No matter how often you return, you’ll always see Lisbon afresh. The Portuguese capital twinkles with exciting new openings – from boutique hotels and restaurants to roof terraces and bars, all with a pinch of historic soul and the wrappings of 21st-century cool. This is a place you sense, not see. Imagining that the medieval Castelo de São Jorge and the stately riverfront Praça do Comércio don’t exist for a moment will open your eyes to its real wonder.
These streets are full of poetry, with light bouncing off the piercing blue Tagus River and azulejo tiles, intricately cobbled calçadas and creamy white Manueline facades carved during the age of great explorers. Go beyond the tourist trail and you’ll soon find neighbourhoods full of life and laughter, fado and street art. It’s in the back alleys, where that unexpected cafe, leafy plaza or sunset miradouro (viewpoint) awaits, that you’ll fall hard Lisbon.
