chaturanga

Hello all! My husband and I are planning a trip this May/June and are strongly considering Portugal. We are really interested in Porto, Lisbon and the Algarve with some side trips to Sintra and the Duoro area. However, in doing our planning we came across several posts about an increase in muggings and violent crime, specifically in Lisbon. We have travelled quite a bit so we know the general street smarts of avoiding dodgy alleys/displaying valuables/watching belongings on public transport, but is Lisbon any more "dangerous" than any other European city? We just want to feel comfortable taking the occasional photo at major landmarks and walking home from dinner. I'm sorry if this has been asked before recently, but if so, I couldn't find it. Also, we were reading conflicting information as to the best (convenient and safe) areas to stay in Lisbon, so if anyone has some recommendations we would welcome them. Thanks so much for your time!

yestravel

We were in Portugal this past May/June and found it perfectly safe. It's no different than any other. It city, Use streets smarts and you'll be fine.

sandralist

Did you read those posts here or on other websites? Did they mention specific neighborhoods?

I marched all around Lisbon and Porto last year, nighttime as well as day time, and my feeling about "safety" was that muggings and violent crime were highly unlikely, and pickpocketing was probably fairly common on trams, in markets, and in anyplace you might forget to pay attention to your purse (inside a restaurant, etc). I will point out there is a lot of drinking in Porto (no surprise!) and if I were a pickpocket, I'd probably find it pretty easy to make a living hanging around the drinking venues.

But everybody is snapping photos, even with expensive looking gear, and both cities are outdoorsy places where everybody is enjoying restaurants and cafes late at night. In some parts of Lisbon and most of Porto you will find lots of alleyways. Before booking a hotel or apartment, you can use Google street view or -- better yet -- read reviews of several hotels in the neighborhood. Tourists are usually very quick to say if they ever felt uncomfortable.

So I would be curious to know where you read these alerts and more about the content. You might see a red light area, you might walk past a corner of a park that looks like a hangout for petty drug takers -- but nothing threatening to you.

chaturanga

This is the post that initially made me do a double take:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...bon-beware.cfm
Also in the "Violent Crimes" section of this page it seemed that most of the areas I had read about we're included on it! It made me confused about whether Bairro Alto is am area to be enjoyed or avoided....
https://www.triposo.com/loc/Lisbon/safety

Thank you both so much for your helpful responses! Of course, more opinions of neighborhoods are always helpful. Thanks again!

danon

I was in Lison alone in October, my first visit to the city.
I like staying out late at night...
Took metro to my hotel several times and taxi on a few occasions.
I did not feel unsafe anywhere during the day. At night , I am always extra careful .

HotelAvenidaPalace

Lisbon is not a violent city, normally the only problem you may have is, besides the taxi drivers from the Airport trying to ripe you off, is with pickpockets in the touristic places and on the busses, cable cars with more tourist, such as the 15 and 28.
This is the only problem we usually have but if you pay a little attention are easy to be avoid.

danon

I took a taxi to and from the airport and in the city. no one tried to rip me off.
The charge from the airport was 10 euros.
Actually, taxis are inexpensive and worth taking.
I also took the metro and street cars . No problem.

suec1

You might want to consider staying in Cascais for your Lisbon part of the trip. It is a lovely seaside town about 30 minutes by train from Lisbon (and closer to Belem). There are plenty of restaurants and it is not the bustling big city that Lisbon is but you can easily go into Lisbon to see the sights in the city. We found it pleasant to relax in Cascais at the end of the day.

We did have a pickpocket "near miss" as soon as we walked off the train in Lisbon but overall I did not feel the city was dangerous. I just enjoyed the more relaxed feel of Cascais.

IrishDeb

My husband and I were in Lisbon last April and loved it so much we went back in Oct. We stayed in the Chiado area and found the area safe. We walked all around Lisbon and never had a problem. The people are kind and helpful, the food is delicious and the wine is fabulous! I would not hesitate to go back.

lauramsgarden

We stayed in Lisbon this summer for 5 nights and had no problems with crime. There were some beggars, but nothing unusual for a big city. We stayed at As Janeles Verdes and loved it. However, we didn't really like Porto that much - would highly recommend staying in some of the smaller towns instead. It is easy to drive around, and the small towns are friendly and charming.