Curious things to do in Lisbon
Author: Beena Nadeem
With Lisbon’s grand sights accounted for – its tangled streets navigated, Fado duly felt and Jeronimos duly admired – it’s time to ramp up the intrigue. Sip contraband cocktails in boho hideaways, peruse a museum of the macabre, feast on seafood in a time-forgotten isle and claim a secret sunset perch alongside guitar-strumming locals.
If you like Lisbon’s top viewpoints, you’ll love this locally adored spot
Miradouro de Nossa Senhora do Monte is a lesser-known hilltop gem that’s treasured by locals from hapless romantics to artists looking to sketch the massive views beneath. If you fancy joining them, the trek up will test your mettle. However, scaling its heights is well worth doing for the all-encompassing panorama which takes in Alfama, the castle, the Tagus River and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge. Come before sunset, take your spot and settle in as the sunset dyes the skies gold.
Top tip: If you don’t fancy the steep hike from Martim Moniz, you can take a reputable tuk tuk to the top.
If you like Lisbon’s famous food scene, then you’ll love this seafood
If you fancy an off-grid escape, hop on a ferry to Trafaria. While most visitors may head for Cacilhas, this authentic, unpolished, artsy fishing village is perfect for exploring with its crumbling buildings, stray cats, bobbing boats and seafood that’s out of this world. Happily trading polish for authenticity, it forms the perfect time-slowed antidote to city life. Pull up a seat among the locals at a no-frills tasca and tuck into just-pulled-from-the-sea grilled fish, razor clams and seafood rice.
Top tip: Take the 25-minute ferry ride from Belem in Lisbon via Porto Brandao to get to Trafaria. It’s only a few miles away but feels like an entire world apart.
If you like Lisbon’s traditional galleries, you’ll love this modern collection
Tucked inside Lisbon’s Belem Cultural Centre you’ll find the Museum of Contemporary Art. This is where art gets bold, weird and occasionally even quizzically questionable. This veritable playground of 20th Century icons such as Picasso, Mondrian, Miro, Warhol and Lichtenstein and includes every modern movement from Cubism to Surrealism. The layout walks you through the last century of artistic rebellion featuring wildly splattered paint, soup cans and surreal sculptures including a massive Venetian mask made of 510 hand mirrors while accompanied by Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night or even a giant textile octopus.
Top tip: When you’ve had your fill, head to the terrace for a reasonably priced lunch and soak in the views of the Jeronimos Monastery.
If you like Lisbon’s many museums, you’ll love its more mysterious ones
Fancy a little eerie excursion? Then you’ll certainly catch an eyeful at the city’s Hospital de Bonecas, a hospital for broken dolls located on Praca da Figueira. Operating (in more ways than one) since 1830, this part museum, part repair shop, is a fascinating place, provided you’re comfortable with the glass-eyed stare of dolls following your every move. You’ll also find shelves full of doll parts including limbs and heads waiting to be reassembled.
Top tip: The Doll Hospital is usually, but not always open. Once at the courtyard at Praca da Figueira, look out for the small, signed doorway or ask a local shopkeeper.
If you like Lisbon’s nightlife, you’ll love these clandestine cocktail bars
Fancy breaking out your best moves on a rooftop? Of course, you do. Head to Lisbon's Bairro Alto district and look out for Calcada Combro 58’s unmarked entrance, before taking a lift to the 6th floor of a multi-storey car park. Enjoying that speakeasy vibe? Head to the appropriately named Incognito – you enter this small venue through an unmarked door and just follow your ears. If you fancy a dash of bohemian with your boogie, then Casa Independente, set in an old mansion, is for you. Now a nightclub with an artsy vibe, it’s a cultural draw for trendy Lisbonites.
Top tip: Casa Independente is easy to miss, head to Largo do Intendente 45 and look for an old, unmarked wooden door.
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