Alinea’s guidebook
Train station
This is the train station closest to the apartment. It has a supermarket on the platform when you come in and it is also the closest metro station. From Santa Apolonia you can catch the trains to the north, such as those to Porto or Coimbra. Important, you can find luggage lockers in the train station as well.
Santa Apolónia
1 Avenida Infante Dom HenriqueThis is the train station closest to the apartment. It has a supermarket on the platform when you come in and it is also the closest metro station. From Santa Apolonia you can catch the trains to the north, such as those to Porto or Coimbra. Important, you can find luggage lockers in the train station as well.
Sightseeing
This is a fantastic place, a little bit neglected because it is not that easy to get there. However, from Santa Apolónia train station you have a direct bus connection.
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Þjóðminjasafn Azulejo
4 R. Me. DeusThis is a fantastic place, a little bit neglected because it is not that easy to get there. However, from Santa Apolónia train station you have a direct bus connection.
We do that when friends, colleagues or family visit us: Take a ferry boat from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas, then walk down the river for 800m and - voila - suddenly you have two restaurants. This one and another, called Ponto final. You can sit directly at the river and have a unique view at Lisbon's fantastic river front. Go there best in the late afternoon, because when the sun comes slowly down the light changes magically.
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Atira-te ao Rio
69 R. do GinjalWe do that when friends, colleagues or family visit us: Take a ferry boat from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas, then walk down the river for 800m and - voila - suddenly you have two restaurants. This one and another, called Ponto final. You can sit directly at the river and have a unique view at Lisbon's fantastic river front. Go there best in the late afternoon, because when the sun comes slowly down the light changes magically.
It used to be "the" meeting point in Lisbon, a terrace with a spectacular view over the river and parts of the city. Locals call this place Adamastor, after the stature of the mythical figure from Camoes' Lusiadas. A cosmopolitan place, attracting all sorts of people, rich, poor, locals and travelers, journalists, musicians, bohemians and business people, academics and state servants. People would have a coffee at the kiosk or a beer, or buy a bottle in a shop nearby and then hang out with a book or with friends, with music, sunset, some dogs running around or jugglers practicing some new tricks. A complete mix and somehow incorporating the essence of Lisbon's spirit as an open city. It used to be, because it became a victim of wrong gentrification politics, first with a disastrous architectural project that destroyed much of its charm several years ago, for instance, by removing a 100m long stone bench on which everybody was sitting and replacing it by marble blocks that remind of a cemetery. Then, as the people continued using it in the same way as before, by neglecting it and finally a complete shut down in 2018. Now it is re-opened, but fenced and closes at 11.30 pm. Still, people are returning.
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Miradouro de Santa Catarina
It used to be "the" meeting point in Lisbon, a terrace with a spectacular view over the river and parts of the city. Locals call this place Adamastor, after the stature of the mythical figure from Camoes' Lusiadas. A cosmopolitan place, attracting all sorts of people, rich, poor, locals and travelers, journalists, musicians, bohemians and business people, academics and state servants. People would have a coffee at the kiosk or a beer, or buy a bottle in a shop nearby and then hang out with a book or with friends, with music, sunset, some dogs running around or jugglers practicing some new tricks. A complete mix and somehow incorporating the essence of Lisbon's spirit as an open city. It used to be, because it became a victim of wrong gentrification politics, first with a disastrous architectural project that destroyed much of its charm several years ago, for instance, by removing a 100m long stone bench on which everybody was sitting and replacing it by marble blocks that remind of a cemetery. Then, as the people continued using it in the same way as before, by neglecting it and finally a complete shut down in 2018. Now it is re-opened, but fenced and closes at 11.30 pm. Still, people are returning.
One of the hidden treasures of Lisbon. You would not enter if you look at it from the outside. Full of surprises. Just try it out.
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Casa do Alentejo
58 R. das Portas de Santo AntãoOne of the hidden treasures of Lisbon. You would not enter if you look at it from the outside. Full of surprises. Just try it out.
Neighborhoods
When you look out of the window of the apartment to the river, behind you, all the way up until the castle is Alfama, the most emblematic neighbourhood of lisbon. You enter it when climbing up the stais 30 meters to the left of the entrance to the building. It is the old mourish quarter, with small houses, little pathways and stairs going up and down, full of little shops and tascas (portuguese pubs), birthplace of Fado and in the heard of the street party on St. Antonio, Lisbons annual holiday. You will surely get lost, that is normal and almost compulsory for a proper Lisbon visit. You can be lucky and find what everybody looks for, a place where the locals eat the really good food for small money. You can also be less lucky and end up in one of those places that take advantage of tourists. It is up to you to find your way. If there is a menu in 4 languages without prices, caution is needed. If there is a handwritten list of dishes all in Portuguese you have better chances. The same applies to Fado places. Some are quite good and almost always packed, others are so so and need someone standing outside approaching visitors and trying to call them in.
In Alfama is also the Fado Museum, which is interesting, even for someone who is not particularly a fan.
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Alfama
When you look out of the window of the apartment to the river, behind you, all the way up until the castle is Alfama, the most emblematic neighbourhood of lisbon. You enter it when climbing up the stais 30 meters to the left of the entrance to the building. It is the old mourish quarter, with small houses, little pathways and stairs going up and down, full of little shops and tascas (portuguese pubs), birthplace of Fado and in the heard of the street party on St. Antonio, Lisbons annual holiday. You will surely get lost, that is normal and almost compulsory for a proper Lisbon visit. You can be lucky and find what everybody looks for, a place where the locals eat the really good food for small money. You can also be less lucky and end up in one of those places that take advantage of tourists. It is up to you to find your way. If there is a menu in 4 languages without prices, caution is needed. If there is a handwritten list of dishes all in Portuguese you have better chances. The same applies to Fado places. Some are quite good and almost always packed, others are so so and need someone standing outside approaching visitors and trying to call them in.
In Alfama is also the Fado Museum, which is interesting, even for someone who is not particularly a fan.
Bairro Alto is quiet during the day, sometimes almost sleeping, with small shops, restaurants and wineries. Some tourists walking around, locals chatting or looking out of the window. After dinner, it changes completely and turns into Lisbons still most popular and most desegregated night-life district. Felt hundreds of bars open their doors to the street, many of them with live music, and the streets are full of all kinds of people between 18 and 90 or so hanging out with or without drinks. It can be quite packed on weekends, but that is part of the reasons to go there.
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Bairro Alto
21 Tv. InglesinhosBairro Alto is quiet during the day, sometimes almost sleeping, with small shops, restaurants and wineries. Some tourists walking around, locals chatting or looking out of the window. After dinner, it changes completely and turns into Lisbons still most popular and most desegregated night-life district. Felt hundreds of bars open their doors to the street, many of them with live music, and the streets are full of all kinds of people between 18 and 90 or so hanging out with or without drinks. It can be quite packed on weekends, but that is part of the reasons to go there.
Cais do Sodré is a transit point where trains from Cascais, ferry boats from the other side of the river, buses and trams from other parts of the city all meet. However, nearby you can also find some of the most popular spots for dining and partying in Lisbon. In the so called Pink Street you have a unique concentration of late-night clubs and bars, some of them former brothels from the wilder times of the harbor city, and half of the Mercado da Ribeira (local foot market) has been transformed into an outlet of some of Lisbon's best Chefs.
Cais do Sodré
Cais do SodréCais do Sodré is a transit point where trains from Cascais, ferry boats from the other side of the river, buses and trams from other parts of the city all meet. However, nearby you can also find some of the most popular spots for dining and partying in Lisbon. In the so called Pink Street you have a unique concentration of late-night clubs and bars, some of them former brothels from the wilder times of the harbor city, and half of the Mercado da Ribeira (local foot market) has been transformed into an outlet of some of Lisbon's best Chefs.
Borgartillaga
Siðir og menning
Beware of pickpockets
We walk at night on the street without being afraid. However, there is a pickpocket issue in Lisbon like in most other cities of the world. If you are on a place were are many tourists or where it is packed like in public transport or bars, look after your wallet and cellphone. We would also leave all valuables that you don't need outside back in the apartment.