Beato and Marvila

The lazy shorthand for the newly gentrifying districts of Beato and Marvila is a comparison to Bushwick in Brooklyn or the East End of London, and these aren't far off the mark.

These neighborhoods, which used to be composed predominantly of working-class residences or large-scale industrial warehouses, had some of the last affordable rents in Lisbon. That's changing now, thanks to artists and risk-takers who have been capitalizing on that affordability.

It's easy to see the migration, as businesses from elsewhere in the city—a cultural hub in Bairro Alto, a chain of brunch restaurants in Santos, a restaurant at the edge of Chiado—are opening spin-offs in Marvila. Meanwhile, creative international entrepreneurs have snapped up palaces in Beato and transformed them into interactive dining experiences. 

Still, Beato and Marvila, which are physically off the beaten path—northeast of the historic center but south of the posh and contemporary Parque das Nações district that was manufactured for a World Expo in the 1990s—have a feeling of being places that are on the verge of discovery. 

And they retain their alternative democratic soul. A group of largely young, local risk-takers are reinventing derelict factories and turning them into multiconcept cultural venues offering everything from yoga classes to storytelling evenings, or turning old warehouses into coworking spaces and cultural organizations.

Of course, if your interests lean more toward pleasures of the glass and the plate, these bohemian neighborhoods also have an appeal. The big spaces made them appealing for the city's first craft breweries, and although some have already moved on, new ones have taken their place. Along with restaurant concepts that have already made their name elsewhere in the city, new fully local projects are offering up new takes on Portuguese gastronomy. 

Outside the formal neighborhood confines, there are a handful of other institutions that have stood the test of time and added indelible color to the city of Lisbon, including a museum dedicated to the art of Portuguese tile-making and one of the most iconic places to dine on salted cod.