a brand photographer’s guide to lisbon
a brand photographer-approved lisbon city guide
At the end of January, my partner and I headed to beautiful Lisbon for the first time and today I am sharing all our favourite spots from the trip, to help you plan a Lisbon break of your own!
I’ve included where we stayed, ate, and wandered, with some general thoughts on Lisbon at the end… but overall, if you’re looking for a relaxing break in a stunning, creative, friendly city, Lisbon is definitely for you.
Let’s get to it!
where to stay in lisbon
We stayed in The Vintage Hotel Lisbon, and I honestly can’t say enough great things! As you can tell, the whole hotel is styled with midcentury design firmly in mind and it was every bit as wonderful as it looks here. We loved that there was a wonderful little spa on its lowest floor, with a small steam room, pool, and sauna that were free to use (you just had to let the hotel know what time you wanted to visit). It also had two bars and the room itself was stunning – its location felt central without being too noisy, being just a few minutes walk from two handy Metro stations.
The staff were incredible; they were so helpful throughout our stay and we loved that they chatted with us on WhatsApp. There was a number of complimentary drinks in our room, some of which were topped up daily, and it made for a friendly but relaxing stay.
where to eat in lisbon
Good news for fellow veggies: I’m a vegan, and my partner eats vegan 90% of the time, so if you are a veggie heading to Lisbon, these recommendations will all work for you too!
where to have brunch + lunch lisbon
We had brunch nearly every day at Numa Cafe, just around the corner from where we stayed at The Vintage. It was beautiful, “very Copenhagen” as I insisted on saying daily despite never having visited Copenhagen, with a menu that had plenty of veggie-centric dishes. Their coffee was also absolutely delicious and their staff were so sweet and friendly.
Our other brunch find was Local, another healthy food pick that had plenty of vegan options. It was close to the hotel and my paprika tofu was fabulous, though we both said we’d had better coffee elsewhere in Lisbon.
Our first lunch was at Healthy V, an all-vegetarian café we popped into and was a great option while we were feeling tired and out-of-sorts after an early flight! My partner had a falafel wrap, I had a falafel bowl, and we loved them both. We said at the time that it would be a handy one to come back to if we were stuck for vegan options, but thankfully this wasn’t ever the case, much to my relief!
We also had a fabulous lunch at Green Revolution in Alfama… it was my favourite vegan burger I’ve had in a while (I went for the onion ring option which was delicious). The fries were lovely too, though you may have to wait a wee while — no issue for us as we were happy to chill out.
where to have dinner in lisbon
On our first night, we had dinner at the Japanese restaurant Koppu Ramen + Izakaya, which was near the hotel and incredibly tasty. We were wowed by our server who spoke three different languages while serving customers around us and our bao starter and ramen mains were sensational.
The next night, we stumbled across the all-vegan buffet at daTerra Bairro Alto and both of us were totally blown away! I’ve been vegan for six and a half years and I am pretty sure this was my first all-vegan buffet experience… Excited was an understatement. We had a little bit of everything and it was divine, including some very tasty kombucha. You pay a fixed price for as much of the buffet and you want, while drinks and desserts are extra, but we thought it was very reasonable and so flavourful.
We also loved our dinner at Sumaya, a stunning and super delicious Lebanese restaurant that also was close to the hotel and seriously tasty. I let the server know I was vegan and he was very helpful in suggesting what to switch out, which I really appreciated given some places will simply remove an item without adding anything in its place. This was the meal I think about most now we are back home.
Our last dinner was at Green Burger, which was cute and friendly, with a seriously tasty garlic mayo that I couldn’t get enough of. I really appreciated that they had a very reasonable meal offer that included a drink and pudding for a great price (of course we said yes).
where to wander in lisbon
We had a wonderful time exploring the Botanic Gardens right by our hotel when we arrived. They’re small but really lovely, with plenty of greenery for anybody who adores their plant life! It was quite quiet when we went and I took heaps of photos because it was just beautiful, a quiet oasis in the middle of the city.
You can buy botanical garden tickets which also give you access to the beautiful National Museum of Science + Natural History around the corner. Again, it’s a smaller space than some, but that made it feel very accessible. We loved wandering around the historical exhibitions and admiring all the specimens on display but do beware of the room with syphilis specimens in it – honestly horrifying! It’s also just a stunning building in its own right and very close to the hotel.
We also loved our visit to Lx Factory, a converted factory that’s now home to heaps of small businesses, cafes, and boutiques. This was definitely one of my personal highlights from the trip, where I bought a beautiful silver ring and a vintage jumper (I’m obsessed with both). It was a great spot if you want to mooch about; its setting was made all the more impressive by its proximity to Lisbon’s Ponte 25 Abril (which was made by the same people as the Golden Gate Bridge).
My personal highlight from our trip was visiting the flea market, Feira da Ladra, on Saturday morning. It was huge and I was blown away by how many things I fell in love with. Lots of great antiques and vintage finds sat alongside beautiful artwork – it was a real gold mine. Our biggest limitation was that we had come hand luggage-only, so I limited myself to another ring purchase and could not have been happier with our morning there.
I was also in love with our wandering around Alfama and we actually preferred it to our day in Belem, which we had also heard great things about. This viewpoint was very popular spot but it yielded amazing photos (the last one in the slideshow above). If you want to take some beautiful photos of Lisbon’s old town, that’s the place to do it!
I’ve created a Lisbon list on Google Maps if you would like to see all the places we recommend in one handy place:
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