Things to do in Lisbon

The viewpoint at the top of the Escadinhas de São Cristóvão, looking down across Alfama's tile roofs to the Tagus. Best at blue hour; packed on weekends, almost empty before 8 a.m.

Late-16th-century monastery on the Alfama–Graça border with some of the finest azulejo panelling in Portugal and a rooftop viewpoint the guided tours often skip.

Moorish castle at the top of the hill. Skip the hour-long queue at the gate and enter via the Sé Cathedral side after 3 p.m. when the day-trip groups have gone. The city view from the ramparts is the most complete in Lisbon.

Compact, beautifully curated museum at the bottom of the hill. Audio guide is essential — you leave understanding why fado sounds the way it does, which changes how you hear every subsequent tasca.

The best sunset viewpoint in central Lisbon, looking across to Alfama and the Castelo. The small kiosk serves cheap wine in plastic cups.

Nine-table tasca on an unsigned backstreet, run by a woman called Natércia who cooks what she feels like — usually grilled sardines, bacalhau à brás, and a porridge of bread and coriander that will ruin you for other bread-coriander situations.

Not technically Príncipe Real (it's 10 minutes' walk northeast at Anjos) but the single best seafood restaurant in Lisbon and the neighbourhood's default big-night-out. Get the tiger prawns and the giant crab. No bookings.

Intimate fado house in an 11th-century courtyard inside a former Moorish-wall tower. Single nightly set starting 21:30, meal included, serious singers (Maria Ana Bobone, Cuca Roseta have guested). Book two weeks ahead.

Bar occupying four connected rooms crammed with 20th-century kitsch — tin soldiers, opium pipes, a wall of taxidermied owls. Order the port flight. No photos allowed; that’s the point.

The fado house for people who don't want to book three weeks ahead. Stand in the street, pay at the door, share a table, hear a fadista belt out three sets between 9 and midnight.

Rooftop bar of a small guesthouse, most of its terrace jutting out over the Chiado. Get there before sunset. The Moscow Mule in a copper mug is better than it has any right to be.

Portuguese craft-beer bar with 16 taps, mostly Portuguese microbreweries you won't find elsewhere. Small food menu (the presunto toastie, the salt-cod cakes) is better than it needs to be.

Lisbon's oldest gay club (1979), famous drag shows at 02:00 Fri–Sat, and a crowd that's mixed, welcoming, and noticeably less tourist-heavy than the Bairro Alto equivalent.

Lisbon's cult pastéis de nata. The original is in the Chiado but the Bairro Alto branch runs later into the night, and a hot tart at 23:00 is the only legitimate way to end a Bairro Alto crawl.

The square itself — a 5-minute loop under the cedar, an antiques market on the second Saturday of each month, and a quiet outdoor café scene before 11 a.m.

Multi-brand concept retailer inside the 1877 neo-Moorish Palácio Ribeiro da Cunha. Portuguese designers, curated beauty, a basement gin bar, and architecture that's worth the visit even if you buy nothing.