I am considering renting an apartment wtih TravelingtoLisbon, Friendly Rentals, or Rent4days.

TravelingtoLisbon gets good reviews on TripAdvisor. I wondered if anyone also had any experience with Freindly Rentals.

Also, we are considering an apartment in the Castelo neighborhood.
Is that close to Alfama - is it a good area? How far is it to walk to Barrio Alto or Chiado. We are from NYC and we are "major walkers"
We are two adults and a college age daughtet. We'd like to be near restaurants & cafes as well as good "food shopping" - grocery store, market for produce, cheeses, bakery, etc. We love areas like Rome's Trastevere or Ghetto & Istanbul's Galata - neighborhoods that aren't dangerous, but real life with some artsy flava.

Chiado looks lovely but some of the places are above our budget so we are thinking about Castelo, Alfama, & Barrio Alto.

Wondered what Biaxo was like, too?

We were very happy with our 10 day rental in Lisbon through www.visitingportugal.com. The owners are American ex-pats and very helpful. Well equippedapts and houses include a PC with broadband.

On our last trip we contacted Traveling To Lisbon. They went out of their way to try to find us an apartment but everything that we needed was already booked because it was August and it was really a last minute trip. They also represent our favorite apartment but that too was booked.

But. The customer service was excellent. They even called me to be more helpful. They have a wide range of apartments and they can give you a detailed description of them, i.e. location, amenities, stairs to climb, etc.

I am not familiar with Friendly Rentals. We actually rented two small studio apartments from Rent4days because we wanted two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I also do not have any complaints about this agency except that all monies must be paid in cash at time of the arrival. This may have changed.
We stayed in Brown's Luxury Apartments in Baixa (also a good neighborhood)

Thanks for the info...

anyone have any specific experience with the Castelo area?

I assume that Castelo is the nabe for Castelo Sao Jorge? if it is, this on top of Lisboa. You will have to walk up and down a STEEP, MAJOR hill. You can take a tram, however. Alfama is very close to the Castelo Sao Jorge. It is a very pretty nabe, but inconvenient for seeing the main sites of Lisboa. You will either have to take trams, taxis, or walk if you want to get down to Baixa.

Baixa is "downtown" Lisboa. Chiado and Bairro Alto are conventient to this locale, an easy walk.

Thin

Thin thanks for responding (you've come to my assistance at other times ...aside from Chiado...is Barrio Alto a good area to stay? I have been reading that it is quite lively at night which means it could be noisy?

Is Baixa a very "touristy" area with large hotels and more of the Mega type stores?

In Istanbul we stayed in Galata (not in the heart of the tourist area) and had a big staircase to climb to our apartment hotel and it was quite a hilly area...I realize Castelo may be even more steep but is the Castelo area similar?

Baixa is small. There is a street called "The Street of Gold" because that is were all the jewellery stores are located. No big department store here, mostly small businesses.

Bairro Alto can be noisy because the streets are VERY narrow and there are many restaurants and clubs in the area.

Another area to look at is Estrella. It is close to Baixa, but quiet. (The Hotel Mundial is in Estrella.) You can see the walls of the castle from this neighborhood. Close to the Metro and Station Rossio.

I think Chiado would be the best bet.

Thin

And we have found that the trams can at times be very crowded and you are not able to get on the current one and must wait for the next one. So it might eat up a lot of your time.
Taxis are very reasonable and east to get. For three of you it might almost be as economical as a tram depending on where you are going especially up that hill to the Castelo.
I also think Chiado would be best but if you feel your budget would be better served by staying some place more reasonable you could try Baixa as I know TTL has some nice looking apartments there.
Although I think the Brown's Apartments are really top notch, I don't think they would serve three people very well although they rent them for three.
Good Luck.

Dear Thin
I don't dare correcting you, but I kindly ask you to double check your Lisbon map. The Estrela area (garden and church) are nearby Campo de Ourique, near the end of tram 28 and quite far from Baixa.
Afaik, Hotel Mundial is in Martim Moniz.

So sorry, Lobo, but you are right. I meant to type Estefania, not Estrela. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN????

Thanks for the correction. Risab could have booked an apartment in the wrong neighbourhood.

Thin