Rooftop bars and other cool places with Sergio and Sylvia

LX Factory has restaurants, shops, and a flea market.

Sergio: Cool places, cool places… Oh, LX!

Sylvia: Yes, LX Factory is a really cool place! It's not far. It's by bus, just 10-15 minutes. 

Sergio: They don’t have a subway that goes there, so that is why it feels far, since we use the subway so much. But there is a bus.

Sylvia: But they organize a lot of events, so it’s fun. They have a market on Sundays, a flea market with handmade stuff, vintage, everything. It's one of my favorite spots in Lisbon. And Cais do Sodré. There are bars and restaurants. Pensão Amor! 

The pink streets of Cais do Sodre.

The entrance to Pensao Amor.

Sergio: Yes, it’s a really nice place to go now. Before the bars were not there. Now there is a place called Pensão Amor. You know, with the girls? They didn’t get rid of the brothel, but they gave it a new life. You still see all the old things. It’s very cool.

Sylvia: Then you have Bairro Alto. The outside of Bairro Alto, there’s a place called Lost In. It’s a very cool Indian-style place with a nice terrace near the miradouro.

Outside of Foxtrot. Inside, there's a game of pool going on, and a cat napping on an overstuffed chair.

Sergio: This area is a really nice neighborhood too, I really like it. São Bento and Praça das Flores. There are a lot of gay bars here—Finalmente, Woof, Tr3s. Then we have Foxtrot. It’s the oldest bar in the neighborhood. It has the ambiance of the '20s and '30s. And you have a similar bar in Príncipe Real, Pavilhão Chinês. You have to just get in and look around and get lost in the millions of things you have on the walls and ceilings. 

Sylvia: It’s like dolls and strange stuff, you can just stare at the walls forever. But the people are not as friendly as at Foxtrot, don’t you think? Because it's kinda fancy. Like I just went inside and took a look and left.

Sergio: I guess.

Sylvia: And in Santa Apolonia, you have a bar on the rooftop. That’s where the train station is, so they have the bar with train seats. Bit expensive but it’s a cool experience. Here in Lisbon, you have a lot of nice rooftop bars, with great views. 

Sergio: Yes, Park is really cool too, in Bairro Alto.

Sylvia: And Illegal Chinese! When I take friends around Lisbon, I always take them there because it's interesting. You don't have any labels outside, but when you go into the building, it’s a Chinese restaurant. It's so traditional now, and very famous here. It’s not a proper restaurant, and well, I’ve never seen any receipt! It's cool and a bit unusual. When you take your friends there, they're like, where are you taking me...

Sergio: It’s like you go up the stairs, and feel like, umm, now are my last hours in this world…

Sylvia: They’re all near Martim Moniz. One is on its own a bit further away, and then you have two more—one on the first and one on the second floor. The one on the second floor is best.

Exploring Lisbon's creative boom with Sara

I would recommend my friends to visit the design museum in Lisbon downtown. Then I want them to see all the streets. There are all sorts of new spaces like this one, which is called Rés do Chão.

Come to Poço de Dos Negros street. They're opening all kinds of new spaces here. There are designers and creative people coming to this area and opening new shops. It's pretty recent, so now is a good time to visit Lisbon.

There are so many new things happening. It was like a boom, because of the crisis. There were lots of young people unemployed, and the only way they could do something was to establish themselves and make this new scene. So there's a lot of things happening in design and illustration. It was the only way we could do something new, and work in the areas that we study. 

Saloia, a cafe and shop on Rua de Sao Bento.

And street food too! It's rising in Lisbon, with little places to eat and drink. Have you gone to the Mercado da Ribeira? That's one of my favorite places. They take the big restaurants around Lisbon and set up a small version in the market. 

You should try caco. It's a traditional Portuguese thing, and you can go to this building called Taberna Madeirense, and there you have bread de caco, from Madeira. And you can drink poncha, a traditional drink also from Madeira that you have to try. It’s a cool place to eat things like that.

For lunch go to Saloia. It is on São Bento street. They have all sorts of food there, and they have a grocery too, so you can eat and buy all sorts of Portuguese products.

Not "street food" but all over the streets in Lisbon, you'll find kiosks where you can order coffee, a pastry, or a drink.

The Night in Lisbon with Ana

Our travel bookshop in the neighborhood of São Bento is an excellent beginning to a visit in Lisbon. From here, follow the tram track, because as you go up you have little shops, like tea shops where you can buy tea, little places to eat, get a drink.

And then we start going up, following the tram tracks. As we go up, to the right there's this beautiful view over the river. It’s called the Miradouro at Santa Catarina.

And then I would eat a little snack and maybe go to a movie. There's a place to eat when you are at the miradouro. There are these stairs and a little cafe there, and from the terrace, you have the same view as at the miradouro. Nice salads, all that, great juices.

Then I'd come back to the main street with the tram and go the cinema. There's a cinema called Ideal, and they have indie movies. Then go out in Bairro Alto.

Most people just stay in the more touristic places and they don't walk around. But it's nice to just get lost. You have to forget the travel guide, and just walk.

What do tourists usually look for at your bookshop?

Travel guides for Lisbon, or a novel that takes place in Lisbon. My favorite is The Night in Lisbon. During World War 2, many Jews from around Europe fled to Lisbon, and it was a route to the United States. In this book, this young man who is trying to go to the States tells his story to a Portuguese man and they go from cafe to cafe to talk as places close, because they've only just met, they're strangers. So you have the story of a young couple and also the story of the places that these two men go through the night in Lisbon.

But that’s not the one I sell the most. The one I sell the most is Night Train to Lisbon. Because of the movie, the one with Jeremy Irons. Unfortunately there are also a lot of other Lisbon books but they're not translated.

Miradouro de Santa Catarina is a popular meeting spot, with a fantastic view of the river. With a kiosk, a cafe, and lots of space to sit and picnic, this viewpoint is one of my favorites.