Nightlife in Lisbon – Bairro alto

Lisbon is a party. The Nightlife in Lisbon is full of options and it’s possible to find several types of venues. Bairro alto is one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Lisbon to have fun, meet people and hook up. So here’s a brief introduction to Bairro alto.

Bairro Alto streets are full of pubs.

The hole quarter is full of pubs, jazz bars, clubs, live music and cheap beer. The venues in Bairro alto are usually small, it’s a cramped and old neighbourhood which slowly was taken by bars.

Nightlife in Lisbon starts in Bairro Alto.

Lisbon night starts in Bairro Alto, in this quarter you find lots of restaurants with Lisbon local food, so people start the night there, eating and drinking. Most of the venues closes at 2am, after that the crowd go down the hills to Cais do Sodré or other nightclubs.

Bairro Alto streets are alike.

It’s inevitable to get lost in Bairro Alto, every block looks the same. It looks like you are in some kind of Blair Witch movie, it’s almost impossible to recognise the place you’ve been and its usual that you go to the same street a couple of times without even noticing.

Price of beer in Lisbon.

Beer prices in Lisbon may vary from 1€ to 7€ for a pint depending where and what kind of beer you chose. The local popular beers are Sagres and Super bock, both pilsen and made by corn. If you are used to German beers you know that in Germany it’s forbidden to produce beers with corn. In Portugal it’s normal because it makes the production cheaper. It’s written “unmalted cereals” which means pretty much “corn and barley”, this information is in Super bock website. There are places where its sold from 1,10€ a pint (locals says that theres water added to the barrels) but the regular price is 3,50€. Try also Typical Portuguese drinks!

Withdraw money before going out in Lisbon.

Most of the places in Bairro Alto and Cais do Sodré don’t accept credit or debit cards, so you should always walk with money. The golden tip is to do it before 10pm in a local cash machine, the ATM machine charges a fee to withdraw money if your bank is not Portuguese. In Portugal there’s a company called Multibanco, they are owners of card machines and most of international cards are not accepted.

Beware with pickpockets and drug dealers.

Pickpocketing in Lisbon is commun in Lisbon specially if you are a drunk tourist. It’s place of many Erasmus students so there are lots of young people getting wasted here and “losing” wallets, be careful. Beside that, this neighbourhood is full of some fake drug dealers who will try to sell you fake drugs. Some can be real, but be careful. Don’t let them fool you.

People smoke inside pubs in Bairro Alto.

For non smokers it is a nightmare to be inside places where people smoke and you breath all their smoke as if you were one. In Portugal there’s still lots of venues where it is allowed to smoke inside and in Bairro alto most of the pubs and clubs people smoke. At the end of the day you can expect the bad smell of smoke all over your body.

After Bairro Alto, go to Pink street – The busiest street on Lisbon Night.

When Bairro Alto closes and you still want to party, follow the crowd! Pink street is an actual Pink street, so it’s easy to know when you’re there! There are terraces and medium clubs in this street and even strip house. The prices are a bit higher but here you can party until 5am in places like Roterdão, Copenhagen, Music Box (until 7am), Vikings and Cais do Pirata.

Street Party at Rua de São Paulo – Nightlife in Lisbon.

Specially when it’s summer, crowds of people prefer to drink on the streets, it’s summer, it’s warm and people want to have fun! It can be messy as well, dirty and hard to find a toilet, there are no public ones, but if you like street party, Rua de São Paulo has always some to offer! Get a beer from the instagram Lisboan meme @JolazFodidaz for 1€ and have fun!

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O Cristianinhoz é maiz parecidoz com o @jolazfodidaz do que com o @cristiano z ?

A post shared by Jolaz Fodidaz ? (@jolazfodidaz) on Feb 13, 2019 at 9:50am PST

If Bairro Alto is not your style, don’t worry, there’s still a lot of places to party at night:

Lisbon Night – 10 places to party in Lisbon until late at night.

If you are visiting, discover here What to do in Lisbon 2020. Enjoy and respect Lisbon!