Lisbon & Cascais and their grand hotels
Lisbon keeps its grand hotels on the high ground, with the coast half an hour west for the two houses that prefer the Atlantic.
Luxury hotels in Lisbon & Cascais
4 hotels
Lisbon keeps its grand hotels on the high ground, with the coast half an hour west for the two houses that prefer the Atlantic. The high ground is the Avenida da Liberdade, the tree-lined avenue that climbs from the Baixa to the roundabout of the Marquês de Pombal with Parque Eduardo VII above it, and the Chiado, the district of cafés and bookshops on the hill between the Baixa and Bairro Alto; the coast is Estoril and Cascais on the sea, with Sintra in the hills behind them. We looked at every serious address in the city and along the coast and kept only those whose service holds up. Two hold five-star standing; the two beside them are four-star addresses, listed at exactly the tier they hold. Four made the cut.
“Because Pardal Monteiro's Ritz of 1959 stands above Parque Eduardo VII with a running track on its roof and a collection of Portuguese modern art through the house – and Four Seasons holds it to five-star standing.”
From our editors · Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon
The neighborhoods
Avenida da Liberdade & Marquês de Pombal
The tree-lined avenue of the 1880s that climbs from the Baixa to the Marquês de Pombal, with one of the four hotels. It starts at the Restauradores and ends at the roundabout of the Marquês de Pombal, with Parque Eduardo VII rising above it and the shops of the avenue under the plane trees. The Rossio and the grid of the Baixa lie at its foot, and the Gulbenkian museum and its garden are a short walk north.
Chiado & Bairro Alto
The hill of the Chiado and Bairro Alto, between the Baixa and the western quarters, with one of the four hotels. Praça Luís de Camões and Rua Garrett keep the cafés and bookshops of the Chiado; the ruins of the Carmo convent and the Santa Justa lift are here too. The lanes of Bairro Alto above are for the night, with the miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, and Príncipe Real lies beyond.
Lapa & Belém
The embassy quarter of Lapa on its hill west of the center and, further downriver, the shore of Belém. Above Lapa stand the Basílica da Estrela and its garden, and the National Museum of Ancient Art sits on the slope down to the river. In Belém, the Jerónimos monastery, the Torre de Belém, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, the MAAT on the quay and the pastry shop of the Pastéis de Belém line the shore. The zone is described for the geography – none of the four hotels stands here today.
Cascais, Estoril & Sintra
The coast half an hour west of the city and the hills of Sintra behind it, with two of the four hotels. Along the Marginal and the railway from Cais do Sodré come the casino of Estoril and its gardens and the beach of Tamariz, then the bay and old town of Cascais, with the Boca do Inferno and Guincho beach beyond. The hills lie inside the Sintra-Cascais natural park: the Pena Palace, the Moorish castle, Quinta da Regaleira and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in Lisbon & Cascais?
Two. The five-star hotels we list in Lisbon & Cascais are Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, above Parque Eduardo VII, and Penha Longa Resort, in the hills of Sintra about thirty minutes from the city. Alongside them we keep two four-star addresses, each listed at exactly the tier it holds: Bairro Alto Hotel, on Praça Luís de Camões in the Chiado; and InterContinental Cascais-Estoril, on the Estoril seafront. Each has its own page, reached from the list above, with a concierge behind every stay.
Which part of Lisbon & Cascais should I stay in?
Two of the four are in the city. Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon stands on the high ground above Parque Eduardo VII, at the top of the Avenida da Liberdade, with the shops of the avenue and the Baixa down the hill; Bairro Alto Hotel is on Praça Luís de Camões, in the Chiado, with the cafés and bookshops of Rua Garrett at the door, the lanes of Bairro Alto above and the river at Cais do Sodré below. Two are on the coast, half an hour west: InterContinental Cascais-Estoril on the Estoril seafront, the casino and its gardens across the road and Cascais along the promenade, and Penha Longa Resort in the hills of Sintra, inside the natural park, with the palaces a short drive. Choose the Avenida for a park at the door and the city on foot; the Chiado for the old quarters – the Baixa, Alfama, the river – within walking distance and the night close by; Estoril for the sea and the beach; Sintra for the hills, the palaces and the golf.
When is the best season for Lisbon & Cascais?
Spring and early autumn – April to June and September to October – bring the clear, mild days, the jacarandas in flower along the avenue in late May and June and a sea at Cascais still warm into October, and they are the weeks that fill first; the festas of Santo António, on the night of 12 June and the day after, fill Alfama and the old quarters with grilled sardines and processions and take the rooms of the city ahead. July and August are hot and bright, though the Atlantic keeps Estoril and Cascais a few degrees cooler than the city and the beaches are full; Sintra, in its hills, stays cooler still and is often in mist. November through February is mild and often wet, rarely cold, with the Christmas weeks and New Year the one busy stretch and the hotels at their quietest in between.
Do I need a car in Lisbon?
Not in the city. From the Avenida, the Baixa, the Rossio and the Chiado are on foot down the hill; from the Chiado, the Baixa, the river at Cais do Sodré and Alfama across it are on foot, with the tram 28 and the funiculars for the steeper streets. The metro and taxis cover the rest. Humberto Delgado airport lies inside the city, about twenty to thirty minutes by car from the Avenida depending on the hour; the hotel arranges a driver. For the coast, the train from Cais do Sodré runs along the shore to Estoril and Cascais in about forty minutes, and the train from the Rossio reaches Sintra in about the same; by car, both are thirty to forty minutes from the center. A car earns its place only for a day in the hills of Sintra – the Pena Palace, the Moorish castle, Cabo da Roca, Guincho beach – and the hotel arranges one, with a driver.
City, coast or Sintra – which should I choose?
The three are within forty minutes of each other, so a stay can take two of them. The city houses – Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon on the high ground, Bairro Alto Hotel in the Chiado – put the old quarters, the museums and the river on foot and the coast a train ride away. InterContinental Cascais-Estoril puts the beach at the door and Lisbon forty minutes up the line, with the casino across the road and Cascais along the promenade. Penha Longa Resort, in the hills of Sintra, is the one for golf, for the palaces – the Pena Palace, the Moorish castle and Quinta da Regaleira are a short drive – and for the quiet of the natural park, with the city half an hour away. With children, the coast works from May to October – the beaches of Tamariz and Cascais, the Boca do Inferno, Guincho – and Belém and the Oceanário at Parque das Nações the rest of the year, with the palaces of Sintra a day out from any of the four.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
