Practical tips for Lisbon

Lisbon is a welcoming, safe and easy city, but a few tips help you avoid small hassles. It is part of the Lisbon guide.

Hills and calçada

Lisbon is built on steep hills, and its streets are paved with calçada portuguesa, black and white stone cobbles, beautiful but slippery, especially in the rain or downhill. Wear shoes with good grip, avoid heels and smooth soles, and take trams, buses and the free public lifts for the hardest climbs. The historic funiculars have been closed since the 2025 accident (see transport).

Safety

Lisbon is one of Europe's safest capitals. The main issues are:

• pickpockets on tram 28 and the 15E, on the metro, at the Rossio and in crowded areas;
• fake dealers in the Baixa and Bairro Alto offering "hashish" or "cocaine" to tourists: it is often bay leaves or flour, and best ignored anyway;
• petty theft on beaches and from cars parked in tourist areas.

The single emergency number is 112. The police have a tourist post in the Palácio Foz at Restauradores.

Restaurants: the couvert

As soon as you sit down, restaurants bring bread, butter, olives, sardine pâté, sometimes cheese or ham: this is the couvert, and it is charged if you touch it. If you don't want it, ask them to take it away. It isn't a scam, it's a custom, but worth knowing. Some fish and seafood dishes are priced by weight: ask the price before ordering.

Money and tipping

The euro is used and cards are accepted almost everywhere, though some small tascas prefer cash. Multibanco ATMs on the national network are the best value; avoid private networks with high fees. Tipping is optional: leave small change at the bar and 5-10% at restaurants for good service.

Language

Portuguese is written much like Spanish and Italian but pronounced very differently. Many Lisboetas speak English; it is still polite to greet in Portuguese: bom dia (good morning), obrigado or obrigada (thank you, said by a man or a woman), por favor, com licença (excuse me), a conta, por favor (the bill). See useful Portuguese phrases.

Hours

• Shops generally open 10am-7pm; shopping centres until 11pm, including Sundays.
• Lunch is 12.30-2.30pm and dinner from 7.30pm.
• Many national museums close on Mondays.
• Portugal uses Western European Time, the same as the UK.

Water, sun and health

• Tap water is safe to drink.
• The sun is strong even when the wind cools you: sunscreen and a hat.
• EU citizens are entitled to healthcare with the European Health Insurance Card; others should have travel insurance. Pharmacies are marked by a green cross, and there is always one on night duty.

Scams and tourist traps

• Restaurants with touts on Rua Augusta and Baixa streets.
• Tuk-tuks without a price agreed in advance: always ask for the total price before getting in.
• Sunglasses and selfie sticks sold in the street at inflated prices.
• The fake dealers mentioned above.

Useful numbers

See also when to go and getting to Portugal.