This is GoLisbon’s 500th blog post. Go Lisbon Blog has become the most widely-read English-language blog about Lisbon (and Portugal in general) on the web. Published since 2006, it’s been a reference for The New York Times and London’s The Times, as well as a recommended source for Lisbon information in newspapers and magazines like Paris’ Metro and New York Magazine. The insider’s scoop on all that’s new and relevant in Lisbon has also led to a recommendation in the Lonely Planet guidebooks, as well as a selected blog with posts featured on that publication’s website. Our information has also been a reference for countless other blogs and websites, often republished or translated into other languages.
More than just reporting on what’s new or noteworthy in Lisbon and/or Portugal, this blog also presents a perspective and detailed information not found anywhere else. That’s a knowledgeable local perspective but from a “foreign” eye, offering insights and up-do-date stories.
It’s the result of a passion for everything Lisbon, making it more than just another Lisbon blog. It’s a window to Lisbon culture for an international audience, bringing to the city a more informed and more curious traveler who then leaves with a real and more profound appreciation for all of Lisbon’s unique and seductive charms.

The NATO and United States-European Union summits just took place in Lisbon, bringing most of the European leaders and President of the United States Barack Obama to the city. With all the eyes of the political world turned to the Portuguese capital, CNN presented a photo gallery which shows many of the city’s main attractions and provides brief information about each one of them. GoLisbon.com was a source for this report which you may see here: Discovering Lisbon, Portugal

The weekly travel Q&A column of the New York Times travel section will this week answer a question about the holiday season in Portugal.
I have contributed to this report which will be published in this Sunday’s printed edition and is already available on the newspaper’s website.
It highlights the events scheduled for this year in Lisbon, but also tells you about the city’s annual traditions at this time.
Outside the capital, the biggest celebrations in Portugal take place in Obidos and in the island of Madeira.
More specific information about the holidays in Lisbon will be posted here when it’s fully scheduled and confirmed, and you can now read the entire New York Times article here: Q&A Portugal for the Holidays

Price, location, and positive reviews from past guests were the selling points for the hotels and hostels most booked in 2009 through GoLisbon.com. Looking at the top 5 hotels, they average an 8.3 out of a possible 10 rating from past guests and are all centrally located or with easy access to and from the airport. Three of them are located downtown, with the relatively new Vincci Baixa having already claimed a spot in the top 5. What they all also have in common is their price range, with double rooms at below 100 euros throughout most of the year, and often going for as low as 60 euros. Their positive rating means that their strongest selling point is good value for money but their locations are also a plus.
In our hostel bookings the ratings from previous visitors were also important to attract new guests, with the top 5 hostels averaging a 93.5% approval. The most booked hostel was the gay-friendly Pouso dos Anjos Guesthouse followed by Lisbon Story Guesthouse and Travellers House in the Baixa, downtown district.
GoLisbon also offers apartment bookings, all located in the most central and charming historical neighborhoods, as well as pousadas which this year attracted a larger number of travelers. Below is the top 5 hotels and hostels, showing their percentage of all bookings made through GoLisbon.com:

TOP 5 HOTELS
1. Altis Park 6%
2. Radisson SAS Lisboa 5%
2. Residencial Florescente 5%
4. VIP Inn Veneza 3.1%
5. Vincci Baixa 2.9%

TOP 5 HOSTELS
1. Pouso dos Anjos Guesthouse 10%
2. Lisbon Story Guesthouse 6.5%
3. Travellers House 6.1%
4. Alfama Patio 3.4%
5. Lisbon Poets 3%
5. Oasis Backpackers Mansion 3%
5. Lisbon Old Town Hostel 3%

2009 was a great year for Lisbon and a great year for GoLisbon.com. We were recommended in Lonely Planet, New York magazine, and London’s The Times, and currently have quite a large number of followers who use this site as their primary source for Lisbon (and Portugal)-related news. According to Google, GoLisbon ranks higher than even the official Lisbon tourism site, so as the most visited and complete tool for Lisbon and Portugal information, we hope to remain a relevant and trusted source throughout 2010.
Below is a list of the 25 biggest news, or the most visited or Twittered posts of GoLisbon Blog throughout 2009, in case you missed any of it:

1. Lisbon’s Twin City
2. The First Dog and the First Photographer
3. The Eyeful Tower
4. A Long Luxurious Weekend
5. The Portuguese Bombshell
6. The 10 Newest Shops in Bairro Alto
7. A Lisbon-style Las Vegas
8. Lisbon’s “haven for the artsy set”
9. “One of the coolest cities in Europe”
10. Lisbon’s Most Graphic Photos: From a Peep Show to a Public Urinal
11. The 7 Portuguese Wonders of the World
12. Hollywood moving to Portugal
13. Old is the New New in Lisbon
14. 5 Alternatives to Lisbon’s Beaches
15. Lisbon is the Setting of Upcoming Brad Pitt and Al Pacino Movie
16. A Trip to the Azores
17. Portugal’s Most Famous Product You’ve Never Heard Of
18. Lisbon Wins Europe’s Best Destination in the World Travel Awards
19. Lisbon’s 5 Best Brunches
20. The Portuguese Diamond: The World’s Most Valuable Gem and Other Portuguese Treasures
21. The Chef of the Year and a new Michelin star
22. Lisbon in New York – Part II
23. Lisbon (and GoLisbon) in “New York” Magazine
24. Lisbon 2000-2009: The Decade in Review
25. A Lisbon shopping list: 10 Shops for your Gifts

GoLisbon.com offers the most Lisbon accommodation choices online, including hotels, hostels, and apartments. Most of those apartments are found in the most central and historical neighborhoods, but now we’ve just added a few in the former Expo site, Parque Das Nações. That district was born in the last decade and that’s where you’ll find the most modern and futuristic architecture in the city. Many of those buildings offer apartments using the latest technology and many have fantastic river views. Some of them are available for tourists to enjoy, and range from 55 to 125 euros on low season. The center of the city is just a metro ride away, and the airport is reached in about 10 minutes. Check our Lisbon apartments page and click on “Near the Expo/Parque das Nações” on the menu you’ll see on the left: Lisbon Apartments

It’s May 1st — time to start thinking about the summer! GoLisbon has just updated its Lisbon Calendar of Events, listing the city’s upcoming concerts. If you’ll be in the Portuguese capital this summer, you’ll be able to catch shows by Beyonce, ACDC, Elton John, Katy Perry (who we just told you is of Portuguese descent), Kylie Minogue, Metallica and Dave Matthews Band at the Optimus festival, The Eagles, Anastacia, and more. In the upcoming weeks other names will surely be announced, so keep checking GoLisbon’s Calendar of Events throughout the season.

You can also get ticket information through that page, as well as know how and where you can catch this season’s final football/soccer games of Portugal’s SuperLiga.
Enjoy the shows!

Now you can follow Go Lisbon’s Lisbon (and Portugal) updates on Twitter!
Find us at twitter.com/golisbon!

London’s The Times has just published an article about Lisbon in its travel section where the writer goes through the Portuguese capital following suggestions found on the internet.
Of course GoLisbon.com was one of the sources of inspiration, which included helping the author find the Fabulas Café we just told you about here, which turned out to be her favorite lunch spot: “This cafe/bar/art gallery/internet cafe is not somewhere I’d have stumbled on, so thanks to golisbon.com for finding my favourite lunch spot.”

She also goes into the charming Casa das Velas do Loreto shop thanks to Go Lisbon, where she ended up buying “a perfect gift,” and stops at Royal Café, also recommended on this website.
GoLisbon.com also persuaded her to visit the Santa Justa Elevator, which she found “worthwhile,” just another example of how GoLisbon.com continues to be the most complete and up-to-date guide to Lisbon, and why it’s the #1 source for tourist information about the city.
You can read the entire Times article here.

Lisbon’s latest guidebook is “Lisbon Encounter” published last January by Lonely Planet. It’s a pocket-sized book that should now be reaching most bookstores around the world, highlighting the city’s attractions by neighborhood, while telling you what to see, where to shop, eat, and play. It starts with a special top 10 section recommending that you get lost in Alfama, bar-crawl in Bairro Alto, see the city on tram 28, drink a Ginginha, visit the Oceanarium, admire Jeronimos Monastery, taste the special pastries, stop at the viewpoints, see the colonial treasures of the Orient Museum, and finally, head to Sintra’s palaces.

In between all of this it presents some suggested itineraries and speaks with locals who share their secrets. The final chapter is a Lisbon history lesson and practical city information, where GoLisbon.com is listed as a handy site for pre-trip planning: “(GoLisbon is) packed with up-to-date info on sightseeing, eating, nightlife and events.” If you’re reading this, you’ve already found GoLisbon, but although you can print out the site’s pages and take them with you as a guidebook substitute, if you still want a guidebook companion, the latest Lonely Planet publication is an equally good source.