This is one of the neighborhoods/areas of Lisbon that we visit where we most want to be at this time of year, when Christmas is experienced most intensely.
We’ve been to Chiado, Avenida da Liberdade and Guerra Junqueiro, where we’ve done almost all our Christmas shopping.
Downtown Lisbon is known for being one of the busiest parts of the city, and where there’s a lot going on this Christmas in Lisbon.
Are you going to choose this neighborhood as your Christmas shopping spot? Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should go there, because these are “The best neighborhoods to spend Christmas in Lisbon”, and what’s more, you can get there without a car, because Lisbon City Hall is offering free parking and free transportation to the downtown area.
Christmas downtown
The Christmas lights in the city look beautiful, and this is usually where the most traditional shops are.
And downtown Lisbon is one of those places, one of our favorites to stroll around at this time of year.
And in between, we stop at our usual stores and take the opportunity to complete the list of gifts we’re still missing.
One of the most recent stores we went to was Palácio da Ginja. It’s located at Rua da Prata 223, and here you’ll find one of the best liqueurs in the city, as well as packs of tasty Belgian chocolate cups, an excellent Christmas gift suggestion.
Best of all, you can try all this for just 1.5 euros. Who’s a friend?
In the main street of downtown Lisbon, Rua Augusta , of course, is the Casa Macário, It’s a store with history, of course, because it’s been there since 1913.
It sells drinks, sweets, coffees, teas and chocolates and a host of other delicacies that are worth a visit, many of which you can wrap up in pretty paper to give away at Christmas.
At the entrance, a sign says “Please Don’t Clean The Bottles” because, in this place, the bottles want to be covered in dust to prove their history.
It’s one of the best places to buy Port wine in Baixa, as well as regional products and treats.
Also on Rua Augusta, at number 102, is Casa Pereira da Conceição , a store where you’ll find some of the most fragrant teas, coffees, chocolates, almonds and other porcelain objects sold there.
If you like old things, then you really must come and see the old coffee-grinding machines, which make this place in downtown Lisbon one of the most interesting.
Still within this type of product, which will make an excellent Christmas present, take a trip to the “resistant” Pérola do Rossio, at Praça D. Pedro IV 105.
Specializing in teas and coffees, Pérola do Rossio was founded in 1923 by Mário Lopes de Moraes and has remained in the hands of the same family for three generations.
In addition to the various teas and coffees, you’ll also find other products, such as national and foreign wines, sweets and jams, cookies and cookies, chocolates, coffee machines and their accessories, teapots, among many others.
And while we’re on the subject of wines, our choice also goes to Garrafeira & Charcutaria Dom Pedro, located at Rua dos Fanqueiros 200.
Here, as well as a vast collection of wines , you’ll find a wide variety of dried fruit, regional sweets, selected charcuterie, national cheeses, chocolates, spices and much more.
I’m sure you ‘ll find “that” gift you’ve been looking for!
Okay, since we’ve definitely entered the field of sweets, one of our favorite places is, without a shadow of a doubt, Confeitaria Nacional, open since 1870.
In downtown Lisbon, you’ll find it at number 18A Praça da Figueira and, just by walking through the door, you’ll immediately smell the various sweets, including one of the best Bolos-Rei in the city.
If you don’t believe us, we dare you to try it and see for yourself. And if there’s a queue, don’t worry… it’s a pleasure to stand at the door and smell the aroma!
A little further down, on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros – Lisbon’s first blue street – is Conserveira de Lisboa which, in our opinion, has some products that could make a good Christmas present.
You might think that giving a canned product is a bit of a no-brainer, but it’s certainly an original gift.
Go there and see for yourself the art behind each can of our best fish: cod, sardines, tuna, salmon, octopus, mackerel, eel, salmon or trout.
We end this trip through Lisbon’s downtown with two places that “offer luck”: Quiosque Tivoli and Tabacaria Mónaco.
The first is located at Rua da Prata 171, and is a very small place that is already part of the daily life of all the locals who pass by every day.
Offering a scratch card, a lottery ticket or a EuroMillions bet… why not?
The second shop, Tabacaria Mónaco, is in Praça D, Pedro IV 21 and it’ s worth going in to browse the slender corridor full of newspapers and magazines.
Those who enter often go to try their luck. Here’s our final suggestion for a Christmas present.
Christmas in Chiado: what to see, do and buy in one of Lisbon’s most Christmassy neighborhoods