptions of what you’re seeing and the historical significance. I use these every time I travel to get familiar and grounded in the layout of a destination.
Be ready to eat and drink (another great reason for those walking shoes!) There is no shortage of great Portuguese wine (hard to find outside of Portugal because they don’t export a lot) and small, local restaurants so you can feel like a local. Some of our favorites in Principe Real (a great food and shopping district) are: Magnolia Lisboa, A Cevicheria, The Decadente, Black Sheep Lisboa and to taste a variety of the best Lisbon has to offer: Time Out Market Lisboa
We loved exploring the city, but our favorite experience was taking the train to Sintra and booking a private guided e-bike tour from Sintra to Cascais with Bike A Wish - Bike Rental & Tours, Lda. Our guide was fantastic, the e-bikes enabled us to scale massive hills with ease and the views of Sintra all the way to the coast were phenomenal.
If you avoid one thing while in Lisbon, skip the long line to ride famous tram 28. In my opinion, it’s not worth the wait at the start of the journey, and unless you really can’t do the walking (if you can’t, this is a great way to get around) I highly recommend walking everywhere you can. The city is beautiful and there is no better way to explore.
Need to know
Consider low season! We went in October and still had beautiful (some rain but not too much) weather and slightly fewer crowds.
With SO many fantastic vacation homes and hotels, it's hard to go wrong in Lisbon but here are some further do's: Book in advance, make dinner reservations, schedule some food and hidden gem tours, get out of Lisbon and see Sintra (but arrive early and book in advance).
Lisbon is fantastic and everyone knows it! It's worth the trip for couples, family and friends getaways. With the hills and steps, maybe not best for those with mobility issues or small children.
For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our Lisbon page.
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Meredith Lynch
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