One Month in Lisbon, Portugal as a Digital Nomad

Digital Nomad

In June 2023, I spent a month living in Lisbon, Portugal, with a few of my friends. Our jobs give us the flexibility for remote work, so we set off as digital nomads. We rented a tiny apartment and set up our workstations in a beautiful, hilly, winding city. 

Our days were spent exploring the city, watching sunsets, spending time at the beach, and sweating whenever we had to walk up the hill back to our temporary home in the Graça neighborhood. 

We found an apartment using Airbnb.com, and it was perfect for us! The price was a little better than our city rent. Our host was like our ‘Portuguese Mom,’ and she was incredibly helpful as we embarked on our journey. She was full of recommendations for things to do in Lisbon and tips on how to get around the city–it was really nice to have a resource for all of our questions upon arrival. 

We were all working a loose EST/PST time zone, so we used our days to get up and explore in the mornings, have breakfast, walk around, go to the beach, museums, etc. Then, we would head back to the apartment and work during the hottest part of the day. After wrapping up work we would venture out for a late dinner or just enjoy the sunsets from all the various lookout points in Graça. We were super fortunate to all work for companies that were flexible with our working hours as long as we got work done and made it to our meetings. 

When working as a digital nomad, the problem of a strong wifi connection is always a bit risky, but luckily, it worked well enough! The small quarters were hard for meetings, but nothing that some noise-canceling headphones (get my favorite pair here) couldn’t help. We all have second (or even third) screens at our home offices, so we invested in portable monitors to maintain a high level of productivity. Mine is about the size of my laptop, and I love it and continue to use it when I’m working from other places (I’ve had good luck with this one). 

Pink Street

Lisbon

When we first arrived, we started off with a historic bar walking tour – it was a great intro to history, some hotspots, and an opportunity to meet other travelers. Lisbon has a great nightlife concentrated in Barrio Alto and Pink Street (which I’ve heard has recently been painted yellow). After a late dinner, we would wander these areas listening for fun music and nice people. There are plenty of options for a calm drink, more social bars, and dancing. 

Another tour that I think is a must is a TukTuk tour! There are TukTuks all around Lisbon, so we looked around for a guide we clicked with and asked him for all of the secrets of the city since we had so much time to explore. Lisbon is a winding, hilly city, so catching a tour in a TukTuk is a good introduction and gives the opportunity to see a lot relatively quickly, so you can decide what you want to explore more in-depth. He recommended we go to the Secret Garden, which offers live music, more views, and a bar in a cute, trendy environment. It is at the viewpoint Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, where people congregate with a bottle of wine at sunset to take in the views. 

Lisbon, Portugal Lookout from Graca Neighborhood

Because of our location, we deemed the number one viewpoint in Lisbon to be the rooftop of Igreja da Graça. This church in the Graça neighborhood offers stunning rooftop views, and when we were there, even a glass of wine was included in the 5€ entry fee.

There are many great beaches just a quick drive or train ride away. The water was perfectly swimmable everywhere we were in Portugal, so there were plenty of opportunities for hanging out at the beach, swimming, surfing, and boat rides. 

Weekend & Day Trips 

During our trip, we went on a few weekend and day trips to see more of Portugal. 

Sintra, the town known for its castles, is an easy day trip from Lisbon. Peña Palace, one of the Seven Wonders in Portugal, is a gorgeous, colorful castle surrounded by a beautiful forest that is a must-see. We also visited the stunning Quinta da Regaleira. There is even more to see in Sintra, but these two, plus the city center, are where we explored. 

Porto was a weekend trip for us, where we stayed at a hostel and went on a city walking tour and a bar crawl offered by our hostel. We obviously did a port wine tasting in the Gaia Caves–because you have to when in Porto. Jardim do Morro is on the Gaia side of Ponte Luís I and is bustling and lively with music, wine, and sunset views.  

Finally, we rented a car and road-tripped down to the southern coast of Portugal, where we visited Lagos, Albufeira, and Faro. We laid on the beach, wandered the cities, ate great food, took a boat tour, and yet again did not miss a sunset.

Lisbon was an adventure I will never forget. I was so lucky to have the opportunity to live with some of my closest friends on a digital nomad adventure in the beautiful city of Lisbon.