Lisbon

Lisbon is not a fairytale of fine words, try the bureaucratic reality later tell me something, always remember the natives just want your money if you don't have it they are not there for you

I've ended up living in Lisbon for personal reasons after working remotely here a couple of times in the prior years. It has changed dramatically from a cost perspective. Rents match many large developed EU cities and quality of apartments is unfortunately poor in comparison. Lisbon is going through a housing crisis right now; digital nomads and tourists are not solely to blame for this but only some of the reasons in a complex situation that is going to take years to resolve. From a cost/benefit ratio, I think there are other cities on the list that exceed Lisbon and have large nomad communities and more things to do. I find Portuguese people pleasant (unlike some comments suggested here which I believe are unfair); like every nationality just make an effort in your interactions with people. Portugal as a country is charming in its people and smaller towns; Lisbon has some of the charm but it has a shelf life.

Someone said the pros are:
- Plenty of great co-working spaces
- Lots of digital nomads
- Meetups, tech and crypto conferences

Man, that's the worst of cons! This is not your backyard, go away!

if you have a 2000 euros per month you can save some money for other expenses good luck to the rents :-D

Pros:
- Plenty of great co-working spaces
- Lots of digital nomads
- Meetups, tech and crypto conferences

Cons:
- Everything is severely overpriced from food to rents (expect to pay northern European prices)
- Poor quality of the apartments (if you have allergies or sensitivity, bring plenty of antihistamines!)
- Its a dirty city overall with dog shit on the streets and poorly maintained houses and facilities
- Drug sellers offering drugs every 100 meters in the downtown areas
- Packed with tourists most of the year and a constant sense of claustrophobia
- Insane amount of parked cars everywhere filling up every street
- Insane amount of old diesel cars polluting the air all over the city
- Quite miserable and depressed Portuguese population overall
- Not much females or dating prospects imo
- Basic, tasteless food (one of the worst cuisine in the world imo)
- Sun is too strong in Lisbon area (not a subjective opinion, you can look this up)
- The Portuguese are mainly interested in your money, they overuse their vocal chords and forget that God gave them two ears to listen with

Well, I guess you can see where I'm going with this...

I'm currently in Lisbon and I must say that this city has been very overhyped in terms of cost, food and overall fun. There are a lot of issues where foreigners like myself are driving up the rent and we are solely blamed for this. The larger issue here is the Portuguese government is not using these tourism dollars towards their people. I'm staying in Alfama and there is 'fuck tourists' spray painted in a few places but in order to come and stay here we are being asked to provide our information and the government is well aware of this. I would urge the Portuguese to not solely be angry at foreigners for this. We are only doing what is allowed. I think it's a mostly beautiful city but it very expensive for locals and it's very pricey for tourists as well. Alfama area has a lot of mold everywhere. I can see mold on the outside of some of these buildings. Not enough people are discussing the mold issues that a lot of these apartments and rentals have. The older homes have no insulation and heat and the inside of the homes are very cold. Colder than outside. The locals haven't been friendly to me as other reviews have suggested. I completely understand why they are not nice. After visiting here, I can't consciously tell someone to go to Portugal and stay there long term. I'm even having a moral dilemma after being here for 3 weeks.

I enjoyed Lisbon but didn't get the hype. Rent is for sure pricey as the government look to gentrify (a lot of blame is placed on Airbnb and nomads, however). The city but It is vibrant and plenty to do. Many things within an hour away and easy to get to. I lived there for about a month and felt ready to leave and more excited by Porto. What really made this trip for me was the DN community and my connections that already live there. Overhyped seems to be a key word in these reviews and I agree. It's very good, it's just not amazing. Temper your expectations and you'll honestly have a nice time.

Can you afford insane rents? Good for you. But bear in mind that you're taking someone else's home. Portuguese people can't live in Lisbon anymore due to insane rents!

Please don’t come. Rent has doubled in price in a matter of 5yrs. Myself and other locals are being pushed out of the city and forced to move to places that are +1h commute from work. People are struggling and suffering. And yet it is all ok because rich foreigners want to “spice up” their life… I repeat, do not come, and if you do have to come, please try to do damage control.

Reviews are a little biased here. It's a great city to visit for a few weeks, worth checking out for sure & has great landscapes, some of the best sunsets I've seen were in Lisbon. Not the place to be longterm though, unless you like overpaying for shitty breakfast.

Please don't come. Housing prices are insane, too many tourists, locals working in Lisbon during the day are forced to move to places 50-100 km far from Lisbon. Please don't come.

Lisbon is not what it is cracked up to be. It has a jaded hipster vibe, at least in the foreigner area, and the food selections aren't great. There are much better places in Portugal, and I don't think Lisbon represents the country well. Locals say it's foreigners raising the prices of everything. In part, it could be that. However, the locals are also the ones voting in higher taxation with their socialist politicians when sales tax is already a ridiculous 23%. Portugal is a nice country and the people are good to deal with, but Lisbon is way overrated.

The city got overcrowded, really expensive, overhyped, can believe it is still the number one destination for remote workers. Where ever the hype or FOMO goes, you should go the oppositive!

Great city, but if you are a digital nomad and can afford higher rates, please don't drop insane amounts and pay what the locals do. I have heard of "nomads" coming here for a month and dropping 2k on a T1, while at most it shouldn't exceed 800 euros in the centre of Lisbon, which even like others have noted is an insane amount for locals.

Also, the government should really start constructing social housing and do something about subletting/vacation rentals.

for services you will have to be very patient and not lose your head Prices in Lisbon for 705 euros minimum wage in portugal in 2022 are very exaggerated with this price with you two houses in valencia or spain, Lisbon has good things but there are things that are not shown to the public world that need to improve for the good of all and never improve and this is the fate and attitude of portugal to hide and let go

Good:
- Great local food
- Portuguese people are amazingly friendly
- Vibrant DN community. It's like the city has been overtaken by remote workers. You will see everyone working on their laptop everywhere you go.
- Amazing views whenever you want; you can just get a beer and climb to one of the viewpoints to see the sunset. Easy and magical.
- Super cheap Ubers, easy subway

Bad:
- Housing prices. I'm not kidding, it's the worst I've ever seen. Ultra overpriced. I guess that's the problem when people from the US have no problem dropping 3-4k on something that is realistically 1k. It's a global problem, vastly exacerbated here. No wonder some locals are "fed up". Huge disconnect between local salaries/prices and what foreigners are willing to pay.
- Hills. If you don't like walking, prepare yourself.
- After a while it can feel small - it's a small, cute city after all.
- Nightlife is super limited in terms of clubbing
- Very poor insulated houses, so in the winter it's very humid and cold inside the houses.
- Super small airport, not good at all. It's not a hub like Barcelona or Madrid, and you can tell the moment you enter the airport. The local airline, TAP, is great tho.

Overall I feel it's a great place to be for a while, but really overhyped!

I don't know why some people here are so negative about Lisboa. It's far from the level the level of dirt as described. Only the area of barrio alto and pink street have some dealers, but they don't bother you and aren't aggressive. Lack of heating is something I have heard, however should be easy enough to buy a radiator. Besides Lisboa doesn't really get that cold, compared to other European cities. The climate is very pleasant for most of the year. A real con would be that the historic centre is dominated by foreigners as these apartments are mostly rented to expats who can afford a higher rent. This pushes the prices up for the locals, but compared with other European capitals, still very much affordable for digital nomads. I avoided these apartments and happily paid extra (since I could afford it)for hostels/hotels and student/co-live housing, that wouldn't contribute to the magnitude of the housing crisis. The deeper issue, however is the governments liberal policy on tentant rights, foreign ownership, airbnb rentals etc.

Far from being as cheap as it's often imagined to be.
Don't go there in winter: you'll be miserable as most of the houses around the city center don't have proper insulation and are just cold.
At the same time, it is beautiful (and trashy at the same time), there are lots of things to do and there are tons of digital nomads.

Pros:
-Great airport for connections to Africa and South America.
-Has some really beautiful views.
-Great fruit and fish.
-Native Portuguese people are generally friendly and helpful.
-Wonderful moderate climate (better than Spain)

Cons:
-The dirtiest major city I've seen in Europe. Filthy buildings and dog crap everywhere.
-Unsafe - most other women I spoke to said they feel unsafe walking alone here (being leered at, whistled at and followed by the mostly immigrant men is a common occurrence). In the centre, you will be offered drugs every 10 minutes.
-Property - the standard of accommodation in Lisbon is appalling. There's a real lack of decent apartments. Most are damp, with thin walls. As a result, to get a decent 1-bed European-standard apartment on a

poor signaling, disorientation, cleaning and disorganizing of the streets in Lisbon
is similar to Naples in my opinion

It's great if you're woke, young & artsy.
If you're just a regular guy in your 30's with no connections, you'll have a miserable time. Especially during the pandemic.

It's not inexpensive and you get offered cocaine every 200 meters in the city center.

Low-lifestyle, period, be AWARE of that. If you come with your miserly a*s for money and people working 24/7, you're definitely in the wrong place, stay in the your own country/culture, here is into quality of life, you have to adapt to the place and not him to please you as you wish, a plus if you can help to improve Portugal, but don't force it, respect the culture of others, respect Portugal!

Lisbon and portugal reality its not a fairytale locals tell to expats and tourist only good things all good and nice but the reality is hiding like many portuguese try to do about expats and tourists, unfurnoly many locals dont want progress and evolution they always want be the same year by year

Lisbon is the next remote work hub of Europe. There's many reasons why I think that:
1) it already has somewhat of a startup/tech scene because of the annual Web Summit conference
2) which means internet is fast, and there's lots of meetups and it's easy to make friends
3) it's relatively affordable for foreigners compared to Spain and the rest of Europe
4) Portuguese people are super friendly, a lot more friendly than in the rest of the Mediterranean and Europe
5) Lisbon is ideal to go on day/weekend trips to beach towns like Ericeira which is just 30 minutes away
6) Good airport with direct connections to Latin America, Europe and Asia

And in 2020 with COVID closing the borders in Asia, a lot of the nomads that would be there now, are in Portugal. And then once it gets cold here in December, they fly on to Tenerife. That seems to be the new game plan for European nomads.

Please stop going to Lisbon, stop telling people to go Lisbon. It is a beautiful city, yes. The Portuguese people are some of the nicest, warmest I've ever had the privilege to meet, yes. But the housing crisis in Portugal is real and terrible.
Airbnb and temporary accommodation for tourists / nomads, combined with rich foreigners who can afford exorbitant rents, are pushing locals out of their homes: literally. Search about the housing crisis, the police-enforced evictions of families and the elderly, the rising homelessness. The fact that the Portuguese are being driven out of their own towns and cities by a surge of foreign money and investment. There are stickers all around Lisbon that say, "Airbnb: your holiday, our eviction." As a Portuguese friend said: "Our average salary is 600-700€ per month, average rent is at least 800€ per month and climbing all the time thanks in large part to Airbnb, etc."
Look at those figures and think about what that means.
We lived in Portugal for six months in 2019 (staying with friends north of Lisbon). We left because we couldn't find anywhere to live long-term, even 1.5hrs from the city centre in any direction, and we didn't want to contribute to the unjust and truly inhumane situation we discovered once we looked deeper into the society. If you can afford insane rents and are happy that, in doing so, you may be taking someone else's home, go ahead. Otherwise, please, please think about the effect you're having.
Lisbon really is amazing, and Portugal is a wonderful country with some astonishingly nice people. To keep it that way though, maybe we all need to stop treating it like our playground and start treating it like the Portuguese people's home.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh. But seriously, we're all in this world together. Please let's help to make it better.

Great city with a really welcoming atmosphere. Its really a tech hub. There is an app which allows you to go to a different co working space once per week for free. Im staying at a co working hostel here and everyone is super friendly and welcoming. Bars and nightlife is not bad considering the pandemic, if you want to drink after midnight, you can join the masses of people on the top of the hill, and the police dont mind.

I lived in many cities in both South and North Europe. I never found, until now, a better city for digital nomads than Lisbon.
My experience there has been incredibly inspiring. Besides the great food and the affordable cost of living, I liked the most because it was effortless to meet like-minded people. A week after I arrived, I was already part of a soccer team, met two other people working in the same industry that I ended-up being close-friend and business-partner with, and had insightful conversations about my passions. I was surprised by how much Lisbon and Portugal have been able to attract so many great people. I'll definitely be back there soon

Great vibe and lovely people (I was surprised at the number of foreigners even in January!), fun nightlife.
Didn't find great cafes to work in, thankfully my hotel had decent internet.
The only downside for me is the food, once you get tired of bacalhau (codfish), everything is very...beige especially when you don't eat meat. There are a couple of new cute vegan places but expect to pay a premium for those!

One of my favourite cities. Lisbon is getting busier but it is a still an amazing nomad destination. Finding an Airbnb in the summer can be challenging but during the cooler months you can get amazing deals. Also staying at Outsite - the Coliving space is a great option for short term rentals as well and to get into the community of Lisbon. Every Thursday they have a nomad meet up - you can find it on Meetup the website. The cafes are great for working, yes the close early but that’s what Lisbon is wonderful - a better work life balance than SEA where you can always be working essentially. My favourite cafes to work from are Dear Breakfast - lots of outlets, The Mill, Outside Cowork Cafe and Comoba. You can use the app Get Croissant (the class pass of coworking spaces) to use coworking spaces when you’re on here temporarily.

Overall I love Lisbon. Amazing food, nice people and ocean views from everywhere in the city. Absolutely love it!

Really fun, but not such a good city for getting work done imo. Cafe's close early, lack of outlets in many locations now due to influx of digital nomads.

Amazing place! Definitely one of the most underrated countries in western Europe.

Culture, weather, sea, people, co-working spaces. Haven't found a better combination anywhere else.

Definitely the place to be in western Europe. Great weather, solid food, pretty cheap, good internet, a lot of fun stuff to do, expats everywhere, English gets the job done, awesome day trips... I could go on and on.

Most of the cafes are not suitable for working, they're small and crowded.

Out of all the European places we lived in, Lisbon is our favorite and we plan on returning many times.

Lisbon is not that inexpensive. I had wicked trouble with allergies in the buildings. They are not renovated properly and have issues with mold.