Bairro Alto

La nuit c’est parfait pour sortir entre amis et venir boire des verres !!
Tellement de bars avec tellement d’ambiances différentes, il y a juste à se laisser porter par la musique !
Si vous souhaitez des bières, des shots, du vin, des coktails. et de la musique… c’est par là :)

What a place!
If you are in Lisbon and you don’t go here… you are missing some culture!
This little neighborhood above the city of Lisbon is full of cafes, bars, night clubs, shops, and tons of fun! It’s definitely a late night place… but go early to beat the crowds just to get a good look at what it looks like. Come 12pm… it’s elbow room in the streets!
The bars and cafes are so small that the crowd empties onto the streets and mingles.
A do not miss place… dance in the street… everyone does!

Considered by many the soul of Lisbon — couldn’t agree more — Bairro Alto is the hip spot to hit, no matter what time of day, or night!
Some of the best bars, restaurants and cafes are all walking distance from each other, right here. If you’re not a local, definitely hit Bairro Alto at night and you’ll be in for a treat — happy festival vibes all around!
Very much like Europe’s nightlife is portrayed in many of literature’s classics throughout the last several decades, Bairro Alto never disappoints. Side note for tourists — any place in Portugal is open container, meaning you can walk around the streets with a drink, or two, in your hand. And if you’re into people watching — jackpot!
Indescribable setting really, no matter how much we try putting into words.
Always a must go to place when in Lisbon.

Heart of the city! Bairro Alto, you’re always up to no good and I love that about you. I’ve been here 3 years ago and it didn’t change a bit. People are still having fun in their way and nobody cares what others do. As a solo female traveler I find this place safe at night and full of surprises.

Wowow this neighborhood is sooooooooo amazing and unique. Omgosh I’ve never been to a neighborhood that let’s me party allllll night. Holy crap I can buy cocaine and hashish so easily from some guy named Ali!
First off, any guy named Ali selling you drugs on the street is clearly selling you oregano and talkum powder. I say this as an Arab, former street peddler, and current physician.
Secondly, yes this neighborhood is amazing and completely unique. This of course assumes that you are somewhere between the age of 16 – 22 and recently just moved out of your parents house. All these people saying this place is so fantastic have clearly never explored the rest of the world.
Similar neighborhoods include: East Village in manhattan, all of brooklyn with maybe the exception of sheepshead bay (although personally I think russian mofia are cool so if you are down with bairro alta by all means go there), Brixton in London, Soma in San Francisco, Silverlake in Los Angeles, anywhere in Berlin, and the list goes on and on.
Nothing crazy happens here. It’s just a bunch of 20 year olds getting drunk and vomiting on the street. Also the guy girl ratio here is like 10:1 so good luck getting any action. Also the girls in lisbon aren’t exactly lookers (seriously girls lay off the sweets and hit the gym every once in a while).
So if you are 20, by all means go for it you will probably have a lot a fun vomiting for cheap! But if you are an adult, or cultured, or have a job, or don’t like vomiting in the streets, you might consider passing.

My love, My life, My Everything!
The place where I lived, The place where I partied, The place where I ate, The place where I shopped, The place where I met new people, The place where there is music everywhere and people dance on the streets… The place where I lost my heart!
I wake up in the morning and walk to our kitchen, the girls are still sleeping off their hangovers from yet again another night out on the streets just talking and drinking Sangria until 7 in the morning. I am not a long sleeper so I know it will take a while before they will wake up. I decide to go for breakfast by myself when I see the fridge is empty.
Leaving my apartment on Rua da Atalaia I cross the street and take a side street towards Rua da Rosa where I find my favorite breakfast place. Typical Portuguese and super cheap. I order a Tostado (bread with butter), a Galao (coffee with milk) and fresh orange juice. As always the bread is too much for me to finish so I go and pay the 4.5 euro’s I owe the lady and walk down the streets. Passing through R. da Rosa I decide to relax at Miradouro de Santa Catarina. Santa Caterina is a beautiful look out point which gives you a great view of the 25 de Abril bridge (This is the smaller brother of the Golden Gate bridge) and the Cristo Rei (which is the smaller brother of Rio’s Cristo) I know that I will arrive there and people will be around playing music and sitting in groups. Thus this means that I have 3 options:
1. I would like to be left alone and read a book underneath a tree
2. I just join a group, it doesn’t matter if i know them or not in Lisbon every one is friendly and no one has to be alone
3. I go down to the restaurant where I can sit a bit more secluded and enjoy the view.
Feeling a little hungover I decide to go sit at the restaurant and read there.
After a couple hours, some fresh fruit, and more coffee I decide to go and check out the new art exhibition in that new pop-​up gallery on Rua da Norte. As I walk from the gallery I see my friend from Kamasutra bar on Travesa Da Espera cleaning the bar. I was here last night, like every night I start my night here and end it here. I have a chat and a drink with him and help him behind the bar a bit. Today he decides to tech me how to make the Sangria for later (sorry I can’t give you the details of what goes in here but I can say… It’s deliciously dangerous :)) When we are done it is time for a bit of a snack (yes no lunch cause I did get up late considering I got home at 7am, it is around 4pm now) So we walk down to R. da Misericordia to have a bite at D’alma Lounge where our friend Sarah works behind the bar.
On my way back home I decide to do a bit of shopping, I mean it is on the way home and hey I can’t wear the same tops over and over again, can I?
So I go to R. da Norte where you can find all sorts of exclusive small boutiques and designer stores. I walk to the very end of the street where I have my favorite store near the Bali Surf shop. Here they have amazing exclusive pieces. After having tried on half of the store and checked out some shoes I buy a couple of tops and am happy that I have a good selection to go out in tonight.
By the time I get home it is 8pm and I decide to take a nap when I wake up at 9 my housemates are also all home and have already started the evening ritual. Shower, doing our hair, doing our make up, deciding what to wear and around 10.30 we are finally all ready to go to get something to eat. So we walk down the street deciding what we feel like eating. Today we decide we would like something typical Portuguese so we go to Floresta do Calhariz on R. Luz Soriano. We eat here quite often because we know we get very good Portuguese traditional dishes which are often to large to finish for a relatively cheap price around 7euro per plate. To drink with our food we have a pitcher of white Sangria, which is most likely the best white Sangria I have ever had in my life!
after dinner we continue our evening from bar to bar, we start at Kamasutra bar (Travesa da Espera) and have a couple of Sangria’s on the street in front of the bar — without a doubt the best Sangria in town, to No names bar (corner of Tr. da Espera and R. da Norte), from here we walk the streets a bit and see what is going. It’s busy today, we stop at various bars and hang on the streets. Until we get to Mezcal which we never skip for more 1euro Sangria! From here we go to Bar OKA (R. dos Mouros), our favorite Brazilian bar where they have live music every night. We dance, sing and drink amazing caipirinhas. Around 4am OKA closes so we decide to go to Harry’s Bar (R. Sao Pedro de Alcantra) Here we dance until around 6am when we decide to start walking home. On our way home we meet more friends on the streets with guitars, so we stay, sit on the streets, and talk.
At around 8am we arrive back home. Actually I never left my home, because the streets of Bairro Alto was my home!
EU AMO BAIRRO ALTO!

Want a place to get lost in thought? Or you just like to explore? This neighborhood may be what you need. It winds and winds around. You really can’t get lost but along the way you may find hidden gems. Churches. Bars. Stores. Orange trees. Painted houses. Awesome views. Fado.
I started from the top and wound my way down. Just picking any which way to see what I would find. And magnificent it was. At the bottom there are lots of restaurants and bars … Many have Fado if you’re interested. Cute stores too. If you can find them… But go around enough and you’ll be sure to figure out the main streets and when in doubt go towards the river to get your bearings!
A great neighborhood and not to be missed!

Certainly my favorite neighborhood in Lisbon. We rented an apartment here for the week and it was a blast. Great restaurants, bars and great night life to keep you busy all week. Walk the streets and you’ll eventually find a bar with a live fado performance. The square by Largo do Chiado comes alive every night with a samba band and everyone out in the cafés having a blast. There’s a small park on Rua São Pedro de Alcântara that has an amazing view of the city from the top of the hill. Just note that this neighborhood is very hilly and the vernacular to get to the top never works.

O Bairro Alto é como o próprio nome diz um bairro no alto, sendo composto por muitas ladeiras. É uma região com muitos restaurantes e bares com meses ao ar livre. Durante a noite é muito movimentada. Há também muitos mercadinhos e lojas.
Em um dos lados é possível subir pelo Elevador da Glória (funicular) a partir da Praça dos Restauradores. Em outro lado também é possível chegar ao alto a partir do Elevador da Santa Justa (5 Euros).
Fica localizado ao lado do Bairro do Chiado, ficando perto às principais linhas de bonde e metrô.

Really, in many ways this is the heart of Lisbon, with its narrow streets and über hip vibe. I really can’t say enough about this place, for it contains some of the best restaurants, bars, and pubs in all of Lisbon. However, if your a tourist and you decide to check this one off your list with a daytime visit, I say you must hit Bairro Alto at night, for Mardis Gras has nothing on it
At night its streets are loaded with patrons from the bars handing out, laughing, and having a drink. It is a cast of characters that you are soon not to forget. Of course it is all open container in Lisbon, but who needs to walk the streets with a drink in hand, the crowd’s antics will make you giddy. I could seriously people watch in Bairro Alto all night, for it is just that entertaining.
And if you tire of walking its streets, you can take a seat in the middle of one of the streets, where one of its many cafes has place tables and chairs on the side street’s patio-​like stairs. This this street dining places you right smack in the streets where you can dine in one of the most unique settings I have ever experienced.
Yes, Bairro Alto is a sight not to be missed.

This is a great area for restaurants, bars and night life. During the day, you can see the views of the city from here due to all of the hills and steps. At night, people come out to mingle, eat and drink. It’s a very happening area of the city. The prices for most of these restaurants are reasonable as well since Lisbon isn’t too expensive compared to other European cities.
The thing I really liked most about this area and Lisbon in general, is how nice people are. It was so refreshing after being in Spain where people aren’t big fans of tourists, especially in Barcelona. Customer service is wonderful, even the guards at the airports are just so nice. Kids are very loved here, so our kids got a lot of attention.
I just wish that this city was a little easier to walk on. Don’t try walking heels here or having strollers, there’s tons of steps and hills!

This area is fantastic! There are skinny roads and alleyways lined with restaurants serving good locally seafood dishes. Take a short trolley ride between the high end shopping district lined with huge historical buildings with great architecture and the trendy artsy boutiques. There are fun bakeries, tavernas, gelatorias, bars and street art performers roaming around. The area feels very safe and surprisingly clean for a big city.

I’ve been in Lisboa for 2 weeks now and I think this might be one of my favourite places all over the city.
As previous Unilocal’ers already said. During the day you can really see the traditions of the city but at night all hell breaks lose.
This is THE place to go for a drink and a good night out. Everyone is just on the street drinking. Yep, that’s right just in the middle of these little streets having a chat or a cigarette.
My personal place to go to is Erasmus Corner, you can really find a lot of nationalities over there. So lovely.
Oh: and it’s cheap here. ^^

Bairro Alto (Upper District) is a central district of the city of Lisbon. There is here a nice mix between old classical and typical architecture and renovated structures: a real visual diversity!
In this neighborhood, you will, for sure, find a lot of things you will love: traditional tapas restaurants, typical Portuguese delis, bars & cocktail bars, stores and nice alternative shops as Nike or Lomography! It is also very known as «the place to party» in Lisbon when the sun goes down…
Trust me, you will love to get lost in this area by day or by night! But I have on advice to pay attention to (especially if you love wearing heels), it goes up and down!

Le haut lieu de la fiesta a Lisbonne.
Ici, les bars se côtoient et se situent tous les uns après les autres mais né se ressemblent pas.
Ici, on trouve de tout: bars à vins, bars a cocktails, bars lounge…
Ici, la fête n’est pas dans les bars mais dehors.
Ici, tu paies ta conso et tu vas dehors, faire la fête avec tout le monde.
Ici, tu peux boire un litre de caipirinha pour environ 7 €.
Ici, tu passes forcément un super moment!
Il y a largement de quoi boire, largement de quoi manger, largement de de quoi faire la fête! Pour nous, en week end filles, c’était juste PARFAIT!

Es el barrio por excelencia de salir a cenar y tomar algo en Lisboa. Mucha bicha y mucha cerveza.
A mi particularmente me gusta darme siempre un paseo por él. Muchos restaurantes son só para turistas, …, pero en general en los bares y para los combinados la gente se mezcla.

HAS IT ALL: This was our first stop in Lisbon and our last stop before we left. This district has it all that we expected to see.
There is old architecture and renovated structures; traditional tapas restos/​bars and those with contemporary menus. The streets do not all look the same having a lot of visual diversity as you travel through this area. It has traditional stores as well as retailers with items suited to tourists. We easily found value and quality in many tapas/​bars and restaurants. There are delis, pharmacies and grocery stores all along the way.
We found the Lisbon culture to be very alive in this area with festivals and parades during our stay. A MUST for at least 2 days when in the Lisbon area.

Aqui encontramos de tudo!
É uma zona histórica muito bonita de visitar durante o dia, e à noite é muito boa para ir beber um copo. Passear durante a noite apenas nos dias de semana, porque ao fim de semana enche para saídas nocturnas.
Não dou 5 estrelas pela sua insegurança.
E embora encontremos de tudo, eu apenas peço bebidas nos sítios mais baratos, por isso sei que os preços não se comparam a preços de discoteca (embora também muitos dos bares sejam assim).
Não conheço muita coisa durante o dia, por isso darei um preço médio, mas acreditem, há de tudo. Se quiserem barato encontram, se quiserem caro também encontram.

One of favourite parts of the city of Lisbon. The old part of the city with narrow windy streets, lots of small and gorgeous restaurants and bars, unusual buildings and quaint neighbourhood make it a must visit when in town.
Stroll through the streets stop for coffee, lunch or dinner and enjoy one of the many fine Fado bars that are in this area.
I absolutely loved it and could spend days roaming the streets and exploring.

Bairro Alto is a really cool neighborhood. It’s a fun place to get lost and find stores that are one of a kind. I understand the nightlife is good in the neighborhood but I wasn’t there long enough at night to really know. Just watch your step, the cobblestone lined streets can be tough on your ankles if you’re not paying attention.

Muss man gesehen haben. Tagsüber Shopping Zone und nachts tolle Bars und urige Kneipen.
Wer das Bairro Alto nicht kennt hat Lissabon verpennt!

Bairro Alto von 2002 und von heute scheinen zwei Stadtteile aus verschiedenen Welten zu sein. In Erinnerung von 2002 habe ich diesen Teil von Lissabon als perfekte Kulisse für einen romantischen Film unter dem südlichen Himmel von Portugal, mit Gitarren, netten Menschen, schöner Abendstimmung, relativ sauberen Straßen, kleinen Geschäften, weißen Laken, die zwischen den Balkonen auf den Leinen trocknen. Bairro Alto von heute ist das Gegenteil: Kleine Gässchen voller Touristen, die nächtliche Ruhe der Bewohner nicht respektieren, vor ihren Türen urinieren und die Bierdosen an jeder Ecke schmeißen.
Tagsüber versucht der Stadtteil seine verlorene Ruhe von der Nacht zuvor zu finden. In kleinen Kneipen sitzen alte Männer und essen ruhig zu Mittag Fisch oder Kartoffeleintopf mit einem Glässchen Rotwein, Frauen hängen die Wäsche auf den Leinen auf, müde Katzen überqueren die Straßen, Mütter rufen ihre Kinder zum Essen, junge Männer reparieren ihre alten Vespas oder arbeiten in der Werkstatt. Hin und wieder kann man hier auch nette Cafés mit leckerem galao und pasteis de nata finden, meistens aber an größeren Straße, die ins Zentrum führen.

Local de diversão nocturna predilecto. Bebidas baratas, confusão, beber na rua, conviver com amigos, conhecer novas pessoas. Único na Europa (e no mundo), perfeito em noites calorosas :) .
No entanto, deve ter-​se atenção a determinadas ruas, o Bairro Alto é mais perigoso do que parece.
A evitar aos fins de semanas, para quem abomina confusão e cervejas entornadas.

Im spät beginnenden Nachtleben von Lissabon führt kein Weg am Bairro vorbei. Im Erasmus Corner treffen sich nicht nur Studenten. Man kommt sofort mit den verschiedensten Leuten ins Gespräch. Dazu Bierpreise auf Supermarktniveau. Was will man mehr?

optimo para sair com amigos, seja verao ou inverno (desde que nao chova). é indispensavel beber uma caipirinha XL!

grande sitio para se conviver com amigos e um bairro tipico de lisboa com muita historia e fado no bairro ha de tudo

Mon quartier d’amour dans ma belle aimée Lisbonne!
Cherchez bien vous trouverez quelque part ici l’âme de la ville!

the night is quite good, one of the best spots of lisbon, where you can definitely have some fun

Schade das man nie irgendwo sitzen kann ohne auf Haschisch, gefälschte Brillen, arme kranke rumänische Kinder oder einfach Almosen angesprochen zu werden. Ansonsten nettlich

typique de lisbonne
beaux magasins dans des cadres anciens
à faire à pied

Le Bairro Alto, c’est la Lisbonne branchéeoù les rues pavées et les vieilles maisons se conjuguent avec les bars. Le jour, on vient y faire un peu de shopping dans les nombreux commerces du quartier.
Il s’agit d’un haut lieu de la vie étudiante. La nuit, toute une faune de jeunes lisboètes et d’étudiants Erasmus s’y rassemble pour boire un verre. Le quartier s’animé, au grand dam des habitants. On pourrait comparer le Bairro Alto au quartier Bastille à Paris.

Das Barrio Alto und das Expo-​Gelaende sind die beiden geilsten Stadtteile von Lissabon.
Doch das Bario Alto hat den Vortei, dass einem die Geschichte an jeder Ecke ins Gesicht springt. Tagsueber super zum Einkaufen mit all den kleinen Geschaeften, abends und in der Nacht ideal mit all den netten Restaurants und Bars.
Aber immer dran denken: das Vergnuegen startet hier etwas spaeter!

After reading what SouthendSam said I have to disagree with the looks dreadful in the day bit. In fact for most people it might be like that, but it is during the day that this delightful neighbourhood of Lisboa shows its traditional roots. It is also during the day that you can take advantage of the free artwork available to see all over the Bairro. The Pampero foundation (google it and go to their myspace) even put together a podcast with a little map for you to go there and put it into your mp3 player and have a personal tour of the Portuguese (among other nationalities) street art scene.
This was only during the day, the best time to go there if you are into shopping and night life is from 18:00 to whenever you get tired! This is a haven for alternative shopping, you can find there Carhartt, Lomography, Hairdressers, Converse, Nike, amond many many other shops around. There you can find quality restaurants and Fado houses. There are traditional Tascas (taverns) with the almost unmissable Ginginha!
Every foreigner that I met and went there said it was one of the favourite parts of Lisboa! And believe me, it is!
Just beware of burglaries, as this is a traditional neighbourhood, there are still a lot of lowlifes living there, keep an eye out but don’t let it spoil your day! Even with that detail it is worth it!

Bairro repleto de ruelas com bons restaurantes e casas tipicas. À noite casas de fado fervem de turistas e cantores de fado cantando. Vale a pena tirar uma tarde e andar por esses locais que mostram muito das tradiçoes portuguesas

Exciting, eclectic nightlife. Great place to hear Fado and get a posh meal. Also great for bar crawling. Looks dreadful in the day — covered in graffiti and posters but don’t let that put you off!

Bairro Alto — zu Deutsch Oberstadt ist ein bekannter und beliebter Stadteil in Lissabon. Viele kleine Gassen schlängeln sich berauf und bergab vorbei an alten Häusern. Alles ist im traditionellen Kopfsteinpflaster — also nichts für hohe Absätze. Denn das Bairro Alto ist bekannt für sein Nachtleben, für seine Restaurants und Bars.
Jeder findet etwas um sich Abends zu Vergnügen. Brasilianische Bars, Cocktailbars, Lounges, Kneipen, Gay-​Bars, Restaurants, Karaōke-​Bars, Fado-​Lokalebis tief in die Nacht wird gefeiert
Aber auch tagsüber lohnt sich der Besuch dieses traditionellen Stadtteiles. Viele kleine individuelle Boutiquen und Geschäfte laden zum Einkaufen ein. Das Bairro Alto ist zum Großteil für den normalen Verkehr geschlossen. Lediglich Anwohner dürfen die kleinen Gassen befahren.