Lisbon..but which area?

planetdannii

Hi,

I'm off to Lisbon at the end of August and would like to get anyones opinion on areas/where to stay.

Going for a week but I think we will head down to the Algarve for a couple in the middle (to visit an aunt)...so I guess 3nights when we land in.

Where would be a nice place to be in walking distance to the bars and the atmosphere, this is our first trip of many we will do before hopefully moving there next year. All the areas seem to claim 5mins walk but they can't all be 5mins surely.


Does anyone have any first hand recomendations of areas/apartments/hotel ... We are looking at max 80euros a night really.

Any help appreciated, found a few apartments but now stuck which to choose

Thanx

ScarletBea

Hi, I'm portuguese, so I can't really advise you on hotels, but I can tell you which areas are nice

My favourite is close to the old Expo 98 area, completely renewed and full of restaurants and bars and shopping (and cinemas, and etc, hehehe). It's called Parque das Nações.Oh, this is also very well connected to the rest of Lisbon by the underground.

You can also try to stay close to Marquês de Pombal, which is a central area, older, but from here you can walk to the old part of Lisbon. The only problem is that it may look a bit dodgy at night, depending on the streets.

The best area for bars and restaurants on the old town is Bairro Alto, but I'm not sure about hotels nearby, as all the streets are really narrow.

Hmm... maybe you can let me know the ones you found and I'll tell you if the area's ok or not.

Felix

There are loads of hotels along the Avenida da Liberdade towards the Praca da Restoradores. Loads of cheap restaurants too

ChemicalBrother_2

I'd agree with ScarletBea, Parque das Nações is a really nice area. It's got funky buildings, shops, restaurants a great promenade and it's peaceful!

It isn't right in the centre of the city though.

FWIW I've stayed at a hotel right behind the Rossio (sp?) station and even though there were odd blokes hanging around, guys trying to sell me hashish and an "adult" bar, I felt safe enough!

richardw

Perhaps another way of looking is do you want air con and an outdoor swimming pool, considering it is hot in August?

planetdannii

Hi,

Thanx a lot for your help

One I have seen and contacted is this one http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/portugal/P3703.htm 55euros a night and its available for the first three nights when we get there, it doesn't say where it is though.

The owners seem nice so I could email them back and find out.

Another one is this one http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/portugal/P1304.htm in a quiet street near Marquês de Pombal and Av. da Liberdade.
Both 55 euros a night and available for when we want

You think I should look more or is one of these fine you think, i like the idea of having a place rather than a hotel room, hotels are so boring and I always feel like I shouldn't be in the room, especially with food/snack

I am now going to do a search the Parque das Nações area like two of you have suggested it sounds perfect for what we want, due to the fact we are going to look at areas/places we will actually be living one day

We are 2 females in our twenties but not total party heads all the time, we appreciate whats around us

ChemicalBrother wrote: »

It's got funky buildings, shops, restaurants a great promenade and it's peaceful!QUOTE]

So your comment sounds like a perfect mix

Interesting what you say about aircon, never thought about it, i'm used to the heat here in Thailand but even I need aircon in the summer months.hmmmm another thing to ponder

Of to search more
Thank you all
xxxxx

Felix

richardw wrote: »

Perhaps another way of looking is do you want air con and an outdoor swimming pool, considering it is hot in August?

Not that hot though, the breeze off the Atlantic keeps it pleasent.

planetdannii

We have booked our flight and changed our dates so we can go for longer (10days now)......this means we will now look at hostels instead ;(
I don't mind I have found a couple which are really clean & modern.

1 is called Travellers House which I think we will book just for the fist 2 nights then go from there. It's Rua Augusta in Baixa, looks quite central I think

planetdannii

Thailand is sooo humid I think I could handle anything now, well we shall see

We go July 29th-Aug 8th, yay !!

ScarletBea

planetdannii wrote: »

I don't mind I have found a couple which are really clean & modern.

1 is called Travellers House which I think we will book just for the fist 2 nights then go from there. It's Rua Augusta in Baixa, looks quite central I think

Rua Augusta is very central, and it's great during the day, but be warned that it gets quite dead at night, once the shops and offices are closed, since hardly anybody lives there anymore (only old people unfortunately). They want to remodernise the flats there, but since the rents are really low, the landlords can't be bothered.

Just be careful of dodgy types, and don't really walk alone, specially looking foreigner.

Parque das Nações *is* perfect, but I think the prices then are a bit out of your range... Anyway, you can always search for something in the older part, still near enough the new area to take advantage of everything

Good luck!

planetdannii

Hi ScarletBea,
Thanx for your help,

What is the older part called?, Not sure I want dodgy streets at night although I think my mate and I will always be together but who knows.

From looking at Parque das Nações it is def out of our leage price wise & I also think it looks a bit too modern, but I'm sure we will visit to check out the area.

Well thats what we are going for, to look for somewhere we may want to stay long term so I guess being central for transport is important even though I had not really thought about it.

By the end of next year we hope to have opened a bar/club there to suit locals,expats and tourists...live music at weekends, retro style interior so we will also be looking at all the areas of 'night life' thinking with this in mind.

It may not work as we have to look at rent prices & it's hard to find this info on the net.

I'll keep searching

Cheers