Western Europe's oldest capital wears its ancient history and rich heritage lightly: The Country Life guide to Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon has a habit of weaving its way into every conversation: the answer to ‘I want to do a city break, but where should I go?, and the place that everyone with a digital nomad visa gravitates towards. Some are lured in by scenery that looks like a photoshoot in a glossy magazine — featuring cobbled streets, red terracotta roofs and endless blue skies. For others, it is the vibrant food scene, where the day starts with a bica (espresso) and a warm, cinnamon-dusted pastel de nata, and finishes with aromatic bowls of coriander-flecked clams in a bougainvillea-filled square, underneath a starry sky.

For me it is the light, a special kind that dances on the River Tagus and caresses faded ochre façades. It uplifts every moment of every day until, that is, golden hour, when it softens and beckons you out to play in the streets of the oldest capital in western Europe. Lisbon doesn’t take itself too seriously. It wears its ancient history and rich heritage on its sleeve; a sleeve patterned with influences from Africa, Asia and the Americas, but still utterly, resolutely, Portuguese.

Lisbon has a habit of weaving its way into every conversation: the answer to ‘I want to do a city break, but where should I go?, and the place that everyone with a digital nomad visa gravitates towards. Some are lured in by scenery that looks like a photoshoot in a glossy magazine — featuring cobbled streets, red terracotta roofs and endless blue skies. For others, it is the vibrant food scene, where the day starts with a bica (espresso) and a warm, cinnamon-dusted pastel de nata, and finishes with aromatic bowls of coriander-flecked clams in a bougainvillea-filled square, underneath a starry sky.

For me it is the light, a special kind that dances on the River Tagus and caresses faded ochre façades. It uplifts every moment of every day until, that is, golden hour, when it softens and beckons you out to play in the streets of the oldest capital in western Europe. Lisbon doesn’t take itself too seriously. It wears its ancient history and rich heritage on its sleeve; a sleeve patterned with influences from Africa, Asia and the Americas, but still utterly, resolutely, Portuguese.

Where to stay

When it comes to choosing where to stay, the fact that Lisbon is much smaller, and therefore more manageable, than other European capitals means that trying to find somewhere central doesn’t need to be of concern. However, it is important to decide if you want to be downtown, where many of the sites are, or in the leafier residential streets and squares.

You should also take into account the seasons. In summer, I love nothing more than rushing in from a museum or hot shopping trip for a quick plunge into a pool before aperitivo hour — and there are only a few hotels with enticing ones.

While new hotels are opening all the time, there are two grand dames worth looking at. The first is the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz. It opened as The Ritz in 1959 on the instructions of the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, who wanted to show to the world that Lisbon could do luxury as well as anywhere else. The hotel remains a landmark and has been operated by the Four Seasons since 1997. It houses an impressive collection of Portuguese art and has the best spa and fitness facilities in town — including a running track on the roof, an outdoor pool and another good-sized heated pool in the spa. The food (more of which below) also justifies a visit.

The Bairro Alto Hotel was Lisbon’s true first boutique hotel. It opened in 2005, in downtown Chiado, on a beautiful square named after the great 16^th century Portuguese poet Luís Camões. It was extended into three 18th century buildings a few years ago to take the total number of very pretty rooms to 87, all redolent with a sense of place. Its rooftop bar, overlooking the capital’s red roofs and the Tagus, is my favourite in the city.

Since then, the hotels that have opened and which stand out from the crowd are as follows:

Santa Clara 1728

Santa Clara 1728 is a tiny six room gem that withstood the devastating 1755 earthquake and instantly immerses you in the magic of the Alfama neighbourhood. Its minimalist interiors by acclaimed Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus allow the weight of history and the silence cupped by thick walls to dominate. At night, from your bed, you can spy the pantheon dome — an integral part of Lisbon’s skyline — in dappled moonlight.

Hotel das Amoreiras

The majority of the 17 rooms and two attic suites at Hotel das Amoreiras — set in one of Lisbon’s loveliest garden squares, where amoreiras, or mulberry trees, were first planted centuries ago — look out onto the 18^th century Águas Livres aqueduct.

Interiors come in a muted palette of burnished oranges and greens, echoing the tones outside. Take breakfast in the tiny, sunny courtyard.

Pousada Lisboa

Pousada Lisboa sits on the capital’s magnificent Praça do Comércio, which borders the Tagus and was where visiting dignitaries alighted to come and pay their respects to the neighbouring Royal Court.

The inside is a patchwork of centuries-old Portuguese culture told through works of art on loan from museums and recently acquired contemporary pieces on display beneath vaulted ceilings. The fact that it is part of the Pestana chain and that there are 90 rooms chips away at its charm, but the location is memorable.

Palácio Principe Real

Accidental hoteliers, Gail and Miles Curley have turned this pink-walled, 19^th century palace into an enticing leafy oasis in Lisbon’s fashionable Principe Real district, where concept stores jostle with buzzy restaurants.

The discreet green door transports you from the streets into an oasis of bougainvillea and bird song. There’s also a sleek pool and sun beds in the shade of a purple jacaranda tree. Inside the palace, original blue and white tiles, stuccoed ceilings and sunlight make Palácio Príncipe Real a place that is hard to leave.

MACAM Hotel

MACAM Hotel is a hotel, museum and cast 18th century palace all in one. Founded by Armando Martins, who has an enviable collection of modern and contemporary Portuguese and international art, displayed on the walls, it swung open its doors earlier this year, in Lisbon’s Alcântara district.

The perfect hotel for art lovers, as pieces spill over from the museum into bedrooms and terraces, and even the deconsecreted Baroque chapel turned bar (look out for the installation by Carlos Aires).

Tarabel, Lisbon

The newest kid on the capital’s cobbled streets is Tarabel Lisbon which opened this month in elegant Lapa. Its nine rooms boast views worthy of any journey, drawing your eye over terraced lawns, down to a bottle-green pool and the flowing Tagus beyond.

Rose Fournier is behind the interior design and her choices reflect her extensive travels; here a mirror of shells, there an ornate, wooden bird cage. At the heart of it all is Lisbon’s special light which bounces off the free-standing baths, the four poster beds and the vintage glassware. Every room is different and many come with a balcony or terrace. Downstairs, breakfast is served on mismatched porcelain. Linger over it and watch the world wake up with the river at your feet.

What to eat

So much is made of Lisbon’s vibrant scene and rightly so; it shows no sign of slowing down with new openings still happening thick and fast. There is a good scattering of Michelin-starred restaurants, of which my favourites for Portuguese food are: Alma, where Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa lays bare the culinary soul of Portugal on the plate (try his Coast-to-Coast tasting menu), and Cura at Four Seasons Hotel Ritz where I am always rewarded with a fresh take on the best Portuguese ingredients.

Vegetarians should hot-foot it to Arkhe, which won a Michelin star this year, for its Brazilian-born chef’s innovative creations and an interesting wine list curated by a Columbian-born sommelier.

Lastly, don’t miss Kabuki which dazzles by skillfully merging local ingredients with Japanese techniques and flavours. The wine is always good, the service always sleek and the flavours linger long in my memory. Try the gyozas of Algarve scarlet prawns topped with caviar.

Jncquoi Avenida is more ‘fun than fine’ and a good place for people watching. The restaurant, designed by Lazáro Rosa Violán, is dominated by a large dinosaur skeleton and is always busy. In fact, if you can’t get a table upstairs, it is worth heading down to their Delibar for a lobster roll and glass of very nice house white wine. If you manage to snag a table, you will find excellent Portuguese food, well done, though I always order the same boletus and potato tortilla with prawn carpaccio. Irresistible.

Nuno Mendes’s Santa Joana is close by. I go for the oysters, the beef tartare served with pine nuts, and the freshest of sea bass. Born in Lisbon, but London-based for many years, Nuno captures the authenticity of the Portuguese kitchen better than anyone I know.

I urge you to try some of Lisbon’s more affordable and rustic offerings, too. Club-like Snob used to be the meeting place for journalists and intellectuals during Salazar’s reign with the problems of censorship discussed over beef croquettes. Taberna is one of top chef José Avillez’s notable stable of restaurants, where, alongside classics such as chicken piri-piri, you can try a huge variety of different cheeses and hams. Canalha, Lisbon’s best neighbourhood restaurant, is where Chef João Rodrigues cooks the kind of food you would like to eat at home — think an open face prawn omelette.

And, finally, PRADO Restaurante, one of my all-time favourites. The mushroom, caramel, and pearl barley ice cream is completely addictive (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it) and there’s an enviable selection of natural wines.

What to do

First things first, you must decide if you want to venture out to Sintra, described by the poet Byron in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage as ‘a glorious Eden’. It takes a half hour by car or train, and if you have the time you should spend a whole day there. Wander around the romantic, Moorish Palace of Monserrate (above) with its wild and wonderful gardens, and visit the 19^th century, Disney-esque Palace of Pena. Finish in town at the oldest palace in Portugal, the National Palace of Sintra, where the Royal Family used to summer. In between, lunch on fresh fish at waterside Azenhas do Mar.

Back in Lisbon… walk, walk and walk. Despite the city being built on seven hills, it is a joy to traverse on foot. Yes, you do need flat shoes, but the black and white designs in the calçadas (pavements) more than make up for it.

Start in the imposing Praça de Comércio and climb up to Alfama, an ancient warren of narrow streets, crowned by Castelo de São Jorge. In Chiado, pop into the 16th century Igreja Sao Roque, whose severe façade belies what lies inside: richly gilded and wonderfully ornate interiors. Pass by the deliciously fragranced soaps and scents of century-old clausporto just round the corner.

Other long-established brands worth looking out for are Vista Alegre for its delicate porcelain and Bordallo Pinheiro for fun, cabbage leaf tableware, watermelon bowls and more. Lastly, Portugal’s long history of arts and crafts has been beautifully reimagined for the present day by House of Capricorn.

The National Tile Museum, a treasure trove of glazed tiles from the 15th century to present day, is a place you can happily lose yourself in for multiple hours. If porcelain is more your thing, take the time to pop into the Albuquerque Foundation in Sintra. It boasts one of the most prestigious collections of Chinese export porcelain, Ming and Qing dynasty pieces and Imperial porcelain in the world.

In Belém, on the banks of the Tagus, is the Torre de Belém, built in 1520 as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portugal’s explorers and colonists. Behind it is the magnificent Mosteiro do Jerónimos (above), a monastery built with the wealth from the spices, jewels and gold that were brought back during Portugal’s Golden Age of Discovery — an integral part of Portugal’s history that helped to shaped this red-roofed city and still echoes through its streets today.