Where Lisbon sleeps: palaces, the Avenida and the river

About Where Lisbon sleeps: palaces, the Avenida and the river

By the ULTIMATE Lisbon Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Lisbon’s hotels follow its hills. The Four Seasons Hotel Ritz looks down over the Parque Eduardo VII; below it the Avenida da Liberdade runs to the Restauradores, lined with the Tivoli, the Valverde and the Sofitel. In Chiado the Bairro Alto Hotel faces the Praça Luís de Camões and The Lumiares sits in the lanes behind it. Palaces have become hotels: the Verride on the Santa Catarina hill, Pestana Palace in Alcântara, the Palacio Ramalhete in Janelas Verdes. In Alfama, under the castle walls, Memmo Alfama and Santiago de Alfama keep to a few rooms with the river below.

The Avenida and the Marquês

The Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon stands at Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca 88, above the Parque Eduardo VII; its restaurant CURA holds One MICHELIN Star in the 2026 guide. On the Avenida da Liberdade itself are the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade (no. 185), the Valverde Lisboa Hotel & Garden (no. 164) and the Sofitel Lisbon Liberdade; Sublime Lisboa is a few streets west, on the Rua Marquês Subserra.

Chiado and the Baixa

The Bairro Alto Hotel is at Praça Luís de Camões 2, at the top of Chiado. The Ivens is on the Rua Capelo, Corpo Santo by the Cais do Sodré, AlmaLusa on the Praça do Município, and the Pousada de Lisboa on the Praça do Comércio itself.

You don’t need a room: book dinner at CURA in the Ritz or BAHR on the Bairro Alto Hotel’s top floor.

Palace hotels

Verride Palácio de Santa Catarina has 18 rooms in a palace beside the Santa Catarina viewpoint. Pestana Palace, in Alcântara, occupies a 19th-century palace that the hotel describes as a National Monument. The Palacio Ramalhete, on the Rua das Janelas Verdes near the MNAA, is a small palace hotel, and The One Palácio da Anunciada is set in a palace on the Rua das Portas de Santo Antão.

Alfama and the castle

Memmo Alfama is on the Travessa das Merceeiras, Santiago de Alfama on the Rua de Santiago, both a few minutes below the Castelo de São Jorge.

Belém and the river

The Altis Belém Hotel & SPA stands on the Doca do Bom Sucesso, by the Tower of Belém, with Feitoria (One MICHELIN Star) on its ground floor; the Palácio do Governador is a few streets inland.

Our advice: for a first visit, stay between Chiado and the Avenida and walk downhill; save your legs for the climb to the castle.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Where Lisbon sleeps: palaces, the Avenida and the river before you go.