Experience in Lisbon, Portugal by Céline

What is it like to live in Lisbon? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

Lisbon is one of the most beautiful cities to live in. It's a city where even if you think you have seen everything, every day you'll discover something new. A new cute little restaurant, beautiful streets and sights you haven't seen before and much more.

It's a city full of culture, art and beautiful weather, amazing people, that's why I recommend Lisbon to everyone who seeks an unforgettable adventure.

What is the student lifestyle like in Lisboa?

The student lifestyle in Lisbon is pretty amazing! It's a very affordable city, from accommodation to food and other necessities.

Lisbon offers also a great variety of beautiful places to study, such as little cafés and libraries. And not to forget, if you search for a city to go out at night, party and other events for students, Lisbon is the place for you!

How much does it cost to live in Lisboa?

Lisbon is a very affordable city! There are of course more expensive parts, but if you want to maintain a low budget it's more than possible!

Accommodation

For good accommodation, the cost is around 300-500€ monthly, depending where in Lisbon you'll stay.

Food

Food is very inexpensive, you can get a coffee from 50cents-1€, beer is around 1-2€, a good meal in a restaurant between 5-10€ (at the university 3-6€). If you want to cook mostly at home groceries are also very affordable!

Transportation

And don't forget, to go around Lisbon a metro ticket comes in handy! A one-way metro ticket Costs 1,50€ but if you'll stay for a month or more I recommend strongly getting a monthly metro card! It costs 30€ a month with the student discount, and you can go pretty much anywhere in Lisbon and outside, it includes metro, bus, and train (to a certain extent).

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Lisboa? Is there any advice you can give?

Finding good accommodation in Lisbon can be tricky because of the high demand. But the best advice I can give is to talk to someone from the university you'll be studying because there are a lot of student accommodations that belong to certain universities!

If they do not have accommodations there are plenty of sites to use and find a good place to stay!

What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

Portuguese food is something you'll remember and you'll miss for sure!

The best Portuguese food of course contains fish or meat but there are also very good dishes for vegetarians (Lisbon has a good variety of vegetarian and vegan restaurants).

Some of my favourite dishes are:

• Frango no churrasco, which is basically grilled chicken that is normally spicy, but you can order it also not spicy or with other sauces, like lemon sauce
• Bitoque, which is beef steak with a typical Portuguese sauce, served with a fried egg on top and french fries or rice.
• Arroz de marisco, which is a seafood stew made with a variety of fish and prawns with rice.
• Ameijoas à Bulhão Pato, which is one of my all-time favorite dishes, and if you like seafood as much as I do you sure have to try this dish! It's clams served with garlic and a very tasty sauce which you'll eat normally with bread, it's normally a starter-dish but you can eat it as a meal as well and don't forget the sangria to go along.
• Pastel de nata. Last but not least, what you cannot miss is this famous dessert. It's the most perfect trust me!

All in all, you can't go wrong with Portuguese food!

What places would you recommend visiting in Lisboa?

There are almost no places I wouldn't recommend to visit in Lisbon. Anywhere you go you'll find beautiful so-called miradouros, which are places with breathtaking views of the city!

But some of my favourite places are:

• Baixa Chiado, great for shopping and visit the heart of Lisbon.
• Miradouro da Graça, which is a place that has an amazing view of Lisbon and at the terrace Esplanada da Graçawith you can enjoy the view with a drink.
• Praça Do Comércio or Terreiro Do Paço, is a big place along the river Tejo, that used to be the location of the Portuguese king's palace and is now a beautiful place with antique houses where you can appreciate Portuguese architecture or walk along the river.
• Alfama, this location is one of the most expensive places in Lisbon, but also one of the most beautiful. I recommend walking through the streets of Alfama and you'll discover beautiful streets, hidden gems, and beautiful sights!
• Belém, this place is not in the center of Lisbon which means you'll have to catch a train (only for around 10 min), but it's a place you shouldn't miss. It's one of the places with the most culture! You'll have a beautiful street along the river, you get to visit the Torre de Belém (one of the most known places), you'll have a huge and beautiful garden and in Belém are also many interesting museums like the Maat.

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Is it good to eat out in Lisboa? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

Anywhere in Lisbon is a great place to eat out. Lisbon has amazing restaurants of any kind, from Portuguese food to Italian, French or Chinese food, you can find pretty much anything you want!

Some of my favourite spots are:

• Time out Market, it's at Cais do Sodre which has various restaurants (a good variety of food) and a huge open space to sit and enjoy your meal!
• Restauradores and Chiado are places where you'll find restaurants with good food.
• Another restaurant which is a little more expensive but has an amazing view above Lisbon is called Lost In! It's situated next to Jardim do Principe Real.

Almost any restaurant you'll find, expensive or not, will serve you food you'll enjoy.

Is the nightlife good in Lisboa? Where is good to go?

Lisbon has a very good and alive nightlife!

It offers you various bars, rooftops, discos and also streets that are known to be full by midnight.

The most known places are:

• Bairro Alto, which is in the middle of Lisbon on the streets, where people gather at night around bars and small discos!
• Santos, is another place where people gather on the streets, there are various bars and also little discos. Normally people go there to get drinks and hang out outside with their friends before they go to the clubs

Lisbon has also some clubs that are very popular, the ones I recommend the most are all at a close distance from one another. Normally girls get in for free before 01:00, the boys might get in for free or they'll have to pay up until 18€, but that includes 3 drinks!

The Clubs are:

• K Urban Beach Club, one of the most popular Clubs that is pretty much always full!
• Lust in Rio, right next to K Urban Beach
• Plateau, which is a smaller space but has normally themed nights and on Thursdays they'll play 80's and 90's music, which is very cool for a change.

What advice would you give future students heading to Lisboa?

The best advice I can give to students is enjoy the time in Lisbon!

It's an amazing city with lots to do and create unforgettable memories. Get to know people that can show you around the city and show you its hidden gems, Portuguese people are usually very nice.

Even though I personally feel safe in Lisbon, as for every big city be careful to not walk around a lot by yourself at night, especially somewhere you don't know that well.

That said, enjoy your time to the fullest and take everything Lisbon has to offer!

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