Living in Lisbon
Notes from a Remote Worker
I moved to Lisbon in April 2021 and fell in love with a city for the first time.
Here are my favorite things about Lisbon that I wish other cities would learn from:
One of the first things you’ll notice in Lisbon are the hills. Lisbon is built on seven hills and dotted on their edges throughout the city are the beautiful miradouros (translation: viewpoints).
Ranging from hidden terraces to entire parks, these miradouros cover every possible occasion: from sunrise at Santa Luzia to sunset at Senhora de Monte, midnight beers at São Pedro de Alcântara or a moonlit jam session at Santa Catarina overlooking Lisbon’s Golden Gate lookalike. Climbing the hills of Lisbon will build your calves and their views fill your heart.Lisboetas seem to understand something about public art that other cities haven’t figured out yet. You literally just can’t escape it. The multistory murals peek out at you from hillside vantage points while intricate azulejo tiles in the traditional Portuguese style decorate hundred year old facades. There’s so much public art that you end up finding it right below your feet — the Portuguese carefully craft floral and oceanic stone patterns into the cobblestone footpaths found throughout the entire city.
My favourite mural features the famous untranslatable Portuguese word saudade and can be found just off the main street in Graça (I’ve included a photo of it at the end of this post). If you find yourself snapping pics of the tilework, consider a visit to the National Museum of Azulejo for more pretty tiles than Pinterest’s servers could possibly handle.Like many European cities, Lisbon is built on the Tejo river. Not only is the Tejo the longest river in the Iberian peninsula, but where Lisbon is planted the Tejo expands into one of the widest rivers in all of Europe — so wide that new visitors often assume it’s the ocean.
Its size created the necessity for two colossal mega-bridges, but that’s not what makes the Tejo special to me. Unlike my home city of Dublin, where the riverfront is claimed for arterial commuter roads and the bay is forfeited to the docklands for cargo ships and cruise liners, Lisbon’s riverfront is owned by the people. The entire boardwalk is dotted with parks, restaurants, bars, buskers and even a mini man-made beach. For a magical evening, catch sunset over the water from the roof of the MAAT Museum in Belém followed by dinner on the marina at Doca de Santo.We often joke in Ireland that we can’t have fun things because someone will get hurt and sue. Whether Lisbon has the same ‘compensation claim culture,’ I can neither confirm nor deny, but they certainly seem willing to bend the rules with a refreshing complacency that we can all learn from.
During a beautiful Saturday in May, we rented a boat and set sail with our port wine and beers to catch a sunset on the Tejo. Not only did this 2-hour excursion turn into a full on sailing lesson where we got to hoist the mast and learn to steer, but the sunset was so spectacular that I repeated the same experience again four further times over the following months. It goes without saying an experience like this would never come to be back home due to all the accompanying red tape.If you’re looking for outdoor dining, Lisbon’s got you covered. Closely related to my previous point, it seems that the Portuguese can find space to eat and drink wherever the sun hits the ground. Every little corner, terrace, rooftop, footpath, alleyway, stairs or ledge with enough room has been kitted out with a dining table — turning the city into one big open-air restaurant. Whether you go for rooftop views at Java, terrace chats at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, or streetside pizza at Lupita, you’ll be making the right decision.
While Ireland is known for its rainy weather, in reality it actually rains more each year in Lisbon, Rome and Naples! Us Irish people have become so wrapped up in the story we tell ourselves about our wet climate that we’ve missed out on the fun of outdoor dining. With some side-street pedestrianization, a couple of heaters and marquees, and a loosening of outdoor drinking laws, Dublin could rival Lisbon with a much needed post-covid renaissance in its hospitality sector.In Ireland, international cuisines tend to fall into one of two categories: cheap takeaway or expensive, upmarket dining. Instead of maintaining this counterintuitive dichotomy, Lisbon offers a wealth of incredible diverse food options at very reasonable prices.
The range of high quality dining options stretches the entire cultural palette. For asian cuisine, book a table at the secret little Aura Dim Sum Lab, devour the best ramen you’ve ever had at Panda Cantina, try the bottomless sushi option at Sushima, or gorge on Goan-style tapas at the renowned Jesus e Goes. For other flavors, try the fantastic Mexican food from Coyo Taco, or weave through the narrow ancient streets in Alfama for some authentic Greek gyros at Pita Gourmet. If you can’t decide, head over to Time Out Market for a full range of options next door to the beautiful traditional market of Mercado da Ribeira.
Whatever you’re keen to try, don’t leave Lisbon without tasting traditional Portuguese food. My number one restaurant in all of Lisbon is A Cosina Sr. Lisboa (translation: ‘Mr. Lisbon’s Kitchen’), but I’d recommend booking well in advance for this cozy little fusion Portuguese tapas spot. If you can’t get a table there, try Lugar Marcado in Alfama or get the ferry across the river for dinner on the pier at Ponto Final.I lived in San Diego for a summer and saw first hand how an amazing city can be so let down by its lack of public transport. We had to rely on expensive Uber trips and plenty of 45-60 minute walks. Lisbon is quite the opposite – it has the scale of Dublin but with a world class public transport system like London.
There was one week back when I lived in London where I literally had to stay home from work because I just couldn’t afford the extortionate prices for the commuter train. You’ll never face that problem in Lisbon – you can hop between bus, tram, train, ferry and a 4-line underground metro for less than €2 per trip. Now that’s what I call livable :)Lisbon is ranked as the 7th most introverted country in the world. When we first arrived, we were surprised how easy it was to make new friends with other internationals but also how hard it was to make Portuguese friends. Over time, we discovered a whole other side of the city that the locals mostly keep quiet about.
While the tourists go drinking in the famous former Red Light District of Pink Street, the Portuguese are out enjoying open air parties on streets like Rua de Atalaia in Bairro Alto. While tourists flock to the fancy bars along the designer district of Avenida da Liberdade, the Portuguese are in beer mode in their community-run associaçãos.
My favorite part of the associaçãos is how unique each one is. My favorite, Associação de Loucos e Sonhadores (’The Crazy and Dreamers Association’), is an old school bar full of tiny booths and jazz music which the Portuguese keep a secret from the tourists. Others worth checking out are Casa Intendente (multi-story apartment turned bar), Crew Hassan (two underground soundproof club rooms), or Pavilhão Chinês (an old Chinese warehouse turned five-room WW2 memorabilia bar). Lisbon has successfully managed to balance the flocks of tourists without destroying the authentic local nightlife scene – primarily by letting the quirky thrive.Dublin, London and San Diego all seem to have homogenized as they grew to their current size. By the time I got to visit Shoreditch in London, it had become so gentrified that it just blended into the rest of the city. The only thing that differentiates areas of these cities are whether they are rich or poor, central or suburb. Lisbon, on the other hand, seems to have taken a completely different approach.
Nestled within walking distance of each other, Lisbon has pockets of entirely different worlds. There are the winding narrow streets of old town Alfama — the only neighborhood to survive the devastating 1755 earthquake and tsunami. On the opposite end to Alfama’s cute little streets, there are the massive monuments and towering architecture of Belém – the main city port during the height of Lisbon’s colonial dominance. LX Factory is the walled-community home of hipster cafés, vintage shops, restaurants and the loveliest bookstore in the entire city. Around every corner in Lisbon, a new city awaits.Density makes a city livable. It’s one of the aspects of urban planning that my home city of Dublin struggles with most. With just a handful of exceptions, Lisbon’s buildings are mostly 4-7 stories tall. Every shop has apartments above them, every apartment has a metro within walking distance. The result is that — wherever you choose to live in Lisbon — once you step out your door, you’re in the city.
Lisbon’s urban density had a bunch of benefits. You’re never too far from a great café or brunch place (if you’re into brunch, Augusto is the best place I’ve ever been to). You can reach any point in the city within 30 minutes. My favorite aspect of all — everything is so close that you can walk home from the bar after your night out!Even with all its lovely twists and turns, living in a city can leave you thirsting for outdoor adventures. Within an hour of Lisbon, you’ve got surfing on the never-ending Costa de Caparica beach, hiking the cliffs in Cabo da Roca, exploring the royal palaces and castles of Sintra National Park, or even just having a beer under fairy lights in Monsanto Park’s forests on the edge of the city.
Here are my personal tips for Lisbon adventures. Take an entire day and hike from Europe’s most westerly point, Cabo da Roca, all the way to the postcard village of Azenhas do Mar. It’s a 5-hour cliff hike, excluding beach stops for a dip in the ocean, and was probably my favorite thing I did during the entire time I lived in Lisbon.
A day trip to Sintra is one of the most popular tourist activities outside of Lisbon (and rightly so). What doesn’t make the tourist itineraries, however, is the hidden gem Dona Maria — a terrace restaurant with views of the entire Sintra National Park and Atlantic Coast that a Portuguese friend introduced me to. It’s a magical spot.While our weekends may have been spent exploring Lisbon’s restaurants and hiking its coastal cliffs, we were always in ‘wired in’ mode mid-week. Thankfully, Lisbon was very accommodating when it came to remote working.
Initially we booked apartments through Airbnb, before moving over to Idealista to find longer term rentals (although it’s hard to find anything less than 6-months on there). Many of our landlords added desks to the apartments once we told them we were working remotely, and two even had their wifi upgraded to high-speed fiber optic for us. I didn’t end up getting a membership to any coworking hubs, so I’m not well placed to comment on that front, however my two favorite spots to caffeinate while writing were Curva, which was so cool that it may as well have been an art gallery, and Delta Q, which was always full of other remote workers and international students.
In my opinion, Lisbon has it all – it’s in the perfect time zone for remote working, it has one of the best annual climates in Europe, and its diversity means that a new friend, restaurant or adventure is around every corner. I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay away for long…
Daniel
Co-Founder of OpinionX — a free research tool for stack ranking people’s priorities.
Photos
There was so much to write about that I couldn’t fit everything in one newsletter. If you’re heading to Lisbon, send me a DM to ask about anything specific :)
Also, check out this ebook from my friend The Hungry Nugget which goes into waaaay more detail about all things Lisbon. I highly recommend reading it if you’re planning on moving to Lisbon sometime soon.
Daniel ✌
You made me want to go back to visit Lisbon again! Could have used this before I went, great article Daniel!