Lisbon Doesn't Care About Your Step Count
Seven hills, slick stone sidewalks and a custard tart every few blocks. The city rewards anyone willing to walk it slowly.
The first thing Lisbon teaches you is that a map lies. Two streets that look a minute apart can be separated by a staircase, a funicular, or a hill steep enough to make you rethink lunch. The second thing it teaches you is that the climb is almost always worth it, because there is usually a viewpoint at the top with a kiosk selling cold beer.
Wear the right shoes. Seriously.
The city's famous patterned pavement, calçada portuguesa, is beautiful and, after a little rain, roughly as grippy as a skating rink. Leave the smooth soled shoes at home. This is the most practical advice in this entire piece and it is the one people ignore.
Ride the yellow tram once, then walk
Tram 28 rattles through Graça and Alfama and it is a genuinely charming ride. It is also packed most of the day. Take it early in the morning, get the photo, and then do the neighbourhoods on foot. Alfama in particular is a place to get lost in. Laundry lines, tiny squares, a grandmother watching you from a window. You will not find it on the main road.
Go up for the view
Lisbon's miradouros, the public lookouts, are its living rooms. Miradouro da Senhora do Monte and Miradouro da Graça are two of the best, especially around sunset when half the neighbourhood shows up. Bring something to drink and nowhere to be.
Eat the tart. Then eat another one.
Pastéis de nata are everywhere, and you will develop opinions fast. The bakery in Belém that has been making them since 1837 has the queue to prove it. Plenty of neighbourhood cafés make a version just as good, served warm, with cinnamon on the counter. Pair it with a bica, the local espresso, standing at the bar like everyone else.
Easy escapes
- Sintra: about forty minutes by train from Rossio station. Palaces, forest, fog. Go on a weekday and go early.
- Cascais: a train ride along the coast to a beach town that still feels like a town.
- LX Factory: a converted industrial complex in Alcântara with bookshops, restaurants and a Sunday market.
Lisbon is not a city you conquer in a weekend. It is a city you get a little better at every day you stay.
