If you become one of those travelers who fall in love with Lisbon on their first visit, or are returning to the city to explore it further, there are a few places you should not miss. To understand the city’s history and culture, start your day with a visit to the CITY MUSEUM. Located uptown by the Campo Grande park, it presents archaeological finds that tell the story of Roman, Visigothic, and Moorish Lisbon, and shows the evolution of the city through models, paintings, and tile murals. Most interesting of all is the huge model of Lisbon showing the city before the 1755 earthquake that destroyed the grand imperial city, including the royal palace and opera house by the river.

After that, head to the oldest neighborhood in the city, and visit FABULA URBIS, a book shop entirely dedicated to Lisbon. Located not far from the cathedral in Alfama, it offers books about Lisbon’s art, history, architecture, literature, gastronomy, and all kinds of subjects related to the city. An upper floor often holds temporary exhibitions, book presentations, and recitals.

Continue in Alfama but head in the direction of the riverfront. That’s where you’ll find the FADO MUSEUM, renovated last year to better present the city’s soulful sounds. You’ll get a sense of the cultural and social impact of that special music genre in Lisbon and Portugal, and also get to hear a good selection of recordings.

From there move on to Belem, and visit the DISCOVERIES MONUMENT. Located on the waterfront that served as the departure point for many of the world’s voyages of discovery, it also has an auditorium screening a film presenting the history and culture of Lisbon. It’s available in several languages and helps you understand how Lisbon came to be what it is today, and from there you can take an elevator to the top of the monument to admire the city’s main landmarks from a bird’s-eye perspective.

Finally, at the end of the day head to the SÃO PEDRO DE ALCÂNTARA VIEWPOINT, from where you can look straight into the castle crowning the city. Admire the view over all of ancient Lisbon as you have a drink at the kiosk cafe added last year after a clean-up of the garden, and before you leave the city get a quirky souvenir from THE WRONG SHOP not too far away in the Chiado district. (UPDATE: This shop has closed.)

Go Lisbon Blog has recently told you about Bairro Alto’s new Bubbly and 100 Maneiras restaurants, but that neighborhood has been receiving a number of other new residents in the last few months. As Lisbon’s alternative to the shopping malls and chain stores downtown, Bairro Alto is the place for the quirkiest, most unique shops in the city. The fact that many of them stay open until midnight further helps make the neighborhood an increasingly popular shopping area. Now, joining the streetwear boutiques, the music stores, and the interior design shops are a number of new businesses worth checking out. Here are ten of them:

1. PorConceito
Travessa da Espera,18
Three of Portugal’s top fashion designers have gotten together to open a shop entirely dedicated to Portuguese creations. The idea is to promote and expand Portuguese fashion, and at this new Bairro Alto boutique you’ll find accessories such as sunglasses, belts, and purses, as well as perfumes, ceramics, and other products at reasonable prices to reach a market that can’t always afford designer items.

2. GDE Galeria de Exclusivos – Matéria Prima
Rua da Rosa, 195/197
This is really a space shared by two shops. It’s a fashion and accessories boutique offering pieces by Portuguese designers, but also a music, books, and magazine shop. On the boutique section you’ll find designer pieces using recycled materials, meaning everything you see is unique, special, and of a limited edition. As for the music shop, the books, DVD, and magazines you find next to the musical selections are also mostly music-related, much of it about electronic sounds.

3. Onitsuka Tiger
Rua do Norte, 32
The Japanese brand’s first shop in Portugal opened in Bairro Alto so that it could better reach the market that wears its slightly alternative clothing and footwear. Although it’s been in existence for six decades now, this brand’s styles are very much contemporary and youthful, which is just what the typical Bairro Alto shopper looks for.

4. The Hood
Rua do Norte, 65
Exclusive and limited editions of Nike footwear is all that you’ll find at this new shop. When you get a pair of sneakers here, chances are very few other people you meet will be wearing the same, as everything sold here will not be found at any other shop in the country.

5. A Fabrica dos Chapeus
Rua da Rosa, 130
Except for baseball caps, hats have pretty much gone out of style since the 1950s. Maybe they’ll make a comeback with shops like Bairro Alto’s new A Fabrica dos Chapeus (“The Hat Factory”) which offers more than 300 styles. There’s one for every personality and wallet, as they can cost as little as 5 to as much as 50 euros.

6. Antes e Depois
Travessa da Espera, 47
The name of the shop means “Before and After,” and what you’ll find in it is really a trip to the past and back to the present. There are vintage toys that used to bring much joy to children before the era of the video games, most of them traditional Portuguese toys. They’re recreations of 1950s to 90s originals, so don’t expect to find children at the shop. This is really for adults looking to relive their childhood through their kids, or really for the child in all of us.

7. Cineccitá
Rua de O Século, 19
It used to be located uptown, but it moved to Bairro Alto because that’s where its typical customer usually hangs out at. That’s someone who’s a movie buff or pop culture geek, who enjoys collecting movie posters, postcards, t-shirts, and pretty much anything related to the world of cinema.

8. Zeppelin Vintage
Rua da Rosa, 40
As you can tell by the name, this is a vintage shop. It offers original furniture, mostly from the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and the United States, dating from the 1950s to 80s. And they’re no ordinary pieces – these are designer creations.

9. Pérola das Gaveas
Rua das Gáveas 44-46
Opened last December, this is a modern gourmet shop with a traditional/retro look (it used to be a neighborhood grocery shop). It offers Portuguese wines, jams, olive oils, cheeses, teas, and regional specialties from around Portugal.

10. Bairru’s Bodega
Rua da Barroca, 3
It’s not a shop, but it’s new. OK, so it’s been open for a few months now, but many still don’t know that this is one of the best daytime bars in the city, the perfect place for a glass of Portuguese wine at the end of the work day. There isn’t much room inside, but that’s actually perfect, since that may force you to stand outside and watch the Bairro Alto day get started (meaning night in this neighborhood). To be soaked up by the alcohol there are cheeses and hams, and everything is accompanied by an all-Portuguese soundtrack playing in the background.

UPDATE: This café now opens for breakfast and closes after lunch.

One of Lisbon’s newest and most fashionable cafes (quite literally) is Colcci Café. It’s found up a flight of steps inside the Colcci shop which sells the Brazilian brand’s men’s and women’s wear known for its colorful and contemporary designs in jeans, sportswear, accessories, and footwear. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen has been the official face of the brand since 2005 and you’ll see her strutting down the runway on a plasma screen in the café showing the latest collections.

Of all the international branches, the Lisbon shop is the first one to include a café, and its location in the shopping district of Chiado make it a perfect stop in between your Lisbon shopping spree. The comfortable sofas are also especially inviting for the 5 o’clock tea to those who work in Lisbon or find themselves in the Portuguese capital on a business trip and need somewhere to unwind after a busy day (you’re even allowed to light up a cigarette here, as it has a smoker’s dining area). The entire space’s décor and menu match the elegance and contemporary spirit of the fashions downstairs, and you can have a full meal or a light snack at any time of the day. At the moment it closes at 7PM but may eventually extend that to later.

The excellent hot chocolates or the teas, scones, and cakes are the obvious choices for those after-work hours, but for lunch there’s a varied choice of salads, pastas, and daily specials, and some excellent desserts that I’ve become a particular fan of. There are also some good vegetarian options and freshly-squeezed juices.

For more cafes in the city, see GoLisbon’s Lisbon cafes section.

The Financial Times’ monthly “How To Spend It” magazine highlights the most luxurious shopping and places to see in the world, and in its current February issue the city for the “The Long Luxurious Weekend” is Lisbon.

It notes that “Portugal’s capital city is fiercely protective of its heritage and traditions,” but “also embraces glamorous modern, high-concept developments.” The main photo is part of the Parque das Nações skyline, showing the distinctive São Gabriel and São Rafael Towers next to the Atlantic Pavilion.

The recommended places to stay were all boutique hotels (As Janelas Verdes, Bairro Alto Hotel, Solar do Castelo, and York House), in addition to one design hotel (Fontana Park) and one luxury hotel (Lapa Palace).

Eating and drinking suggestions were the Café A Brasileira, Bica do Sapato, Eleven, Tavares, and Terreiro do Paço, together with a night of Fado at Parreirinha de Alfama.

For shopping, two of the highlights were the Fabrico Infinito shop for home accessories and Sant’Anna for quality ceramics.

As sightseeing choices, it points to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, the Ancient Art Museum, the Santa Justa Elevator, and the Fado Museum, along with two off-the-beaten path addresses, the Medeiros e Almeida Museum and the Mãe D’Água Reservoir that’s part of the landmark aqueduct.

It ends with a “Pessoa tour,” following the footsteps of famous 20th century poet Fernando Pessoa, with a visit to his house-museum and with the help of his guidebook “Lisbon: What the Tourist Should See” which the article found to be “an excellent guidebook – despite having been written in 1925.”

You can read the entire article here where you can click on the February 2009 issue.

Exactly three years ago a Lisbon neighborhood was reborn. On December 6, 2005 the neighborhood of Santos was distinguished for its cluster of shops dedicated to design and was branded “Santos Design District.” Since that day other shops (and restaurants) have opened (and closed), but after three years, the group behind the initiative is celebrating the positive feedback from shop owners and discerning Lisbon shoppers with special events.

To mark the anniversary, the shops are staying open for a longer period of time from today to Monday, and there are special sales and special (exclusive) products on display, among other promised “surprises.”

The best known name in the neighborhood is Armani Casa, but if you’re interested in remodelling your home, just looking for something new, or simply browsing with an interest in design, you’ll find Lisbon’s (and Portugal’s) very own shops competing for shoppers with good taste. One you should check out if you’re in Lisbon today is Domo (some of its ideas are illustrated above), offering tea, cappuccino, hot chocolate, and pastries to its customers starting at 4:30PM.

Once you’re done with your shopping (stores will close at 10PM), you can try one of the restaurants in the area. Following the new theme of the neighborhood, you’ll find places where the décor is just as interesting as the food. A favorite is Estado Liquido. Better known for it sushi, it also features a sleek minimalist space with some Asian touches, and it also doubles as a bar/lounge. If you’re not a fan of sushi and want to try something more local, head to Cop’3. It’s another tastefully designed space serving innovative versions of traditional Portuguese dishes. You’ll find it in Largo Vitorino Damasio, the same square where the bar Left is located. It’s a hip hangout that Wallpaper* magazine singled out for being “stylish and relaxed,” that’s also a great place for drinks to the sounds of the guest DJs.

Even if you’re not in Lisbon this weekend for Santos’ special events, remember that you can spend a day here when you’re in town, taking a look at the shops, eating at the restaurants, and ending the night drinking at a bar. In the future you’ll also be able to bring your laptop and sit on a bench in the streets of the neighborhood and browse the internet, with the planned wi-fi service.

It’s now December and Christmas is just around the corner. The ornamented trees are going up, the streets are decorated with lights, and you’re making your Christmas shopping list. Lisbon has gotten ready for all of that, and has unveiled a new identity for its most cosmopolitan neighborhood. Called “Chiado – Lisbon Trend Mark”, this new “brand” for the cultural and commercial heart of the city has placed banners around the Chiado neighborhood identifying it as the place for the most international and highest-quality shops for your shopping needs. There are the Hermés and Hugo Boss shops that most can’t afford, but also more affordable labels such as Diesel and H&M. For memorable quality Portuguese gifts there are the Vista Alegre, A Vida Portuguesa, or Joalheria do Carmo shops.

To make sure customers are not tempted to go to the city’s shopping malls instead, most of the area’s shops are going to stay open until 8PM on weekdays and until 11PM on Saturdays. This has proven to be a successful decision, judging by the recent long lines at the Nespresso shop late in the evening or all the browsing for books at the historical Bertrand bookshop as late as 10PM. The special Christmas lights and decorations in the neighborhood add to the Christmas spirit, and are thankfully more tasteful than the ugly commercially-sponsored decorations in Rossio or Comercio squares this year (try to overlook them if you’re in Lisbon this holiday season).

But because Christmas is not just about shopping, Chiado’s São Carlos Theater will present special performances of “The Nutcracker” . They take place on December 5, 6, and 11th at 9PM and on the 7h and 13th at 4PM.

Although we “finally” got plenty of rain here in Lisbon this weekend, it looks like another joyous holiday season in the city, starting with the inauguration of Europe’s largest Christmas tree, and ending with Chiado’s new “trend mark.”

São Bento is a residential neighborhood made up of only a handful of streets, but it’s home to one of the country’s most important buildings. That’s São Bento Palace, or the Portuguese parliament that you’ll see as you speed by in the unofficial tourist tram 28. You likely won’t step down to see it any closer, and won’t explore the neighborhood either. But those who love shopping, especially for antiques, will find plenty of reasons to do so down Rua de São Bento.

Lined with a number of antique shops, that street also hosts a street party every year in September called “São Bento Nights,” with street performances and concerts. The shops stay open until midnight during those three days, and in this eighth year there is a theme in all of the festivities – “Lisbon and the Tagus.” So if you’re Lisbon on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of this month, head to this street at night and you’ll hear the sounds of water, string instruments, and ballads. In the end, you may even end up buying an interesting old something at an antique shop to take back home as a reminder of your Lisbon visit.