Shopping in Lisbon: Best Shops by Neighbourhood

The best shopping in Lisbon is not in the malls. It is in the family shops of Chiado and Baixa, several of them trading since the 1800s, and in the concept stores that took over the old palaces of Príncipe Real. Below, the shops worth your time, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, with opening hours, so you can plan a route instead of wandering.

Chiado: where Lisbon shopping starts

Chiado is the bourgeois quarter, built by merchants who wanted a little Paris of the south. Start on Rua Garrett and let the side streets pull you in.

Luvaria Ulisses has been making gloves since 1925, and the shop is barely bigger than a wardrobe. The neo-classical façade tells you what to expect: leather chosen one skin at a time, sizing done by hand, and a queue on the pavement when the shop is full, because only two customers fit inside. Open every day except Sunday. Take a minute for the art nouveau jewellery shop next door, which is a museum in itself.

A Vida Portuguesa was started by Catarina Portas, a former journalist, to give Portuguese manufacturers a shop window. Soaps, textiles, ceramics, tinned fish, all of it made in Portugal and arranged with real taste in a 1950s grocery setting. Open every day.

Tous, the Spanish jeweller, moved in 2012 into the old Porto Aliança shop from 1914 and kept everything: gilded woodwork, mirrors, the original counters. It is one of the most beautiful interiors in the city, and I often walk clients past it on our private tours.

Three more addresses in Chiado worth the detour:

• Sapataria do Carmo, Largo do Carmo 26. Portuguese leather at a level that surprises most visitors. Good for a wedding, or anything where shoes matter.
• Paris em Lisboa, Rua Garrett 77. Household linen of the sort Amélie d’Orléans, the last queen of Portugal, used to order here.
• Cerâmicas na Linha, Rua Capelo 16. Handmade ceramics sold by weight. It is the cheapest good ceramics in Lisbon, and you will leave with more than you planned.

The Armazéns do Chiado shopping centre sits at the bottom of the hill, rebuilt after the 1988 fire that destroyed the block.

Baixa: hats, socks and a grand delicatessen

The grid below Chiado was laid out after the 1755 earthquake. Rua Augusta carries the international brands, but the shops on either side are the reason to come.

Chapelaria Azevedo Rua has stood on Rossio square since 1886, run by the same family for five generations, which makes it the oldest hat shop in Lisbon. Fernando Pessoa bought his hats here. Hats, caps, berets and walking sticks, for men and women, in wooden displays nobody has had the bad idea of modernising. Open every day except Sunday.

Pedemeia sells socks made in Braga by one family. Bright, patterned, cheerful, from 1 to 8 euros a pair. The easiest present to carry home. Open every day except Sunday.

A Outra Face da Lua is the vintage shop locals name first, with a slow fashion rail at the back and a tea room where you can sit down. Open every day except Sunday.

Manteigaria Silva opened around 1890 selling butter, then an expensive import from the Azores, hence the name. It is now one of the best delicatessens in the city. Go for the cheese, the presunto and the tinned fish if you are putting together an aperitif. Open every day except Sunday.

Príncipe Real: concept stores in old palaces

The hill above Bairro Alto used to be the city dump. It is now an English garden surrounded by mansions, most of which have become shops.

Embaixada is the one to see even if you buy nothing. A neo-Arabic palace where each room is a different Portuguese brand, with an art exhibition upstairs and two restaurants. Gin drinkers, you have been warned. Open every day from 12pm to 8pm, Sundays 12pm to 7pm.

Casa Pau-Brasil is 500 square metres devoted to Brazil, Portugal’s big sister, with more than twenty Brazilian labels. It was designed by Joana Astolfi, who also does the Hermès windows, and it smells of coffee. Open every day 10am to 7pm, Sundays 12pm to 6pm.

What Else is where people from the neighbourhood buy presents: odd objects, good design, ready to wear. Open every day except Sunday.

Bairro Alto: cork, candles and tea

Bairro Alto is known for its nights, but the afternoons are quiet and the shops are concentrated on Rua do Norte, Rua do Loreto, Rua das Gáveas and Travessa da Queimada.

Cork & Co sells nothing that is not cork: bags, chairs, jewellery, umbrellas. The design is a long way from the cork souvenirs sold around Rossio, and the price difference shows why.

Casa das Velas Loreto has been making candles since 1789, still in the same family. They started with church candles, then made red ones for Franz Liszt when he passed through Lisbon in 1845. The shop looks like something out of a Harry Potter set. Open every day except Sunday.

Companhia Portugueza do Chá sells tea, and Portugal is the only country in Europe to use the Mandarin word for it, a leftover from the Discoveries. The shop is recent but built like an old Portuguese grocery, and the collection is serious. Open every day except Sunday.

Alfama: wool, crafts and the one real sardine shop

Wandering Alfama with Tram 28 rattling somewhere below is reason enough to be here. Three shops justify a stop.

Chi Coração grew out of a family that traded Burel wool in the 1980s, bought up the abandoned textile machines, and now makes coats and accessories from Serra da Estrela wool. Shearing to finishing, all of it in house. Open every day.

A Arte da Terra has occupied the cathedral’s former stables since 1996. Ceramics, embroidery, tiles and carvings, laid out like a museum of Portuguese craft except that you can take it home.

Conserveira de Lisboa is the sardine shop, the one every guidebook sends you to, unchanged since 1988. A word of warning: the tinned fish shops selling you a tin with your birth year on it all appeared with the tourism boom. They exist to take your money. Open every day except Sunday.

Graça: one shop worth the climb

Graça feels like a village that ended up in the sky, with pastry shops and workers’ canteens and nothing to suggest it hides one of the finest shops in Lisbon.

San Giorgio has been sewing men’s suits in Lisbon since 1972, in an art nouveau shop, with cloth from the best Italian mills. Senhor João, from Alfama, speaks perfect English and knows more about men’s tailoring than anyone else in the city. A gentleman farmer in winter, a Capri dandy in summer, as he puts it. Open every day except Sunday, 10.30am to 7.30pm with a break from 1pm to 3pm, mornings only on Saturday.

LX Factory: print studios and a bookshop in a press hall

Under the 25 de Abril bridge, the old industrial complex is now full of studios selling hand printed textiles, a bookshop built inside an old printing press, and a vintage market at weekends. Come on a Sunday morning and stay for lunch. While you are there, the area also has one of the liveliest nightlife scenes in the city after dark.

What to buy in Lisbon

Azulejos. Reproduction tiles are sold all over the city. If you would rather bring back one you painted yourself, our tile painting workshop is the way to do it, or go further with the ceramics and pottery workshop.

Cork. Portugal grows more than half the world’s cork. Buy it at Cork & Co rather than from a souvenir stand: the difference in finish is obvious once you have seen both.

Conservas. Tinned sardines, tuna, mackerel and octopus, in tins that people frame. Manteigaria Silva and Conserveira de Lisboa are the two addresses.

Wine. Ports, Douro reds and vinho verde, all cheaper here than you expect. Taste before you carry six bottles home: our wine tasting exists for exactly that, and our guide to Portuguese wine explains the regions.

Pastéis de nata. The fresh ones will not survive the trip, but several shops sell boxed versions and baking kits.

Markets, malls and the outlet

For flea markets and food halls, see our guide to Lisbon markets, starting with Feira da Ladra on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

If you want the big centres:

• El Corte Inglés for brands. Bring your passport, tourists get 10% off.
• Colombo, an American style mall, every brand and every budget.
• Amoreiras, Vasco da Gama at Oriente and Armazéns do Chiado if you are already nearby.
• Freeport, the only outlet near Lisbon and one of the largest in Europe. A shuttle leaves from Marquês de Pombal and the ticket comes with shopping benefits.

Opening hours at a glance

Shop	Neighbourhood	Hours
Luvaria Ulisses	Chiado	Every day except Sunday
A Vida Portuguesa	Chiado	Every day
Chapelaria Azevedo Rua	Baixa	Every day except Sunday
Pedemeia	Baixa	Every day except Sunday
Manteigaria Silva	Baixa	Every day except Sunday
Embaixada	Príncipe Real	12pm to 8pm, Sunday to 7pm
Casa Pau-Brasil	Príncipe Real	10am to 7pm, Sunday 12pm to 6pm
Casa das Velas Loreto	Bairro Alto	Every day except Sunday
Conserveira de Lisboa	Alfama	Every day except Sunday
San Giorgio	Graça	10.30am to 7.30pm, closed 1pm to 3pm

Frequently asked questions

What time do shops open in Lisbon?
Independent shops usually open around 10am and close between 7pm and 8pm, and many still close for lunch between 1pm and 3pm. Shopping centres run from 10am to 11pm every day.

Are shops open on Sundays in Lisbon?
Most independent shops close on Sunday, and some close Saturday afternoon too. Shopping centres, Embaixada and Casa Pau-Brasil stay open, with shorter Sunday hours.

Which neighbourhood is best for shopping in Lisbon?
Chiado for historic shops and Portuguese brands, Príncipe Real for design and concept stores, Baixa for hats, socks and food, Bairro Alto for cork and small makers. Alfama and Graça are worth it for one or two specific shops rather than a shopping afternoon.

What is worth buying in Lisbon?
Cork goods, tinned fish, ceramics and azulejos, Burel wool, wine, and Portuguese soaps. All of them are made here and cost less than the imported equivalent.

Where do you find vintage clothes in Lisbon?
A Outra Face da Lua in Baixa is the starting point, and Feira da Ladra in Alfama on Tuesdays and Saturdays for everything else.

Shop Lisbon with someone who knows the doors to push

Our private tours can follow a shopping route through the neighbourhoods above, and they pair well with a food walking tour. Get in touch and tell us what you are looking for.