Best neighborhood for first timer to Lisbon, Portugal
 

Hi there, Does anyone have a recommendation of a neighborhood in Lisbon that they really love? It will be just my husband and I, we like to stay in historic centers in apartments. So I was wondering what neighborhood is the best shopping neighborhood? Best restaurants? Any suggestions? There will be times when I will be walking back to the apartment by myself at night and so it needs to be relatively safe. Any thoughts?

Anyone?

I like the area downtown, Marquis de Pombal, I love the little restuarants, the streets that are now improved, the Ferry is easy to get to, you can walk everywhere, more or less. Beach cafe's and restaurants. I think there is a lot of new restaurants in a Mall type setting. I also love the Port. Have a great visit.

I vote for the Chiado.

Chiado or Baixa.

Alfama is wonderful, but that hill will kill you walking up and down all day--however, you could take the tram.

Thin

Thank you. I was looking at this apartment in Chiado, is this a noisy area?

http://www.rent4days.com/ficha.asp?c...ament&plazas=2

Baixa and Chiado. Ask if the apartment have double paned windows which ours did in Baixa.It was very quiet.

Well, it looks like your apartment is right near the famed Cafe Brasileira, so it could be noisy as this is a very busy cafe.

But, that is a good location. The church of Sao Roque is just up the hill on Miseracordia and the Elevator Santa Justa is down the other end of the street. There is also a shopping mall there with a Zara and Sephora.

Thin

I'm just curious because everyone is saying that Chiado is the most upscale neighborhood in Lisbon, but when I go on Google maps and use the street view function, it just looks like a bunch of graffiti buildings and it doesn't look very nice. Like to me when I think of an upscale neighborhood I think of Eixample in Barcelona. This looks really dowdy where this apartment is. Is there another area of Chiado that's more upscale? Or was I directed in the wrong area?

topping

The nabe is fine. It is in "downtown" Lisboa. This area is very compact and you can walk over to Baixa in minutes to go to Rossio Station or use the metro.

Really, this is a good central location for seeing Lisboa.

I think the upscale nabe in Lisboa is Lapa (it used to be). This is were my ex-husband grew up.

Thin

I could be wrong, but I do not remember the Chiado as being the most upscale neighborhood in Lisbon, maybe for upscale shops (now) but not for living.
However, it is more convenient than the upscale residential neighborhoods.
Probably the most upscale neighborhood is Lapa, the sort of embassy area. Also up by the Ritz Hotel is probably considered upscale.
However, one could be fooled. We once went to an extremely chic party in Lisbon in a building I would not have walked in to (thinking it might fall down, and that it looked totally abandoned, but there was an elevator, and the penthouse was totally FABULOUS - and done to the nines! go figure.

Thank you for the advice. We have such a limited time in Lisbon, only 6 days (including day trips), so I want to make the most of our time with the right location.

Most importantly, is Chiado, specifically the intersection of Rua Garrett and Serpa Pinto a very touristy area? I mean are they selling t-shirts on those streets that say "I love Lisbon"? You get my drift? Are there "real" restaurants in that area, not just tourist places that have the menu printed in 7 different languages? I want to get the most authentic Lisboa experience for our limited time, I just don't want to end up in a super touristy area where we'll never get a real taste of the city.

Any thoughts?

Here are my two cents on this one. Chiado is a busy commercial area, lots of shops, lots of restaurants. It is heavily used by tourists and locals alike. Sort of like the urban core of any major city -- lots of activity draws lots of visitors, and the things that attract tourists (commerce, restaurants, cafes, action in the streets) also attract locals. The Chiado is not like Gatlinburg or any other exclusively tourist town in America, Lisbon is a city that owes its existence to things that pre-date tourism.

I think we may be conflating "touristy" with "commercial." I think Chiado is the latter but not the former.

If you want an exclusively or predominantly residential area in central Lisbon, you would probably not be looking at any of the area between Marques de Pombal and the Baixa (I assume you have a map). The Saldanha area, the area near the Corte Ingles, Campo d'Ourique, Lapa, some of the neighborhoods near Rato, these are all more residential in their character, but all have commerce of all types because after all this is a city. Those areas are more quiet, more out of the way, less "happening" places.

For me, if I had only 6 days, I would opt for the more centrally located area just because you are closer to a larger number of restaurants and public transit is easier. Chiado is a great location for those reasons, but it is not a quiet tree lined residential street. Good luck with the decision!

We just came back from Portugal where we spent three nights in an apartment in the Chiado about 2 blocks from Cafe Brasilera. We found it very convenient for walking everywhere. We didn't find it tacky at all. The stores in the area are quite upscale. There is a Hermes store as well as a Hugo Boss, Cartier, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this area as a home base for Lisbon.

Lily, thank you that is so perfect. I was wondering how you got to and from the airport? Did you leave from Lisbon airport? We have a 7:20am flight and I was wondering if it was better to stay at the airport the last night or if it's easy enough to get a taxi at 5am? ANy thoughts?

About two blocks from the apartment there are always taxis waiting. It is the upper Baixa/Chiado metro.
Don't stay at the airport overnight. It is so easy to get there from Chiado.

By the way. It is the same apartment area I told you about in your other post.

I have had to catch early flights on two occasions when I stayed at the Hotel Borges on Rua Garrett. There were taxis waiting at the taxi stand very early in the morning; I think the first time we had to leave around 4:30 AM and there were taxis lined up and waiting.

Taxis in Lisbon are more than fair. This last trip on two occasions the drivers turned off the meter when they were not sure where they were taking us.
I was so surprised. I have never had that happen to me before anywhere.

Nikki. We found the taxis easily there too. And also they are lined up around Rossio.