I was in a countdown event in Lisbon to finish an amazing year of 2018.
Starting with free music live, fireworks that celebrate the new year’s coming and drinking, drinking, drinking.

I did enjoy so much this last day of 2018 with lot of laugh, and lot of beer and finally I spent less than 5 euros!

That would be awesome as well the countdown events in NY, Tokyo, Paris but sometimes it’s so stressful with lot of crowds that make it impossible to move. In the restaurants and bars, there’re more than full of people and it costs.

Lisbon’s New Year’s Eve was actually way more peaceful
You don’t need to stay in the place where the countdown event is held from many hours before, fighting with your need to go to WC.

Even after the countdown event, you can go out for your first nightlife of the year, with cheap price as always.
In this article, I’m going to show you how great Lisbon’s New Year’s Eve is!

19:00～ Last dinner of the year (at home)

People in Lisbon take their last dinner of the year earlier than they usually do at home, because many cheap local restaurants are closed and the restaurants for tourists which are generally opened are expensive and crowded.

When they are ready for going out for this long night, they head to Bairro Alto at first, not to Comercio Square where the countdown event will be held.

20:30～Start to drink in Bairro Alto, with cheap price.

In Bairro Alto, the heart of Lisbon’s nightlife, young people are already ready for the event. On the street, there are many people who got drunk from even that time!
You just pay €1～€1.50 for a pint of beer. They don’t change the price even though it’s the New Year’s Eve.

If you want to keep your budget for later, you can always do as local people do: take a 1 litter bottle of beer which costs less than €1 depending on brands though. I actually always take Cegal, and it’s not bad!

22:00～Music Live

After some beer, they are finally going to Comercio Square where the countdown event is held.
This historical center of Lisbon’s tourism has changed its figure for this night. There’s a stage in front of riverside, where some Portuguese artists are going to have music live from 2 hours before the New year.

To see this live, it’s free of charge!

They play some famous Portuguese hit songs and our mood there was getting more and more enthusiastic!

23:59～Countdown & Fireworks

So it’s finally time to say goodbye to this year!

The artists start to countdown in Portuguese 10 seconds before the new year, and at the moment of 0, beautiful fireworks show starts.
Everyone shouts “Feliz ano novo!” (Happy new year!) and it makes all the people in the place get together.

Colorful fireworks that illuminate the black sky…
I felt this coming year would be full of hope, joy and adventures.

0:15～Music Live

After fireworks finished, music live starts again.
The mood of Comercio square is getting more exciting than ever.

Although there are many people, it’s not as crowded as the subways of rush hour in Tokyo or NY.
You can see many people dancing with music. I liked much that mood!

2:00～After the music live, your nightlife isn’t finishing yet.

After the music live of 4 hours, people start to move from Comercio Square.
Until this moment, I used only €1.80 for 2 litters of beer that I bought in the supermarket.

From this time, some people are getting their way to home, some are staying in a Comercio Square with friends, and some are heading to Bairro Alto to continue their first going out of the year.
I was going to Bairro Alto with climbing steep slope, getting drunk. It was my first hard moment of the year.

The streets of Baixa district were filled with people.

In Bairro Alto, I enjoyed free clubs and €1 beers, I got somehow some shots of Tequilla for free.

I’m still young!

Some words to finish

In the end, I spent only €4.80 for 3.5 litters of beer during this night (If my memory was still good)

With this smallish price, I did enjoy 100% of this special night in Lisbon. (I don’t remember many things in the end of the night)

That’s also cool to go to NY, Tokyo for countdown event, but Lisbon’s one was definitely awesome as well.

In addition to that, the mild weather would also be a good reason to choose Lisbon for new year’s events.
It was not really cold even though I stayed outside for many hours. (Of course you can’t stay there with T-shirt and short pants though!)

I also appreciated the security of the place, there were many policemen who were checking the baggage of the people who were entering to the Commercio Square.

So, why don’t you think about passing next New Year’s Eve in Lisbon?

We can enjoy this city with many ways: walking around, tasting great food, drinking, having a party… but do you know we can find many viewpoints throughout the city? When you go up, you will arrive to a view point!

Almost all the viewpoints in Lisbon are outside so generally they are free of charge. Of course, there are many tourists, but also local people come there to take an “imperial” (small glass beer) on the terrace of Kiosk, or just to be relaxed with magnificent view of the city.

In Lisbon, the viewpoints are the place for everybody, not only for tourists: musicians playing guitar and singing, young people talking, an old man sitting on the bench and looking the scenic without doing anything else…

In this article, I’m going to show you the view spots I like very much in Lisbon, from those of really popular to those which are hidden. Each spot has a unique view and different vibe, so you can choose which ones to go and discover Lisbon from different angles. (However, it’s hard to do many view spots for just one day because of the steep hills)

*In the end of this article, you will get some useful tips to get around the viewpoints, the map, and a model route!

1  São Pedro de Alcântara view point

2  Santa Justa Lift

Just from next to the entrance for the top part, there’s a staircase to go down. In the middle of this it, you will see this small place (photo above) which is relatively quiet. You can feel the lively atmosphere on the street below, as well as enjoy a view of old houses in front and the old lift above. When you get tired after a walk, this is a great place to take a rest. (There are many people who sleep deeply on the deck chairs)

3  Santa Catarina view point

So, the next one is a bit more local than the other view point I have shown you above: Santa Catarina view point. You will get a beautiful panorama view of the Tagus river and Lisbon’s symbolic red bridge: April 25th Bridge.

Even though this amazing view point is situated at the end of the full touristic Chiado district, you won’t see as many as tourists that you find the other hyper popular view spots. The people coming to this place are mostly young locals, so the vibe is a bit different from other places but it’s always lively with musicians, performers. There are also hippies and artists gathering so you will feel a free vibe there.

On the viewpoint, there’s a kiosk where you can get some snacks and drinks for a reasonable price, considering it’s in Lisbon’s city center (a small glass beer for 2.5€), so why not a small break here with beautiful view?

You can enjoy its panoramic view whenever you go, but the sunset is really worth seeing.

4  Santa Luzia view point

The next viewpoint is small but famous one: Santa Luzia view point, situated in the heart of Alfama. This is the oldest district in Lisbon, which didn’t suffer so much from the earthquake in 1755, so we can find the old houses decorated with Arabic motifs because of the Islamic occupation period in Portugal about 800 years ago.

Today, Alfama attracts more and more visitors and this small view point as well.

You can see whole Alfama district from the top, with the medieval streets and traditional houses. This is one of the landscapes which represent Portugal, with the atmosphere nostalgic and tranquil.

There’s not only this beautiful view that you must see on this viewpoint, but also the “Azulejos” (Portuguese tile art with motifs) aren’t to be missed!

That’s a pity most of the tourists come to this spot only to take photos of its panoramic view and go away. If you turn your head back, you will realize there are some hidden Azulejos there and you will be impressed with their beauty.

5  Portas do Sol view point

Just a 2 minutes walk from Santa Lucia view point takes you to this bigger view point: Portas do Sol, which means “The gates of the sun”. From this place, you can also admire a panorama view of the Alfama district.

Let’s take your beer or Mojito from the kiosk and take a seat on the terrace. A beautiful landscape is just under your foot!

The famous tramway no. 28 and TukTuks for tourists pass by right next to the viewpoint. I think this is a typical landscape of Lisbon as well, with old houses around.

6  Graça viewpoint (Miradouro Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen)

7  Nossa Senhora do Monte viewpoint

When we’re facing such a beautiful view, we cannot find a word but just a sigh. They say “See Naples and die” but I want to replace this phrase to “Go the Nossa Senhora do Monte viewpoint, and die” (in fact, you could be dead after you reached this viewpoint because the slope is really killing)

8 Penha de França viewpoint

9  Eduardo 6 Park’s viewpoint

To finish

When we live abroad for a long time, we should completely change our habit, our mentality and our attitude for the culture of the country where you are, and sometimes it surprises us how our mind or our way of thinking has been changed, without recognizing by ourselves.

In this article, I’m going to tell you the 10 things that I quit after my 8 months of stay in Portugal. Maybe you could get some ideas about how in reality it is to live in Portugal. (I’m from Japan, which has very different culture from Western countries, so the difference that I found could be bigger than yours.)

1.  Being frustrated while I’m waiting

First thing to know, we have to wait for ANYTHING in Portugal. Doesn’t matter what we want to do, we have to wait. At the immigration office for paperwork, at the restaurants, at the cash desks in the supermarket, at the bus stops, etc… It takes ten times much time than normal for everything, and nobody knows why.

In the restaurant, it’s pretty usual to wait 5 mins to get the menu, another 10 mins to place the order, and 20 mins again to finally have the dishes… Sometimes the waiter comes back to the table to ask the order again because he forgot it. Oh my God.

At the supermarket, nobody knows how to be efficient. Neither customers nor workers. It takes a thousand years to just buy a bottle of water. I’d like to know why it takes crazily long time just to put the stuff into a bag.

Which is really incredible about this situation, is that nobody complains about waiting such a long time. They are used to it. We never hear somebody sighs deeply while we are waiting for our turn in the long queue at the cash desk.

The employees in the supermarket in Japan, you are really awesome. Your quick and efficient service is almost that of the robots.

But yes, here it’s Portugal. we must accept that people have Portuguese rhythm. I changed my mentality at the certain moment and it does’t bother me too much anymore to wait for. Thanks Portugal.

There’s one thing I want to say concerning this : when we turn our head towards the beloved neighbor, Spain, we would be surprised at how rapidly and efficiently Spanish people work, so we don’t have opportunity to wait longtime. This difference between these two countries just next to each other is remarkable.

But for me personally, this Spanish-style efficiency ended up making me a bit tired. Because I felt kind of obligation to be prepared for getting rapid service, especially at the moment of ordering in the restaurants. (I had to know what I wanted to eat before I took a seat because the waiter came 2 seconds later.)

When I finally came back to Portugal, I found my peace of mind.

2.  Checking timetable of public transport

It’s a bit similar to the Portuguese rhythm that I’ve talked about above, the public transport in Portugal doesn’t make any sense. Never arrives in time, yeah especially the buses!

With 20 mins’ late, we can finally see the bus that you want to take, arriving with the next bus behind. What could we use the timetable for if this happens really often? I even saw once 3 buses coming at the same time.

However, Portuguese wait for the bus without complaining. They are professionals for waiting.

So that’s why I quit checking timetable of transport and now I don’t even take the bus : I walk. Obviously it’s faster in most of the cases.

3. Obsession for eating Ramen

Today we can eat good sushis anywhere in the world. As Portugal is surrounded by the sea, the quality of sushis here is really good and the price is really cheap. (like 4 euros in a take-away box, 7 euros for All you can eat) But if we talk about Ramen – Japanese noodles that we Japanese are crazy about, is not the case.

For Portuguese, “noodles” signify “Chinese woks” and nobody knows Ramen.

Actually I found Ramen in a “Asian” restaurant after my hard research on Google, but it wasn’t at all which I had expected to have. It cost me 14 euros just for a bowl of chicken-based soup with white noodles which I barely had any idea about what they were made from. I don’t say the name of the restaurant but please stop doing bad imitation.

After these kinds of experience, I finally have no desire to eat Ramen and I’ve started forgetting what it was.

4. Checking weather forecast

In Portugal, it never rains in summer. That’s not a joke, NEVER. There isn’t even summer thunderstorm which we have often in other countries and which is difficult to give accurate prevision. So we don’t need to check the weather every morning, that’s really cool.

On the other hand, the weather is really unstable in winter time. It doesn’t snow in Portugal but it doesn’t help to give an accurate weather forecast because there’s cold rain shower and warm sunshine coming alternately on a same day. That’s nothing if we check the weather forecast, we just have to bring always a folding umbrella with us.

5. Tipping

@photo by VIKTOR HANACEK

when I started living in Portugal, it was really surprising for me that they didn’t really have tip culture. The low salary and absence of tips… Here the life is hard.

And I had been in the middle of the tip culture in Canada (15% of tips almost mandatory) so in the beginning, I couldn’t get what I had to do and sometimes I left some tips but finally I get used not to do it. Cheaper is better.

you could maybe imagine my feeling when I saw an American tourist in a bar who left 1 euro’s tips for his glass beer which cost 1 euro. That’s not a good idea, you can take another beer with it, men!

In fact, we can’t expect good service which would deserve to get tips in Portugal, especially in local restaurants.  Even though the waiters do their job, they are not really welcoming, putting your dishes on the table almost throwing them without any communication and we have to wait long time to have our dish.

If we find a restaurant which is not like this, it is for tourists. Nobody expects having great service in the restaurant but just having a good meal.

6. Waiting for someone to take a seat in the restaurant

As I grew up in the country where the communication at the entrance of restaurant is considered very important, and where I couldn’t take a seat without saying hello (I think in many countries it’s more or less like that), restaurant culture in Portugal is really surprising for me.

Even if we wait for somebody coming to us in the entrance of the restaurant, nobody will come to ask us “Hi how are you? How many persons?”.

Even though we enter directly inside and we say “Hello, its to eat!”, the waiter will say “What are you doing there? Take your seat wherever you want” without any smile.

When you go to a local restaurant in Portugal, you just need to enter directly inside and take a seat. That’s normal style here, but remember that it will take time to have a menu, your drinks and your meal…

7. Trying being well dressed.

@Photo by: Matthew Henry

In general, Portuguese people dress very simply and modestly. If you’re in a chic dress of Parisian style, you will get attention of the people.

When I traveled to Spain from Portugal, I was shocked that the people on the street are dressed so beautifully. I could tell immediately which one is Portuguese even when I’m in Madrid because of the way of dressing.

And I found in Portugal there’s many people who wear yellow clothes. Is it maybe the mode?

8. Using hair dryer and dryer for clothes

@Photo by: Shopify Partners

I realized that using hair dryer is waste of electricity and time.

As the air is dry in Portugal, our hair dries so briefly and clothes as well. Welcome to an eco-life!

Here in Portugal, the people using hair dryer are the minority because of its hot weather, and I wonder the dryer for clothes doesn’t even exist. That’s why we can see a beautiful contrast of Lisbon’s historical narrow street and panties of old woman which is waving above.

9. Going to Lisbon’s downtown

Many tourists imagine steep and narrow streets and old tramways running on them, when it comes to Lisbon. For the people who live in this city, however, these things are something to avoid. It’s a torture to go up and down every day these steep streets where the cars pass by just next to you, and also to take the famous tramway which is always full of tourists.

That’s why I never went to Lisbon downtown after some months of my life in Lisbon. Out of the downtown, there’s not so many slopes and it’s easier to find supermarkets, to go to shopping center, etc. In addition to that, the room rent is much cheaper there.

10. Looking for Japanese expats’ community

Photo by: Matthew Henry

Even if we are in a foreign country to have an another life from our country’s, we miss sometime speaking our language, and eating our food with the people who share the same culture.

That’s the same thing for me but… there’are really few Japanese in Lisbon. I don’t even see often the famous Japanese tourists in a big group, who follow quietly their tour guide with a flag in his hand. Can you imagine how few the Japanese expatriates are?

There’s so few restaurants which are managed by Japanese as well, for example. When it comes to Japanese communities in Lisbon, it’s impossible to find them even on Meetup or Facebook.

In Portugal, we could have a very different life from that of in Canada or Australia, where we can easily meet Japanese guys and can easily find their communities. It’s an awesome thing that we could have a total immersion in an another culture as well as learning the language, but sometimes it’s a bit difficult…

In addition to that, It seems to me that Portuguese are not so interested in the foreign cultures. They live their lives. It’s rare to meet the people who are crazy about Mangas or Animes, like who we often meet in abroad.

To finish

To live in a foreign country, it’s very important to understand the culture of the country where we are, and to accept the difference. I think it is the change of our mentality or the way of thinking that will make our life richer, rather than the language skills that we acquire.

Living in Portugal for a long term is a bit hard in my opinion. It would take time to accept the culture differences, but Portugal is a perfect place to have a stress-free life with its mild climate and its relaxing rhythm of life.

I would like that more Japanese people are interested in this beautiful country and come to live here.

Narrow steep streets with old houses, Portuguese cuisine that is simple but also very tasty and its atmosphere of “saudade” (nostalgia, sadness or a feeling of lack of something in one’s past, untranslatable in other languages). ..
People who have ever visited this beautiful city would say, “Oh my God, Lisbon is simply magic!”

Yet, Lisbon’s charms aren’t only in its touristic city center. You can enjoy beautiful beaches just nearby.
In fact, there are many people coming to Lisbon to spend their “beach holidays”, as you maybe already know.
For me as well that’s the case. I often get out of Lisbon to the beach to enjoy my “Beach day” and I think this easy access to the beach is really a good advantage of living in Lisbon, because not many big cities in the world allow us to spend the morning in the office and the relaxing evening on the beach, on the same day!

In addition to that, here in Lisbon, the public transport to the beaches is cheap, I don’t have stable job so I have much free-time, and it’s HOT! So, beach every day! Why not?

In this article, I’m going to show you 7 beautiful beaches near Lisbon, so you can choose which beach to go by getting away from the crowds of the city, and especially, from the heat.

I won’t list beautiful beaches which need 3 hours’ car ride from Lisbon. Only those that can be reached less than 1 hour from the capital, by public transport.

Here’s my preferences for the beach :

· Not many people (very important)
· Easy to reach from Lisbon by public transport (connections are very exhausting and I don’t have a car.)
· I go to the beach to relax and to swim. (not for surfing, party…)
· Quiet (not with lots of bars on the beach and British guys totally drunk)

It was very difficult to choose only 7,  but now, it’s done!

7.   Praia de Ribeira, Cascais

This beach is found in the very middle of the city of Cascais, which is 40 minutes away by suburban train (CP) from Cais do Sodré station located in Lisbon downtown. To get there, you just take the train and get off at the terminal station, and walk 10 minutes through lovely Cascais downtown.

Although the beach is so small, it’s quite busy all year. Especially in summer, it’s completely filled with Portuguese and also with foreigners.

The famous Cascais city attracts many young tourists and retired people as well, they expect beautiful seaside holiday. That means it’s relatively touristy. The restaurants and bars there are more expensive compared to other local places.

I don’t recommend you going to this beach just for passing a nice beach day because you will surely meet a lot of tourists taking a thousand of pictures on the street next to the beach. On the other hand, just to give yourself a little break during your day trip to Cascais, this is a great place.

6.  Praia de Carcavelos, Carcavelos

Between Lisbon and Cascais, a small residential town of Carcavelos has a long beach.

It used to be a very local and quiet place couple of years ago, but today it became one of the most popular touristic and surfing destination for foreigners, especially. The vibe here is young and lively, with many restaurants and bars which don’t cost very much.

It may not be a perfect beach for swimming but if you want to enjoy its open-minded young vibe with a glass of beer and the sun, that’s the place.

5.  Praia deTamariz, Estoril

Just two stations before the terminal station of Cascais line, this beautiful beach is situated in a famous vacation city, Estoril. If you find the beaches in Cascais or Carcavelos are touristy and too much young vibe, this beach is maybe for you because of its elegant atmosphere.

In Estoril, many old and rich-looking retired people staying in luxury hotels, go to the Casino and stay on the beach, so maybe it’s them who make the atmosphere of this beach original and a bit different from other beaches.

You will find there many restaurants and bars that are opened all year round, but attention to their price! It’s always “the price for foreigners”.

4.  Praia das Avancas

Always on the Cascais train line, a 10 mins’ walk from Parede station takes you to this beautiful small beach surrounded by cliffs. While the beaches that I showed you above are quite touristy, this one has much more local atmosphere.
For example on weekends, there are many “Lisboetas” (Lisbon’s local people) come here to pass their peaceful beach afternoon.

On the beach, there’s only one restaurant-bar where you can admire a great sea view from above. It’s a perfect place to take an imperial (glass beer) with their good petiscos (snacks) sitting on outside terrace.

I really like this beach because there’s always the sun in front of me, from the morning till the sunset, as it is exposed south-west. If sun bathing or tanning is your stuff, you will be really happy here. (But also you will feel really hot)

Some minus points about this beach are, there are many slippy rocks everywhere in the sea so it’s a bit dangerous for children. And the tidal movement is so extreme that you can’t even go in the water to swim when the tide is low.

Would it be boring? Don’t worry, there’s a natural swimming pool next to the beach so you can swim even during low tide.

On the other hand, when it comes to high tide, you have another problem : almost all of this beach sinks under the water. If you stay near the water, you and your belongings will be totally wet. When the water is coming up, everybody starts to hurry up to avoid getting wet and it’s like a war.

To get rid of this kind of stress, it’s better to take your place far from the sea water at the beginning of your beach day, so that you can see the others staying just next to the water and taking their selfies, and give them a smile. Oh, like that you’ll be a real Lisboeta!

3.  Praia de Caxias

Near. Quiet. Beautiful. This beach is a perfect place for me.

The first beach that you see after only 15 mins’ train ride from Lisbon, is so near from the train station as well : 10 seconds!

Local families and local couples come here because of its great accessibility, while tourists tend to go further.
There’s no restaurant or bar on the beach so you can simply have a quiet moment. But you mustn’t expect too much the quality of water, because this beach is situated on the spot where the Tagus River flows into ocean… But ten times better than the Tokyo Bay!

You would need to buy your drinks and foods in advance because there’s no restaurant or small shops nearby.

Nevertheless, its accessibility is a big advantage. For example, when you get tired after your long walking in Lisbon, you can just catch a train and 15 mins later, you will be taking rest on the beach!
In fact, the locals start their day at their office or their school and they finish their day on the beach. Life is beautiful!

2.  Costa da Caparica

Costa da Caparica, one of the most popular beaches for surfers of all over the world never stops attracting them. This is actually the only beach in this article which isn’t on Cascais train line.

To get there, you need to pass the beautiful red bridge – Ponte de 25 Avril, and get to the south shore. Generally, the beaches near Lisbon are more or less small, but not this beach.

If it is your first time to come to Costa da Caparica, you will surely impressed with its long beach like Miami and of course with the beautiful contrast of its white sand and deep blue Atlantic Ocean.

They say you would need a car to get there because there’s no subway line which connects north shore and south shore, when in reality the access is not as bad : there’s a bus company TST which runs regular bus service from Lisbon every 30 mins, and the journey takes just 40 mins.

The beach keeps its tranquility even though there are many restaurants and bars on it, because they are quite far from each other.

You could even see local fishermen sell the fishes that they’ve just fished there, and many birds flying above to snatch some of them… It’s really a cliche of Portugal, isn’t it?

If you want to enjoy a full beach day, this is really a place to go!

1.  Praia São Pedro de Estoril, Estoril

For me, this is by far the best beach near Lisbon, It lets us admire a panoramic view and good quality of water.
The access is simple and easy : always on Cascais Line, 30 mins from Cais de Sodré.

Surrounded by tall cliffs, you would feel as if you were on a hidden beach. You will also realize how quiet it is and how beautiful the water is thanks to its distance from Lisbon.

There are 2 restaurant-bars on the beach and they both offer relax atmosphere and good price. I also like the point that a small grocery shop is easily found just next to the station, to get some food and beers.

When I was there, local kids were playing football on the beach. They couldn’t do the same thing on busier beaches, That made me feel like I was on countryside beach, far from big city. I liked as well that there were fewer families and young guys than the other beaches but there were many people who were alone enjoying their own time.