Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Shopping in Lisbon is less about multinational chains and more about locally owned shops. Instead of the same-old mass-produced goods, you’ll find ceramics and lace made by Portuguese craftspeople, foodstuffs and wine that impart the nation’s flavor, and clothes by established local designers.
Family-owned stores are still common in Lisbon, especially in Baixa, where a grid of streets from the Rossio to the Rio Tejo has many small shops selling jewelry, shoes, clothing, and foodstuffs. Trendy Bairro Alto is another district full of little crafts shops with stylish, contemporary ceramics, wooden sculpture, linen, and clothing; some open only in the afternoon and stay open—sometimes with their own resident DJ—until after the restaurants and bars around them have begun filling up.
Bairro Alto is also one of the shopping hubs of Lisbon’s flourishing fashion scene. The brightly lighted modern shops of local designers stand in stark contrast to the area's 16th-century layout and dark, narrow streets. The Principe Real area is home to one of the best spots in the city for boutique browsing at the grand Embaixada gallery. Many antiques stores can be found on a single long street that changes its name four times as it runs southward from Largo do Rato: Rua Escola Politécnica, Rua Dom Pedro V, Rua da Misericórdia, and Rua do Alecrim. Look on the nearby Rua de São Bento for more stores. There's also a cluster of antiques shops on Rua Augusto Rosa, between the Baixa and Alfama districts.
Chiado, Lisbon’s smartest shopping district, has a small shopping complex as well as many stores with considerable cachet, particularly on and around Rua Garrett. And Praça de Londres and Avenida de Roma—both in the Modern City—form one long run of haute-couture stores and fashion outlets. International luxury brands are also increasingly found on the city’s downtown axis, Avenida da Liberdade.
Several excellent shops in Baixa sell chocolates, marzipan, dried and crystallized fruits, pastries, and regional cheeses and wines—especially varieties of port, one of Portugal's major exports. Baixa is also a good place to look for jewelry. What is now called Rua Aurea was once Rua do Ouro (Gold Street), named for the goldsmiths' shops installed on it under Pombal's 18th-century city plan. The trade has flourished here ever since.
This artisanal company uses traditional methods to paint and glaze each tile sold in the shop. Many of the designs for sale originated in the 16th to the 19th centuries. You can even paint your own tile—just call ahead to organize a workshop.
Large, airy, and exquisitely styled, this emporium stocks finely packaged traditional Portuguese goods—soaps, glassware, ceramics, textiles, notebooks, food, olive oil—at every price point. There are several branches, but this is the one to visit.
Portugal’s abundance of cork oaks are the basis for all the products showcased here. Look for eye-catching designs for homeware, office supplies, handbags, jewelry, and accessories for men and women.
The stylish proprietor of this funky hat store stocks a huge range of its own designs for men, women, and children and also makes exclusive items to order.
Dozens of luxury labels (from Christian Louboutin to Stella McCartney to YSL) are represented at this store, which caters to the city's fashionable elite. In addition to chic clothing and accessories, there's a stylish bar and restaurant.
You can try your hand at painting your own tiles at this shop specializing in hand-painted azulejos. It ships worldwide, so there's no need to haul any breakables home in your bags.
From ornate azulejo tiles to kitsch designs (think dishes shaped like giant lettuce leaves), Portuguese ceramics are much sought after by visitors from around the world. Hidden slightly off the main shopping strip in upscale Chiado, Luza offers beautiful pieces at very affordable prices, with some items priced by weight. Smaller items, like Portuguese cockerel wine stoppers, make cute mementos and gifts.
This flagship department store has seven floors of household goods, but the range of most interest to foreign visitors is on the first: ceramics from Vista Alegre, crystal from Atlantis, and flatware from Cutipol and other cutlery manufacturers from northern Portugal, one of Europe's few remaining industrial clusters in the sector.
One of Lisbon's best-known antiques shops, Solar specializes in azulejo panels and also stocks 16th- to 18th-century Portuguese furnishings and paintings, many of them salvaged from old mansions, churches, and palaces.
Originally a royal factory founded in 1817, Vista Alegre is now one of Europe’s most prestigious porcelain manufacturers. Prestigious glassware and crystal maker Atlantis is also now part of the group. This flagship store presents the companies' ever-changing collections, which are often signed by national and international artists.
