With its face to the Atlantic and its back to the rest of us, Lisbon, on the western fringe of Europe, is not really on the way to anywhere or at the centre of anything. It has no 'must see before you die' museums or monuments - no Louvre, no Sagrada Familia - and, more important, no low-cost carriers flying into its airport (Go ditched its Lisbon flights earlier this year). Which may explain why it's been able to evolve into one of the liveliest and most likeable cities in Europe without anybody really noticing.
Lovers of low-key Lisbon tend to go misty-eyed as they describe the crumbling buildings decorated with faded azulejos , clanking yellow trams, wash-day sheets hung from wrought-iron balconies, melting sunsets and haunting snatches of fado heard from a bar in a dark alley: this timeless quality, at its most tangible in the medieval warren of the Alfama neighbourhood, is one of Lisbon's greatest charms - but it is not the whole story.
Lisbon is in the throes of a renaissance. The city's new-found confidence has a lot to do with its successful staging of the Expo '98 World Fair. Like London's Millennium Dome project, it involved an ambitious, and very expensive, regeneration of a riverside wasteland. Unlike the Dome, people wanted to see the finished product and Parque das Nações, the former Expo site, has become a vibrant new suburb, home to trendy waterside restaurants and bars, the truly impressive Oceanarium (the world's second-largest aquarium and well worth a rainy-day visit; don't miss the sea dragons) and some futuristic new architecture, including Lisbon's tallest building, the Torre Vasco da Gama, topped by a restaurant. This was followed by the opening of a world-class Design Museum in the historic suburb of Belém, where you can spend a morning admiring the Manueline architecture of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos before entering the museum for a display of Japanese armchairs and kitsch kitchenware.
It's as though the city which invented fado - bluesy songs of lost loves and past times, performed in smoky bars - has got bored of yearning and decided to have some fun. And young Lisboetas really do know how to have fun. On a Saturday afternoon you'll find them shopping for designer one-offs in the trendy boutiques of the Bairro Alto or, if the weather's good, in the beach bars of the Costa do Caparica - drinking caipirinhas to an accompaniment of pounding breakers and gentle samba.
At night, they spill out of the tiny bars and jazz clubs of the Bairro Alto (noisy, yes, but rarely legless), or head for the docks and the painfully hip Bica do Sapato café, restaurant and sushi bar, part-owned by John Malkovich, or the nightclub, Lux, where the truly gorgeous gather. If you are not truly gorgeous there are plenty of other clubs that will let you in - Lisbon's burgeoning Brazilian and African communities have ensured that the city offers one of the most varied live music and clubbing scenes in Europe.
Having spent years running to catch up with the rest of Europe, Lisbon is finally finding its feet and now is the time to go, while you can still enjoy a plate of grilled sardines and carafe of wine for under £5, and before the Barcelona brigade catches on that Europe's party capital may just have shifted a few hundred miles west.
Getting there
TAP Air Portugal (0845 6010932) has fares of £110, including taxes, available throughout November on daily flights from Gatwick and Heathrow. British Airways (0845 7733377) flies daily from Heathrow to Lisbon. Return fares for November cost from £168, including taxes.
A shuttle bus departs every 20 minutes from the airport to the city centre. It costs about £1.50. A taxi from the airport to the town centre should cost around £7 but can cost double this depending on the driver. For peace of mind you can purchase a voucher from the airport enabling you to pre-pay for your trip into town.
If you do only five things...
1. Take tram No 28 (a clanking yellow trolley car so twee, and roads so winding and steep, it could be a fairground ride) from the business district of Baixa up to the crumbling neighbourhood of Graça and admire the sunset from one of the many look-out points or miradouros. The cobbled terrace in front of the huge church on Largo da Graça has a shady open air café serving coffee, cake and cold beer with lovely views over the red-tiled roofs tumbling down to the River Tagus.
2. Spend a couple of hours exploring the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Praça do Império. Admission to cloisters £2/600 escudos) in Belém, which celebrates its 500th anniversary this year. The Manueline monastery, adjacent church and delicately ornate cloister gardens are beautiful and the recurring maritime, tropical fruit and palm tree motifs reflect the preoccupations of the Age of the Discoveries when Portuguese explorers such as Prince Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama pushed back the frontiers of the Portuguese empire. The imposing Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries, Avenida de Brasília) a few minutes' walk away, pays tribute to these early voyagers.
3. Take the train from Cais do Sodré west to one of Lisbon's many beaches. Within half an hour you could be eating grilled sardines from a beachside restaurant with sand between your toes. Cascais and Estoril are closest and have some excellent fish restaurants but the beaches are small and crowded. If wide open sands, crashing breakers and laidback beach bars are more to your taste take a train or bus south to the Caparica coastline - a bit harder to get to but popular with the locals.
4. Marvel at the collections of Islamic and Oriental art, Egyptian scarabs, medieval manuscripts, Persian robes, French furniture and Lalique glass of the world-class Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Avenida de Berna 45, Praça de Espanha. Admission around £1.50), Lisbon's finest.
5. Hear some fado. The Portuguese equivalent of the blues deals with the themes of loss and longing, a concept encapsulated in the Portuguese word saudade. Most of Lisbon's fado houses are to be found in the narrow streets of the Bairro Alto or Alfama and have live music nightly, often as an accompaniment to dinner. Fado can be a hit and miss affair, some of the clubs are very tourist-orientated, with mediocre singers performing to coach parties while tacky souvenirs and cassettes are flogged between each course. Needless to say, these places should be avoided at all costs. Clube de Fado (Rua São João da Praça 92/4) in Alfama is a fairly safe bet and not too touristy. Alternatively, follow your ears and you might just stumble on the real thing.
Don't even think about...
· Heading for the Docas de Santo Amaro on a Friday or Saturday night. Though these renovated docks in the shadow of the Ponte 25 de Abril are a perfectly nice spot for lunch or an early evening drink, as the night wears on they become the Portuguese equivalent of Leicester Square: full of tourists, out-of-towners, stag and hen parties, naff bars blasting out bad Europop music and possibly the world's most persistent rose-sellers.
· Talking during a fado performance - the Lisboetas take their fado seriously and you will be severely shushed (though you should feel free to sing along as they do).
Behaving badly
If you only have one night to spend in Lisbon, your best bet is to head for the Bairro Alto, where the narrow maze of streets is lined with tiny, crowded bars spilling out on to the streets until the early hours. Cafédiário, (Rua do Diário de Notícias 3) is a cheery place playing Latin music. If you get the midnight munchies then B'Artis (Rua do Diário de Notícias 95/97) is the perfect spot for a quiet drink and a mouth-watering toasted chicken sandwich drenched in garlic mayonnaise. The most famous club in this neighbourhood is Frágil (Rua da Atalaia 128), best after 1am on a Friday or Saturday night.
Increasingly stiff competition comes from a new wave of nightspots in Lisbon's dockside areas, though the converted warehouses of the Docas in Santo Amaro lack the soul and scruffy charm of some of Bairro Alto's more intimate venues.
The undisputed king of Lisbon's nightclubs is Lux (Avenida Infante Dom Henrique) in the Santa Apolónia docks. A selective door policy weeds out the ugly people, but if you do manage to scrape in then you'll be rubbing shoulders with Lisbon's brightest young things.
Objects of desire
· Don't leave Lisbon without sampling the sublime pastéis de nata . These light, flaky custard tarts can be found in pastelerias all over the city, but the undisputed Mecca for tart aficionados is the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém (Rua de Belém 84-92). The recipe for the pastéis de Belém was originally perfected by the monks of the nearby Jerónimos monastery and remains a secret to this day. Fight the hordes of tourists and locals for a table in the blue-tiled cafe or take away half a dozen of the cinnamon-sprinkled delights in a paper tube to savour at your leisure.
· If you want to take home some of the beautiful tiles which adorn so many of Lisbon's old buildings the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (Rua da Madre de Deus 4. Tel: 21 814 7747. Admission £1.50) is a good starting point for inspiration and a well-stocked shop. You can rummage among thousands of antique tiles at Solar (Rua Dom Pedro V, 68-70. Tel: 21 346 5522) in the Bairro Alto or tailormake your own designs and have them shipped home at Sant'Ana (Rua do Alecrim 95, Chiado. Tel: 21 342 2537).
· When it comes to fashion shopping, Lisbon is no Paris or Milan, but it's pretty cheap for basics. Chiado is the main shopping district and it's here on Rua do Carmo that you'll find the shops of designer Ana Salazar rubbing shoulders with chain stores such as Zara. But for quirky boutiques and the best of Lisbon's new design talent you'll need to head for the Bairro Alto. Names to look out for include Fatima Lopes, José Antonio Tenente and Lena Aires.
· Stock up on Portuguese wines and port at Garrafeira Nacional (Rua de Santa Justa 18-24, Baixa. Tel: 21 887 9080) or Napoleão (Rua dos Fanqueiros 70, Baixa. Tel: 21 887 2042). Both can ship bottles home.
Room for a night
Budget: Pensão Geres, Calçarda do Garcia 6. Tel: 21 881 0497
Right in the centre of town, clean rooms with lots of character and wrought-iron balconies with great views. No breakfast but it's only five minutes to a handful of cafés and pastelerias. About £30 a night for a double room.
Mid-range: Pensão York House, 32 Rua das Janelas Verdes 32, Lapa. Tel: 21 396 24 35
This former convent has 36 rooms furnished in traditional Portuguese style, some of which surround a pretty courtyard where you can dine outside in summer. Good restaurant. A popular choice so book well ahead. Double rooms from £80, including breakfast.
Luxury: Lapa Palace Hotel, Rua do Pau da Bandeira 4, Lapa. Tel: 21 394 9494.
Lisbon's most luxurious hotel is a member of the Orient Express group. Housed in a beautifully restored nineteenth-century palace surrounded by lush gardens featuring fountains and streams, it has indoor and outdoor pools, health club and views over the River Tagus. Double rooms from about £200 a night, excluding breakfast.
Where to eat
Fast and filling: Carvoeiro, Rua Vieira de Portuensa, Belém.
What the Portuguese don't know about grilling small fish is not worth knowing. A plate of sardines with baked potatoes and salad and half a carafe of wine will set you back a grand total of £5 at this family-run restaurant with outside tables a stone's throw from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
A safe bet: Primavera, Travessa da Espera 34, Bairro Alto. Tel: 21 342 0477
Portuguese staples such as grilled fish, bacalhau (salted cod) and hearty stews served in a cosy, tiled tasca (tavern) in the Bairro Alto. Two courses with wine for under £10. Closed on Sundays.
Totally sinful: Alcntara Café, Rua Maria Luisa Holstein 15. Tel: 21 362 1226
For a decadent night out in a theatrical setting the Alcntara is hard to beat. The industrial feel of this former warehouse is softened with red velvet and chandeliers. The food, although not typically Portuguese, is good and wonderfully presented. Expect to pay around £25 a head for a two-course meal with wine.
Getting around
A Lisbon Card gives unlimited travel on the Metro, buses and trams . It costs around £5 for four days and £8 for seven days and is available from kiosks and Metro stations around the city.
The Metro is clean, efficient and easy to use. A single ticket costs about 30p and a one-day travelcard 80p.
The trams may not be the quickest way of getting around but they are certainly the most fun. Nostalgia buffs will particularly enjoy routes 12, 18, 25 and 28 which are served by the original yellow trams with wooden interiors. Have some small change handy or incur the wrath of the driver. A single ticket costs about 50p.
Get out of town
If you have time for only one day trip out of Lisbon, it should be to Sintra. A favourite summer retreat of the Portuguese royal family, this leafy, atmospheric small town is home to no less than three royal palaces, including the eccentric pink and yellow Palácio da Pena, left, with its fairytale turrets. Trains depart from Lisbon's Rossio station and take 45 minutes. The fare is 65p.
What the tourist board doesn't say
· There doesn't seem to be any equivalent of 'the knowledge' for taxi drivers in Lisbon. Don't expect the driver to know where he is going and remember to carry a map so you can point out your destination when he fails to understand your feeble attempts to pronounce the street names. You might also like to know that Portugal has the worst road death record in Europe (then again you might not).
· If you are dining on a budget it's worth knowing that those tasty little titbits placed on the table before you order your meal are not a goodwill gesture and you will be charged for every mouthful you take whether you ordered it or not.
· Watch your bags, pockets and wallets when out on the tiles in Bairro Alto. The crowded bars are a favourite haunt of pickpockets.
Find out more
Time Out Guide Lisbon (Penguin £11.99)
Lisbon Tourist Board (00 351 21 844 6473)
