Survival Guide: Lisbon
Seven hills, a tram system older than your grandparents, and a pastry that will ruin every other custard tart you eat for the rest of your life.
Lisbon is a city built on seven hills, which sounds romantic right up until you're twenty minutes into a walk with a suitcase and a steep cobblestone incline still ahead of you. This is the single most important thing to understand before you land: comfortable shoes aren't optional here, they're the entire trip. Once you've made peace with the gradient, Lisbon becomes one of the most rewarding, least stressful capital cities in Europe to explore.
It's also become one of Europe's most popular digital nomad and retiree destinations in the last few years, which means the city everyone's currently discovering is genuinely worth the hype, not just algorithmically boosted hype.
Tram 28 Is a Tourist Attraction, Not Transport
The famous yellow Tram 28 winds through the most postcard-worthy parts of the city, and everyone knows it, which means it's now packed with tourists most of the day, prime pickpocket territory, and a slow, standing-room-only experience rather than the charming ride it looks like in photos. Ride it once, early morning to avoid the worst crowds, for the experience — but use the metro or a rideshare for actual point-to-point transport the rest of your trip.
Getting Around the Hills
- The metro — Clean, efficient, and covers the flatter parts of the city well, though it doesn't reach every hilltop neighbourhood.
- The funiculars and the Santa Justa Lift — Genuinely useful, not just novelty rides, for tackling the steepest inclines between neighbourhoods.
- Uber and Bolt — Both operate widely and are worth using more liberally here than in flatter cities, purely to save your legs for the sights themselves.
- Comfortable, broken-in shoes — Not transport exactly, but the single most important packing decision for this specific city.
A city built on seven hills doesn't care how good your shoes look. It only cares how good they feel by hour three.
What to Actually See
- Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery — Both genuinely spectacular examples of Manueline architecture, best visited early to beat both heat and crowds.
- Alfama district — The oldest neighbourhood, a maze of narrow streets, fado music drifting from small bars, and easily the most atmospheric part of the city for an evening wander.
- A miradouro (viewpoint) — Lisbon has several, scattered across its hills, each offering a different angle on the terracotta rooftops and river below. Miradouro da Senhora do Monte is the least crowded of the well-known ones.
- LX Factory — A converted industrial complex turned creative hub, good for an afternoon of shops, cafes, and street art.
- A pastel de nata from Pastéis de Belém — The original recipe, still the benchmark against which every other custard tart in the city is judged, worth the queue at least once.
The Non-Negotiables
- Pickpockets specifically target Tram 28 and busy miradouros — keep bags zipped and in front of you in these two spots more than anywhere else in the city.
- Restaurants often bring bread, olives, or cheese to the table unrequested — this isn't free, it's a paid starter called couvert, and you can politely decline it if you don't want to pay for it.
- Many shops close for a few hours at lunch and on Sundays — check hours before making a special trip.
- The sun is stronger than it looks, especially on those hilltop miradouros with no shade — sunscreen even on a mild-looking day.
Break In Your Shoes Now
Whatever shoes you're planning to wear on your next city trip, wear them on at least two long walks before you fly. A blister on day one of a hilly city is one of the most avoidable trip-dampeners there is.
