Flair Magazine World-Class Capital
This Portuguese capital city, Lisbon, looks like your average European capital…minus all the fuss! Spread across steep hillsides that overlook the Rio Tejo, Lisbon has a lot to offer from Gothic cathedrals, majestic monasteries and quaint museums, it’s all part of it’s colorful cityscape, but the real delights of discovery lie in wandering the narrow lanes of Lisbon’s lovely backstreets. The capital of Portugal also has a reputation for style and long pedigree in art and culture as well as world-class restaurants and excellent seafood.
By Farah Amin
Where to Stay
With an excellent array of design conscious boutique hotels and upmarket backpacker digs, there is plenty of choices to slumber.
Lisbon Lounge Hostels a stylish Baixa digs that has immaculate dorms and an artfully designed lounge complete with turntable and faux moose head.
Complete with a fun team who hosts nightly dinners, bar crawls and other events makes it a perfect spot to meet other travelers.
With supreme comfort, cleanliness, style and security, the multi-award-winning Lisbon Lounge Hostel is the perfect place to call home during your visit to our fantastic city.
For a luxurious stay, book in the 19th Century 5-star hotel, Olissippo Lapa Palace is nestled on a sub-tropical garden on a hilltop overlooking the Tagus River. It has an expansive spa and indoor and outdoor pools. The rooms are elegant at the Olissippo Lapa Palace are bright and airy and include a spacious seating area. Restaurant Hotel Lapa serves fine Mediterranean cuisine and regional wines, while Le Pavillion, during summer time, serves cocktails, homemade iced teas and fruit juices around the pool
Where to Eat
The Portuguese capital has raised he bar recently in the culinary scene where creative, open-minded chefs look to Brazil, France, India and the Mediterranean for inspiration.
Pharmacia
in Lisbon’s apothecary museum, this wonderfully quirky restaurant distributes tasting menus and that are market fresh and Mediterranean influenced, served by Waiters in white lab coats, appetizers served in test tubes, and cabinets brimming with pill bottles and flacons.
100 Maneiras
One of Lisbon’s best-rated restaurants, 100 Maneiras has no menu, just a 10-course tasting menu that changes daily and features creative, delicately prepared dishes. part of it’s charm that the menu is all a surprise. The small space has a lively and elegant buzz to it.
Alma
Henrique Sá Pessoa, one of Portugal’s most talented chefs prepares at this stylish, all-white restaurant in Santos with excellence and consistent great reviews. The multicourse tasting menus provide excellent value for money and the service is first-rate.
What to See
Praça do Comércio
With its grand 18th-century arcades, lemon-meringue facades and mosaic cobbles, the riverfront Praça do Comércio is a square that stands out from everywhere else.
Everyone arriving by boat used to land here, and it still feels like the gateway to Lisbon, alive with activity and rattling trams. At its center stands the equestrian statue of Dom José I , hinting at the square’s royal roots.
Alfama
Walk down through Alfama’s steep, narrow, cobblestoned streets and catch a glimpse of the more traditional side of Lisbon before it too is redeveloped, and linger in a backstreet cafe and experience some local bonhomie without the tourist gloss.
Castelo de São Jorge
The hilltop fortifications of Castelo de São Jorge towers dramatically over Lisbon where it sneaks into almost every snapshot. These smooth cobbles have seen it all – Visigoths in the 5th century, Moors in the 9th century, Christians in the 12th century, royals from the 14th to 16th centuries, and convicts in every century.
Roam its snaking walls and pine-shaded courtyards for the best view of the city’s red rooftops to the river.
Torre de Belém is a World Heritage–listed fortress that epitomizes the Age of Discoveries.
Francisco de Arruda designed the pearly-grey chess piece in 1515 to defend Lisbon’s harbor and nowhere else is the lure of the Atlantic more powerful. Climb the narrow spiral staircase to the tower, and get a sublime view over Belém and the river.
