Lisbon is a beautiful city on the coast of Portugal with lots of great seafood, charming rooftops, and street art. While it has gotten a bit touristy over the years, it makes sense with how pretty it is. I visited Portugal in May, for optimal weather. It was upper 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit most days, and didn’t get too cold at night. Below is a list of 10 things to know before visiting Lisbon, Portugal.

Don’t: Go Time Out Market

From everything I’ve read, and even with speaking to locals, Time Out Market is a tourist trap and is flocked with a lot of drug sellers. In general, I’d say that the drug selling activity around any tourist area was very apparent, including the city center, and they had no qualms with asking you if you “wanted any”. 

Do: Eat fresh seafood

Lisbon is a coastal city, so take advantage of it and eat some fresh seafood. While it is definitely crowded, I highly recommend eating at the lower level of Ramirez. Try the scarlet shrimp which is the size of a lobster with a sweet shrimp flesh and the spider crab which will may require a little extra work to gets through its hard shell.

Don’t: Ride the tuktuks

Tuktuks are a rip-off. They will overcharge you. If you’re desperate, haggle for a price, but take alternative transportation methods.

Do: Use Public Transportation or Uber

Metro/Train

To use the metro, you can purchase a reloadable card. We chose to load money using a credit card. The thin paper ticket gets scanned at the gate when you enter and exit. This reloadable card shown here can also be used to load train ticket purchases to Sintra.

Uber/Bolt

We were able to get an Uber with no issues. When we went to Belém, we opted for an Uber at an affordable price (10€ in 2024). It would’ve take an hour on public transportation from Baixa.

Don’t: Be a Target for Street Peddlers and Scammers

There are a lot of street peddlers that were also aggressive with their sales tactics. It is best to walk past them quickly and not to let them put trinkets or bracelets on you, and try to charge you for it. In general though, beware of scammers. I was cheated out of a euro at a stop to an independently owned supermarket. He refunded me less change than what I was owed. The worst part is I witnessed him giving trouble to the customers ahead of me and still had chosen to buy water because of how desperately thirsty I was. 

Do: Stay at City Center if it’s your First Time for a Short Time

Since we weren’t in Lisbon for very long and since it was our first time there, it was convenient to stay in the city center Baixa near the metro. While there were still a lot of options when I started looking for hotels, I felt like a lot of good options were gone by the time I started looking two months ahead. I don’t recommend staying at Alfama, due to the steep hills.

During my stay, I ended up staying at Brown’s Boutique Hotel without breakfast. It had AC, was well furnished with artsy charm, and kept very clean. The shower stall was a little dim as there were no lights inside, and you’ll want to close the door really tightly so that the shower leaks less. When you arrive, you are welcomed with a welcome drink, which showcases a local spirit. In the room, you will find a complimentary wine bottle.

We also had taken advantage of the hotel shuttle service during our stay. While it costs more than a train ride, being picked up by a driver made the travel to/from the airport very easy and with zero stress. Overall I enjoyed my stay there. I will say that the AC made a lot of clicking noise, making it harder to sleep at night.

Don’t: Buy Tin Fish at Colorful Circus-looking Stores

I’m not saying to not eat tin fish in Portugal as a fellow tin fish consumer, I’m just saying to avoid the ones that look like a circus. You’ll know what I mean when you see them… they are very colorful and have a lot of dazzling lights. They are clearly tourist traps and not worth your stomach retail estate.

Do: Learn a few basic Portuguese words.

Even though most service workers were fluent in English when we went, attempting to speak their language is appreciated. While some Portuguese words are spelled similarly to Spanish words, make sure to say it like the Portuguese if you can. If looking up videos, make sure it’s European Portuguese and not Brazilian Portuguese.

• Ola: Hello
• Bom dia: Good morning
• Boa tarde:  Good afternoon
• Boa noite: Good evening/night
• Por favor: Please
• Obrigado/a (you are male/female)  = Thank you

Don’t: Ride the Santa Justa Lift 

The Santa Justa is iconic, sure, but the ride itself doesn’t seem very impressive. It has a small capacity, a short ride (~15 seconds) and a line that takes way longer than the ride itself.

Do: Walk Behind the Santa Justa

If you walk up the stairs from the bottom of the Santa Justa and go behind it, you will find a street artwork of two pelicans made almost entirely of trash. “Pelicans” is part of the Big Trash Animals series by Bordalo II. There are other animals around town that you can find, which I would highly recommend. The street artwork around Lisbon is pretty cool in general, so keep your eyes peeled as you are wandering the neighborhood.