Winter is here and it’s time to update your wardrobe. But how to do everything if there is no time left during the week? And what if you combine leisure, travel, and shopping? Portugal is an excellent choice for a weekend-long fashion marathon.
Where to stay
Book a hotel on Liberty Avenue (Avenida da Liberdade) – from here you can easily walk to the main attractions, shops, and restaurants. Of course, it is simply impossible to get around everything in one day, therefore, as an aperitif, we recommend a ride on the famous tram, which will allow you to see the most beautiful streets of the old city and not get tired of the fashionable “race”.
Fashion Routes
If you don’t have a particular craving for excursions to historical sites or natural beauties, then in Lisbon you will find numerous shops of fashionable designer clothes – for every taste and budget.
The most popular shopping areas are Chiado and Baixa. Chiado is an abundance of expensive boutiques of the world and local Portuguese brands that coexist with clothing and food markets. Baixa is an area in the city center, where there are many souvenir shops, private ceramics shops, corks, and wine shops.
The entire “heavy” suite is located along Svobody Avenue. Therefore, we leave the car in the parking lot and enjoy the walk. It is better to start with boutiques, as they close earlier than other stores. Prada, Luis Vuitton, Gucci… But don’t look for a separate Chanel boutique, it’s not here, but there is a luxury multi-brand boutique with a quite decent assortment, called Stivali. It also features iconic brands from Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Elie Saab to Fendi, Valentino, and Chloe.
For more democratic brands, go to the massive El Corte Ingles. By the way, you can leave it for the second half of the day, because it works until 23:00. There is everything from cosmetics to products, as well as corners with clothes, shoes, and accessories. It is better to go to El Corte Ingles by car, leaving it in the convenient underground parking of the department store while shopping.
Leave the second day for the most interesting – Freeport Outlet Center. This is the largest outlet in Europe. It is located in the suburbs of Lisbon, next to the Vasco da Gama bridge, so again you can’t do without a car trip. Everything is here, so if you didn’t manage to buy something on the first day, then the Freeport Outlet Center can easily fix it. Discounts here are real, and taking into account the registration of Tax-Free prices will become even more attractive. Sportswear, children’s goods, second lines of premium brands, mass market …
Souvenirs
Sometimes it’s just impossible to resist buying souvenirs, and we also have some useful tips for this case. For “exotic” you at Feira da Ladra. This flea market has existed in Lisbon since the 13th century, and in the Alfama area near the walls of the National Pantheon of Portugal, it was located about 130 years ago. Its name is translated from Portuguese as “thief’s market”, although, of course, it is not customary to trade in stolen goods. It sells vintage clothes, antique dishes, antiques, and rare books.
From Lisbon it is worth bringing local Jamon, which is no worse than Spanish (in Portugal it is called presunto (“present”)), the meat of a black Portuguese pig Porco Preto (“spanking preto”), dried salted cod and canned food. Portuguese canned food is a real delicacy. The most popular are from sardines. Canned food is also made from mackerel, octopus, tuna, and others.
If you want to be original, then pay attention to cork products. Portugal is the largest cork producer in the world. Today, not only corks for wine are made from this eco-friendly material, but also furniture, accessories, shoes, bags, decor items, and much more.