Lisbon's Hidden Gems: Beyond the Tourist Trail
After three visits, I finally stopped following the guidebook. What I found instead was the real Lisbon.
Everyone goes to Belém. Everyone rides Tram 28. Everyone eats a pastel de nata at Pastéis de Belém and takes the same photograph. These things are popular for good reason — they are genuinely wonderful. But Lisbon has more to offer than its greatest hits.
On my third visit I stayed in the Mouraria neighborhood, which is older and quieter than Alfama and almost entirely free of tourist infrastructure. My mornings began at a café where the same four men played cards every day and the coffee cost 70 cents.
The city's real character lives in these small moments: a fado song drifting from an open window, a miradouro with no one else on it, a restaurant with no English menu where the waiter patiently mimes the fish of the day. This is the Lisbon I keep coming back for.
Margaret
I've been traveling the world for over 30 years and still get butterflies before every trip. This blog is my way of sharing the places that moved me, the meals that surprised me, and the hotels where I slept like a queen.
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