Things to see and do in Lisbon

The thing about expats/tourists is that they tend to hang around fairly well defined areas. Jump on just about any tram/bus, stay on it for a half an hour, get off, and you'll find yourself in a district with little discernible expat influence.

I wouldn't say I'm complaining about it as such, it was just quite disconcerting as I've not experienced it to this level anywhere else - the area I'm in (Beato) is much less touristic. its a double edge sword, and thr ar positives about it too. theres a lot of possibility here, especially if you're in software/web.

When we stayed in an airbnb in Alfama a few years ago our host was telling us about the nightlife and an Alfama nightclub, but she said people mostly stayed on the other side of the town until 2, when they would start to head towards the nightclub. As a tragically unhip 40 something geezer I just stood there baffled, thinking "does she mean... 2am??"

Gonna be in Lisbon for three days this spring, the whole family. Other than a destabilizing global pandemic, anything we should keep in mind and/or specifically seek out? I've never been. We're staying in Chiado, which seems hip/swank.

Some worthwhile touristy things are Pena Palace (in Sintra) and Sao Jorge Castle; take Tram 28 for a city tour.

Museu Berardo - top-notch contemporary art museum. Nearby is Pasteis de Belem, with its beloved custard tarts.
Carmo Convent is near Chiado and worth a quick visit - a church that lost its roof (topless church?) in an earthquake long ago.
Estufa Fria is an indoor botanical garden and a nice escape.
Cemiterio dos Prazeres (cemetery) - mausoleums galore, photo ops for Joy Division bootlegs LPs, if that's your thing (you can board Tram 28 on a nearby stop from here).

The food situation there is amazing (but do a little research), if your family is into that.

Keen to hear more about the dive bar where the estimable Daniel_Rf had his sublime fado experience, plus any other Lisbon recs ahead of a short break in a couple of weeks...

What a beautiful city. Caught a bit of Santo Antonio festival madness and now want to go back every June.

Aw sorry I didn't see that at the time, would have tried to dig up the place!

We didn't catch any fado in the end, but were treated to a busker segueing from RHCP to 4 Non Blondes, so were culturally nourished to complement the many amazing meals we had.

gonna be there for 3 days in mid-june, i read thru this thread (very helpful) ... open to any recent/new suggestions but specifically curious if anyone has recs for good record stores, vintage stores, bookstores etc or neighborhoods where you can just walk around & stumble upon such things

Peekaboo Records, within the Espaço Chiado shopping mall, is the best record store in Lisbon and owner can prob point you to other points of reference re: vintage clothes and hangouts - just say Reifferscheid sent you.

Carpet & Snares, in the same building, is also a good record store.

amazing thanks daniel

Just got back from Portugal and had an amazing trip (Lisbon > Madeira > Porto > Lisbon, all great in different ways).

We were over by Martim Moniz during our first pass through Lisbon, probably the best parts of which were all the Indian restaurants on Rua do Benformoso (literally the street was just Indian restaurants & grocery stores, and it was popping at night) and proximity to Miradouro da Graca (really nice sunset spot).

When we came back to Lisbon we were on R. Prior Coutinho (not sure what neighborhood that would be). Wandered into a Russian craft beer bar (Sputnik) in search of the best Portuguese beer we had found (Ophiussa) where there was a Russian poetry reading in progress and the bartender's puppy in a box by the bar. Also found some really great Tibetan food, a nice park (w/roosters, hens, and ducklings wandering around), and another amazing miradouro (I think it was da Senhora do Monte, which you can see from Graca).

On our last day we went to LX Factory, which did have some good record stores and some vintage clothes. The Jazz Messengers shop (in the big bookstore there) was great, I got a Dorothy Ashby record. And there was another boutique-y record store there with tons of great Brazilian, funk, and dance records (pretty pricey but good stuff). But it was just as good to wander down by the shipyard and watch fish jumping out of the water for an hour.

Also once we succumbed to using Bolt that made getting to different parts of the city much easier, you can get anywhere for like 5 euros or less.

thanks so much jordan

my understanding is that our trip overlaps w/ santo antonio festival so if any locals had any tips for how to navigate that lmk

lol I had a hard time keeping you Jordans straight

lol, just prepare for absolute madness. go with the flow and enjoy it.

Hoping to finally make it out to Lisbon this year. That's it, that's the post.

Btw I don't know how long you have there, but Porto ruled too. We got an incredibly affordable Flixbus between the two.