The best areas to live in Lisbon

Okay, you know what you want and that is to work remotely in Lisbon. However, have you thought about where you would like to live during your stay here? To make your search a little bit easier to decide on a digital nomad accommodation, we want you to read this article first, for sure it’s going to help!

It is important to be aware that in the most touristic areas, like Baixa for example, it could get a bit more difficult to find long-term rent. In other places where it is more common for students or expats to live, like Chiado, it will be possible to find furnished or serviced apartments for rent. Also, in most residential areas, like Santos and Lapa, it should be easier to find long-term rent in Lisbon.

Considering this, there are diverse areas in town that you could find very interesting, each of them has its own different vibe and magic but for sure they are all very beautiful, colorful and picturesque. So we would like to leave you with our hand-picked selection of, in our opinion, the best neighborhoods to rent apartments in Lisbon.

🏠 Baixa: This is literally the heart of Lisbon, in the district, you can find many shops, restaurants, and hotels. Also, there are many beautiful squares around like praça do comércio, Rossio square, and Restauradores square. However, since it is very touristic, it can get very busy during the day.

🏠 Chiado: You can find many cultural spots like Teatro São Luiz and Teatro Nacional de São Carlos but also plenty of restaurants and cafés around, it has very good public transport connections, and is right next to Cais de Sodré station.

🏠 Principe Real: It is one of the most trendy residential neighborhoods in Lisbon, near the miradouros São Pedro de Alcântara you could also find cute squares like Praça das Flores. There are very nice restaurants in the area and upmarket shops.

🏠 Santos and Lapa: Santos is a small design district in front of the river and Lapa is the embassy quarter. These neighborhoods are next to each other and are both considered relatively quiet while at the same time they offer all that you will need and desire from an area to live in Lisbon. Many brunch places and cafes, kiosks, and trendy restaurants.

🏠 Alfama and Graça: Here you will be surrounded by medieval tiny streets, taking you back to Lisbon's history. It is definitely a very touristic area, but also beautiful and you will be able to find everything you need. You will get amazing miradouros like Portas do Sol, Santa Luzia and miradouro da Graça.  

🏠 Bairro Alto: The nightlife district of Lisbon for excellence. You can find many cheap bars and restaurants around but also miradouros like São Pedro de Alcântara, vintage trams that go up to Bairro, live music, and a very good vibe. We love this neighborhood but it is not the best for working or sleeping.

However, that’s not all but just the most hyped bairros in Lisbon downtown, sometimes they are also usually a bit more expensive. Some other bairros are located in Lisbon, maybe a bit further from the central, most typical, hyped and touristic areas but they are still very nice, most of them more affordable than the ones mentioned above but some others are even a bit more pricey. Here we will tell you about those neighborhoods in Lisbon that are not that popular among tourists, and even sometimes undervalued but still cool and nice:

🏠 Intendente/Anjos: this multicultural hood is located in the north direction of Martim Moniz and is well-known as a cool place to hang out in the city. There are plenty of vintage shops and fairly priced restaurants (also illegal Chinese ones), markets, and cafes around.

🏠 Alcântara: you can find this neighborhood between Belém and Lisbon downtown. Here you’ll find the Docas de Santo Amaro, right next to the river and LX factory with many restaurants and bars but you can also find a residential area on the other side of this bairro.

🏠 Arroios: this walking distance from the Saldanha neighborhood offers a completely different vibe and is way more affordable. It is very well connected by public transport and you’ll find many markets. Also, this area is popular with students.

🏠 Odivelas: this popular bairro among locals is found at the end of the yellow line of the metro. It is still not that far from the city center, but it has a more bearable cost of living, also there you can find everything you need for living and even some museums and other historical heritage sites.

🏠 Amadora: even though it is a bit far from the city center, it is one of the areas with more population density in Portugal. Many locals live here thanks to the more affordable prices but also because of the many green areas and for escaping a bit from the city.

🏠 Almada: this neighborhood is located on the well-known “other side of the river” and you can get there even by train, bus, or tram. This is a quiet bairro but you can still find all you need and most of the people living there are locals but there are also nice tourist attractions like the Christ and costa da Caparica nearby, also this area is well known for its seafood.

🏠 Campo de Ourique: this very residential bairro is popular among the middle class in Lisbon. Here you can find a mix of typical old Portuguese buildings but also modern architecture. There are many bars, cafes, restaurants, and shops in the area too, and also a few parks. However, it’s not well connected by public transport.

🏠 Saldanha: this neighborhood near the city center is where residential meet business, mixing old Portuguese architecture and modern one. Here you will find many companies' offices, a big shopping center, department stores, hotels, restaurants, and cafes. It is also super well connected by public transport.

🏠 Cascais: in case you’d like to live further from Lisbon and closer to the sea, this is your way to go. It is located 30 km to the east of the Portuguese capital and next to the coastline. This an up-market neighborhood that mixed the residential life with tourist areas with many attractions, shops, and nice restaurants.

Now that you know more about Lisbon neighborhoods, and what’s the hype around them, we recommend you focus your search on the areas that you think you will fit better, it always depends on what you’re looking for out of this experience and what you want.

It might sound a little bit personal, but we have quite a few apartments available around these areas, if you want to have a look it could also be helpful.